Dammit Murphey!

MG ... >> click here << for a little greenhouse sanity I've thought about getting one to supplement my current greenhouse, but perhaps I should put the $$$ into a heater first I would love to have a gas heater for the winter - then I could use the greenhouse all year round!

I wish it would storm here (well, except for the leak in the roof) ... I enjoy thunder and lightening. We hardly ever get a good show here - just a few wind storms and lots of drizzle

MG - my iris are in bud ... how are yours?

Oh ... btw, if you get one of those greenhouses it will require a foundation (instructions are in the assembly instructions). Personally, I like the raised foundations (you'll need to finagle the door) - you can do a 2-3 foot cinderblock or cement foundation - makes a nicer backdrop for plantings around the greenhouse and gives you more area in the greenhouse to work with (always needed). You would also want to look into getting an automatic vent opener for the 'window' in the top (charleys greenhouses has them). I am severly disturbed that this greenhouse is $1000 less than the one I bought, and about the same size Mine is a one piece fiberglass unit that doesn't require a foundation - you just dig a little trench and bury it a couple of inches. Mine is supposed to last 30 years - and the panels on the one in the link generally last from 5 to 10 years, but you can replace them as needed - my whole greenhouse will have to get tossed (by whomever owns my house at the time - hopefully I'll be retired by then!).

If you do go with a full sized greenhouse I found that reading every book/article I could find before I put a single plant into it saved me hours of headaches and $$$ in replacing the plants I probably would have killed There's also a greenhouse organization (hobby greenhouse assoc) that has a nice little magazine.

Speaking of greenhouses ... it's past time for me to get my butt in gear and start some plants! I usually do it in Jan/Feb, but it was still too cold this year. I have a couple of 'straggler' tomato plants coming back - and some flowers that I started last fall. Oh, and my sweet peas in the greenhouse are starting to bloom!

And, BJ, if you live in 90% Of the country, don't forget the county permit! They do want their cut too!
MG, don't think it is Murphy's law! I think it is simply midwest spring weather..I think someone forgot about the storms this time of year!

My last Greenhouse was in glass and though I can't say it saved me anything it sure
made me happy. I traded Geraniums and hanging baskets with neighbors for Produce
fruit and wine. When I did finally get production going Oil went up to $1.40 and I could no longer keep the crop. I did lose one crop from a fungus & another setback from fruit flies but all worked out well. I actually had too many visitors
so had to put a foot bath outside with clorine and insist people step in it before entering. Fungus from the lawn was being tracked into the greenhouse.
Also put a warning "Beware of Disturbing the Snakes" I also made a few dollars & many friends by boarding plants for vacationers,
If I deduct the cost of coffee I served in the Furnace-Break Room. who knows? Sure had some good times though.

One of my sons in the midwest has several large greenhouses on his property. He and his wife, as a hobby, grow several different herbs and sell them fresh to groceries. It is a lot of work!

Hi all. Four hours of sleep,and the greenhouses still look like a Murphey's law to me. You have to know me, he follows me around like he's gluded to my arse!!
BJ thanks for the link. I've actually been looking at putting up a greenhouse, but it's sooooo windy here we have alot of trouble. It didn't used to be, something over the last 5 years has changed in the weather. Our insurance even changed that unless you pay double, your insurance on wind damage is half coverage. We live in the wide open spaces too. So we have some "rules" for our next home.....which I've already got the plans for.... , ONE story for my sorry feet. NO neighbors close, NO snow, NO totally empty hay field lots to build on, NO crappy clay soil for my iris, NO cornfield next to the lot! Picky aren't I?
BJ where are you again? My iris are just about 6" tall. Time to spray for the dreaded iris borer. I suppose after the half inch of rain I can expect to be weeding for the next two weeks. Uggg, I have a show to get ready for in 4 weeks.WHY do I make so much for myself to do??? I wish I could sit still sometimes! I'm like you Mrs M. When I had my disc surgery and it knocked me down for 6 weeks, the kids couldn't believe I was actually not moving! They said that must be a really bad surgery if mom is sitting! Well, it was, but it drove me crazy!

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I traded Geraniums and hanging baskets with neighbors for Produce
fruit and wine.

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Hmm, wine....I think I will build a greenhouse.....sounds good!!

