jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Aug 19, 2013 23:33:29 GMT -5
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 20, 2013 9:36:04 GMT -5
James, what type of plant in first photo? Sedge? Cattail? Man, you work way too hard, so much stuff to do there!
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Aug 20, 2013 10:19:19 GMT -5
That is pickerel rush(pontederia lancifolia). It's not that bad Jean. Lot of that is passive. And give me 2 days and i can pot up a lot of dollars worth of plants. Everything is steel and bulletproof. And if you can't drive a mower over it then let it grow. And if it still wants to cause trouble then i 'shoot it'=use Roundup on it. I have had orders of a couple of thousand at a time. I can dig 400-600 per hour and used to get a dollar a piece. I used to make a lot of money until the Floridians started competing and kicked my butt in the bare root arena. Sometimes digging 5000 plants in 3 days. Then sleeping 3 days. Ha, now my wrists are talking back to me. Lot of repetitve abuse. My helpers still slower than me ha. Hell,one of them is like a cage fighter and whines like a sissy. never mind Us old schoolers still rule in some ways  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2013 17:17:14 GMT -5
I do not remember when I learned this poem:
Thanks for the images. Very fun.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Aug 21, 2013 0:00:05 GMT -5
That poem is full of fakts. LOL. Hope you enjoy
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Post by Pat on Aug 21, 2013 0:58:27 GMT -5
Your office is lovely!  The work looks like fun. |
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Post by kk on Aug 21, 2013 5:19:11 GMT -5
Ha! My wife just came home with a new type of air-freshener for the drawers and clothes. Everything on the package is written in Japanese, and the picture of the flower is so dang small, we where guessing lupine, but your last picture fits perfectly with the box (flowers, leaves and all). Thanks for the timely post to solve the puzzle. At the same time, now I got someone to blame (you;for promoting that plant  ) for oversleeping the last two days (since she brought that smell into the room). |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2013 8:11:04 GMT -5
Wow, a clean dirty room. I would probably have mud up to my ankles. That four wheeled cart. What can I say? They are the absolute top of the cart chain in handy, versatile, back saving etc. etc. They will carry everything smaller than a car and I will never be without one. It would be great to visit your place but I do not think I would like to work there. You can have it Pat. lol
Jim
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2013 9:42:01 GMT -5
Your kitchen images and @wampidy remind me of an old freelance job I had. The best job ever actually. I made some extra reptile money in 1992/1993 and took a welding class. I learned the basics of welding and bought myself a MIG machine. With this I built lizard enclosures in my yard that a zoo would like to have. These seen by a friend prompted a discussion.
I had no idea what to expect. As it turned out he had thousands of vertical racks for holding flats of plants and hundreds of those carts like I see in Jim's pics. I mig'd them back into shape. I cannabalized some for parts.
Mostly I just fixed cracks and it got to the point I spent 20 hrs a week just keeping up with his everyday repairs. It was a big operation. For those of you in California. It was/is Armstrong's Nursery. He kept me busy in one capacity or another for almost three years. Then the kidlet came along and the work was interrupted. Business went on and they got another welder. 3 days absence got me replaced. I liked that job.
Thanks for bringing back that good memory.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 21, 2013 10:08:31 GMT -5
Thanks for putting that little ditty in my head, Scott. Useful, though. Wonder what other little fact crammed inside my brain will have to vacate to make room for that? |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2013 10:40:56 GMT -5
Sedges have edges And rushes are round. Grasses have nodes From their tops to the ground. Thanks for putting that little ditty in my head, Scott. Useful, though. Wonder what other little fact crammed inside my brain will have to vacate to make room for that? Well, whatever it was, is now less important! I wish I knew where I learned it.  |
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Post by helens on Aug 21, 2013 10:43:34 GMT -5
Ha! My wife just came home with a new type of air-freshener for the drawers and clothes. Everything on the package is written in Japanese, and the picture of the flower is so dang small, we where guessing lupine, but your last picture fits perfectly with the box (flowers, leaves and all). Thanks for the timely post to solve the puzzle. At the same time, now I got someone to blame (you;for promoting that plant ) for oversleeping the last two days (since she brought that smell into the room). Um... I think you're talking about Lavender:  Nothing in bog plants smells GOOD that I know of besides water lilies:P. |
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bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
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Post by bhiatt on Aug 21, 2013 14:24:27 GMT -5
looks like a bamboo waterfall you got going on. Pretty cool looking.
