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TR’s Garden Club

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Reading the Friday Yuk gave me the idea to start what I’m calling TR’s Garden Club. You can see how it started here: (scroll down) http://preview.tinyurl.com/yq7uda

Some of you may be wondering WTF but I think having a discussion where we can post pix of garden-related stuff is a good idea seeing as those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are moving into Spring and Summer and, chances are, we’ll be turning our attention outdoors to our yards and gardens.

Currently my yard and gardens are a mess. A BIG mess. Half my yard is under six inches of water. It’s the worst flooding in 29 years worth of memory. If it hadn’t flooded I’d soon be planting flowers and plants in a garden box I made last year and doing other much-needed yardwork when it warms. Since we are flooded I changed plans and am finally going to focus on working in our long-neglected rose garden.

Here’s what you have to do to belong to TR’s Garden Club. Participate with anything other than a flame. Flames will be graded for original content and/or ignored.

This is a chance for everyone to put that digital camera to some use. Take pix of a growing project and post ’em here. For those of you who don’t have a garden post pix of your favorite houseplants. For those of you who have neither consider getting started with a plant or post pix of the first flowers you see this Spring. Or post pix and commentary of whatever floats your boat.

I’m going to put serious effort into keeping the tone of this discussion light. Y’all feel free to laugh at my effed up garden. That’s fine. I know it’s not too long and it’ll look much better. It won’t turn this place into Shangri-La but it’ll make it just a little bit nicer outside.

Before we get started I want to say that I’m po’ folk so don’t expect to see me putting in fountains and ponds and whatnot. I’m going to focus on growing nice flowers. If they look cool and I’m not over-run with weeds I’ll figure I’m successful. Now, if you want to see something horrendous, take a look at this:

Seriously, you gotta be humble to post a picture like that. That is what I see out my back window. I hate the way it looks so I’m going to fix it as soon as the weather allows. Right now there’s a blanket of leaves covering the roses so they’ll survive the winter. I’m going to tear out the fence, rake it all out, weed out everything that’s not a rose and mulch the entire thing for weed-control.

Surely if I can post my gardening nightmare you can post yours.

Why not do this, if you’ve never grown anything, grab some seeds, throw ’em in a pot with some soil and take pix of what grows. It’s been my experience that growing something (homegrown?) excuse me , growing something relieves some of the stress in my life and God knows we all need a stress reliever.

What’s any of this have to do with IT? Nothing. That’s the point. Gardening/growing plants is supposed to be relaxing. Why not take a small break from the stress of your job in IT and become a Garden Club participant.

Further, I’ll bet that no one has pix of a garden in worse condition than mine. Dead people have better looking gardens.

Post your pix or just check back to see if this discussion died on the vine. (I got a million of ’em.)

Topic

Boxfiddler – Thanks for posting that picture in the Yuk

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

Questions: How far back should I trim my rosebushes and when should I trim them? I know I can look it all up but what’s been your experience?

Prune them savagely they’ll love you for it

In reply to Boxfiddler – Thanks for posting that picture in the Yuk

But what’s the white stuff covering the ground? Pollution? Can’t be snow as I’ve never seen it but I’ve been told about it by some guy who I didn’t believe Solid Water falling from the sky it’s not possible. 😀

When I was repairing a Rose Garden that had been left to it’s own devices for 15 years or more I cut them down quite savagely and only left a small amount of new Wood on the plant. The Roses sprang to life and grew wonderfully. They still needed a lot of cutting back as I was being cautious and not wanting to kill them too fast so they had a lot of Stringy wood at the base and I eventually cut this back to almost ground level and left any newer shoots to grow. Took a couple of years to get right but they looked really good when I had finished. Just remember if you don’t have Prostrate Roses remember to only cut them back to where the Trunk starts to branch. Cutting the trunk back isn’t such a good idea. 😀

OK I’m in even if I only will have photos of Tabasco plants to take for a while to come.

Col

Yep ’tis snow oh Southern One

In reply to Prune them savagely they’ll love you for it

Thank God we didn’t get the heavy stiff. That went further East. With any luck at all we’ve seen the last of it.

I know my wife cut them back in the Fall so maybe I’ll be good this Spring. I don’t like trimming back plants but I know it has to be done. I’ll give them a fearless cutting back at the end of this years growing season and just not worry about it. Rather, I’ll try not to.

Speaking of trimming, one of the things I’ve tried my hand at was the art of growing Bonsai trees. I became interested in that when I saw some of the trees grown by one of the city tree trimmers where I used to live, My tree died. I still would like to get into doing that but I’ve enough other projects to keep me busy all Summer. Besides, I hate having plants die because I don’t trim them right. Must be a secret to it. Be the tree.

I might grow peppers again this year. Good idea. I like just growing them. Last year we had some weird purple ones that I never got a chance to taste. We’ve got a lot of ground Habaneros from peppers that my son-in-laws Father grew. The place was almost like it had been pepper-sprayed when I had them in the dehydrator. I can make some spicy jerky!

While I never actually tried a Bonsai

In reply to Yep ’tis snow oh Southern One

I know enough that if you really need to torture a living
thing, this is the way to go…

BAsically, just keep it alive and twist it, tie it, cut it, and add
weights to it until it is the desired shape, then keep it up.

I bought a book on Bonsai and must’ve missed the part about twisting it

In reply to While I never actually tried a Bonsai

I must’ve missed a whole bunch because as I said, mine died. I think Bonsai trees are awesome. They’re incredibly expensive for good ones probably because they have to grow for years to be worth looking at.

Years ago we went up to Hartwick Pines in Michigan. http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/nlp/59Hartwick/index.htm

There were a lot of Pines and other trees which barely come up to your thigh that were over a hundred years old, according to the State guide. They stay that short because the deer eat the tops off down to the snow level. Kind of odd to think of something that small that’s going to outlive me.

Well maintained Bonsai trees can reach 300 years old. I think it would be cool to pass something like that down thru the generations of our family. I might try growing one again but not this year.

You trim roses

In reply to Boxfiddler – Thanks for posting that picture in the Yuk

down to the last ‘five leaf’ – above the last leaf with 5 leaflets while they are growing.

do this immediately after the bloom wilts and it will bloom again.

For dormant trimming better see a rose site.

if you have aphids you can release ladybugs. (I’m having a debate with my wife, I’m sure there must be some MAN bugs somewhere and they don’t like being called Ladybugs, darn-it!

She doesn’t like to watch Andrew Zimmerman eat the bugs either, which I find totally fascinating.

Do virtual gardens count? We live in a small pad with just a couple hundred plants, so we go out to gardens on weekends and take pix of botanical shows and gardens. For privacy I won’t mention my site here but

I’m fighting off robots from scraping my content as the 859,793rd most popular site on the web. (not as good as my other site which is close to the 275,634th most popular site on the web 🙂

Whew!

In reply to You trim roses

A couple hundred plants? That must be awesome. Pix, pix, we need pix! Just one would be cool.

Please send me a link to your websites via peermail. I won’t hurt ’em. Promise.

My biggest problem with bugs is having Japanese Beetles. I live in a rural area and last year there were soybeans in the field behind the barn you see in the picture. This year it will be corn and the beans will be across the road. Japanese Beetles LOVE soybeans so mostly they stay off of my stuff but I did have some nice lace-work on some leaves. That was kind of fascinating by itself but all in all I’d rather be without the beetles. Not going to happen. Any tips to protect the roses?

Japanese Beetles…

In reply to Whew!

I use the product below every other Spring. Man this stuff works so well it amazes me. It also gets rid of ‘June bugs’ and flea larvae and a number of other pests whose larvae live in the ground until it’s time to emerge and wreak havoc. LOVE THIS STUFF!

http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=5000

edit to add: these little critters will continue multiplying and spreading to other yards and/or fields in search of grubs to munch for their lifespan. Meaning of course that they may eventually make their way to the problematic soybean field and help you and the bean farmer immensely over time.

I havent actually tried this product before

In reply to Japanese Beetles…

cause I thought it was mostly for lawns, and I never really had one.
This year though, I will likely try it out if the lawn survives that it :^0

for lawns…

In reply to I havent actually tried this product before

the front lawn is the least well-kept of my yard. I couldn’t care less about grass. I am working on replacing the grass with Creeping Charlie. Every year I plant another 2 or 3 spots with ‘Charlie’ and just keep hoping it will eventually take over. No more mowing! And once I have some more large trees in the front, I’m going to get serious about fern gardening.

I rarely do much in the front yard

In reply to for lawns…

but I erally like to get the back yard looking good, for my own enjoyment I guess (and visitors).
People that go too far out of the way on the front yard I think are just trying to show off a bit…

As for the nematodes, hmmm, does Malathion kill them?? That is what I got this year for bug control (and Sevin-5 powder).
I guess I will find out..

Nematodes…

In reply to for lawns…

I don’t know what kills nematodes. I don’t use any chemicals so… Chemicals take out the good guys, too.

I use botanicals – rotenone, pyrethrin, hand-picking and squishing, and things like beneficial nematodes to control larvae.

‘MAN bugs’…

In reply to You trim roses

There are Army bugs and Assassin bugs! 😉

And what about the killer of killers, the

In reply to ‘MAN bugs’…

Praying MANtis

And SPIDERS!!!! and Scorpions!!

In reply to And what about the killer of killers, the

just calling a flower by its common name (SPider Lily for example) is enuf to turn off my wife!

Plus palm grubs (tastes like fried eggs in ‘bush tucker’)

or Octopuses (I’ve learned not to call them ‘Octopussy’ despite a james bond movie by that name)

She dislikes them all. too bad as they are some of the coolest stuff on the planet.

and that ambypigilid I think is called, kind of a cross between scorpion and spider, from Egypt.

I think teethy, bitey & crawly things stabilize biosphere, possibly the whole universe! 🙂

Those are the things in my yard that get sprayed

In reply to And SPIDERS!!!! and Scorpions!!

to death…

Well, I havent dealt with scorps yet (wait, isnt that a band?

Spider lilies – among my favs…

In reply to And SPIDERS!!!! and Scorpions!!

I have some reds. Lotta folks round this neck of the woods don’t know what they are!

I get very cool garden spiders – wolf spiders, marbled orb weavers, and some green, yellow and black spider that I don’t know the name of. I keep them as long as they stay in the garden…

Very cool critters…

In reply to And what about the killer of killers, the

I somehow managed to get a young one in the house one year. It was black with white spots. I didn’t know that the young were colored that way until I found that one on the bathroom mirror and went hunting info on the mantids.

I have the browns and the greens. They can sit for hours on end without moving. You’d think they were dead.

Yep, very cool critters.

I got some a few years ago to try to control

In reply to Very cool critters…

bugs. I was transforming the hothouse into the shade house when they started coming out of the egg. hundreds of em, and they just kind of sprawled out all over.
a few of them started climbing all over me — kinda weird.

That partcular one is a climber that I never mess with.

In reply to Boxfiddler – Thanks for posting that picture in the Yuk

I have a couple other roses (they are not my forte) that I cut back hard in the early spring. They get about 5 – 6 feet tall by the end of the summer. I don’t have any pics, but will take some when the time comes.

Minor tidbit – with the exception of some annuals, azaleas, rhododendrons, and cannas (which the hummers just love) if it isn’t fragrant I don’t grow it!

Thanks to you for getting the TRGC going! I am currently hunting down pics and posting to photobucket for just this club! 😀

edit: I have just recently added more roses to my yard. The one I posted was given to me many years ago by my sister and is quite maintenance free due to it’s climber status. The new additions are mostly healthy, but I am still learning about how to keep them happy.

edit again: Thanks Dr. Dij and HAL for the pruning advice. 🙂

Just asked my wife

In reply to That partcular one is a climber that I never mess with.

We’ve got a couple of climbing roses as you might suspect from the trellis that’s falling over. About all I ever did with the rose garden was marvel at the flowers.

I’m going to have to look at all of the rose branches and try to determine if I need to cut back or not. I’m pretty much a noob at this. Do you put anything on the cut ends or just cut ’em and leave ’em?

I don’t trim the climber at all…

In reply to Just asked my wife

just the ‘tea roses’ I think they’re called. And no, I don’t put anything on the cut ends.

I planted that climber about 8 years ago, and with the exception of a couple of organic feeds, never mess with it except to cut flowers to bring in. Every now and then I collect all the fading flowers and make my own rosewater.

Gotta ask or look it up

In reply to I don’t trim the climber at all…

How do you make rosewater and what’s it good for? Even though our garden looks like crap we get a LOT of blossoms. It’d be kind of cool to do something with them when they start to fade out. I never even thought about it before now.

