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chief cultivator (Cliff Sharples)

Member since: October 22, 2008

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Groups

Neighborhood Co-op
Talking about New Cultivars
GWA
Garden Party
Garden Photography
Garden.com Alumni
Bed to Belly
Mercer Island Urban Farm Network
Hortiholics - Mercer/East Side

Location:

Mercer island, Wa 98040

Name:

Cliff Sharples

Member since:

October 22, 2008

About me

I'm gardening obsessed... planting, designing, growing, eating, photographing, visiting, learning, reading... I love it all. So much so that I have dedicated my professional (and personal) time to building the best possible gardening site online. My motivation purely selfish: after over 18 years in the online business, I want an online home for my gardening lifestyle - everything from meeting great people who are fellow garden-lovers, reading about new and interesting ideas in gardening, accessing a plant database built by real gardeners, and managing my own gardening pursuits. When I am not gardening or thinking about gardening, I spend time with my partner in crime, Lisa, and our family of 5 children and 3 dogs! We make DigtheDirt a family business, and I hope to add you as a Dirt Family Member too!

Current project

My first raised bed vegetable gardens!! Just built three 4x4 beds and cut down three dead bamboo poles I grew to make a giant teepee for pole beans that will come out of the middle of each bed... totally psyched, but kind of nervous about seed starting... let the adventure begin :-)

Type of gardener

intermediate enthusiast, ornamental, asian-inspired, tropical

Favorite garden activity

A great fresh meal amongst family and friends in the garden

garden wall

issue?
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FigTree commented on 03/10/10
Hi Cliff, this is fun, a few people commented on my blog!! now i will have to get some nice pics together, which i should do anyway as i want the before and after shots of the garden. ( probably a 10 year time frame )

i like the unusual pots pictures, i have a "Succulents High Tea Party" i will take a picture of to show. i was about to ditch some shoes so will plant some more succulents in them instead and they can join the Tea Party.

Fun Fun from Karman
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Karman commented on 02/24/10
I love it! Can't wait to see your succulents high tea party pic!! The community is just getting going, so feel free to invite friends so we can get even more activity going!
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chief cultivator replied: on 02/24/10
I saw your photo of eggplants and I keep being told they don't grow here in Seattle... tell me what you grew and anything special I need to consider. thanks.
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K-squared commented on 02/21/10
They were actually easy! I just inserted three eggplant seedlings into my perennial bed that gets full sun... they got to be about 6-10 inches long - a little small, but they tasted great and we got 15-20 of them! Definitely doing it again!
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chief cultivator replied: on 02/21/10
hey c-

garden gossip had a question on her wall-- don't really know how to answer it. can you take a stab at the question?
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FigTree commented on 01/31/10
Yo Gardener! It got verrrrrry cold here. Just beginning to see the damage in some plants.
It's time to re-plant all over town, I'm ready to do the job ;-) Happy New Year, pencil me in for a long coffee chat in A-Town, lots going on. Tell lisa 'hi' for me...
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cajunbarry commented on 01/19/10
Wow. A living wall what a great concept/project idea. Has anyone sent you any plans or ideas yet? Quite a concept..i'm interested too, I cant get rid of these sedums here. They transplant themselves via the wind, but I think it would make a huge fascinating piece of living art..
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GardeningCas commented on 12/09/09
chief- could you upload a picture of a banana plant to my help- member to member question for me? thanks. FT
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FigTree commented on 11/06/09
That sunrise photo took my breath away and only lasted for a few fleeting minutes. Thanks for your comment.
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Thyme commented on 11/03/09
I'll be in the garden.com group...hey, did Jeannie Francis (Brassy) from the old chat days contact you? I ran into her on facebook, there is a group of garden.com alums there...I joined way back. Search on "garden.com" on facebook or try this link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=90499491687&ref=search&sid=1129140524.2936310975..1 . It is a cool idea to help gardeners migrate to digthedirt, I would think.
Barry
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cajunbarry commented on 10/02/09
Hey CB- I went there and joined- maybe I'll just talk for a while, get to know the crowd. Thanks for the info! FT
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FigTree replied: on 11/06/09
Thank for joining the cultivar group. The opportunity to test cultivars came along while I was working at a nursery. They carried mostly Proven Winners Plants which are cultivars. When I started blogging about the great results from these varieties--then PW started noticing and ask if I'd like to receive them on a regular basis. Now I've learned a bunch and get more and more excited as the new ones come out. Other companies send me plants too and I blog about them also but this is how I got started. I'm always a year ahead from what will be offered at retail.
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Flowergardengirl commented on 09/28/09
Thanks for the welcome, so glad to be here! I will do whatever you need. I can send out an e-mail to all those I still have contact with. Whit can include this site in his daily words of wisdom.

