Ooops! Meant Phil- I always call him Pete.

My sister in law and her family lived for 3 years in Virginia. The first year or so they had a groundhog living under the porch, they named him Phil. :D

I agree, 6-8 more weeks of winter here in upstate NY..

I agree- don"t expect the black bears to hit anything for another 6-8 wks..Phil will take one look and say- forget this!!

I just think this is a fun thing to get us all through the Winter. Go
on Phil. even though you might not be right!

If he has a crash helmet and shovel to get through the ice-hard snow cover we have here, I give him even chances of getting out to where he can check on his shadow. Looking out the window over the puter at the snow-covered pines & watching a soft snowfall. We prolly have about 20" on the ground right now, and more coming Tue-Wed.

The groundhog is like most other prophets; it delivers its prediction and then disappears. ~Bill Vaughn

Where does the white go when the snow melts? ~Hugh Kieffer

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb

Al

Something I've wondered for years.

How do humans determine whether or not a groundhog sees his shadow???

6-weeks of winter! I predict, at the minimum, 12-weeks.

Where I live in Northeast Oklahoma just received four inches of snow, more coming Tuesday. Looks like winter will continue, YEAH! My houseplants keep me surrounded by green, a wonderful blessing.

What will Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog say? I'm sorry, I can't tell you -- my mother raised me not to use such language.

Rodden-Blessed. It's strange hearing OK got 2" of snow. Very odd weather conditions lately. Everywhere.
I heard HI got snow a couple days back..Think Sunday, when the Superbowl was on.

You mentioned a house filled with plants on another thread. Have photos? I'd love seeing your greens.

Paul, lol..cute.

So... It snows last week and yesterday we had weather so warm, I walked the dog in shorts and a t-shirt. o_0

Planto

Albany is being slammed with snow right now, and no school today here, its hard to even get anywhere

Paul,
Oklahoma actually got FOUR inches of snow Sunday night and Monday morning and then more snow on Tuesday. It's more like a true winter here than usual, which I love since it will be short lived, at least to a transplanted Northerner like me.
I'd LOVE to send some pictures but I can't find the instructions on the site for doing so. I sent out a request for the location of the instructions, but haven't gotten any response, even from the Webmaster of the site. Can anyone help?

Thank you--

Rodden-Blessed

O0ps. My last post should have been addressed to Hopefulauthor, not Paul. Sorry, Paul. But if anyone can answer my question about sending pictures, I'll be incredibly grateful.

Rodden

No prob, Rodden.

Easiest thing to do is to upload your photos to an online photo album like Photobucket, Flicker, etc. After you do so, each photo will have various links which can be used to insert your photo(s) into forum posts.

Most forums today use IMG links. HOWEVER, GW requires using the much older style HTML links. Such a link will start off with the following symbols which I have placed within the parentheses -- "". All you need to do once you have uploaded your photos to an album, is copy and paste that link into your post. The photo will then appear when you preview your post and in the actual post. Multiple photos can be inserted into the same post.

Did that make sense?

Got about 8" so far up here- that is in the shoveled areas. Looks like it is letting up a bit. The skiers and sno-mobilers will be happy. At least it isn't wet, heavy snow
Having the yard plowed now so hope not much more accumulation. The fellow that plows isn't around tomorrow or I would wait. The roads are pretty clear up here but they usually do a good job on them anyhow.
Love to see pics if you figure how to do them.

Morning,

Planto, as much as I love my dog, the walk is out. At 8:AM the outdoor thermometer read 1.3.
It's now 10.4...sure can't wear shorts here. lol.

Hey Teen...snow in Albany, too. How much accumulation did NY get this year? More than usual??

Hi Rodden. Maybe we should write to GW's admin..They're very helpful.
Do you have photos stored on Photo Bucket or Flickr?

Paul, I read your post after I responded to Rodden. As far as making sense, I can't speak for Rodden, but I have no idea what you said. lol. It's not you, it's me.
I think Flickr changed something. I WISH they'd let things be. Because of the amount of photos I have, it's not free.