Making rosewater…

In reply to Gotta ask or look it up

I use mineral water from Hot Springs AR (we have a place there and so drag lots of it home to drink and use in coffee, tea, and well… rosewater).
Boil the water to a hard boil. Turn off the heat, dump a mess of rose petals in the water. Steep overnight, strain.
Beyond the fact that it smells good, rosewater is reputed to be good for skin and hair, as well as help relieve dandruff and its’ associated itch. It’s also kind of a nice face spritzer on hot days! I think it really is helpful for hair and skin as when I run out the OH gripes for a fresh batch (being the one with itchy dandruff).

The climber has abundant flowers, so I can collect lots of petals from just beginning to fade flowers. You’re really supposed to use fresher petals, but I can’t bring myself to pluck the new flowers.

Rose hips (the bud/pod like thing left behind after the petals fall) are high in vitamin C. But I haven’t played much with rose hips. It’s another thing on my ‘list’.

edit to add the afterthought: As I make such huge batches I refrigerate what is not in use. It keeps pretty well. I still have a couple bottles from 2 years ago and they smell good and appear to still be working on OH’s head.

Re [i]if it isn’t fragrant I don’t grow it![/i]

In reply to That partcular one is a climber that I never mess with.

How dare you [b][i][u]Davette.[/b][/i][/u] Smelly things are not a reason to grow anything though they do provide an excuse for the Criminals to come into the Yard as they where [b]Just Smelling the Roses.[/b] :p

How about this for a Fragrance try growing a Nepenthes anything. The Tropical Pitcher Plant they look, marvelous particularly some of the Hybrids but you never let em flower if you have any brains. Well the first one maybe just to find out why you are told this you let one flower till the first flower on the spike opens and then you cut it off and burn it somewhere far far far away. These things attract Insects like there is no tomorrow but the smell is another thing completely like Rotting Meat. But the Ants love it. If you want to allow these to flower place them in a well ventilated space away for where you want to work as the smell will overpower you and the neighbors will be calling the Police reporting the Rotting Dead Person/Cat/Dog next door. :^0

These are something that you never grow for the fragrance but for the looks. :p

As for the trees that you mentioned just make sure that you don’t plant them within Striking Distance of the house. Trees make a very big mess when they fall over and if the house is in the road you need to start looking for another place to live while the Contractors rebuild your old house with a new one and pull down all the trees that are too Close. Also if you live in a Fire Area you need to keep Trees a long way away from the dwelling as they can spread the fire much better than anything else. They also set fire to the Leaves that they drop on your Roof and this all ends up in the guttering which causes the house and all it’s contents to disappear. Not good for tomorrows cloths that you wanted to wear or your Insurance Premiums either. 🙁

Col

Too late on the trees Hal…

In reply to Re [i]if it isn’t fragrant I don’t grow it![/i]

The previous owner put in oaks and sweetgum – about 50 years ago. The oaks are humongous and could take out the neighbors across the street if they fell that way. The sweetgum that is furthest from the house could take out the house if it fell right… We also have mimosa – gorgeous things those in bloom.

But I added redbud, silver-leaf maple,and would like to have dogwood.

Pitcher plant – ummm no. I get enough grief from some of the neighbors now. And I’m not sure I would want that fragrance wafting through the house. I’m a bit picky about that.

Davette

Wow, in Nooby… Pal..

In reply to That partcular one is a climber that I never mess with.

not only are the residents on drugs, but the plants also, LOL.

Can you please tell me how to get some!!!

Actually…

In reply to Wow, in Nooby… Pal..

it comes from never growing up and spending too much time playing in the dirt! 😉

So you’re a dud gardener

In reply to Actually…

or just liked company of mum and dad, but never really took any notice of what they were trying to teach you!

So share YOUR expertise with us

In reply to So you’re a dud gardener

I’m a dud all the way around. No doubt I could benefit from your enlightenment.

For original content I give your post a 1 on the 1 to 10 scale with 1 being lowest. Surely you can do better than that. Further posts may be ignored and your membership revoked. :^0

I prefer to restrict my creative activity

In reply to So share YOUR expertise with us

to the lawn, when it come to gardening I just do as I’m told.

Which reminds me that I must get the aerator out again.

Plenty of lawn,gardens,edges and trees to mow around and after virtually no rain for 7 weeks decided to feritise on New Years Eve as we had showers and more forecast.

Ended up with 551mm (nearly 22″) in Jan-Feb.

So reasonably busy, nearly a whole day to do the edges and the lawn, then have to clean up the paths and paved areas.

Self-deleting post…

In reply to So share YOUR expertise with us

becuase I shouldn’t have been so petty. My apologies to all who may have read it.

edit: I’ll behave from now on, OTR.

CC- I’ll let you two box

In reply to So share YOUR expertise with us

ComputerCookie, I didn’t see anything malicious in your latest post. Far from it. I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. I understand boxfiddler’s response and hope you can too. After all you did draw first blood and it wasn’t cool to do that but as I said, that’s in the past. Today is a new day so I’m moving on. Both of you do what you want. Everybody isn’t going to always get along but if you can refrain from trying to kill each other I’d appreciate it.

Moving on: Back when I was working everyday I had several work-friends that were into picture perfect lawns. I think that has some merit myself. I know what they were trying to accomplish; thick, lush grass with a good base and not a trace of weeds.

That doesn’t make them Yard Nazis. They wouldn’t freak out when someone else had a “different” yard. They’d just talk about it and see if they could pick up any tips like maybe how best to get rid of grubs or patch a bare spot.

The guys and couples who cared about lawns were mostly young, well paid, upwardly mobile individuals. The older, more established and relaxed people carried more of a “who cares about grass” attitude.

I no longer want a so-called “great” lawn. My priorities have changed. I’d much rather be closer to nature. It’s more rewarding to me personally.

Post some pix. I’d like to see ’em. Maybe you’ve got enough tips and tricks to be our TRGC lawn care expert. I hope you don’t become a Yard Nazi. If you do I’ll just ignore you.

As always, feel free to do whatever you want to do. I’m not the boss here. I just remember what Tigger asks, “what kind of world do you want?” I’m for peace. I’m not the only one.
Like I’ve said before:”It’s Friday! Way past time for world peace.” Are you in?

Never mind.

In reply to So you’re a dud gardener

Never mind.

reposting it here…

In reply to Boxfiddler – Thanks for posting that picture in the Yuk

http://tinyurl.com/28vaw4

I see you are gonna force me

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

to pull out the camera… Ok, Ok. Most of the plants are
not in the best shape right now due to cold/wetter than
they prefer, however I will snap a few shots sometime by
this weekend.

Right now there is a huge bare spot as well, and the rows
are mostly empty (I moved in in Oct. and havent filled it
up yet). However I have a few plans (on budget) and just
planted some seeds.

The huge bare spot, I tilled 2 weeks ago and last Sat. I
mixed in a truckload of compost and spread some lawn
seeds out. So it should look good in the near future.

I don’t feel so bad now about how my backyard looks at the moment!

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

I solarized it last year to get rid of verticillim wilt which I acquired when growing heirloom tomatoes a couple of years ago, a second nasty little soil problem I brought home with some plants from greenhouse, and any eggs and larvae that can’t take the heat. The plastic is still on the ground and waiting for me to clean up and prep for this year’s garden.

I leave a few ‘weeds’ hanging about the edges to keep the wildlife happy, as I garden for it too! I love to sit in the evening and watch the birds as they hop from place to place, peck at the seeds they love, and play in the baths I have scattered about for them and the bugs.

Just one of the bird/bug baths that is around. That is a catbird in it…

edit: obviously this is a pic from last summer. lemon balm in the right fore-ground, coleus and impatiens peeking from behind the plastic spinning daisy (those things do work to drive away the burrowers and tunnelers, believe it or not).

Oh schizoid one… re: slugs and snails.

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

I have sweetgum trees that spit bazillions of sticky balls every year. I use the sticky balls to mulch the things that the snails and slugs love because they won’t cross those balls due to being soft bodied and getting all carved to pieces when they try. When I do strawberries, they get almost all the sticky balls.
Crushed eggshells work too, and they add calcium to the ground in the process.

Edited out because

In reply to Oh schizoid one… re: slugs and snails.

I didn’t know what was going on and my post looked stoopid since it wasn’t referring to moi. I thought it was in reference to my saying I was going to take a break and whatever but I finally got it all figured out. Makes you wonder what I’ll do for my next trick huh?

Sorry to have mislead you! ;)

In reply to Edited out because

.

Davette have you never thought of Companion Planting?

In reply to Oh schizoid one… re: slugs and snails.

This is where you plant something close or around what you want to protect from the nasties like Slugs & Snails to stop then crossing the line that you have drawn in the sand.

I have a very old Companion Planting Book written somewhere around 1836 that tells me to grow Indian Hemp around Strawberries and the like to stop the Snails & Slugs getting to them. Not quite sure how it works either the Snails & Slugs get stoned off their tiny little skulls and keep munching on the Cannabis or after they have had their fill they crawl away so that they can lay on their backs watching the sky. 😀

When you harvest the Hemp you can turn it into Rope so it’s a useful plant to have. Well that’s what the book says at least. :^0

Col

You mean like garlic around roses…

In reply to Davette have you never thought of Companion Planting?

to help keep the pests away?

Nope. Never thought of it… 😉

But I really liked the idea of

In reply to You mean like garlic around roses…

Indian Hemp grown around things to protect them.

The Wifes Tobacco would benefit from this I assume but I’m not quite sure how the police would take to it. 😀

But as it’s in a Book it must be right shouldn’t it? :0

Col ]:)

Hmmm…

In reply to But I really liked the idea of

There’s been a few times I’ve thought that you HAD some Indian Hemp around ya’. :^0

No disrespect intended Sir!

Now lets see shall we? :^0 :D :^0 :D

In reply to Hmmm…

I’m not the normal type as I asked the Curator of the Botanical Gardens here if I could grow some Concrete Seeds to replace all that problem area that needed constant attention like mowing. I’m not sure that he really believed me as he saw my plants and really thought that I was into Gardening. Poor boy then came out to my home and found leaking Racing Motors parked on the ground killing everything in site and the day that he came over I was pruning some Trees with a Chainsaw to the ground. I don’t think that he ever understood why I grew Carnivorous Plants and didn’t like anything else that was green though. But on the up side he remembers me even after 25 years so I must have left a impression on him. Maybe it was all the plants that I donated to the Garden when I left for up north. 😀

Col

I rather like that idea too…

In reply to But I really liked the idea of

but my neighbors are too close and one of them is a dreaded YARD NAZI. Before I became a suburbanite, I planted hemp with corn. Worked out rather nicely, I might add. 😉

Well then maybe a suggestion as to what to plant with this

In reply to I rather like that idea too…

To stop the Grass Hoppers eating it out too quickly.

OH I’ve added a few more Photos but no good ones just some Happy Snaps to Photobucket. Who needs flowers when you have Pitchers to look at all year round?

Col

Rumor has it that grasshoppers…

In reply to Well then maybe a suggestion as to what to plant with this

don’t like cilantro. Come to think of it, I don’t find them in the lemon balm either.

I only have a window box

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

So I’ll just post some wildflower pictures as spring progresses and the flowers change. These were out on the chalk Downs last weekend. They are tiny and I have NO IDEA what they are! I will, however, try and find out.

Looks like viola to me

In reply to I only have a window box

except the ones that I grew (like weeds) had yellow inner
leaves. But the shape and color look very similar.

You may be right

In reply to Looks like viola to me

It seems that there around many different species of Viola on the Chalk Downs – some very early.

😀

They’re violas

In reply to I only have a window box

Pansy-esque and also come in a variety that have “faces” like
pansys do. They are my favourite wildflower.

Thanks, Tig!

In reply to They’re violas

I reckon you’re right. I checked up after Boxfiddler posted and it would seem that there are lots of different species. The ones that I photographed on Saturday were tiny.

Spring had started early here but has sort of stalled with gales coming off the Atlantic on alternate days – common enough at this time of year.

Just for being helpful, I don’t know if you’ve enough bandwidth but here’s a nice site for you to see what’s happening over here. Best webcams I’ve seen so far.

http://www.itvlocal.com/meridian/live/

The Newcastle cam is where Gadget comes from, the London cam is about a half mile from my office (but doesn’t seem to be working today) and the Brighton cam will let you see the weather where my boat is moored.

