Um...how do I get my husband to send me flowers?

Only kidding, great thread guys!

Start picking out the ones YOU want. REAL 'spensive ones.

Trust me he'll buy ya something.

Send yourself flowers and see if he catches on! LOL!

I work part time at a Florist shops and it's amazing how many women do that...it works, sometimes.

<---- still waiting for a response!

Excellent question because I'm sure
10,000+ women are still waiting for
an answer!

I never could get my (ex) husband to
get me any flowers - I ended up buying
my OWN Rose Bushes! Geesh!

Isn't mint the best? I love easy...and it's almost TOO easy!

Ohhh, I'm going to love it here!!! Thanks for this thread, this is my passion! So so so excited, like a silly little kid!
I tell my DH, don't buy me jewelry, make-up, kitchen stuff, for my birthday....just buy me pallets of rock, dirt, & plants.

I do have one question on the dang roses....I live in the sandhills of NC. NOTHING but sand. I have planted quite a few roses, none do good. I have tried planting directly into the sand, also amending it with organic matter, all the way to opening up a 40lb bag of compost garden soil & poking holes into it at the bottom, bury the whole bag & plant in that...But the BEST roses I have are the ones I accidently left in their pot, inside a rubber container that is filled with rainwater Most the time?? Those are some "wet feet"

Why? Will this last? It's been 2 years now & plan on leaving it there as a test!

I grow in containers on vacation because the rocks there eat up any soil I put down. So I grow in containers.

Containers or at least a raised bed may help.
Not only water filters away in sand. FOOD/nutrients do too, and roses are heavy feeders! Too much nitrogen (first number) makes for bushiness and fewer flowers. Not enough phosphate slows blooms too(middle number).

I can't grow roses here because I don't have much sun.
So maybe some rose growers will show up here.

Roses are tougher than gardeners think. I have all but two of the many I've planted in 20 yrs.



Some, I've even tried to kill off, lol. They're still here.

I'd say this, if it's alive in a container, just change her soil when she goes dormant in the late fall every other year or so. When you do, look for mushy roots and trim those off if there are any.

You'll also have a chance to rid her of any pests by rinsing off the roots. You may want to give her a larger container as she gets bigger. A 5 gal paint bucket should do, or ask at a bakery if they have buckets that size. Drill a few holes and there you go.

You should see what I have stuff growing in, lol. My tropical hibiscus tree is still in that plastic 2 gallon thing it came in 2 yrs ago. I put that in an antique bucket and she's trying to bloom now, in my bird room.

growing in sand can be done. I have a front garden (pictures in my album) that is 90% sand.

One trains the roots of the plants to go DOWN so that they don't dry out so fast. I had to move some when we had the big dig up of the street last spring. I had a saponaria plant that I had to move and it was over 12 inches down!

If you sprinkle often but not water deeply every few days, the roots stay at the top and then when the sand dries out, the plant suffers.

So training does take some initial time but can pay off in very dry areas. That garden in the pics is below 100yr old oaks. And I was told by a garden "expert" that growing anything under oaks is impossible--- and I am doing it by following simple logic.
water correctly
feed appropriately
weed when necessary
have adequate light for the right plant

These are the only tricks I use. And I have failures, and just move on.

I think container gardening is the way to go for many things under certain situations. I do it up North and a little bit here.
In containers you can mix in SoilMoist granules and get up to 5 to 7 days between watering! You can use the new pelleted long acting fertilizers too..they are great for feeding. Some of the new fancy (if you have the money) containers are SELF watering now.
I like the big resin urns that Costco has now, for about $20.
I have 3 now, and they work really well and look nice (see my album pics).

Being in the Sandhills is a challenge. The weather patterns changing does not help. We just upgraded from a zone 7 to an 8....This so far has worked for me, it does sound weird, but it works. I use plastic bags, the ones from food shopping. I dig the hole much larger than needed, line with these crumpled up bags, cover with the original sand & then add compost & the plant. I'm not worried about root rot as the roots seem to find their way thru just fine. Plus less leeching of nutrients thru the sand. I have only been here for 5-6 years now so I don't know long term...But for now it seems to work.

Also on the cheap side are those heavy plastic storage containers at Walmart & such. I drill several holes in the bottom, then completely bury the container. It's not hard because it's all sand. Not a rock or pebble to be found! This is also good if you have Voles! {little, evil, hungry,monsters!}