Welcome! Please introduce yourself here.

[Petra X]

Hi Sheila, that was fast. What is CoL?

[Sheila]

Thank you for the kind welcome, ladies. :o)
Petra, CoL means Chicks On Lit. It is a reading group here on Goodreads that both Jo and I are members of.

Looking forward to some wonderful gardening discussion, and looking forward to the upcoming onslaught of gardening catalogs that arrive in my mailbox every winter.

[Cheryl S.]

Hi Sheila! Welcome to the group. Looking forward to your comments.

[Cheryl S.]

Welcome to the group!

[Sheila]

Welcome, Osho!

[Petra X]

Hey Osho, glad you came. It was exciting wasn't it ;-) It's got me going on buying some really heavy duty black plastic bin bags and getting someone to come up with a truck full of grit to spread on top. My path is about 6" wider than a truck (never had the courage to try and get mine down it) and about 15 yards long so I think it's doable.

[Florence (Lefty)]

Hello Osho, nice to meet you!

[Bloomin’Chick (Jo) aka The Eclectic Spoonie]

Welcome Osho!

[peg]

Nice to "meet" you, Osho!

Petra, you just gave me an idea for a stretch I want to use for planting. I think I will try solarizing when it warms up here. Thanks.

[Kimberly]

So nice to meet you, Osho.

[Petra X]

peg wrote: "Petra, you just gave me an idea for a stretch I want to use for planting. I think I will try solarizing when it warms up here. Thanks."

I'd never heard of it before. It kind of conjured up plants lying around suntanning, but Osho enlightened me. :-)

[peg]

The only problem with solarizing is that it kills the insects and microorganisms in the soil as well but I am told that the soil recovers quickly when the plastic is removed. I will add a thick layer of compost if I decide to give it a go.

[[deleted user]]

Yes and yes. Pull off the plastic when the weeds are cooked, then (if you're wanting to grow something), amend the soil.

[peg]

Thanks,Osho. Now if only the snow would melt so that I can get started:-)

[Petra X]

I don't want anything to live beneath my path, everything can go elsewhere. I don't have any soil, I just have grit on what was builders' impacted soil and debris. But this is the tropics, everything grows on the smallest amount of soil. I had a tomato plant growing from a drainpipe opening about 12' up a wall once. No idea how the seed got there, nor that there was enough blown-on dirt for it to grow, but grow it did and produced one incredibly sweet tomato.

[peg]

That's incredible. You should have taken a picture. I would love to have seen that.

[MissJessie]

I love the barefoot feeling too, but gave it up due to an incredible allergy to bee stings, of which I always seem to step on one. Not fun, so I always wear flip flops or sandals, even when gardening.

The result is that most of my "good" sandals end up all muddy and icky because I go mushing into the flower bed without thinking.

[peg]

I agree. It's great to walk barefoot but I don't like the idea of little critters burring their way under my skin. I garden with socks and sneakers but hardly ever use gloves. Go figure!

[Ava Catherine]

Hi I'm Connie, and Peg led me here. I am so thankful that I have found this group since I love discovering anything new about gardening and plants.

[peg]

I'm glad you joined us, Connie! Welcome.

[Kimberly]

It's great meeting a new-to-us gardener. Welcome, Connie!

[MissJessie]

Hey Connie!

[Ava Catherine]

Thank you so very much for the warm welcome. I am excited to get busy and learn new tricks to make my garden bloom!

[Sheila]

Welcome Connie!

[Florence (Lefty)]

Hi Connie, nice to meet you!

[Cheryl S.]

Welcome to the group, Connie!

[Petra X]

Hello Connie and welcome.

[Bloomin’Chick (Jo) aka The Eclectic Spoonie]

Connie wrote: "Hi I'm Connie, and Peg led me here. I am so thankful that I have found this group since I love discovering anything new about gardening and plants."

Welcome Connie! Glad you're making yourself at home with us!

[Lára]

Haí, I´m Lára and I´m obsessed with gardening for three years. I´m actually obsessed with container gardening.

I have planted aquariums (with fish that are named and over a year old), and all kind of different containers with plants that are old as my hobby obsession and most of them have personal names. I´m always in search for new plants, it´s never enough.
Weather in my country isn´t particularly good for raised bed gardening, and I do not have a yard so containers are my only option. I own a balcony and, unfortunately, all the windows (and the balcony) are facing the north and east side so I am quite limited when it comes to choosing plants.

My love are orchids, bromeliads and bulb plants. My daffodils are already out!

[Kimberly]

Welcome, Lara. Obsessessed gardeners don't let things like no yard and north-facing balconies stop them, so you're definitely one of us. How fun that you found us! I've never tried to grow orchids. I'm a bit intimidated by the idea. Are they tricky to grow?

[Lára]

Thanks, Kimberly!
Oh, orchids are not any more difficult to grow than any other plant, at least I don´t think so. It´s just important to keep the moisture very high, and depends on the orchid you have, you have to be careful when and how watering. There´re lots of them for shade areas so they´re perfect for east windows.

Try with Phalaenopsis, read books by Mr. Steven A. Frowine (about orchid care) and fear no more. (:

[Petra X]

Hello Lara, welcome. You and I live in completely opposite climate zones. I'm in the tropics and you're in Iceland. I don't any of the native flowers of Iceland.