😀

Great link, Neil!

In reply to Thanks, Tig!

I’m celebrating my yearly end-of-winter slump. There is still
much snow on the ground and no sign that will change any
time soon. The good news is that we have been above
freezing for the most part. Seeing real, currently growing,
anything is good for my soul.

I’m getting itchy to get out walking again! First fund raiser is
the end of the month. Then it begins!

Hmmm. Double post so I’ll find another pic!

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

These were out in the hedgerows. Now I DO know that these are Primroses and they are generally one of the first signs of Spring over here.

Very pretty!

In reply to Hmmm. Double post so I’ll find another pic!

I’m rather partial to the blues when it comes to the flower kingdom. They do look viola-ish, as Scummy noted. But I don’t know much about wildflowers. I will be interested to see more wildflowers from across the pond!

Well….

In reply to Very pretty!

my reply is now totally incoherent as you changed the pic! lol I like the new one too. Beautiful yellow there.

Sorry BF, but I changed the picture

In reply to Very pretty!

I got the infamous Double Post so I just replaced the violets with a picture of some primroses that I took on the same day.

Neil 🙂

Now everyone thinks you are colour-blind!

Good idea Ropes

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

I can post some pictures of what 2 acres of unraked leaves look like after they’ve been snowed and rained upon for 4 or 5 months. It’ll make you want to pick up that rake.

I think this is a great idea. I’m in. I’m gonna have lots of gardening nightmares, I can assure you.

AV

Hi AV – We’re waiting :D

In reply to Good idea Ropes

I couldn’t get all of the leaves mulched from my trees before the snow hit. On top of that the “kids” had to move back home during a thaw so I’ve got tire ruts and foot-paths to the barns that need filling and reseeding.

I should break down and buy a yard roller because I have to run my lawn mower at about half speed as it’s hard to hold on. I normally have to drive with just one hand because the steering wheel jerks back and forth against my bad wrist making me say a bunch of nasty things right out loud.

We only have one acre here so we don’t have as much of a chore as you do but timing is everything. Three and four years ago our yard was dry late in the Fall season and I got everything mulched up nicely. Not so the last two years.

I mow our leaves instead of raking them. The mower chops them up fine enough they all but disappear into the “grass”. I say “grass” because I have a lot of clover and every lawn weed you can name. I don’t care. If it’s green I call it grass.

I imagine that some Garden Clubs would look down their noses at lawn care but since we’re all friends here at TR :^0 we can accept anything. I’d actually like to see some primo lawns and I’m sure there are folks here who have excellent lawn care advice. Maybe we can even gather a few Yard Nazi’s to provide input. They always fascinate me.

I know of people who spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars annually to make their yards “the best yard in the neighborhood”. I feel like I’m providing a service to my neighbors. They don’t have to work too hard to make their yards look better than mine.

My closest neighbors are blue collar types. It amazes me that they’ll work hard all day then come home and try hard to have a great lawn. I like mine better with it’s flowering clover and whatever. It’s more natural and not as much work. I’ve been known to stop mowing until the honeybees and bumblebees move out of the way because I like them and in the evolutionary scheme of things I think they were here before I was.

Weird huh? Peace and harmony. :^0 God knows we could use a little of it. 😐

Waiting for your pix. They’re liable to make me jealous.

Noooooooooo! No Yard Nazis! No, please for…

In reply to Hi AV – We’re waiting :D

heaven’s sake NOOOOO.
I prostrate myself at your feet begging you to deny membership to any and ALL YARD NAZIS!!! 😀

Caps: emphasis not yelling.

Oh c’mon :0

In reply to Noooooooooo! No Yard Nazis! No, please for…

If nothing else they’re good for their entertainment value. Gotta’ kill the last dandelions and clover don’t ya’ know? I think that’s funny.

I hate to see anyone feel so strongly about Yard Nazis that they have to beg so let this post serve as notice that we now forbid them. So there.

I love the dandelions…

In reply to Oh c’mon :0

they’re among the first to bloom round here and help to get the bees buzzing. And I always think about Ray Bradbury’s “Dandelion Wine” when I see ‘Mr. Anal’ out spraying for dandelions. I had some dandelion wine once, and it was quite nice!

The one across the street is enough for me…

edit typo

I like dandelions too.

In reply to I love the dandelions…

I’ve seen at least 3 different kinds of bees all feeding on my dandelions, flowers and clover at the same time. You ever lay down in a dandelion/clover/myrtle patch, kicked back and watching the clouds roll by? I do that. The bees are LOUD little hummers when you’re down at their level. :^0 They seem to have better things to do then sting me. I generally just let them land on me and walk about and try not to pinch them accidentally.

Some types of bumblebees are facing extinction so I go out of my way to let them live. Outside. Anything that gets into the house is fair game.

Ropes… I got to tell ya…

In reply to I like dandelions too.

You’ve got the right philosophy… You’re probably one of the sanest people here. IHMO. I can picture you doing that too. (…wouldn’t work for me though, somebody would see me, and call an ambulance, thinking I finally Died :0 ) -d

Good Eat’n they are.

In reply to I love the dandelions…

The Greens are really good to eat. washed and cold in a salad, or cooked like spinich, with a little butter, salt, pepper, a sliver of bacon… :^0 yum-yum. I like the wine too. 🙂 … got me through Grade School. :0 :^0 weeeeeeeeeeeeee. -d

I have heard that they are good eating…

In reply to Good Eat’n they are.

but never tried them yet. I have also heard that dandelion ‘milk’ (the latex from the broken stems and roots) is good for removing warts! Don’t know about that either. 😀

Don’t know about Warts.

In reply to Good Eat’n they are.

But I do know it don’t work on wanabe ex’s. I tried that once. Didn’t do the job. :^0 -d

My sisters old Boy-fiend now Brother in law

In reply to I love the dandelions…

Used to have a herb farm and I just couldn’t believe the number of Dandelions that got sold there. The same people who would dig out the ones in the lawn would buy them in and grow them in pots because they paid for them.

Go figure that one.

Only saving grace that he has is that he used to own a Drag Fiat Bambaino he’s sold it a long time ago. 😀

Col

“old Boy-fiend”!!! :D

In reply to My sisters old Boy-fiend now Brother in law

Now that is rich Hal, just rich.

I actually quite like him Davette

In reply to My sisters old Boy-fiend now Brother in law

But when I first meet him he was going around all the neighbors and digging out the Dandelions and selling them on. 😀

The neighbors where happy as they got their lawns cleaned up with no cost. The Bambino was more than a bit of a worry though. :p

Something that I’ve never seen anything at all like the little thing with it’s 500 CC motor and big Slicks hanging out the sides with the Expansion Chamber poking through the Boot Lid. Certainly looked different if nothing else. But I did have to ask just how he got away with using the old worn out tires as Elevated Potting containers in a Organic Herb Farm. Just didn’t ring quite true to me that one. :^0

Not quite sure what he makes of me though as whenever anything breaks his kids scream out Quick Call Uncle Col to fix it. The guy does Car Air-Con well he used to before my sister talked him into attending Uni to do Engineering for Robotics. So he’s not in a position of not being able to fix what the kids break. 😀

Col

Because people dont know better…

In reply to My sisters old Boy-fiend now Brother in law

They see it in the yard and think ‘weed — kill it’

I think I mentioned this previously (but maybe not) that I was reading somewhere that dandilions are considered an herb in Europe, but a weed in the US…

I’ve been sick :(

In reply to Hi AV – We’re waiting :D

I haven’t been able to get outside. I have some kind of flu-like thing.

I promise you will not be jealous Ropes, if anything, you will feel extreme pity for me at the condition of my moss and leaf laden lawn. We are going to try your mow them over method this year.

I know I p*ss-off every Yard Nazi in the neighborhood because my philosophy is to leave anything thats green. I love dandelions, too. Some people just live to mow their lawn. Sad, really.

I’d rather leave it natural like you do so that its attractive to nature. There are so few places anymore that are that way. I’m doing my part for the environment and having a great time relaxing in the process. :^0

I promise I will post some pictures soon when I get a little better.

AV

Whenever you’re feeling better. We have no deadlines here!

In reply to I’ve been sick :(

Mow them over works great if they’re crispy dry. You might have to mow them two or three times at an angle each time but it sure beats raking them. I think it’s good for the soil too.

I haven’t talked to a Yard Nazi for some time. We don’t have many around here. My neighbors all keep there yards “nicer” than I do mine but they don’t care what I do. I have pretty cool neighbors for the most part. They’re entertaining, working and sweating over their grass, while I’m watching them with all of my dandelions popped up. :^0 I have way too much fun with that.

Take care of yourself and get better. We started TR’s Garden Club – Part 2 you’ll see down near the bottom of this discussion. We’ll likely be “meeting” for a while yet. 😀

Sorry to hear that you are feeling poorly…

In reply to I’ve been sick :(

Get Well Soon!

I’ll try

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

The problem in my yard is more neglect than anything else; I am a very minimalist gardener. (Long story) Accordingly, I think my hardest gardening task is going to be going outside into that absolutely wonderful summer heat and humidity.

Pix tomorrow.

That sounds like a good environment for

In reply to I’ll try

Succulents gardening — Agave/Cacti, etc..

That would be nice…

In reply to That sounds like a good environment for

…but I also have dogs. A Lab in particular. Need I say more?

Basically, once I can get rid of the stumps and lumps, the back yard (fenced for the dogs) is lawn. My front yard is about 50% shaded by a live oak. I’m looking for a zone 7/8-suited ground cover that likes shade.

Creeping Charlie…

In reply to That would be nice…

aka Moneywort might just suit you. It’s very low to the ground, tight-knit, and gets teeny but brilliant yellow flowers in the summer. Is happy in the shade.

http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/plants/wildflower/moneywort.html

edit to add link and aka. A number of problem plants are also called creeping charlie.

Looking at my calendar

In reply to I’ll try

Yesterday just came and went like nobodies business didn’t it? 🙂

I ought to take more pix of my yard. The water was so high this year that it killed off two evergreen bushes at the front of the house. They’re everbrown now which doesn’t bother me but my wife wants them out so they’ve got to go. She wants to put Day Lilies in there so I’ll probably be doing that too. She works so much she doesn’t have a lot of free time. And, she’s the boss so whatever she wants I do my best to make sure she’s happy. I’m pretty sure that’s normal.

I was looking forward to Nick’s Pix. As noted previously, I really don’t get out much. 😀

Timeline updated

In reply to Looking at my calendar

Calls and projects. In Savannah ( :0 ) tonight. Pix by whenever I can get’em.

Wow Snow….

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

maybe I ought to post palm trees….

Do it

In reply to Wow Snow….

Long time since I’ve seen personal pix of palm trees.

Sorry sweetie

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

I will read with interest and maybe even post what we
snap on training walks, but I am not allowed to plant
outdoors and shouldn’t plant anything indoors unless I
intend it to be a cat snack.

Fortunately, I get six months of training so I get to see
what other people are doing with their gardens. That can
be very cool. What we especially enjoy is watching the
birds with their various chicks and lings. Because we live
in a place with a lot of open water, we have geese and
ducks and myriad other birds that will be raising families
soon.

I will be very happy to see other people’s pics!

This year I’m going to be especially vigilant

In reply to Sorry sweetie

and take a picture for posting here of the very first outdoors flower I see even if it’s a dandelion. My Mother got me started looking for the first flowers of Spring when I was just a little shlt. She’d give me a nickel for the first dandelion I saw that I brought home. That’s back when a nickel actually bought something. That’s way back huh? :0 Not that you’d remember that. I figure you might’ve heard stories. 😀

you can walk in my backyard

In reply to This year I’m going to be especially vigilant

any time of the year and something is flowering.
However, mid-late spring has the most going on.

Never heard the stories

In reply to This year I’m going to be especially vigilant

But I have personal recall of penny candy and the value of a
nickel.

I feel old. 🙁

Is winter EVER going to leave the Midwest???

It can go anytime now

In reply to Never heard the stories

We’ve got high temps forecast in the high 30’s and 40’s. Chance of rain too. Just what we need. 🙁

cat snack

In reply to Sorry sweetie

well, you can go with a smal area of cat grass, they will like it. Also, might think about trying catnip.. They will love it and it’ll likely be all over the house.