I'm going to open Flickr, then re-read your post, see if I can figure out your directions.

Caro, we shovel and re-shovel. A few hours later the snow fills the walk.
The snow let up by 4pm Wed, none so far today..but temps are frigid..I'd rather have the snow to deal with. lol.

Not a single flake the entire winter here so far - but if you want rain we've got it to spare. In my town we've had 4.5 inches since the beginning of the year.

This post was edited by floral_uk on Sat, Feb 8, 14 at 9:11

Does this help, Toni?

{{gwi:74680}}

Paul, thanks, but nope, doesn't help.
My photos are stored on Flickr.

Do you have info about Flickr? :)

Paul,
I'm grateful and laughing simultaneously after reading your post, grateful for your post and laughing at how little I understand just because my brain is luddite wired. I GREATLY appreciate what you typed out, and I'll have my teenager "transcribe" it for me. She will love the challenge.
Toni suggested I contact the GW admin, which I did about a week ago, via email, but have never received a response, so Paul and Toni, consider yourselves at the top of my "helpful GW people" list.
It's about 12 degrees here, but the sun is shining on the new dusting of snow that northeast Oklahoma received this morning, and I'm LOVING it! A lot of comments about global warming are being tossed about around here and likely where you are as well.

Grateful Rodden Blessed

Rodden. I contacted GW admin about my password a few years ago.. Tamara responded immediately.
Perhaps, GW is owned by different people.
I haven't been around for months, a lot can change.

You're lucky you have a teen in the house to transcribe Paul's 'user-friendly, lol,' chart.

Temp dropped to 8.1 the past half-hour. Sheesh. My poor plants are cold.

I'll be starting dinner in a few..Italian sausage. While the oven is on, I'm going to boil water..temps increase as well as humidity.

Rodden do you save snow to water plants? Fresh snow is better and more economical than bottled water.
I was planning on collecting snow, but decided against it because of space. Lack of.

While sausage is baking, I'm going to email Flickr. Hopefully, they'll reply with readable, understandable, well, Flickr for Dummies, instructions. lol

Groundhog Beware. I've seen numerous threats to your life..From kittens to vicious pups. :)

Hopeful -lol-
Want to start a petition to keep Phil in his burrow for next year? I'm thinking of melting some snow too- why waste it?
Saw pics of all your plants when I was looking something else up and wow!! Is your greenhouse heated or does it stay warm enough on it's own? I could never keep up with that many- especially the bi-annual moving in and out thing.

Cara, to be honest, I've grabbed clean, 'clean meaning snow without dog pee-pee, lol,' placed on ferns. One fern is thick-leaf, I think it's a desert ferns. I don't recommend though..
What type of container are you going to use to save snow?

Yes, green house is heated, but not enough to grow tropicals. Well, there are a few..gingers and citrus..citrus is semi-tropical, but they do okay.
Dh dug a trench in the yard, to transfer gas to green house. Also have an electric heater.
The first or second year after green house was built, the gas went out. Too much oxygen.
37 plants died. That's the reason for the backup electric heater. We also bought a indoor/outdoor/green house thermometer/hygrometer..if temps drop below 45F, an alarm is supposed to sound..So far, thank God, it didn't happen a second time.

Yeah, I admit moving plants is not as much fun as it once was...hauling plants from the green house isn't bad..Taking plants from the house outside is! Bringing back inside is twice as much work..plus, the ANTS and SPIDERS!!! Spiders terrify me.. lol

Caro, mind if I ask the number of plants you now have? Which types? If you don't mind...Toni

Personally, if I were "Phil" and some dweeb pulled me out of my nice warm burrow just to see if I would head back inside ... I'd bite that little dweeb HARD!

The ground hog in my town is old and blind and can't see it's shadow...So maybe spring will be here sooner than what the others are saying..One can only hope!

I have no where to put this slush, snow, ice and sleet..My plants are tired and I more so...At least the sun is getting warmer and warmer..Notice it can be in the teens outside and that at noon the car is nice and warm now if the sun is out?

