TVC, I LOVE gardening catalogs. There's nothing more relaxing than sitting on cold winter's night and shuffling through those pages of gorgeous flowers.

Jawjaw, I didn't know either. Hmmm. I really didn't know that. I thought they were one and the same.

Avalon, you're just north of me in PA. We're in this together.

Dots
I planted tulip bulbs yesterday -- The small yellow turkish ones. I'd bought them from a girl who was doing a fundraiser for school and she delivered them at the end of November. I was way to busy to plant them. A lot of the ground is frozen, but there was a spot where the ground was sofrt so that's where they went.

Hey you guyyyyyysssss!!!

I just bought a sweet potato and a yam to start plants for the house. I wasn't sure which one has the lime green leaves, so decided to plant both. One of them has a kind of purplish cast to the leaves, and is the pointy kind of leaf. This I know because, last year, I planted one , but now I can't remember which. LOL. I'm such a gardener wanna be. As JJ knows, every year, I pour through those beautiful catalogues (and I get them from everywhere, in the mail. They think I know what I'm doing, because I actually spend money I don't have on them!) And every year , I go out and plant and plant and plant. Everything looks so beautiful. Til' it hits 80 degrees. Then, because I might have to sweat, and be HOT, I can't stand it. Back in the door I go.

Is there anywhere to garden where it doesn't get above 80? Well, really, 75? Actually, 70 sounds nice............

DJ, what are turkish tulips? Are they the ones that barely look like tulips, but are short and have a blossom that spreads out? Super pretty?

So maybe I'm just a spring and fall gardener. That would work , wouldn't it?

Winter is our green season, because we get some rain and the weather is pleasant. I call it our alleged rainy season, because some years we don't get much. Last year it was too rainy and my beautiful cactus crashed. Never freezes here, so you can plant almost anything in the fall and winter. Summer is hot and drought dry and everything dies and is brown. In the summer, all I can do is water and hope that my plants don't die.

If we get a little more rain, the hills may go from brown to green. Right now my jade bush is in full bloom and the aloes are growing their flower stalk.

Yes it is true, yams and sweet potatoes are two completely different animals but you really don't have to worry about it because for cooking they can be used as one and the same.

I planted regular perrenial tulips last month. Mine are red and pink. I'm told they don't do as well here in the south as they did in NY because it doesn't get cold enough for them in the winter but I love tulips and decided to give them a chance. I planted them extra deep. Now I can't wait until spring to see how they turn out.

I'm going to transplant my sweet potatoe vines outside once it gets warm enough too!

They're animals? I thought they were vegatables. Now I'm really confused.

Dotsie, you're a hoot.

And then there are all sorts of varieties of yams and sweet potatoes so if you're trying to find the one with the lime green leaves that they sell in garden centers in the summer, you might not get it from a regular store bought variety.

Searcher, actually tulips originated in the Turkey part of the world, so these do look a lot like tulips! But they're only 6-8" tall, unlike the Darwin hybrids which are the most commonly known. Tulips all have six petals and all look like each other when the leaves are spread wide open.

TVC15 Check with a professional, but I believe you can 'force' your bulbs for a showier display by storing them for several weeks in the refrigerator so they get that exposure to cold they need to really get going.

Thanks starting over but that would mean I'd have to dig them up again!
My sweet potato vine has green leaves that have purple veins. Really pretty! (Came from the grocery store)

[ December 30, 2005, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: TVC15 ]

I have over 30 different kinds of plants in my breakfast room. It is surrounded with glass doors and a big sky light so it's perfect for plants. It helps me keep my gardening connection until Spring arrives and I can marvel at the sea of yellow and various colors of daffodils that I have all around our yard.

I also like to visit nurseries at this time of the year to check out any new species of house plants I'd like to try. I admit I do have a green thumb.