Mg, it is pretty serious , but I came out of it pretty rapidly. I was back to work in two weeks.
I had just had my last son a few weeks prior, so I probably didn't have too much time to rest!It has been a long, long time ago and I have never regreted having it done!

Mrs. M ... my county allows structures up to 120 sq. feet without a permit I'm wondering if I could line a few up end to end and try to tell them they're still separate structures!

MG - I'm in Seattle. We had a warm spell last week and poof! Buds!

Bj, here , you need a permit to fart!!

I am in a Shell station. A lady with 2 children and her mother just turned in front of a guy who was m a small pickup! Terrible wreck. The abulance arrived a few minutes ago. I think the kids and the lady,and mother are ok, but the guy is not. So sad.

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Bj, here , you need a permit to fart!!

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Well, that settles it, my hubby can't live there then. We'd be getting permits all the time!! LOL

MG - the beauty of the greenhouse avail in that link is that you can have it and the foundation for around $400. With that price you could skip the insurance One caveat - on some of the greenhouse lists people said they had trouble getting the door assembled. You have to follow the directions exactly Also, you'd want to have a lot of flexible caulking available for the spaces between the greenhouse and the foundation. You definately don't want a breezy greenhouse

I really think I'm going to see how much a gas heater will cost to install. I'd really like to be able to put some semi-tropical plants in there. I suppose I could rent a trenching machine and dig the trench myself ... that'd probably cut a big chunk off the cost. Tips are pretty good where I'm working, so if I pick up a few extra shifts I should be able to swing it

I suppose this is not the place to say, once again, that I live in San Diego, and that we have flowers year round, in the ground, and that the weather is beautiful, as usual. I had lovely roses from my garden on my Easter table. (Joseph's Coat climbers, one of my favorites)

Littlebit - stop taunting us!!! I have honeysuckle in the front of my house - at night during the summer I want to burrow into it and just smell it all night long!

One nice thing about Seattle .... it may not always be sunny, but things are always green!

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One nice thing about Seattle .... it may not always be sunny, but things are always green!

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Yeah, keep telling yourself that!

Actually, my place is always green, too -- and I've got the water bill to prove it! My night-blooming jasmine, morning glories, roses, mandevilla, and impatiens are doing nicely, as is my papyrus and assorted ferns and greenery.

The down side is having to mow year-round! Ah, well. It gives the kids something to do.

I spent my very early school years in Arkansas, on a clay road called Honeysuckle Lane. Arkansas to me means happy memories of extended family wrapped up in stong smells like honeysuckle, kudzu, red clay, strong coffee perking and bacon frying in the mornings, and the tang of lemon drops in Aunt Lula's cut glass candy dish. Life was sweet and simple then. It's funny how smells carry memories.

Funny .... I've been thinking about breaking out the old percolater and giving it a shot! Something about watching the coffee pop into the little glass at the top Must be that I never had one of those annoying playschool poppy things when I was little

Some things probably do not bear too much analyzing.

BJ, have you ever gone to Schreiner's Iris gardens? I order alot from there. I would love to see that all in bloom.

Mg - no, I have to stay away from them unless I want to take a loan out I will say this about schreiners - every iris I've bought from them has grown. Unlike the dahlias I've purchased (I bought one dahlia that gets 8 - 12 feet tall .... it grows but never blooms!).

Just looked outside ... one of the iris is opening! I'll take a pic tomorrow or the day after

Now we have an upgraded "Super De Luxe" message board, not only is colour never used, but no photos ever appear either. In fact I think I was the only one to actually post a photo on day1.

Come on all of you - what about a "Garden View"
theme? (OK I agree its off topic, but 90% of these discussions are off topic anyway!)

If you really want a monochrome view, you can upload B & W!

Camera, Here is a little color for you along with a"Garden View".

This is a re-run but I don't have anything to take a new picture of yet!

LOL, looking at that picture of just one of my gardens makes me think I should say ...anybody need some plants?!!! Help!

This is Naples Sugden Butterfly Gardens!

Don't get mad MG, but I did stop and look for a minute!

Jake! you silly!! You can look as long as you want! pffttt. Just bring a hoe, gloves, shovel........

Gosh, a life sentence!