Hey there everyone!

[Patrick M]

It's nice to meet everyone! My name is Patrick and I'm somewhat a rookie gardener. I'm on my second year gardening and really enjoying the resources available here on the forums! I just wanted to introduce myself and I hope to conversate more with you all.

 

[Ian]

Hi Patrick, welcome to the forums . You've come to the right place for some help and advice!

 

[Patrick M]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[Beth_B]

Hi Patrick! Whereabouts in the US do you live?

 

[Patrick M]

I live in south east Texas about 20 miles east of Houston and about 40 west of the gulf coast. How about yourself?

 

[Beth_B]

That's some pretty country, as I recall!
I'm in mid-Michigan. We had (hopefully) our last frost yesterday morning and I was out at daybreak planting annuals.

 

[Patrick M]

Yes it can be very pretty, the past few years the littering has got much worse though and that really kills the beauty.

I would personally love to live in Michigan, the weather there is great! Do ya'll get very long warm seasons there? Here in Texas, our last frost is usually done by the middle of winter lol. Thate when we know the extreme heat is not far behind!

 

[Beth_B]

If you enjoy four distinct seasons, Michigan is lovely. Thankfully we do not get the extreme heat you have in Texas; I would hate that! Many people don't know that Michigan is a big agricultural producing state - cherries, asparagus and corn are huge. Michigan second-only to California for asparagus production. We have a fairly short growing season though - Memorial day through late September for home gardens, frost-to-frost. So four months, give or take a few weeks. And we can get a lot of rain, which is great for lots of lush greenery (the joke is we don't tan in summer, we rust LOL) but still enough sun to grow a great garden.

Do you know your hardiness zone? Helpful when selecting plants and perennials.
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

 

[Patrick M]

According to that map my Hardiness zone is 9a. Last year I wasted plenty of time and money on plants that just did not produce like I would have really hoped. I had planted some tomatos, Beefsteak and super sweet 100's. The Beefsteak did not even produce anything until late fall despite being over 7 feet tall and completely covered with blooms. Even after it produced I got maybe 5 or 6 decent size tomatos.

The super 100's thrived and produced steadily before and aftee the heat of the summer all the way until mid-winter. Cucumbers and zucchini got killed off by borers, and my herbs did pretty well until my dog noticed a snake near them and went chasing it and trampling my herbs in the process lol.

This year however I did a lot more research and optimizing my small garden area so hopefully will be a better year !

 

[zigs]

Welcome to Gardening Forums

 

[Sheal]

Welcome to the forums Patrick.

 

[Becky]

Great to have you here, Patrick! Welcome aboard

 

[tbendl]

Welcome Patrick, I'm not too far from you.

 

[DeborahJane]

It's nice to meet everyone! My name is Patrick and I'm somewhat a rookie gardener. I'm on my second year gardening and really enjoying the resources available here on the forums! I just wanted to introduce myself and I hope to conversate more with you all.

Hi Patrick. I'm Deb from Downunder. It is fascinating to hear the trials and tribulations of gardeners around the world. We may have very different conditions under which we garden but what we all have in common is our passion. Welcome