Well, I'm a novice :) In the past, my thumb has been more brown than green. I'm looking to change all that, with the goal of planting my first vegetable garden this coming spring. We bought a house not too long ago, and have a ton of lawn space for a garden. So I've started experimenting with growing herbs from seed in my window sills, and planting some cool-season leafy greens.... I'd like to expand on my knowledge and skills over the next couple months so that I'm prepared for a strong start on my outdoor garden!

What's your green thumb story? Any tricks up your sleeve? Please share!

hm... I don't have a green thumb either... more Blue? :)

I definitely want to have a veggie garden too!  I take most of my tips from my avid gardener of a mother!   I'm excited to get some ideas off here too!

I love planting flowers .... haven't ventured any farther than that ... but Im hoping to learn a lot from this group!  :)

Yay!! Somebodies joined me!!! :)

I just bought a Leslie Ann Camelia today at Lowe's. Can't wait to plant it in our backyard and see if it will bloom through the winter like it's supposed to! It has white flowers with slight pink tinges :) Today I noticed that my lettuces are sprouting! I can't wait the full 45 days (on average) until they're ready to eat! If they make it that far, I'll be so proud of myself!

Mrs.KC - get your mommy on here to give us some schoolin'!!! ;) Are you growing anything right now? I know it's probably coooooollllld where you are!

Niecy - what kind of flowers do you garden? I'd like to try my hand at some winter bulbs like Amaryllis and see how it works out...

I'll have her (mommy) give som advice soon.  For now we're all prepping for winter.  There are leaves everywhere!   They're gorgeous, but I pain to rake up!!  At our new house we have no trees yet, so all is good!  The people who lived there before us planted a lot of lilies, tulips and small shrubs.  We planted some spiral trees on either side of the garage and pine tree on the side.  Next spring we plan to transplant a lot of plants from my mom's and then get a pink/red blooming tree for out front.  :)

Oh, that will be beautiful! I'm excited to get some words of wisdom from your mom :) MIL and my mom both have green thumbs, so I'm working on picking their brains. MIL gave me one of her Gardener's Supply catalogs and now I want to try EVERYTHING in it! lol

I planted 5 crape myrtle shrubs along our fence line in August, and they've done ok (some better than others). They have soft papery fuschia flowers and they bloom throughout the summer, so they're the perfect Florida plant. You can prune them at certain times of the year to train them to form either a tree or a shrub. I want them to end up as trees :)

I a big flower and plant person! I have ivy and house plants all throughout the house and I have 16 rose bushes in my backyard that I baby, along with some bottle brush and hibiscus. I just planted 2 young hydrangeas in my front yard and I'm hoping they will be happy there. My house faces east and west in VERY hot Houston so they may not bloom like I'm hoping but we'll see. In a new post I will attached some links to my favorite online plant sites for those who are interested.

Awesome! Thanks jc! And welcome!

I am originally from Russia and almost every Russian has a dacha :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha#Dacha_farming

A house or just a plot of ground outside of a city, where you go a few times a week and garden all kinds of produce you need. It is like a national sport. It is our baseball, seriously! 

So I've been watching my grandma and all other family members do it while growing up. And I had my share of child slavery weeding stuff and taking care of all kinds of things in a garden:)

Although it is a lot of work, I would love to be able to have my own produce. I have an herb garden in my back yard for now, but I want to expand to growing veggies.

The main problem for me - we are trying to be as green as possible, and I have no idea how to grow stuff without spraying plants so bugs don't eat them. I buy organic fertilizer. That is my extend. But I don't know what to do so my peach tree does not get bacteria or how to keep leaves of my plants for myself, not bugs. I don't see all that without chemicals. Bugs are a real problem and when I was growing up, we would just buy some specifically designed chemicals to spray stuff and compost for fertilizing. 

And another problem - I still have not figured out the seasons in CA :) It is much different in Russia and I am still a little lost when it is the time to plant certain things. 

I hope to get some knowledge from you, ladies!

let's just say i have no experience whatsoever.  i am learning now!  hoping this group will help to steer me in the right direction! :)