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Sue Decloaks, and more

I've had my share of stumbles on the joint signature front, too.  Spouse
John shares my account, and I always sign my outgoings with my first name,
and you'd be surprised how much e-mail I get back addressed to "Janet and
John Wintermute."  So using both names is no guarantee of success either.

>Hey, Janet -- thanks for the background on the AHS tomatoes and your
>adventures with Vincas: the Next Generation. Have you continued to
>save seed from the babies of the 'Parasols' that seemed to come true
>to the F1? As I understand it, that's one of the ways to go about
>de-hybridizing a plant that you want to stabilize as an
>open-pollinated variety.

I haven't saved ANY seeds of the vincas.  They're doing all this
generational stuff under their own steam.  In point of fact, the third of
the 'Parasols' whose F2 selves looked like the parents were not an exact
copy.  They were a little smaller but still stood quite a bit taller than
the first-generation 'Peppermint Coolers' that followed them.

Thanks, Sue, for sharing the tidbit about seed-saving.  As I learn more
about open-pollinated varieties (and the new "Taylor's Guide to Heirloom
Plants" is most helpful on this matter), I will want to try dehybridizing a
few.  Another candidate for this treatment might be my favorite seed-grown
geranium, 'Orbit Salmon.'

Any Listers with experience doing this to geraniums should check in immediately.

>Anyway, I'm inspired to try more seed-saving
>from hybrid plants, and will try to keep good records of the results.

Me, too!  Recordkeeping is key to helping others get the same results, too.
My story about the vincas was all from memory, but this is not the way to
fly if you're going to make seed saving a habit.

>Might be good fodder for future winter list discussions...

Yes, we need extra things to think about.  I'm really feeling plant-deprived
now, but my crocuses have popped and should open their faces today as we're
due for 70 degrees F. in the Nation's Capital.

>Your idea for using the trusty concrete blocks as erosion-control
>planters sounds like it should work out just fine -- are you thinking
>of setting them right up next to the fence, or a distance away? If
>you set them out from the fence a couple of feet, you could put down
>some organic mulch in the area between and plant something permanent
>in there -- the best way to prevent soil from eroding is to have
>roots growing in it! Or maybe I'm not visualizing your fence and
>slope correctly .... are you talking about setting the blocks in
>parallel to the slope or perpendicular to it? In any case, let us
>know how it works out for you, OK?

My city place is at the top of the key of a block-long cul-de-sac.
Therefore, I have a pie-shaped lot--extremely narrow on the street side and
very wide on the back line.  The privacy fence stretches about 100 feet
across the backof the property, but it's only about 15 feet from and
parallel to the back of the house!  Furthermore, the kitchen, breakfast
area, and family room all look out onto this very shallow back yard.  Beyond
the privacy fence is a daycare center's big, big backyard, so at least I
don't have to look at tall buildings.  This facility changed hands last
spring for $375,000, and I had bad fears that it would be converted into a
townhouse development because the parcel would be quite suitable for that.
But so far it's still operating as a daycare place....

In view of the shallowness of the space, what I envisioned was just one
course of bocks set parallel to the privacy fence and touching it on the
blocks' back side.  Your info on roots' helping stabilize sloped soil is
absolutely correct, but I don't think I can move the cement bed any closer
to the house.  This idea has to get past my spouse first, too, so I don't
believe we'll be doing it immediately.  But it *should* work, and if I can
find more aesthetically appealing material with the same features as the
cement blocks, so much the better.

--Janet
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Janet Wintermute             jwintermute@ids2.idsonline.com
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