But help! I'm trying to post my photo's and the back yard project we are working on here in our new home. I can only post 1 photo at a time and some of those are turning out huge. Can you help me with this? Thanks so much.
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pacificstar commented on 09/25/09
Barry, I came in to check things out here at this site as you suggested. Then I see names I know. I've not heard what happened to Micheal? But Cliff it's good to see your name here
Happy Tue
Brassi
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brassi commented on 09/22/09
Just got the news about Michael Ezell and I can't believe it. I am saddened beyond putting words to it. Michael was the initial driving technical force of Garden.com, I am thinking of him on launch day that first day of spring when we were all at the office on 6th and Congress.
Barry
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cajunbarry commented on 09/22/09
Are you here in Austin still? We HAVE to have coffee, dude.
barry@digaustingarden.com
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cajunbarry commented on 09/22/09
Hey Cliff,
Sally here in Austin - the statesman has info on Michael Ezell.
Sorry to send info this way.
Sally
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go native commented on 09/01/09
You must check these guys out, their blog is a hoot: http://www.twogreenthumbs.com/
Also, I just finished the landscape extravaganza on a huge Lake Austin estate, pictures soon.
Barry
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cajunbarry commented on 08/25/09
I love tiny gardening! Very funny! Can't wait to see pics of your latest! Going to stay at the ranch on Wed and Thurs nights for a very quick trip to Austin... Can't wait to see progress on the court!
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chief cultivator replied: on 08/25/09
relentless...I am planting succulents as fast as I can!
Waiting for the rains of el Nino
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cajunbarry commented on 08/19/09
Where are my cat-crossing-farm Iowan friends?
I have a good friend who just passed through Seattle today and is driving to Vancouver to visit Butchart, I am so jealous.
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cajunbarry commented on 08/11/09
debilitating...
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cajunbarry commented on 08/11/09
any new pictures of gardening projects??!
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chief cultivator replied: on 08/18/09
testing
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chief cultivator replied: on 08/18/09
I started posting photos!!! I'm going to filli n my profile too :)
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SeattleCityGardner commented on 07/22/09
okay...I am officially obsessed too. Have y'all heard of the northern California group of rad gardeners called the "Hortisexuals"? It is a group of like-minded people who just can't get enough of -- plants. It is the new term for "plant geeks", ahem.
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs086/1102578452869/archive/1102597503152.html
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cajunbarry commented on 07/16/09
How does silver pony foot dichondra do for you guys in the Seattle area? I recall seeing the common green dichondra as lawns on the west coast, but I am curious about this silver variety from west Texas and Mexico, Dichondra argentea, sometimes labeled 'Silver Falls'.
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cajunbarry commented on 07/16/09
I had to change my photo -- the Donald Roller Wilson monkey was giving me the creeps. ;-)
Check out these steps on Stratford Drive. I planted them about three years ago. All sedums and all irrigated internally with tubing. They come back year after year here in Austin.
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cajunbarry commented on 07/15/09
Hey, how'd you know it was me? yukyuk
Glad to see the site up and running...I am making new garden friends already ;-)
It has been gruelingly hot here in central Texas, with low humidity (20 - 30%). Plants are going into their annual summer drought dormancy, but the tough palms, agaves, cycads and Mexican bromeliads are holding up nicely. I am very jealous of you guys in the cool and moist Pacific Northwest right now!
Sweltering in Texas
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cajunbarry commented on 07/06/09
haha - I will this weekend, I promise!
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SeattleCityGardner commented on 06/26/09
Hey TikiHead!

Did you see my pics of tulips I uploaded from the Skagit Tulip Festival this year?
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garden slug commented on 06/09/09
We've started a vegetable garden. Tomatoes, beans, squash, chives, onions. It's the first year and we're still building the soil, so next year will be the productive one.
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in the weeds commented on 06/06/09
how's the harvest going?
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chief cultivator replied: on 08/18/09
Not great. The heat has been brutal.
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in the weeds replied: on 08/18/09
I think this garden wall is going to catch on.
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in the weeds commented on 06/05/09

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