Mike

Paul and Toni,
I successfully sent a picture for viewing, but I sent it to a different thread, so I'm sending this picture so that you can see that with my teenager's help, I have figured out how to send a picture. A big thanks to both of you and my daughter!!
The picture enclosed is a random shot of some of my 30 office plants I am surrounded by at work. Most of them have a bit of story to them; some have more significant stories, but they have all taught me much and made my office a place I can inhabit, a place that welcomes me.

Thanks again for all your help.

Rodden Blessed

Paul, lol...so true.. Humans are meanies.

Mike, I didn't know each state has its own groundhog.

Yeah, my plants are tired, too. Some kicked the bucket for different reasons. Dry soil, too cold. Whichever will not be replaced...

Rodden you did it!!!

You're welcome, but I sure can't take credit, since I don't know how to down load. lol

Nice office, lots of room.

Your plants are doing well, they like your office, too.

Your Syngonium/Arrowhead Plant is doing fantastic. So full, compact.

Beautiful Zebra too..Wow!

What's the plant in the blue pot? Looks like African Violet, but diameter is quite wide. There are large violets, 36" diameters, but rarely seen. Toni

Great pics Rodden- isn't it funny when the kids know more then you do? Even my 5 year old GD is pretty proficient on
the puter.Your plants look great!
Hopeful- you had to make me go count them- about 59 at present and I didn't count the ones that look dead.
Kitchen- 2 Spiders/small ponytail/ 2 Aoe Vera/ mistletoe cactus/ English ivy/ hanging varigated ivy/small sans.
Bedroom- 5 catts and 2 moth orchids/ Alocasia poly/gold ming aralia/ Dragon's tongue/ 3 Avs/ a Spath/dracenea warnecki/ pilea- pink and white stripes in same pot/silver
pothos.
Laundrey area- ? Oncidium/ another catt
Living room- 2 Anthurium (pink and red)/ 3 ft Dracnea Marginata (new)/ Red Aglaonemia (new)/ Thanks. cactus/ Christmas cactus/Lipstick Twister/3 pots of semiflorens begonias/ Asparagus fern
Family room- 3 Kalanchoe B./2 Jades/ Crown of thorns/ large Sans/ 7 overwintering Geraniums/ a strange cactus thing (looks like jaws- got it to freak out GD)/ 2 overwintering pots of red Dragonwing Begonias/Mandevilla vine-sticks but putting out a tendril/
Hibiscus- well it might be dead but going to wait a bit before tossing.
Back upstairs room-coolest room- A knockout Rose that is actually leafing out.
Posting a new thread with pics about the Dracenea and
the Anglaonema.

The zebra plant has a great story. I saw it at Lowe's and it was so dry it was completely bent over and the top of the plant was touching the shelf it was sitting on. The price was $4.95--NO WAY! I wanted to rescue it but not at that price and not on an Oklahoma teacher's salary. I asked a worker if it could be marked down, and she agreed to mark it down to half price. Still, NO WAY! Then a former student came along and asked me what I'd pay for it, and I said "25 cents tops." SOLD! I brought it home, nursed it back to health and it's three times the size it used to be. It dries out very quickly and loses leaves easily, but it has done well in my office.

The blue planter has an African violet in it, another Lowe's rescue but a bit pricier at $1. It was doing well but now has developed a lot of brown spots all over the leaves. I'm not sure if it got sunburned as I'm pretty careful not to get water on the leaves, and I water from the bottom.

Toni, the Arrowhead, now named Emma, came from Walmart and was a total rescue. It looked so pathetic it looked like a dead plant. It wasn't even in a pot, so I simply picked it up and put it in my cart and took it home--no charge. And she really is beautiful now.

The rest of my office is a mess, but there are more plants, and I have three large windows, so I am blessed.

Caro, sorry you had to count your plants..lol

59 and counting, right?

You have quite a variety.