I have loads of sorts of bromeliads, but they are all wild although I used to grow decorative pineapples.

[Lára]

Thank you. (;
I have only two Guzmania lingulata Minor plants at the moment, and they´re young but beautiful. I´m dying for Aechmeas, though. They´re expensive and not so common here and I already have to provide artificial lights for guzmanias, so I don´t think Aechmeas will come so soon. But I´ll never give up.

I´m still quite new to the hobby so my list of plants is not big, to share it with all of you, I have:

Spathiphyllum wallisii (currently in bloom for the first time)
Spathiphyllum tango
Hippeastrum 'Sweet Pink' (now are two, I have a baby as well)
Narcissus Mount Hood (not blooming but are coming out from the soil)
Narcissus Paper White (waiting for foliage to become yellow so I can clean them)
Chlorophytum elatum 'Variegatum' (adult and a baby)
Lilium Gran paradiso
Lilium Apeldorn
Lilium Nepal (they´re all outside and almost out)
Schlumbergera x buckleyi
Schlumbergera truncata
Dracaena fragrans (I think it´s Golden Coast but not sure)
Dracaena marginata
Miniature roses (rose and yellow - both on the balcony and blooming almost all year)
Euphorbia pulcherrima (this is my first plant ever, her name is Maeve, is two years old and always beautiful, I simply adore her)
Cyclamen persicum (purple)
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (white)
Violas (purple, white)
Citrus lemon
Hyancith (red, named Hesse, a year old)
Impatiens wellerana 'Holstii' (white)
Fittonia verschaffeltii
Asparagus densiflorus
Phalaenopsis (yellow with rose)
Pelargonium (this one is 10 years old and I adopted her)
Sainpaulia (whites, blues, purples - they love north)
Aphelandra squarrosa
Clivia minata
Sansevieria 'Golden Hahnii'
Rebutia kupperiana
succulent I can´t locate in books

As you can see, most of my plants are simple but I love them and they keep me occupied all year round. Some are full sun-loving plants but I´m really trying to keep them healthy and happy the best I can, and mostly I chose only plants that can survive cool and shade areas as my place

[Sheila]

Welcome Lara. I am going to love hearing about your gardening experiences in Iceland. :o)

[Kimberly]

Lára wrote: "Thanks, Kimberly!
Oh, orchids are not any more difficult to grow than any other plant, at least I don´t think so. It´s just important to keep the moisture very high, and depends on the orchid you h..."

Lara, thank you for the book and plant recommendation. I appreciate that. Our local Lowe's sells orchids; such pretty flowers! The next time I see them, I'll pay more attention to what kinds they have.

[Florence (Lefty)]

Lára wrote: "Haí, I´m Lára and I´m obsessed with gardening for three years. I´m actually obsessed with container gardening.

I have planted aquariums (with fish that are named and over a year old), and all kin..."

Hi Lara, so nice to meet you and welcome. Sounds like you've dealt with the restrictions of what you can grow with flair! Enjoyed your plant listing, I can tell they're your friends just by the way you wrote it. I'm from the only relatively warm part of Canada - the Pacific Northwest is a temperate rain forest, so not much snow. Kinda lucky in the gardening department. Anyway - look forward to learning about Orchids from you!

[Cheryl S.]

Hi Lara and Welcome! So great to have a gardener from another part of the world join our group.

[Bloomin’Chick (Jo) aka The Eclectic Spoonie]

Lára wrote: "Haí, I´m Lára and I´m obsessed with gardening for three years. I´m actually obsessed with container gardening.

I have planted aquariums (with fish that are named and over a year old), and all kin..."

Welcome to OSGS!

[Mona]

Hi! My name is Mona. Some people call me Farmer Mona. I love gardening! I live in California with my husband and 3 + 1 kids and tons of animals. Our homestead is on two and a half acres where we raise dairy goats, chickens, ducks and turkeys. We also have dogs, cats and horses. :)
I'm glad I found this group!
http://healthyhomesteading.com

[Petra X]

Hello Mona :-)

[Cheryl S.]

Hi Mona and welcome to our group. Sounds like you are one busy lady.

[Bloomin’Chick (Jo) aka The Eclectic Spoonie]

Welcome Mona!!!

[Florence (Lefty)]

Nice to meet you Mona. Great photos on your website.

[Sheila]

Welcome Mona. :o)

[jb]

Hello my name is JB. I love all things gardening; although, I am not so good at gardening. Right now I live in an apartment so little gardening going on, but I do hope to plant some herbs for the balcony. I watch YouTube videos and read books about gardening. We also had some aquatic plants for our aquarium, but recently had a bout of worms so had to get rid of those. I hope to start filling up the aquarium soon with plants.

[Cheryl S.]

Hi JB. Welcome to the group!

[Petra X]

Hi JB :-)

[Mona]

Thanks for the welcomes everyone :)

[MissJessie]

Hello JB!

[Florence (Lefty)]

jennbunny wrote: "Hello my name is JB. I love all things gardening; although, I am not so good at gardening. Right now I live in an apartment so little gardening going on, but I do hope to plant some herbs for the ..."

Very nice to meet you JB!