Or

grow some cacti, they stay pretty well away from it after the first few times of pouncing…. :^0

You know, I grew catnip for awhile…

In reply to cat snack

but in addition to the fact that it attracted ALL the neighborhood cats – pets and feral – it turned my sweet Mr. Hopper into a freaking monster. That stuff is like meth for cats!

edit: w2techman is right – defintely meth not junk

Fresh nip

In reply to You know, I grew catnip for awhile…

I will let the girls have a pinch of nip occasionally. But
only the dry nip. I try to keep the fresh stuff away from
them as the fresh is quite a lot stronger.

If you are careful, it can be grown outside but you have to
avoid bruising the leaves as that releases the smell. And
you have to be aware that it will travel like any other mint
does. The best way to grow it is to sink a pot in the
ground and check every couple of years to make sure that
it hasn’t escaped.

The current kitty masters…

In reply to Fresh nip

get a bit of dried nip now and then and they are none the worse for it. Whenever 1 of a pair of socks bites the dust, I use the other sock for a catnip toy. Knot the toe end, add some catnip, knot the calf end. Ollie – the big meanie – gets ridiculous with it and when he catches Heidi trying to play with it he pounces her and drives her away! Big bully. So I get little catnip mice for her. And they are her favorite toy with the exception of feet under the covers! 😉

LOL

In reply to You know, I grew catnip for awhile…

my sister has a few cats, so I planted a cat garden in her back yard. We put chicken wire around it for over a month (to let everything take hold).
It took less than a week for it to be all mangled up and the catnip to be down to the stem. The cats were just racing around the yard like they were on meth.

Ok, I added some photos

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

onto photobucket

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/techman03/

including the reverse spiral Aloe polyphylla’s. I will post more coming up. But like I said, things are going to change a bit later through the year. And right now, some of these look bad but in a few months should look great.

Edited to add: I will get some better photo’s later, right now I just grabbed some yard shots.

Very cool.

In reply to Ok, I added some photos

I have been curious for awhile about your cacti and succulents. It’s nice to see some pics of what you grow!

I used to have about 10 times what I have now.

In reply to Very cool.

however starting up the nursery took a dive and then there was the fire, move, etc.. In each event I canned hundreds of plants (mostly 2-3 yr. olds).

After working in the yard this weekend I plan on taking some pics of individuals, and some that are in flower.

No Palm Trees!!!

In reply to Ok, I added some photos

your in Palo Alto there’s gotta be palm trees around….

Actually, PA is where I work

In reply to No Palm Trees!!!

I am a little S. of there. But, yes, there are Palm trees around. In fact my cross da street neighbor has a large Travellers palm out front.
In the pots there are what is left of my palms/etc.. I ditched most of them when I thought I was moving to a place without much yard space (apartment) cause they take up too much space.

I’ll go out tomorrow with the trusty Minolta

In reply to Actually, PA is where I work

snap some pictures… of So Cal where it never rains or snows…but the traffic is horrible.

Never??

In reply to I’ll go out tomorrow with the trusty Minolta

last year it snowed in the hills around there did it not?

While I have never actually travelled to LA (in memory at least)(I was there when I was like 6 or something I am told) I have been all over the desert a bit east of you quite a few times. I may make a trip to the Huntington this year (been trying to do it for several years now) for the cacti/succulent show. If I do go, I’ll be cruising through L.A. for a short while.

As for traffic, isnt that what automatic weapons were designed for??? :^0 oops, that is drive by’s.
ok, grenades?

Side yard picture

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

This is what my side yard looks like this morning facing South. Partway up there’s a square around the clothesline pole. That’s a planter box that is 6″ above ground level. I’m waiting for warmer temps to see how much of the ice is going to melt and run off into the ditch in front of the house. Hopefully I won’t have to pump it dry but I’m ready to do that if I have to. Nice huh? Skating anyone?

The view South from my front yard.

In reply to Side yard picture

You can see that we live in what I call the boonies. Last year they put corn in that field. This year it’ll be soybeans with corn to the North of us. I guess corn is hard on the soil and takes out a lot of nutrients so they alternate crops. There might be another reason but that’s the only one I know. I don’t farm.

When I went out early this morning there was a rooster crowing at a farm to the right of this picture. Not something you’ll hear in the city. 😀 Oftentimes you can leave home for a trip into town and you have to slow down so the chickens will get out of the road. Several people have them, chickens, geese and Guinea Hens.

It’s 35mph past my house but people seem to think it’s a racetrack. They stand a fair chance of plowing right into a small herd sheep that sometimes get loose. IMO-People that don’t pay attention to rural speed limit signs are stoopid.

These are some seed heads – Edited

In reply to The view South from my front yard.

Because the plants are odd looking I saved these in my barn last year so I can get the seeds out and plant them this year. I have no idea what they are but I like how they look. They’re very light and fragile so the wouldn’t hold up in a dried flower arrangement unless you have a good, traffic free spot for it. I don’t.

Edit: Shows how much I know. Those aren’t seed pods at all. They’re just dried up flowers. :^0 Here I thought I was going to be able to plant them. I just trashed one head completely thinking I was going to find seeds. Not even! I made room on the mantle for the one that’s left. Here’s what it looks like close up. I think it’s worth keeping.

My only cactus

In reply to These are some seed heads – Edited

I’m going to have to learn the names of my plants. 😀 My cactus is getting re-potted this Spring. I’m going to put it in a low, wide dish with another cactus that I’ll buy. I’m not sure what kind of soil to use. I’m guessing potting soil with maybe some sand mixed in. Of course I can look it up but whaddaya’ think I ought to do Scummy one? Soil, sand and small gravel? High drainage? How do you know when to water cactus?

Sad looking Jade plant

In reply to My only cactus

She looks rough. She’s in front of a South facing window but I think she needs a grow-light on her for the Winter months. I have two of them, 1000 watts each. Next year I may put one in that room on a timer.

At my old house I used X-10 technology on my computer. I was all wired for remote control. That was fun. I did it on an old Windows 3.1 box. I don’t have the software or proper pc interface to do that again so I’ll just get a socket timer though come to think of it one of my grow lights has a built-in timer. If I just run it for a couple of hours at a time I’m sure that’ll help.

Jade is getting repotted this Spring, that’s some old dirt in there. Finding the right-sized pot, cheap isn’t going to be easy. I need something with a dish under it. I always seem to overdo the watering bit.

I also have some jade plant cuttings that are going into the same pot. First time around growing Jade plant cuttings.

First indoor flower of the year

In reply to Sad looking Jade plant

You just know I’m repotting this sad looking thing. I hope the flower isn’t her last gasp.

I’ll have to ask my wife what it is.

I have several other plants. A few of them are doing pretty good but they aren’t project plants. When it warms up I’ll post pictures of my successes. Right now they’re not in good places for taking pix. I’ll have them outside as soon as the weather permits it.

over here……

In reply to First indoor flower of the year

that’s called a Christmas Cactus….

We get them in full flower around December.

Used to have one; cats ate it/dug it out/nibbled….oh well, the joys of Catdom!

Thanks for finally putting up a photo of something I actually knew the name of!

:p

GG

yes, ok, more later, just being busy right this second!

looks like either a

In reply to First indoor flower of the year

christmas cactus or easter cactus (I always get them mixed up). Anyway, although this plant likes water, the soil should not be ‘wet’. Keep it moist (dont let it dry out completely like most cactus), but dont water it like a houseplant either.

Here’s a close-up of my Whatever Cactus

In reply to First indoor flower of the year

Awesome!

In reply to First indoor flower of the year

that flower looks really healthy. Maybe I need to pick up one of those plants. I never really got one before, I just recognise the basic structure of the plant.

That would be a Christmas Cactus

In reply to First indoor flower of the year

My Mom used to have one that was HUGE. It was in a 15″ pot and hung to the gound on all sides of a 30-inch high table set in a north-facing bay window. When she re-arranged the house, it took three of us to move it.

Just got email from my wife

In reply to First indoor flower of the year

She says it’s a Christmas Cactus too so must be that’s it. Everybody agrees. 😀

We’ve got another, bigger one that’s doing better. I’ll see if there’s room for this one in the pot next to it, if not they’ll both go into another one. I think the plant in the picture will do better in different soil. I’ll take my razor knife to the dead leaves too. I have pretty good luck with trimming.

First indoor flower of the year…

In reply to First indoor flower of the year

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/FLOWERS/Photo87-1.jpg

Amaryllis, along with tips of my aloe veras.

edit: fix the pic…

OTR, those are seed heads for some kind of allium…

In reply to These are some seed heads – Edited

The seeds are very teeny and it looks by this pic as though there are seeds in there – approximately 3 per flowerette.

Also re: beans and crop rotation. Beans fix nitrogen in the soil and that is one reason folks rotate crops with beans. Clover is also good for fixing nitrogen.

edit: extraneous words

I leaped up

In reply to OTR, those are seed heads for some kind of allium…

and rescued the seed pods out of the trash. They must be tiny seeds. The only things I thought might be seeds were off-white in color. I’ll plant the whole pods and see what happens.

The flowers should look something like this…

In reply to I leaped up

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/FLOWERS/P5030033.jpg

edit: pic too large, change link

your yard needs stilts :^0

In reply to Side yard picture

sorry, had to say it..
huge yard ma’an.

I knew we were going to have trouble with water

In reply to your yard needs stilts :^0

It was so wet late last year that an American Bittern lived here for a few days. They usually
like swamps and marshes. 😀

Here’s a picture of it sitting on a corner of my planter box:

Thanks for that one…

In reply to I knew we were going to have trouble with water

It’s hard to get good bird pics. The least little sound or movement startles them. I have been working on bird pics for about 3 years, and still have troubles getting close enough.

Huh [i]It’s hard to get good bird pics[/i]

In reply to Thanks for that one…

You must be joking here the Wife has a Adult Magpie walk in the back door and screech at her for food for the baby.

I walked outside and one started to dive bomb me before it realized who I was and then proceeded to indulge in Aerial Acrobatics to avoid upsetting me.

When in the yard doing anything they will sit on the branch of a tree and supervise me working. I have a very vivid memory of the same birds perched on a branch 12 inches from where I was cutting it off with a petrol Chain Saw waiting for me to finish the cut to dive down and gorge themselves on whatever fell out of the tree.

Not sure about other places but here the birds are piratically tame and unless a stranger walks out of the house they just stand there and look waiting to be feed. If you don’t have any food they then squawk till you feed them 🙁

We had a Sulfur Crested Cookie fly into the house the other day and just parch on top of the fridge squawking for food. [b]SWMBO[/b] walked up to it scratched it head and then opened the fridge and got something out for it and it walked behind her till she got outside to feed it. And it’s not even a Escaped one it’s as wild as they come with the neighbors.

Col

What a hoot! :D

In reply to Huh [i]It’s hard to get good bird pics[/i]

.

Tame birds

In reply to Huh [i]It’s hard to get good bird pics[/i]

Last year while training we walked past a house that had a
sprinkler going and a flock of geese taking a shower in
the spray. A woman came out during the bath and all the
geese walked up to her- she feeds them and they know it.

While up north, we pulled into a camp site and started to
unload. A pair of Whisky Jacks hopped into a nearby tree
and watched us intently. I pulled out a piece of bread for
them and before I could close the bag, a Jack had picked
up the bread and tried to fly off with it. He dropped it
about a foot away so I tore up the slice into manageable
pieces and left it. The would sneak up to the bread and
grab a bit and be gone before you knew it.

We didn’t throw away left over food until morning. By the
time we got to it, the Jacks had about taken all the scrap.

I can live with that Tig but when they walk into the house

In reply to Tame birds

And demand Food it’s a different story. I didn’t believe my eyes when I first saw this I thought I was dreaming this Magpie standing there demanding that I feed it. And she wouldn’t leave without food. 🙁

I thought I had escaped these Birds in the move but no they followed us maybe I’ll have to move further than the 2 Kms next time but these Birds are terrible. Apparently Mum Magpie had never come inside before but as [b]SWMBO[/b] was away and didn’t feed them that mourning she thought she would drop in to see what had happened. The Babies are a constant source of annoyance to me as they squawk for food all the time. They just sit on the fence screaming their heads off.

It’s actually quite comical to see Magpies stand their ground against crows and win. The Cockie is a different story completely though I don’t even know where it came from and I’m sure that the neighbors blame me for it being there. It’s taken up residence in a Neighbors Tree and is in the process of destroying it. Evil little thing just squawks tears off a bit of tree and drops it to the ground. Then squawks again and repeats the process till it gets tired. That tree is now looking very bald in places.