A rose? You have a rose without mites? Congrats...They ARE beautiful plants, but every time I tried over-wintering mini roses, before I knew what struck, the upper leaves were filled with webs. Spider mites.
Is it a mini, and what color are blooms?

BTW, can you post photos? I love admiring others' plants.

No, don't toss your Hibiscus. I can't tell you the numbers of times soil dried, leaves dropped, but once spring hit and of course, watered, leaves returned.
One of my Hibs is deciduous, so it's natural for leaves to fall..think it's called Confederate. Not Jasmine, it's Hibsicus.

Between soil that dries fast, and the driest air ever, plants need a drink every second day.

Are your orchids large? Flowering? I love orchids, too, but most of mine are standard Phaelenopsis. sp. 2013/14 is the first winter my Phaels didn't bloom. boo-hoo.

Could the cactus/succulent plant that looks like jaws be 1. Kalanchoe Fang or Velvet..2. Faucaria tigrina 'Tiger Jaws.'??

Rodden.. Your Zebra was a deal at .25.
Our local grocery stores sells Zebras every so often, but they're higher priced than other plants.
Has it ever bloomed?

Plants with a history are special, right?
Zebras are heavy drinkers.

We drove to the closest Lowes a few years ago.
People here find some beautiful plants at their local Lowes, but the one we went to was a disappointment. Common, overpriced plants. A very few.

Rodden, what's your AV's diameter? It looks huge. Are the brown spots embedded in the leaves or protrude? Could the spots be caused by dry air?
Hint..when you have time, and if you have a sink in your office, fill up the sink with water and 2 drops dish soap. Allow AV's to soak in water until soil is saturated. You can even keep AV in the sink, with water, half-hour or until steam is fully evaporated. I used to do this with AV's and other tropicals religiously, but don't have the energy. lol.

Emma is a beauty for sure. $0.00 is a better deal than .25. :)

Your office doesn't look messy...our back room is messy now. Sheesh. Dh knocked down a plant two days ago. I lifted plant, filled pot with fresh soil, but now I have to move plants away from windows, and sweep/vacuum soil under plant stands. Fun with plants.

Finding cuttings on floors is the best deal. I especially like succulent leaves/cuttings. I hold them in my hand at checkout so employees don't think I'm stealing..so far no one has uttered a word..

I hope 2014 summer is warmer than last year. It's so darn cold. I'm heating dinner, so the oven is on...wearing 3 shirts, and still cold. Plus the house is so dry.

Hopeful-
Pic of the cactus- gets green filaments that look like teeth on the top. Maybe you know what it is? With it is the silver pothos.
Also posted a pic of my orchid mess which will be below this post since don't want to go thru the PB rigamarole.
They are all squished together under the Aerogrow for light and warmth at night and by the window by day if not freezing for some sun. Recognize the Poly and Ming in there too?lol- They have made it so far.
I've done Phals before but Catts are pretty new to me. They are the Lowes ones. Some had names but I've lost the tags. Have to wait and see if they bloom and maybe someone on Orchid forum can tell. Have one tag says POT.Burana Beauty "Burana another two just say "Large
Dark Purple- new hybrid and Yellow Splash.
The Onc. actually might be an Epi.Green Hornet. That means the one I rotted by having it wet and by the cold window must be the one I liked.That one sent up beautiful Iris like purple flowers on its spike. Have some pieces of it in baggies that I hope will send some growth out. Oh well- I consider them learning plants at this point.

This is the Orchid mess- lol

Caro--enjoyed your pictures. I too love looking at others' plants. I can't keep an Alocasia (sp?) alive, so you are ahead of me with yours. I see you have a violet in there too.

Hopeful--yes, my zebra plant has bloomed, and it was a good-sized bloom at that. I love yellow, so needless to say, it was a gift that made me very happy. Also, I am happy to read that I am not the only one scavenging the succulent leaves and cuttings at the store. What a great source of fun--and plants!

The diameter of my AV is just shy of 12 inches. Is that large? I really don't know much about AVs. The blossoms are standing up quite high in the center--very pretty.

