Your All Things Plants weekly news: December 7, 2013

News from dave:

Do you use Twitter? We recently added a twitter feed for All Things Plants! Every day we post new ideas to twitter, and occasionally we will post twitter-only content, like surprise photos of highly voted plants and things like that. Add us to your follow list at @atplants.

There were 7 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By RickCorey December 7, 2013 "OP" vs "OP" "OP" means "Open Pollinated", but that term is used in two different ways. It can mean an inbred OP variety that can produce seeds that come true to its parents. Or it can mean that a specific batch or packet of seeds labeled "OP" was "openly pollinated by wind, insects or birds," without saying whether other varieties might have cross-pollinated it. (1,112 words - Read the full article) (3 comments)

By frostweed December 6, 2013 Texas Sage, Leucophyllum frutescens 'Lynn Lowrey's Dwarf Everblooming' This Texas Sage variety was discovered by Lynn Lowrey while he was on one of his road trips in search of new and different native plants. He found it by the side of the road and was astonished by its shade of color and beauty. He took a cutting to his greenhouse and propagated it so that everyone could enjoy it. (165 words - Read the full article) (18 comments)

By beckygardener December 5, 2013 Homemade Bird Bath How to make a bird bath that seems to attract birds! (454 words - Read the full article) (11 comments)

By gingin December 4, 2013 Traction in Sand Leaves and pine straw help when you're driving through sand. Use your own or get some from your neighbors for a free and environmentally friendly option. (67 words - Read the full article) (3 comments)

By mcash70 December 3, 2013 Let’s Talk About Spiders! We all know that spiders are great in the garden to help control insects, but not so great when they come inside the house. Fall is a bad time of year for this as the spiders are looking for a warm place to “hang out" for the winter. (137 words - Read the full article) (64 comments)

By Bubbles December 2, 2013 Cissus: A Miracle Plant, or a Curiosity? Cissus quadrangularis, also known as Veldt Grape, is one of the most unusual plants in my garden. I have it contained in a hanging basket, but when a piece is knocked off, it will readily root on the ground. Cissus prefers to climb and will wind its way into the tree limbs if allowed. In early fall, the plant has small insignificant white flowers and, occasionally, small red berries that are are sterile. (306 words - Read the full article) (14 comments)

By frostweed December 1, 2013 White Mistflower: What a Magnet for All Kinds of Pollinators! Just at the time when most flowering plants are going to rest for the winter, this plant explodes into gorgeous blooms that cover the entire plant. (253 words - Read the full article) (30 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Born to Run') by floota: Photo of Dahlia (Dahlia 'Sam Hopkins') by Cantillon: Photo of Hosta (Hosta 'Hanky Panky') by diggit: Photo of Dahlia (Dahlia 'Brian's Dream') by Cantillon: Photo of Iris (Iris ensata 'Blue Spritz') by pirl: Photo of Roses by jmorth:

The most popular Multi-Plant Photos from last week: Multi-plant photo by 4susiesjoy: Multi-plant photo by pirl: Multi-plant photo by meadowyck: Multi-plant photo by meadowyck: Multi-plant photo by Paul2032: Multi-plant photo by ge1836:

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:

7 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #779 by 4susiesjoy 6 people gave for a post in "Banner for December 2, 2013 by Calif_Sue" by Calif_Sue 6 people gave for the idea "White Mistflower: What a Magnet for All Kinds of Pollinators!" by frostweed 6 people gave for the idea "Homemade Bird Bath" by beckygardener 5 people gave for the idea "Cissus: A Miracle Plant, or a Curiosity?" by Bubbles 4 people gave for a post in "Banner for December 4, 2013 by Paul2032" by Paul2032 4 people gave for a post in "Banner for December 7, 2013 by rocklady" by rocklady 3 people gave for the idea "Texas Sage, Leucophyllum frutescens 'Lynn Lowrey's Dwarf Everblooming'" by frostweed 2 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #789 by meadowyck 2 people gave for the idea "Don't Rot Your Hostas" by Christine27360

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
Support for a Healthy Lifestyle- Winter	Newyorkrita	Sandbox forum	103
Blooms from seedlings	beckygardener	Daylilies forum	73
Backyard Birds ~~~ December 2013	flaflwrgrl	Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum	61
What's going on in our Winter Vegetable Gardens?	Newyorkrita	Edibles and Preserving forum	49
Eeeeeeek !!!	quietyard	Let’s Talk About Spiders!	48
Our Orchid Blooms in December 2013	Ursula	Orchids forum	36
My favorite garden tool...	frankrichards16	All Things Gardening forum	36
Palram Greenhouse and the Harbor Freight Greenhouse	ShadyGreenThumb	Greenhouses forum	30
Best performing perennials of 2013	pirl	Perennials forum	29

Some new recommendations from our members:

Angelbee recommended Tall Grass Farms and wrote: Dahlia bulbs top quality and they are very nice people to visit with.

Some numbers from last week:

• 36 new members.
• 122 new threads.
• 3,317 new posts.
• 900 new images to the plant database.
• 186 new comments in the plant database.
• 29 new Multi-Plant photos.