Col

A few years ago

In reply to Tame birds

I had a large bush — buddleiya I think. Anyway, the hummingbirds loved it.. LOVED IT I say.
In fact there were never less than 3 hummingbirds in my yard while that thing was growing. They would follow me around and even hover just a foot away from me at some times watching me. If I went to smell the buddleiya flowers, they would take great concern and flock around me, then while I was still holding the flowers out they would feed from it. They loved it so much that they would attack each other and the bees that came too close to it.
However, almost everytime I got out the camera, they would fly a few feet away causing a blurred image. But one time a female posed for me. When the camera beeped, she flew a few inches in front of the camera and hovered. She filled the frame well, no altering on this photo.. Oops, it is on another computer. I’ll post it later after I dig it up.

Post all hummingbird pix!

In reply to Tame birds

We get “Birds and Blooms” and they had a picture of some guy feeding hummingbirds while holding a red stoppered tube. :0 They landed on his finger and he got the shot. I’ve heard that hummingbirds don’t perch but I see ours do it.

Ive got a 20 sec video

In reply to Tame birds

of a hummingbird perched on my silk floss tree from the same year. I kept ‘slowly’ getting closer, and it got a bit more nervous, but just kindof moved around a little, stayed in the pic till it ended (and beeped)..lol
However, not sure how to post the video here.. Does mini videos work on photobucket?
Anyway, I gotta dig them up. I’ll do it when I get home tonight. Until then, here are is one (not the best). The hummingbird is above and to the L. of the tag (dark strip) on the branch.

Photobucket video…

In reply to Tame birds

it looks like they will take video, 10 min. 100mb max. Tabs across the top of the upload box.

Ok, I added a few Hummingbird photo’s

In reply to Tame birds

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/techman03/

I added a couple of short videos as well.

Yo techman…

In reply to Tame birds

very nice hummer shots! I see that I am going to have to expend considerable effort in pursuing some hummer pics of my own! Thanks for posting those…

Funny you mention it

In reply to Thanks for that one…

2 days ago I started watering my new lawn area, and a pair of hummingbirds decided they wanted a shower. I grabbed my camera, came back out and could not get a good shot of them.
Yesterday, when watering, 12 little birds came out and hopped around the orange tree. They let me get close enough, but whenever I pointed the camera at one of them, it would fly to the other side of the tree. So I tried snapping shots before it pointed at them (hoping by the time it took the shot, the bird would be in view, however, all I got was large blurs…lol

Hummers are the worst…

In reply to Funny you mention it

they’ll hover practically in your face until you press that button to get the shot they’ve been begging you to take. The finger movement is all it takes for them to scoot. Little boogers are driving me up a wall trying to get a pic! 😀

You’ve made me set a new goal for myself

In reply to Hummers are the worst…

This year I’m going to try to get a picture of a hummingbird. I see them all over my yard.

Be vewwy vewwy quiet. I’m huntin’ hummingbirds. 😀

If you get a good one…

In reply to Hummers are the worst…

please let me know your method. 🙂

The best way

In reply to Hummers are the worst…

is to turn off the flash and sound. Set the camera to not turn off (cause it always does at the wrong time) (keep extra batteries). Move slowly. and zoom (optical) as much as you can. then you got a chance.. Otherwise it is a very slim chance that the bird will stay after the sound, or not move when the flash goes off or not fly away due to movement near it.

A Cable release if you can use one

In reply to Hummers are the worst…

Also helps no end also.

A couple of weeds flowering

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

I’ll dig up some more latter but these where taken at the beginning of Spring when the plants where starting to grow and flower. Everything looks fairly ratty though. 🙁

http://tinyurl.com/2zkzuv

Col ]:)

Colin, I’m getting a bit worried about you

In reply to A couple of weeds flowering

You’re only growing plants that EAT things…

:0

Next thing he’ll do is

In reply to Colin, I’m getting a bit worried about you

start having BBQ’s and only inviting these plants to share in the meal.. :^0

Ok, Colin, have you tried bonsai yet! right up your alley 😀

Ah crap, looking through all of these I am now going to be late for work.. See ya later!

Well Neil if you think those are bad

In reply to Colin, I’m getting a bit worried about you

You should have seen what I used to have. :p

Only a couple of thousand square feet of Hot House Space for the Nepenthes and the same size for the Sara’s that needed shade.

A small area of only about 40 square feet for the Succulents that needed special attention. Actually they are not all mine the VFT is [b]SWMBO[/b] but after the move it doesn’t look at all well. 😀

Wait till I manage to scan some of the real pictures in then you will really be worried. I had some Loners out on a regular basis to TV Stations only a couple of the more common Neoprenes in 10 gallon pots they where really small only a few feet (10) high with several Growing Canes.

Wait till I grab the Digital and take some pics of the current flowers that [b]SWMBO[/b] has. :^0

Col

Have you thought of Triffids?

In reply to Well Neil if you think those are bad

Wow!

In reply to Have you thought of Triffids?

Are you kidding me!? That looks like something out of the movie Jurassic Park.

Edit: I should look things up before I post. 😀 I’m pretty sure that I never heard of Triffids before today.

Day of the Triffids?

In reply to Wow!

Great film, in its day. Still quite good now. Oh, darnit, Ropes, I now have the ice cream van tune running around my head!

http://imdb.com/title/tt0055894/

Over here, there was also a TV series of the same name (around 12 episodes I think) but it was nowhere near as good as the film, despite it being technically better.

I keep telling HOB I’m going to feed him to a Triffid….. 🙂

GG

It’s 60’s Brit Sci-Fi

In reply to Wow!

I sort of forgot that you guys weren’t from round here! John Wyndham wrote it with others, including the also rather good Midwich Cuckoos (movie was “Village of the Damned”).

Personally, I have to disagree with Gadget and say that I much preferred the TV adaptation of Triffids so much more than the movie but probably just because I read the book first and the TV stuck very closely to it.

FYI, Triffids were plants that were genetically modified to produce oil. They had a sting, could walk and communicate and could eat rotting flesh. All of this was manageable with huge Triffid farms until most of the Earth’s population were blinded and the plants got loose…

It’s the people-eating bit that I thought Col would like!

Neil 🙂

Day of the Triffids hey

In reply to It’s 60’s Brit Sci-Fi

I’ll have to grab the DVD of it. 😀

Well it was originally a VHS that I moved over to DVD I’m sure that the remastered DVD would be much better f they ever re release it though.

If I remember correctly the Triffid was a cross between one of the Orchids a Sarraciena and God knows what else. The actual Pitcher area of the plant is however Pure Sarracenia. The sting was from a Orchid that whacked the insects to spread its polin about. Not sure just what the roots/feet where though.

But if this helps at all Neil many years ago I did have a VFT on Roids to feed Politicians to. 😀

It only got to about 8 inches across the trap before a move was forced onto us. I don’t think that I ever saw it again but I’m not overly sure it was a very long time ago and my then Quack was writing scripts for the Roids. 😀

I think that he liked the idea of me making a present of it to the Pollutions. :^0

Col

Hmmm..

In reply to Wow!

I was just going to go searching for that plant too!
darn, thought it would rid me of the pesky stray cats :0

Not just the cats

In reply to Hmmm..

pesky stray kids, pesky stray neighbors…pesky stray everything! 😀

Now you’ve done it.

In reply to Have you thought of Triffids?

I’d totally forgotten that movie. Will have to watch it again sometime. Only vaguely remember the plot.

I believe this was the basis of the Pitcher of a Triffid

In reply to Now you’ve done it.

I’ll try to find a better one that has actually aged to maturity. Mine fill up with ants in a couple of days and then die off. Well the leaves [i]”This Bit”[/i] anyway so they never color up properly.

Cool

In reply to I believe this was the basis of the Pitcher of a Triffid

Our carnivorus plants look more like this.

This can be found at the following website, http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/ifnm_cactusgallery.htm

Hmmph…

In reply to A couple of weeds flowering

‘weed’ indeed. Stargazer or rubrum lily more like.

We need to get you back to planet earth for some maintenance.

Davette

Major Tom to Davette at Ground Control

In reply to Hmmph…

The true Definition of a Weed is

[b]Something that grows where you don’t want it to go.[/b]

So strictly speaking as this is now growing in one of the Wifes Tobacco Pots it’s a [b]Weed.[/b] Not sure where it came from but it sure grows well we had something like 8 flowers on it last spring. When I had the Hot House many years ago I had some Byblis Gigantea a Protected Plant here seed and it started sprouting up everywhere. A perfect example of an out of control weed there too. And that was something that I wanted to grow just not in every pot in the Hot House. 🙁

But this is another weed if you like

Col

Davette at Ground Control to Major Tom…

In reply to Major Tom to Davette at Ground Control

but it’s gorgeous and fragrant and keeps the bees happy!

The Byblis?

In reply to Davette at Ground Control to Major Tom…

Not sure that the bees like been eaten by the Byblis. Sure the flower smells Puretty and even looks nice but the Entire Plant except for the Flowers being sticky and catching Insets and digesting them I don’t think the Bees like at all. 😀

Col

Errrrmm….

In reply to The Byblis?

not the Byblis. The rubrum. The one YOU think is a weed.

edit: Unless of course the one I think is a rubrum is in fact a Byblis?

If you mean the bottom one

In reply to Errrrmm….

It’s a Weed.

I can’t even fill a pot with a good mix without things sprouting up unwanted. 🙁

I gave that one away to someone from Society for Growing Australian Plants who just had to send me a photo of it when they got it home. :_|

The stringy one is the Byblis and it’s now an Endangered Plant. Much more important to look after them than the weed. :^0

Col

I mean the pinkish flower with spots that you have titled weed.

In reply to Errrrmm….

People pay a fair price for those bulbs in these parts.

Yep that the one WEED!!!!

In reply to Errrrmm….

I’m flat out giving them away as no one wants to take the nasty things here.

Sure they say a similar thing [b]It’s Expensive[/b] and it is I keep paying and paying for the things and don’t want them. 🙁

Col

I should be posting something to this,

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

But I don’t know what. I have no idea how to include a photo here.

My camellias and winter honeysuckle are in bloom here in central SC. The azaleas should start soon. Spring bulbs are up – daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, etc. Neighbors have redbuds and Bradford pears just starting.

I’ve got a few David Austen ‘English’ roses, but I’m mostly a daylily and bearded iris fan. My potted plants are mostly cacti. If you’re into succulents, Lowe’s puts cacti on sale in late October when they’re clearing out the garden centers for Christmas merchandise.

Yes, include them

In reply to I should be posting something to this,

just get a photobucket account and share it out. It requests email addresses, but at the bottom you can copy the link instead.
Post the link.
or
put the link into a tiny url and post that link

Posting photos

In reply to I should be posting something to this,

Upload them to Photobucket and then a couple of clicks to generate the tags which you copy and paste into your post. Photobucket will automatically generate a thumbnail view pointing back to the original or, if the original is small enough, edit out everything but the LT sign, img src=… out to the GT sign and remove the th_ from the image name and away you go.

Be aware that inserting tags completely screws up the post formatting so you have to use the GT sign br LT sign for a line break.

If you screw it up, scream for help and we’ll all laugh at you…

😀

It’s easy

In reply to I should be posting something to this,

I like to paste the HTML Code to place a picture inside a reply, see the first picture, and edit it down so it looks something like the second picture.

If you paste the Direct Link data in a reply it sends people to your Photobucket account.
You’ll be an expert after your first one or two posts.

I use the direct link

In reply to It’s easy

and just nest it inside an <img> tag. No need to delete all the photobucket promotional stuff that way.

 
Edit: forgot what happens to html tags in the TR forums.

I didn’t know there was such a thing as…

In reply to I should be posting something to this,

winter honeysuckle. I would love to see a pic of that. Is it fragrant? Is it viny or is it shrubby?

We have been trying to kill some kind of shrub honeysuckle for years here. It’s invasive as he\\ and not at all fragrant.

Alrighty then…

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

here is my mess. This weekend I hope to get out and get the plastic up and get things tilled and mounded for the veggies. Tilling depends on soil moisture content and whether or not it rains… The ‘weeds’ around the edges are giant foxtail grass which the goldfinches love, and the pile of branches is my version of a ‘snag’ – a spot for birdies to perch in something resembling hiding and for bugs to take refuge in the debris as the wood rots.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/SPRING%2008%20PROJECTS/Photo82.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/SPRING%2008%20PROJECTS/Photo85.jpg

edit: had to check which link I added… and add some info

edit again: OTR, I think you might lose that bet?