Yes, my office is VERY dry this winter. I have to water my plants often as they truly dry out fast, and perhaps this is contributing to the brown spots on my AV. The spots are embedded, so I will try to provide some humidity. I don't have a sink, but I could microwave some water and let it steam up the office. Would that help?

And please know that I can angle a camera to NOT show the mess in my office. Yes, it truly is a mess. Surely everyone knows that trick.

I'm truly a messy person--who loves plants!

Humidity can't be all that bad if your Zebra is doing so great!!!!
Could try a pebble tray under them maybe? Maybe someone else will have a suggestion.Only other thing I can think of would be a humidifier in room. The AV is definately large- maybe post on AV forum while it is blooming and maybe they can ID it.

Caro..

Your plant is neither of the plants I mentioned..

I can't' ID most cactus..It's possible your succulent is Euphorbia. Possibly crested.
Is it grafted?

When you say mess, do you mean mess or crowded? lol.

Your orchid with Iris-like flowers sounds beautiful. I'd love seeing that guy when blooming.

Yep, after your orchids flower, hopefully, someone on the orchid forum can ID. Jot name on the pot or stick. I write plant names and date of purchase on 5-6" plant labels, but once they go out, knocked down, they either get mixed in the mess or lost.

Let's see, 2 Orchids, 2 Amaryllis, a Ming Fern, 1 Epiphyllum, 2 African Violets and an Alocasia..Am I missing a plant or more??
Maybe I'm mis-ID'ing an Amy for an Orchid??

Rodden,

You like messy rooms, you're welcome to spend the day here. :)

I love a house filled w/plants but prefer clean...but living with messy people and messy pets, I've given up over the years. Guess I'm now messy...

Gosh, I remember scrubbing woodwork every Friday..prior to meeting dh. Like the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. lol.

Lol, nope, you're not the only one who seeks cuttings and leaves. Some of my favorite plants were started from cuttings.

Yes, an AV 12" is big..You certainly do not have a standard...Don't know which, but it's definitely Large variety.

How did your force your Zebra into bloom?

You don't have a sink, I don't have a microwave. lol.
Can water be boiled in a mw? Does it have the same affect as a burner?

If it does, then sure. Anything helps. I keep containers of water hidden behind plants..the water evaporates much faster than previous winters. Some plants are on pebbles, others, Pothos in water jars.
Run humidifiers/indoor fountain and mist, 'though I must confess, I've been lax on the latter.

For a while the air was only 11%. After reading the percentage on not one but three hygrometers, that prompted me to spray more.
Earlier I finally grouped plants in the kitchen sink..filled with water and dish soap..Increased kitchen and dining room air a bit. Oh well,, what can one do???

Advice from one messy person to another. lol

Beyond identifying in very general terms which orchids Caro has (a Phalanopsis type, an Oncidium type, et cetera), there is-- practically speaking -- zero chance on obtaining accurate/reliable IDs on her orchids even after they bloom. There are simply FAR too many look alike hybrids out there.

Now there are a couple for which identification will be fairly easy -- only because you still have tags for them, Caro.

Pot.Burana Beauty 'Burana' (single quotes not double) is a Cattleya type. Pot. = Potinara ... an artificial genus created by hybridization of members within the Laelia subtribe -- Cattleyas are one of the members of that subtribe. (I don't know if in taxonomic circles if "Potinara" is even still considered valid. Recent upheavals in taxonomy has resulted in may plants getting shuffled into different classification categories.) In any event, the flowers of that particular hybrid are yellow with a red "flare" running down the middle of the lip and the two petals. (The outer 3 "petals" are properly termed "sepals." Blame the botanists for that. heh)

The only other orchid for which you will be able to get a concrete ID is the Epi.Green Hornet ... although the "Epi" is highly doubtful as far as I know. (I'll bore you with that in a minute. ) Green Hornet, as you suspected, would be your Oncidium type orchid.