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Post by kk on Aug 22, 2013 0:14:09 GMT -5
Helen: Thats what we thought upon seeing the picture first, but the smell is nothing like lavender. The smell alone brought back memories from a very long time ago (soap, I think), and that what got us started searching for the ID on the picture.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Aug 22, 2013 22:29:19 GMT -5
Most bog plants do not have great scents. Lemon Bacopa (Bacopa Caoliniana) and Lizard's Tail (Saurus Cernus) have great scents. Water lilies and lotus have great scents. Especially tropical water lilies.
The worst is the truly strong cat urine smell of aquatic Iris. A great trick i play is to bring them in as a gift to different banks around Atlanta while out on deliveries. Next time i go back i mention the smell of cat urine and some figured it to be the iris and others say they were suspicious of cat urine smell last week.
Sounds like memories were aroused anyway. Glad i could finally be blamed for something Kurt.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Aug 22, 2013 22:38:09 GMT -5
One of my clients Scott Check it out When Randy JR took it over he milked it dry. I went to high school w/him. He ran a stop sign drunk and killed my neighbor/friend 40 years ago and got of scot free.
A general scum ball. Armstrong is bangup operation. Except their carts all have broken welds:> Pikes stiffed a bunch of my customers creating a ripple effect on some of my best customer's financial security.
"A bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of 15 Pike Family Nurseries retail locations to California-based Armstrong Garden Centers for $5.2 million. Meanwhile, growers on Pike's list of creditors are waiting to hear if they will receive any money owed.
The 50-year-old family business founded by William "Pete" Pike and more recently owned by Roark Capital was auctioned off in four pieces, totaling $7.9 million. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2013 22:57:42 GMT -5
My buddy ran "the growing grounds" for armstrongs. He had like 160 acres under growing ops. He had another company name to operate under and sold to every nursery in SoCal. Jim represented 60% of the profits. More than 21 retail stores combined. He was neck and neck with director of retail ops for a move into the VP spot. He got squeezed out (fired) and they closed the goring ops. Was told he took the company in the wrong direction. His response was "isn't profit the direction we want to take?" He divorced and moved to San Diego and we lost track of him after that. I miss him. He was a good friend.
He grew 5 acres of poinsettias indoors outside his office. Cheap to cultivate, grows fast, sells for a high price. He said a third of his profits were from that one grow. I wish I had pix. Five acres of poinsettias in December was pretty amazing.
They paid slow. Like 4 months behind. They paid every time. Just slow. If I do that I am a deadbeat. If they do it, it's "money management".
I don't know Randy Jr at Armstrongs. I knew Jim his boss and the dude that pushed him out.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Aug 23, 2013 7:20:17 GMT -5
It's a small world. So that is the operation that involved you in a lot of welding. The nursery business is a great group. Work ethic, play hard work hard, pay their bills. Got friends all over Atlanta from the biz.
My neighbor did a half acre of poinsettias and lived a good life. That is a very difficult to grow here due to humidity. Reserved for only the most talented.
The slow pay is typical. But most will kill to pay their bills.
Randy Pike was a scum bag and exact my age. a silver spoon up the wazoo. His Dad and family were great folks.
Funny, Pikes had a sale of their carts and the Pike rep that was in charge was all but giving away the carts to Atlanta nurseries in spite to Armstrong. Armstrong created a roar about it. I see those carts a lot
But Randy JR messed Pikes up bad. He stood charges for playing w/underage girl within past 6-7 years. Some of the Pikes still work there. They are my competitors. I am David they are Goliath. I give them
them a hard time, actually the TLC of the Mom/Pops that i sell to give them a hard time. Seasonal help is not geared for aquatics.
A lot of Pikes stuff is bought in, like Monrovia stuff from Oregon. Beautiful plants and expensive. They get their aquatics from a Dutch company that is subsidized 50% by Holland. Their plants are mostly for colder enviro. Purchasing agent is dumass. Been that way for many years. They could kick my ass but continue to buy wrong plants for the area ha.
I do sell to Pikes Wholesale and Landscape Dept. But Obamaeconomy has messed up new installs. Gotta do maintenance to make money (trim and mow) now.
Bad economy has been good sales years since people stay at home and do frugals like gardening. But this economy has gone further and people have little money.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 23, 2013 9:31:15 GMT -5
In this bad economy, you really need to have great business instincts in order to survive. Too many small business owners do not value the dedicated employees that make their companies work. They figure they can get just about anybody to replace them, and pay them less. Like shooting themselves in the foot.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2013 11:35:29 GMT -5
Well, by contract, he was by far the highest paid guy in the company. In his early days, They made a contract that gave him very low weekly pay, but a generous commission. Fast forward 12 years and he has grown his department to where his commission was mid 6 figure!
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The work looks like fun.
) for oversleeping the last two days (since she brought that smell into the room). 