Tilling

In reply to Alrighty then…

Ahh, what a nightmare! I just got done, and by the looks of it I had less to do than you (although it was clay-like compacted soil with lots o rocks). A real pain… After tilling, I used the tiller to mix a truckload of compost in with it to try to have it a little looser next year (I guess I’ll see).

BTW, how many BBQ’s are there. 2 in the pic, but how many overall?

3 bbq’s overall…

In reply to Tilling

2 large, 1 small. Hopefully the only thing I use the kitchen for ‘in season’ is canning and baking! Though sometimes that isn’t true, most of the time I succeed at it.

edit to add: I have been adding leaves from the yard, chicken manure, grass clippings, and kelp meal every year for close to 15 years. My soil is starting to look and smell real rich. I also let the clover grow wherever it comes up, and then just till it in. By the time I croak I’ll have the richest soil on the planet! 😀

LOL

In reply to 3 bbq’s overall…

so it probably doesnt stay too compacted, which will make tilling much easier.

“By the time I croak I’ll have the richest soil on the planet!” — LOL

By the time I croak, all of my landlords will have much better soil than when I moved in… Everytime I move I work the sh!t pretty well, and by the time it is good soil again, I gotta move for other reasons (when will I learn??). Who am I kidding though, I’ll never learn cause when Spring comes I got a bug to go garden a bit (no idea where I got it from).

I know our soil is getting kick-a** good…

In reply to LOL

because the worms are the size of snakes. Ok, a bit of hyperbole… But I think we will soon be able to enter the live bait market with our crawlers. I’ll try to remember to take a pic of a big one when I come across it.

Then you also have

In reply to I know our soil is getting kick-a** good…

lots of nutrients from the earthworm castings

lots of worm == lots better soil, and they like looser, rich soil. So you are definately doing good..

Lose the bet?

In reply to Alrighty then…

Oh hell no. I wish I had your yard. I only showed you the good parts of my yard. You ought to see the rest of it. This is no House and Gardens beautiful home. 😀 The best part of living here is that it’s almost paid-off. Other than that I’d about trade it for a newer double-wide. No kidding.

It’d take a crew of people and more money than I have to whip this yard and house into shape. I have grown the philosophy that I’ll do what I can do and won’t worry about the rest. With any luck at all the Yard-Nazi’s will stay far away from here.

Back to thinking about my yard. You mentioned veggies. You lost me there. I like my vegetables frozen from the supermarket. You did give me an idea. I’ve got one spot that was left to go wild two years ago. I’m thinking about clearing that out of sun-robbing weeds and planting Sugar Babies watermelon. I’ve never tried growing ’em. Last year I ate at least one watermelon a week. I like them.

My rose-garden is loooong overdue for a makeover. I’m going to start with that and see how much more I can get done. A LOT is going to depend on the weather.

I’m hoping for a dry Spring. We sure don’t need to worry about drought conditions here. I’m hoping that this flooding business isn’t the beginning of a trend. If it is I’m just going to plant cattails all the way around. :^0

I’ve thought about tiling the yard but that’s not in the immediate future. To do it right I think you’d have to strip the clay soil down a couple of feet, at least, and put down gravel then topsoil. Maybe after we get this place paid for it’ll happen but not now.

What can you do? Go crazy or develop a philosophy like I mentioned above. I could drink I suppose but I gave that up. I don’t even know where to get heroin or crack and last I heard those cost a few bucks too so screw it. I’m stuck here making the best of what I’ve got and if nobody likes it they can just stay away.

Hows that for a mini-rant? I give it about a C+ but I’m biased.

There’s nothing “wrong” with your yard boxfiddler. One thing that shows that you’re good people is the bird snag. We like the birds here too. They’re singing like it’s Spring already. Cheers me up. People seem to act like they don’t even need nature anymore. Pity. They’re missing out on so much. Not me. I’m trying to soak it all up and love every minute of it. Life is too short to do anything less.

If you have a good place to dry them

In reply to Lose the bet?

Herbs are easy and grow like weeds. I used to dry out oregano in a shed (hung from hooks in the top support beam) in small bunches. Once dry they get chopped up and go into Mason jars (or Kerr jars, whatever is avail).

And Fresh parsley is much much better than the dried stuff. Best part, you dont need to buy a whole lot to either force to make use of it or throw a bunch out. Just trim what you wanna use when you wanna use it.

I never use herbs :0

In reply to If you have a good place to dry them

No matter what anybody thinks.

I use mixes, Mrs. Dash, for grilling but that’s about it.

All of this started me thinking that I should put in a few tomato plants for salads. Seems to me good tomatoes were pricey last year.

I love

In reply to I never use herbs :0

Oregano, thyme, terragon, etc.. Cannot imaging not using them.
Of course it is a shame that I cannot grow pepperoni, salami, etc., well, except the one attached. :0

That was a visual I didn’t need

In reply to I love

You ever have venison sausage? I had some given to me at work once and I was handing it out left and right before I tried it. After I did have some there were no more freebies. That stuff is GOOOOD!

Tomatoes :p

In reply to I never use herbs :0

[b]SWMBO[/b] had no garden when we moved to Charters Towers and she got carried away when a Tomato started growing in the back yard. She applied much TLC on the poor thing and was totally disgusted when it produces fruit. It was a Cherry Tomato Vine and [b]SWMBO[/b] was completely disgusted. 😀

Of course so many people laughing at her just may have been part of the reason. But she even kept the dogs away from it and they where getting curious as to why they where not allowed near that part of the yard. :^0

Got to admit though that when she stopped looking after it, it grew so well and nearly produced enough fruit to fill someones mouth once a month. :p

Col

We love the cherry tomatos…

In reply to Tomatoes :p

and they ‘volunteer’ every year. I don’t have to buy seed or plants for them. When I’m working in the garden I pick and eat as I go. Not many of them make it inside at all. Beyond that, there ain’t nuthin’ like that homegrown tomato. I won’t use them from the grocery store anymore. Tasteless freaking mush. Bah!

It was just this one plant that was loved to near death

In reply to We love the cherry tomatos…

Then the look of Disgust when it fruited. 😀

But I’ve been given very strict instructions not to make any mention of that by you know who. :^0

Good thing that she doesn’t like the places that I play at. :p

Col ]:)

Hey OTR!

In reply to I never use herbs :0

Whaddaya think is IN Mrs. Dash? HERBS!! 😀

Well yeah I knew THAT!

In reply to Hey OTR!

I just mean I don’t use them fresh and yep, that sounded stupid the second I typed it. :0 Have to check out maybe getting some seeds. 🙂

Most of them smell very good when you mow them…

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

one of the few cool things about mowing grass is when the unexpected ‘weed’ gives off its’ aroma!

Glad I didn’t offend… But after awhile I just could not resist. There is this horribly mischievous little alter ego hanging about that cannot be kept quiet!

edit the usual

My religion made me post that about Mrs. Dash

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

. 😀

I don’t think anybody thought you stoopid…

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

I didn’t think stoopid, just a little goofy. God knows I have my goofy moments, some of them horribly public. Even a few here at TR.

We wouldn’t be any fun if we weren’t a bit goofy now and then.

:D

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

You are looking for advancement, arent you 😀

P.S. — My religion made me post this — sorry!

OK can I throw a Spanner in the works here?

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

I hate to be picky well not really but. :p

But any plant is a Herb but here I am inclined to think you lot mean Medicinal Herbs not Herbs. 😀

After all if you go the Garden Heaven [b]Kew Gardens[/b] and look around you’ll see it’s real name [b]Kew Herburium.[/b] :p

Col ]:)

the HAL9000 is WRONG

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

not any plant is an herb… Trees are plants, and they are not herbs!!!

Davette to Hal…

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

herbs as in green growing things with which one flavors what one eats and which also are considered to have medicinal value, though not necessarily both in the same herb. And not necessarily not both in the same herb. 😉

No I’m not Hum now what account did you use or Hell W2K will do

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

Trees are Woody Herbs. :p

Have you never heard this term previously? 😀

Must be all those American Botanical Books who make their own terms up. :^0

Col

Ummm HAL

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

from Dictionary.com

American Heritage Dictionary – Cite This Source – Share This herb (?rb, h?rb) Pronunciation Key
n.
1. A plant whose stem does not produce woody, persistent tissue and generally dies back at the end of each growing season.
2. Any of various often aromatic plants used especially in medicine or as seasoning.
3. Slang Marijuana.

So, if a plant has woody stems, is not aromatic nor used as a medicine, it is not an herb. This would cover trees, many bushes, etc..

So which australian books (with made up terms) have you been reading???

As I said W2k an American Book with made up terms

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

Personally I don’t use books all that often for things like this to describe what is effectively Medicinal Herbs as apposed to everything else.

But if you like The Curator of Key Gardens does that help?

OH BTW what is a Eucalyptus Tree under the American Definition it’s a Herb as it’s Aromatic all three feet of the woody trunk till you reach the leaves in a mature tree.

Try looking up Kew after all they are the Ultimate Answer to this question as with everything relating to plants and anything is Kew Gardens or to list their name properly Kew Hurberium and they still name everything don’t they? :p

Col
[i]Bloody Dyslexic keyboard is playing up again.[/i] :_|

Col, you have to remember

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

that our Yankee chums pronounce it “ERB”. When I’ve been in the US, it’s one of the words that always catches me out and sounds really strange to my ears. The word derives from the Latin “herba” and the French were the ones who knocked off the ‘H’ and we (Brits) stuck it back on again about two hundred years ago and obviously forgot to tell the Yanks how to pronounce it.

Anyway! OnTheRopes, if you grow anything at all in the herb line, grow some Thyme. Fresh Thyme is so much better than dried with any meat. Oregano (that’s oregAHno, not orEGGano) is actually better dried. If you’re going to grow tomatoes (that’s tomAHtoes and not tomAYtoes, trust me) then you have to grow Basil (please tell me that you don’t pronounce it BAYsil!) as they go together like, well, tomato and basil. If you’re in it for the herby long haul, grow a couple of bay trees from seed. Herbs is all I have space for in my window box.

Neil 😀

Of course we pronounce it “BAY-sil”

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

“Bah-sil” was the proprietor at Fawlty Towers. 😀

Edit: emoticon typo

Yes Hal

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

I caught the flaw when thinking about several trees which are considered herbs and/or medicinal right after posting, and was hoping you wouldnt call me on it… 🙁

Actually W2k it’s a mistake

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

Probably brought about by some low paid Editor who was under the impression that Herbs are only Edible or Medicinal. Even the listed definitions there are not only confusing but contradicting themselves the further you go down the list.

It’s like the Glass Slipper thing if you tell a lot of people often enough they will believe you and think that you are right. Then others will believe you and insist on Teaching yet Others the [b]Right Way[/b] to do it. Like that Fairy Story a simple Translation Error that went from Fur to Glass and it’s now universally accepted as right and the Fur is wrong.

Or like how Electricity Flows from Positive to Negative. Ask anyone and 99.999999999% will tell you that it lows from Positive to Negative but then a few will even insist that Electrons have a Negative Charge and they flow to the Positive side of the Circuit.

Probably why we now have 2 Recognized Standards to cover the same thing. If you look at any Semantic it’s either not Labeled which means that the electricity flows from Positive to Negative or it’s Labeled Electron Flow which means that here the Electricity is flowing from Negative to Positive. 😀

Actually here when it’s all said and done who cares? :0

Col

that pesky Flow thing…

In reply to Well yeah I knew THAT!

what’s even worse, is when, in a circut you find Both :0 -d

Fresh basil is wonderful too…

In reply to If you have a good place to dry them

and it helps deter whiteflies. I always keep lemon balm because you can rub it on your skin and deter mosquitos, in addition to the fact that for some reason the mantids like it. Lady bugs go for the tansy, and the butterfly babies love the parsely (meaning that I don’t get a lot of it).
Herbs are pretty easy really, a few are invasive but I don’t much care. As long as me and the critters love them, I’m too happy.

I dont think I tried basil yet

In reply to Fresh basil is wonderful too…

the others really took off and I had a hard time controlling them in a small yard. I did make some good broccoli plants, however they died. And the corn didnt do well for me at all (however there was a corn field 3 blocks away, so it was my care for them that sucked).

Yard Nazis!

In reply to Lose the bet?

I have one catty corner from me. Chump can’t even see my backyard without snooping from a neighbor’s or sneaking into mine when we’re not home. I lock the gate now.

The nimrod has spent 3 summers calling the health department on us because he doesn’t like my backyard habitat. I spent 3 summers going round and round with said health department and finally got them off my back by joining the National Wildlife Federation and registering my yard. Oh, and purchasing a couple of signs to advertise the fact that I have a registered backyard wildlife habitat.