Now to mess with your head. Epi = Epidendrum. Unfortunately, referring to your Green Hornet, that genus name is definitely wrong -- at least based on current taxonomy. One of the two parents of that hybrid was once upon a time known as Encyclia (or Epidendrum ... the two genera are closely related) cochleata. Later, due to "significant" taxological differences, it was moved to Prostheca and became Prostheca cochleata. However, this was found to simply been a synonym for an earler name -- Anacheilium. By taxonomy rules, an earlier name always takes precedence. So currently, that parent is known as Anacheilium cochleatum. The other parent is also, if I am correct, an Anacheilium. Therefore the correct name for your plant is likely Anacheilium Green Hornet. And even if I am incorrect about the 2nd parent, there is still no way that Epidendrum is correct. Have a headache yet? heh

Rodden, your AV would be considered a "standard" AV. Standards -- depending upon genetics and cultural conditions -- can be up to 2ft across.

Paul,
Thanks so much for the info.I'm just learning the basic names for the different parts of the plant still.LOL Have one of the Catts.
that looks like it is trying to do something ? maybe bud. Posted pic on Orchid forum but wasn't clear enough to tell. Waiting till it gets bigger and I can get a better pic to post again. Is there an average # of leads a Catt. needs before it might blossom?
Never saw a 12" AV- maybe cause I don't put them in bigger pots?

Thanks, everyone, for your input on my AV. Until it was mentioned, I had no idea it was big for a AV. I may post a picture of it on the AV forum for an opinion about the brown spots and for a more detailed ID.

I've placed some cups of water around my office for now and will work on making it more humid. I don't like humidity myself, so the dry office feels good to me, BUT my plants rule, and I'll default to their needs ( I sound like a martyr, don't I???)

Hopeful,
No, I don't like messy rooms, but I don't like near-perfect ones either. I've been a messy person since I was a kid, so I'm simply not spending much energy trying to change what I consider to be a part of my inheritance / genetic blueprint. When people tell me they don't like houseplants because they are messy, I'm grateful for my genetics. My mess does detract from the eye appeal of some of my plants, but at least I have the plants, my cats, my daughter, and a house and office to fill up with plants. I like going to other people's homes that are messy because mine looks pretty good when I get home! I'd rather be in a messy environment with plants that a pristine one without plants any time.

Regarding my zebra plant, it bloomed on its own. After I rescued it from its near-death existence at Lowe's for 25 cents, I brought it to my office, kept it watered and talked to it every day, and a couple months later, it bloomed. I should truly take no credit, but I will. We like each other.

Rodden

Rodden,

My house is and has been messy for months..you'd think I'd get my b+++ off the computer and clean. I'll have to think about that for now.

LOL, I know what you mean about going to messy homes, feeling our place isn't as bad.
On the other hand, when I go to a house that's uncluttered, I get motivated.
Really motivated when someone 'drops' by. For instance, my sister and nieces dropped by Saturday night. Thankfully, my house wasn't too messy, but nowhere as clean as she keeps her house. Of course, her dh helps out a LOT.

I dislike people who say plants are messy, or worse, people who buy 'x' plant or BIRD to match their furniture.
The latter drives me up the wall.
I finally went off on a woman who asked me if PetsMart had a blue bird to match her couch and carpet.

Sure you should take credit for your Zebra's beautiful appearance. The poor plant was on its deathbed. You saved his life.

After your little talk, Zebra thanked you by producing blooms.

â¢Posted by caro123
Is there an average # of leads a Catt. needs before it might blossom?

No, not really. There are a host of factors that come into play. With some catts, it is possible to get a bloom with 3-5 pbs -- assuming we're talking starting from seedling stage. But both the plant's genetics and the growing conditions are determining factors. You could have a massive 60 pb catt and have zero blooms if growing conditions are poor -- for instance, if one was growing said plant in heavy shade. (Typically with catts, the most common reason for not blooming is insufficient light, but other factors can be issues as well.)

The actual size of the pbs can be a rough gauge -- but only if you know how large mature pbs should be for a particular hybrid or species that is of blooming size.