Yearly Archives: 2006

Hmmm… Can I Make Money Growing Plants?

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I fell asleep right after dinner while watching TV and woke up so early (4:30am), so I’m doing some computer work, until I can get back to sleep and wake up (6:30am) for work.

Yesterday, one of my best friend (who is just started his garden design business in Reno last year) left me a message on my mobile phone and had a thought. He said that if and when I got my new house, maybe I can grow some plants for him, and he can use these in his garden design business or sell it at the farmers market. I thought this was a great idea, but I have no clue when it comes to business, so some questions came to mind:

1. Do I need to get a business license, or can I do this just as a side business and make extra money?
2. Can I grow plants and sell them myself at a local farmers market or online, like on Craig’s List?
3. Is there a demand for plants grown by just regular gardeners?
4. What plants are sought after in Reno? One that comes to mind are Ornamental Grasses.
5. What Ornamental Grasses are popular?
6. Where should I get seeds or young plants for cheap?

See how my mind works?

( Also posted in Gardening )

Wish List: Heucheras + Heucherellas

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I just saw some on the TV show “Ask DIY Gardening”

– Heuchera ‘Peach Flambe’ ( photo )
– Heuchera ‘Amber Waves’ ( photo )
– Heuchera ‘Lime Ricky’ ( photo )
– Heuchera villosa ‘Caramel’ ( photo ) ( photo )
– Heuchera ‘Venus’ ( photo )
– Heucherella ‘Stoplight’ ( photo ) ( photo )

Wish List: Ladybird Poppy (Papaver commutatum)

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I just saw Ladybird Poppy (Papaver commutatum) growing in Willow, Alaska on the show Smart Gardening.

Here’s a photo I found online: ( link )

More Seeds, Books and Videos

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I finally got my seeds from Amishland Heirloom Seeds in the mail. One of the bags had a hole, so I lost some of the Strawberry Spinach

I also return the past videos and got some new ones:
– YardWorks! Planting & Growth
– Morris Video Garden * Lawn Series: Pruning
– Rebecca’s Garden Volume 1 – Basic Gardening
– Rebecca’s Garden Volume 6 – Summer in the Garden

Along with these books:
– Ortho Books: All About Pruning by Judy Lowe
– Pruning and Grafting by Oliver E. Allen and the Editors of Time-Life Books

My Brother’s Find

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I tell ya, my brother is a pack rat, but he is good at finding deals. These were damaged goods on a pallet, that he bought at Home Depot. All of this for under $11.

– 1 bag Cocoa Magic Mulch
– 2 big bags of Ground Bark
– 8 big bags of Potting Soil
– 1 bag of Top Soil

My Brother's Find   My Brother's Find

(Unknown) Weeds Weeds Weeds

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Today at my Grandma’s house, I saw these weeds:

This unknown weed has dandelion-like flowers, but the plant stands upright
Unknown Weed at My Grandma's
[Added Jan. 23, 2006] This is Senecio vulgaris (Groundsel). Thanks to Seoras64 on flickr for the ID.

Unknown Weed at My Grandma's
[Added Jan. 23, 2006] This is Erodium cicutarium (Red-stemmed Filaree). Thanks to mschmidt62 on flickr for the ID. Also in the photo is a tiny Anagallis arvensis (Scarlet Pimpernel).

I also saw this weed a few days ago on Broadway Street (San Francisco). I really like the texture on its leaves. Anyone know what this is?

Unknown Weed
[Added Jan. 23, 2006] This is Urtica dioica (Stinging Nettle). Thanks to urtica on flickr for the ID.

Daffodils + Guava + Magnolia

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I had a busy weekend and I’m so tired. This morning my Mom and I went to my Grandma’s (and Uncle and Aunties) where I helped paint their picket fence and garage.

Before we left, I took these shots.

Our Magnolia is blooming
Magnolia

Emerging Daffodils (not the ones my brother just bought, but the ones we’ve had growing in our front yard)
Emerging Daffodils

The Guavas are getting bigger. Hopefully we can harvest them soon
White Tropic Guava

Scions + Grafting + 2 New Bulbs/Tubers…

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Today I had a great gardening-related day.

I drove over to San Francisco for the California Rare Fruit Grower’s 2006 Golden Gate Chapter Scion Exchange.

When I first went in, I was so overwhelmed by the number of bags of scions (cuttings). This was my first time at any gardening function like this and I didn’t know quite what to do… so I told the woman at the door that I’ve never been to anything like this and I asked what do people here.

She explained that you basically go through the tables of bags filled with scions and if you see something you like, take 1 or 2. Then take some tape and label your scion with the name that was on the bag. They had so many varieties of different fruit trees, like apples, pears, asian pears, peaches, asian and european plums, nectarines, pluots, figs, pomegranate, kiwi, grapes, mulberries, persimmons and more.

Their were many group members who were happy to answer your questions. One of they said that even if I didn’t know how to graft trees, there were some scions that can be rooted like the figs, kiwis and pomegranate. At 1pm the had a grafting demonstration, which was very informative. There’s nothing like actually seeing someone do it up close.

I made a flickr set ( link ) with some photos from the event. Clicking many of the photos below will link you there.

In total I got about 25 varieties of fruit scions:

A list of the varieties of scions I got