I couldn’t imagine not being able to listen to the songbirds and watch them fritter about and be happy without the wildlife. I’m a boonie baby at heart.

It looks to me as though I wish I had a ‘yard’ the size of yours. But I also wish I were back in the boonies… That won’t happen though, the OH is a concrete kid forever.

I joined the NWF too.

In reply to Yard Nazis!

I joined last year.

For several years there was a house directly across the street from the Sheriff Department whose owner was an NWF member. The yard was overgrown with “weeds” and bushes but the county was unwilling to try to prosecute so they left the owners alone. I thought the yard was a nice study of what would happen to a place from neglecting the yard. There were a lot of flowers.

What’s the purpose of a lawn anyway? Wasn’t it originally a killing zone? Can’t kill people like that anymore though some of my in-laws would like to.

The only reason I mow at all is because my wife comes home and says, “the lawns getting a little high isn’t it”. I don’t argue. I was able to change her judgment about what I consider “too high” so it’s at least high enough that I don’t kill all of the flowers on the clover.

It’d be nice if the whole yard would go over to clover if you ask me. I wouldn’t have to mow at all. We’ve got a lot of Creeping Myrtle too.

I would like to kill off some of the burdock so I’ll have to get my shovel out because I won’t use chemicals. My wife sprays Roundup but she mostly just does the slope of the ditch out front on the County’s side.

I have the NWF’s sign mounted on our yard-light pole right under our Oxnard Neighborhood Watch sign. 😀 I thought I’d better join in case my neighbors complained. I’ve talked to five of them and they don’t care what I do. I don’t care what they do so we’re even. They are fun to watch though. Sweating like crazy just to have some dead grass. They cut it so short for their variety that just about the time it greens up they cut it again. Did I mention that I think my neighbors are stoopid! Hours of entertainment. The woman across the street mows rocks. You ought to hear it. :^0 Pretty funny.

I’m working on a website called…

In reply to I joined the NWF too.

of all things ‘Gardening for Wildlife’. I have 2 pages to complete and need to set absolute links for everything as all is a ‘relative’ mess right now. I’ve used some pics from my yard, and scrounged a bunch from google images. Once complete I guess I will start looking for a hosting company. I link to NWF, Aubuchon Society, and a few other interesting places for information.

I have a long way to go with it though, and guess that I need to pull it off the back burner. Oh well…

A host?

In reply to I’m working on a website called…

Jaqui Jaqui Jaqui

Let me know when you get set up and I’ll show up there.

Hmmm….

In reply to A host?

I was thinking that it looked like Jaqui does web hosting. Might have to PM that there member. I will definitely let folks know when I get it posted… Thanks for the hint. 🙂

I setup a site a few years ago

In reply to I’m working on a website called…

called AloesPlus. I cancelled it a little over a month ago regardless of page hits (funds right now). Last I looked I was averaging 3.4 pages per visit with up to 34 visits per day.
Sad to see it go, but since the nursery thing fell through it was just extra money going out.

Wish I have known that before it disappeared…

In reply to I setup a site a few years ago

you could have added me to the hit count. I use fresh aloe vera leaves a lot.

It wasnt just vera

In reply to I setup a site a few years ago

but it did describe what A. vera was. A. vera is a common term to describe 7 species of Aloe with similar properties. My site had pics of young plants (2 yr. old potted) for 30 species, plus another 20 other Succulents (including cacti) that I grew from seed after importing the seeds.
And something that many sites did not mention was which soil was preferred for which species (acidic, neutral, sweet), and what I use to mix soils at what stage for the plants. It also had pics for a few crosses that I made (well the hummingbirds actually). Hummingbirds love Aloe flowers.

You mean these things? Weedus Aloe. :p

In reply to I setup a site a few years ago

I tried to Banzai these and failed. Well not actually I just made sure that they where left to their own devices for 12 years. 😀

Col

Those ‘weedus’ Aloes

In reply to I setup a site a few years ago

yes, they look like part of the A. vera group. Let me guess though, they have orange to orange-red flowers?
it is a common variety at nurseries because they pup very well (offset well)

Flower??????

In reply to I setup a site a few years ago

You mean to say that they flower really. I’ve never seen them flower but then again I don’t look. They have been hidden in the Front Yard of the old place where I never go well not often at least. 😀

I would imagine that they are as common as Mud as that lot came from my sisters Herb Farm [i]she married into it[/i] when they moved. Apparently they moved a lot of stuff to [b]SWMBO[/b] care and didn’t pick these up, they’ve been sitting in the same pots and carry try ever since. But when it rained they did get watered so I was making sure that they where being looked after. :^0

Oh they are getting a watering right now ain’t I so good to look after them so well? 😉

Col 🙁

Growing watermelon…

In reply to Lose the bet?

I would like to have the space to grow watermelon, cantaloupe, and cucumber. But they sprawl all over and with limited space I can’t put them in if I want other things. This year I’m trying pole beans instead of bush beans to try to save space.

The other good thing about a large yard like yours is that you can rotate crops much more easily than I can in a limited space. I have to leave it fallow every 3-4 years just because I can’t rotate properly.

If you’re interested in a pretty good reference for a lot of different types of plants (how to grow, what the common pests and diseases are, etc… Rodale Press puts out a pretty good one called “Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening”. It’s a huge URL and tinyurl appears to be having a problem generating a tiny url for it. But you can google it and find it easily. It runs about 30 bucks from Rodale, but you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.

Wow — 105 posts in 2 days!!!

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

Impressive OTR!

I thought it might be a good idea

In reply to Wow — 105 posts in 2 days!!!

I wasn’t sure. Pretty cool. Maybe it will even rate a mention at TROL this Friday. I want a download of it if it does. 😀

I am sure it will :D

In reply to I thought it might be a good idea

maybe on Sat. start a “part II” of it to continue…

That might be a good idea

In reply to I am sure it will :D

Long discussions become cumbersome but don’t you think it’s better to break off and start a new one based on length rather than days? I mean this thing could languish before it hits 150. It seems kind of pointless, to me, to start a Part 2 if this one doesn’t go to 200 or so.

You know…

In reply to That might be a good idea

I was kind of thinking that if this one goes over well maybe we should ‘schedule meetings’ of the TRGC? Too many too fast and it will likely die out permanently. But regular project updates, how do I solve this or that, latest new flower kind of stuff on a ‘regular schedule’ might work out fairly well. Used these things ” to imply informality and flexibility.

How about

In reply to You know…

What can I grow in here type questions?

For any space that needs something to fill it up. Like this one that I’ve completely failed with for years. I have to keep the fish as they are so spoiled by [b]SWMBO[/b] but some plants that don’t get torn to shreds within 3 minutes would be nice. I’m not allowed to use any Plastic Plants in here either. 🙁

Nice little indoor 6 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot area to fill. Must be cheaper than feeding the fish as well.

Col

Have you tried philodendron?

In reply to How about

Or pothos? I have seen those a lot in aquariums.

Oh… and yes, questions like that, too!

edit because I’m not so secretly a goof.

2:02 am CST…

In reply to That might be a good idea

this makes 150 posts. 🙂

That’s pretty wild isn’t it?

In reply to 2:02 am CST…

Thanks to you and HAL keeping things lively it’s been a pleasure to read.

Yesterday after Schizoid posted I thought, “sure as hell it’s going to die now”. 😀 It was a welcome surprise to see 8 email alerts.

So, what does everybody think we ought to do with this discussion? Have a new one every week? We can do that. I can see where that’d be a good idea too. Lets see if we can get a few more people to comment on it and we’ll go with majority rules. I’m not the boss here. I just set out the basic context for the thing. The rules are whatever we say they are.

I counted 14 people here as of 11:30EST today. I’d like to see at least a couple more people chime in on what we should do. As it stand right now it looks like starting a Part 2 is the way we’re going to go.

Yeah…

In reply to That’s pretty wild isn’t it?

I would think a new thread every week, or every two weeks. I will probably bookmark this one in order to be able to find it easily for referring back to. I have set up a specific photo album on photobucket called Spring08 Projects, or something like that (!) so that it is easy to see the progression throughout the season.
Hmmm… I’m a ‘dud’ too but we sure eat good!

Yesterday I was trying to think how long it’s been (edited)

In reply to That’s pretty wild isn’t it?

since I’ve eaten meat. It was Saturday. Since I’ve changed my diet I mostly have what I call beans and greens. I like it like that. I’m what I’ve seen called a flexitarian and, you betcha, we eat pretty good. 🙂

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexitarianism

Edit: I like the idea of every two weeks better that once a week. That seems about right.

2:02 PM

In reply to 2:02 am CST…

207 posts

Wow, Boxfiddler may make the top poster this week 😀

I think they’re only counting ‘most thumbs’…

In reply to 2:02 PM

but maybe I better stop. I don’t want to incur the wrath of TiggerTwo! 😉

edit: Wow. I didn’t know I was up there at #4.

Sorry Boxy but

In reply to 2:02 PM

Beth counts the number of Posts made for her Hit List. :p

The number of Thumbs Up is for a different section. 😀

But if you would like to get on her Shhhhhhhhhhhhhit list you only need to make 1 post. :^0

Col

3/13/08 9:45 pm CST… 249th post.

In reply to That might be a good idea

Can’t hold out any longer – was going for that 250 but I am whupped and ain’t agonna wait.

Criminy but us gardeners are good! 😀

edit: wrong number

I did miss this

In reply to I am sure it will :D

Thanks for pointing it out, I will have to take some more pix and put em’ up.

Excellent!

In reply to I did miss this

I thought you may enjoy it. Also had been wondering what your yard looked like.

My yard, you do not want to know

In reply to Excellent!

But since you asked, check my neck, seems kinda red.

note the redneck fireplace

You will note that up close at the bottom is my porch planter, that will need some work.

Good to see that you kept a lot of trees.

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

Trees give a place a sense of permanence/continuity and strength. I think we’re all just caretakers for a piece of land, we never really own it no matter that our names on the deed. At some point future generations will judge us for what we do now.

Check the back of my neck too. Same as yours. I have a touch of hillbilly in me too. Strange for where I live. I characterize my myself as a redneck country boy transplanted from the city. I’m never moving back to city-life either. Folks here are more real and down to Earth. Some of them did get bit by the loose credit and bought every toy when times were good. They’re hurting now that the jobs moved out. We kept it simple and so far we’re not in the trouble some of my neighbors are. I could tell stories but it’s getting to be 10:00, bedtime, so I’ll sign off with my daily last thought. Peace.

Rednecks

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

MJ, I grew up a Yankee farm boy in upstate New York. In 24 years, the furthest north the USAF sent me was beautiful Valdosta, GA. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the difference between a good’ol boy and a Yankee farm boy is the difference between “Hey, y’all, watch this!” and “Guys! Check THIS out!”

-s-
D4mn Proud D4mnyankee.
😀

So do the Good Old Boys

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

Insist on having Red Back Spiders to go with their Rednecks?

Just Wondering. 😀

Col

Nick and Hal

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

I am also not from the south but I got here as quick as I could, originally from Maryland. I guess that is technically south of the Mason Dixon Line but as I recall Maryland sided with the north.

Hal, not sure about the Latrodectus hasselti spider reference but she seems like the unfriendly type to the males.
http://www.faunanet.gov.au/wos/factfile.cfm?Fact_ID=82

Of course you know, Jeff Foxworthy refined the definition of Redneck

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

I’m in southern Michigan and I’m surrounded by rednecks and people who proudly claim to be rednecks. I don’t argue with them. I just try to go with the flow, smooth and easy.

I worked in a 24/7 Union manufacturing plant of 1500+ people, mostly redneck. I believe that some of those guys would’ve eaten a spider on a bet. I think my son-in-law would if there was enough money in it. I would too but no one’s going to pay that much to see it.

Ahem

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

How much we talkin’ here?

No matter how much, Santee

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

Make sure you get it in Euros, not dollars! 😀

Now that put a big grin on my face :D

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

. :^0

OK I’ve had this earwig ever since reading Nicks post

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

Thought that I’d share it around to make others feel good. :0

[b]Redback On The Toilet Seat[/b]

There was a red-back on the toilet seat
When I was there last night,
I didn’t see him in the dark,
But boy! I felt his bite!
I jumped high up into the air,
And when I hit the ground,
That crafty red-back spider
Wasn’t nowhere to be found.

Chorus:
There was a red-back on the toilet seat
When I was there last night,
I didn’t see him in the dark,
But boy! I felt his bite!
And now I’m here in hospital,
A sad and sorry plight,
And I curse that red-back spider
On the toilet seat last night.

Rushed in to the missus,
Told her just where I’d been bit,
She grabbed the cut throat razor blade,
And I nearly took a fit.
I said, “Just forget what’s on your mind,
And call a doctor please,
‘Cause I’ve got a feeling that your cure
Is worse than the disease.”

I can’t lay down, I can’t sit up,
And I don’t know what to do,
And all the nurses think it’s funny,
But that’s not my point of view.
I tell you it’s embarrassing,
(And that’s to say the least)
That I’m to sick to eat a bite,
While that spider had a feast!

And when I get back home again,
I tell you what I’ll do,
I’ll make that red-back suffer
For the pain I’m going through.
I’ve had so many needles
That I’m looking like a sieve,
And I promise you that spider
Hasn’t very long to live!

And sung to the tune of ?

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

.

Nick it was an Original

In reply to My yard, you do not want to know

Sung by the recently deceased Slim Dusty who was a Country & Western Singer in AU for about fifty years.

If you want to hear the song Google it. :p

Bloody Hell now I’ve got that Earwig back. 🙁

Col

How about some Wild Flowers without the Flowers? :D

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

Extremely Rare Carnivorous Plant hard to find or so I’m told just don’t look at the local School Sports Oval. 😀

Col

I’m quite curious…

In reply to How about some Wild Flowers without the Flowers? :D

what peaked your interest in carnivorous plants, and what do you feed them?

Davette

Quite easy actually Davette :D

In reply to I’m quite curious…

[b]SWMBO[/b] bought a VFT and gave it to me as I didn’t like anything that grew and as I couldn’t grow concrete I didn’t try.

Well the VFT died and she bought another one and it died and then the next one did as well. I suggested that maybe she should stop this but she continued and then said something about this bit of Tissue Culture costing $35.00 a hit. Well I figured that this was getting a bit more expensive than I had planned for so I thought it may be a good idea if I actually tried to grow the things to save me some money of course. After all have you any idea how much Ducati Parts are? A $100.00 in a fortnight on dead weeds was a bit m,ore than I was prepared for. Well the next one died as well so while I was out looking to find out how to grow the I found a Nepenthes which did look nice and was useful it ate Insects so no Fly Spray needed to be used in the house. :^0

From them on things got quite bad but the wife was happy.

As for feeding them you don’t they feed themselves quite happily and are very evolved with all the things that they have to encourage Insects to pay them a visit.

The current Crop of Sarras that I have are full within 2 days of the Pitcher opening and that dies from being over full and rots away but the plants grow quite happily.

As I ignore them and water then occasionally they seem happy and healthy though they do have a few dead leaves on them. 😀

I’m constantly told that I grow them all wrong but then again by the same people what lovely plants I have so I must be doing something right. In the early days with the rare stuff I knocked a lot of it around by doing the right thing but the moment that I realized to look at them sometimes and do nothing else they started to flourish. Even the stuff that I loaned out I just tore out the Stakes and didn’t untie anything, that brought tears to the eyes of one of the Plant Experts here who insisted that I killed it. But I just stuffed it at the back of the Hot House and within 3 months it was big & beautiful again and it recovered much faster than it should of. Maybe it thought that I was going to kill it so it had to reproduce very quickly. But I do the same thing with Roses in the Middle of Winter last year I had to cut one back at Mum’s place and I stuck the cuttings in Sand as I couldn’t find any potting mix or Rotting Powder. Every one struck and they are now all at my sisters place. I think that she’s selling them for a tidy profit to. 😀

Col

Plant experts…

In reply to Quite easy actually Davette :D

love ’em and hate ’em all in the same moment! lol I don’t pay much attention to them, except when I am having a problem – which is fairly rare. But they just get apoplectic when they ask what I did to have such a gorgeous this or that and I tell them and it’s not at all ‘the proper way to do it’. Ha! I say. 😀

I used to have the local Botanical Gardens

In reply to Plant experts…

Come to me for help with growing things.

They would go to all this trouble to look after things & I just threw then at the back of the Hot House and forgot about them. 😀

Sure there was enough water most times and the temp was well controlled most times if I remembered to shut things up at night. but I never lost a plant that I owned the moment that I had them worked out.

As for the Gardening Personalities here they used to send people to me for [b]”Expert Advice”[/b] on carnivorous and how to grow them. All they had to do was convince people that I actually knew what I was doing as I just don’t look like a person who likes plants. Could be the 200 LT Drum of Roundup maybe that I use all the time. I not sure however. :^0

Col

Ropes don’t look here. :p

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

Since you’ve stopped smoking.

Some nice little flowers that the wife is growing.

Full-fledged tobacco?

In reply to Ropes don’t look here. :p

or nicotiana? If the latter, it sure makes a nice size ‘down south’.

I believe this is the beast

In reply to Full-fledged tobacco?

http://tinyurl.com/275owh

But [b]SWMBO[/b] loves the plants even if they get eaten all the time. We have a few planted out now and they are actually growing faster than the weeds. Pots are such a nuisance.

Col

Nice plant

In reply to Ropes don’t look here. :p

We tried growing tobacco but it never came up. Seems like seeds are pricey too. Tiny buggers.

So I can be myself here, warts and all, I want to say that I came undone when I thought my house was going to flood and I started smoking again.

Dang hard habit to break. To compound matters I have a new prescription that has the warning, “May cause weight gain”, as one of it’s complications. “May cause” my @$$! I’ve never been so hungry in my entire life and I didn’t spend all that time losing weight just to regain it. I put on five pounds in no time. I could NOT stop eating. It’s ridiculous. I ate nothing but healthful food but I’m talking about four pounds of “beans and greens” per day. I ate an entire 3# bag of apples in a day and I don’t know how many grapefruits and oranges. I think I could win an eating contest if it was for something I like. All I’d have to do to prepare is quit smoking for a day and look out.

Hate to shatter anyone’s image of me as some iron-willed God :^0 but I’m only human. I’ve sworn to take off that five pounds and when I do I’m going to quit smoking again. Then maybe I can stay stopped and struggle against the induced hunger with will-power alone. That’s the plan. Sticking to it so far even though I’m still pretty hungry.

Sucks to be me. 😀

Want some Tobacco Seeds?

In reply to Nice plant

Over here they just grow out of control and come up all through the yard. Well they used to at the old place but I’m not sure here as we’ve only been here a few months now. 😀

I drove past the old place a few days ago and saw Tobacco growning in the front yard it was about 2 feet tall and had come up since we left the place. Never seen it in the front yard previously but it’s sure as hell there now.

Only thing you have to watch out with Tobacco is the Grasshoppers and some grubs love it. I’ve seen entire Trays of just germinated seedlings disappear overnight and some very fat green grubs lying on the potting mix wondering how they will ever move again. 😀

Besides Smoking is good for you as when you smoke you don’t have to worry about the Shrink Bills that you would otherwise have. :^0

Col

We’d probably violate dozens of Federal laws if you sent seeds

In reply to Want some Tobacco Seeds?

and elevate GW’s terroristical Threat Level too. :^0

That said, I’d plant some tobacco seeds if I had them. I was ignorant as I never knew they had nice flowers. I thought they were like Sweet Potato Vine, all leaf, no flower. I’d try drying and smoking the leaves. You’re right, smoking keeps my shrink bills lower. 😀

We chopped ice and built snow dams yesterday to reroute the snowmelt away from the house. That worked well.

I’m thinking I might put a shallow ditch in both side yards leading to the front ditch. We don’t have access to a transit to check slope. We’ll use the clear tube or string level method. Ought to work okay. I’ll reseed the ditch and you’ll never really notice it, much. We’ll muck up the yard so we don’t have a puddle/pond out where my wife doesn’t want one. Whatever she wants is what we’ll do. I told her that all I have to do to make a ditch/drain is drive my truck down the yard once and patch the parts that need it. She’s not fond of that idea. 😐

I say we should plant Cattails to attract marsh birds and maybe some bullfrogs like my neighbor across the road has in his pond. Along with our tree frogs we could get a real chorus going out here. :^0 I’ve grown to like the sound and to think, it was just four years ago when we tracked down the one tree frog that dared come in our yard. We took it a half-mile away to a wooded area on a dirt road and let it go.

We had hundred of tadpoles in our rain barrel the following year and some of those escaped as neither my wife nor I could bring ourselves to kill them. We have tree frogs up the wazoo now. :0 They’ll jump on you when you least expect it and can unnerve you if you’re the nervous type. I just unstick them from me and stick ’em to the barn wall or whatever is close. Too easy to squish if you put ’em on the ground.

Yesterday I heard turkeys in the woods behind us and this morning geese flew over heading north. The pheasants in the field to the north are getting closer and I’ve heard quail there too. Crows woke me up a few days ago. They were next door last year, three of them. When we left the hospital last night 6 Turkey Buzzards were circling in the sky just to the south. There used to be a group of seven but one got turned into road pizza.

We’re seeing all of the signs of Spring! I’m ready for it. I’ve got a ton of work to do. Two tons even 🙂 Think I’ll go grab a smoke and contemplate my navel. 🙂

Actually

In reply to We’d probably violate dozens of Federal laws if you sent seeds

as an importer of seeds sometimes, all that is needed to send most seeds are a phytosanitary certification that the seeds contain no eggs, fungus, bacteria, etc.. The next issue would be that tobacco is regulated, so being tobacco seeds would likely require another document to be imported. However this should be cheap and easy to obtain.

Now I’m sitting here drooling over the thought…

In reply to We’d probably violate dozens of Federal laws if you sent seeds

of tree frogs and bull frogs singing in the night! If it stays wet, I’d do everything you’ve just mentioned – except maybe the drive the truck to make the ditch thing. I’d find a different way to make a ditch!

Nothing like the sound of the boonies at night!

The truck idea is a little extreme

In reply to Now I’m sitting here drooling over the thought…

and would be as hard to patch as it would be to carefully dig a ditch. I could load up the wheelbarrow and carefully make a few passes. I can see that working well enough to drain it. There’s not much difference in elevation. If nothing else I’d have a rutted line on the ground marking out where I’d need to dig.

I’m really trying to avoid digging.

I’ll watch and see what place is the last to dry out, if it ever does, and see where I go from there. If it’s damp into May/June yet I just might avoid digging altogether, find some cattails, relocate them and create my own wetlands. 🙂

Good post, sounds like fun.

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

I plant a vegetable and herb garden every year. Some years great success, others not so much. Learning as I go so I will look for some pointers here. I am having technical problems with the camera right now, I will try to post a picture of my snow covered garden later.

Member since 2000 and this is your first post?

In reply to Good post, sounds like fun.

Welcome! 🙂

I’m taking the liberty of speaking for everybody by saying that we’re looking forward to your pictures.

It’s been a long time

In reply to Member since 2000 and this is your first post?

I used to post occasionally a few years back, though it has been a long time. I thought I would jump in on this one as it is one of my hobbies. Thanks for the welcome.

Ditto OTR’s howdy and looking forward to your pics…

In reply to It’s been a long time

I always like to see what others are doing in the garden – and get their tips and tricks. It’s pretty satisfying when all that work starts showing nicely and you get to pick the first zuke or broccoli or… I garden for food also. Was fallow last year but plan on getting up and growing again this.
Can’t wait to see those pics! 🙂

and a welcome from me as well

In reply to It’s been a long time

I thought I was one of a very few people in IT that also did
the ‘gardening’ thing 😀

Pruning

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

I have to prune a few trees this year. Any suggestions? Should I paint where I cut? What kind of paint? Should I cut close to the trunk? What else should I look for?

Everyone I know that prunes trees…

In reply to Pruning

usually does paint something over the cut. But I don’t know much about pruning trees. Mine are all so huge that climbing them to get rid of excess is definitely something that I pay someone to do.

This link looks like it might be helpful.

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/Spfo/pubs/howtos/ht_prune/cuts.htm

When pruning plants

In reply to Pruning

not just trees, but all plants, it is a good idea to cover the
open cuts/wounds with a bacteriacide/funguside. Often it is
done with a powder that has a high sulfer content, but there
are other items out there as well, such as gels and goop.

So I said to the Feds

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

how was I to know that the plants were actually from Brazil?

Explains the calming experience ‘in the air’ when it came to burning the garden rubbish!

🙂

The Feds are doing a bangup job too. :)

In reply to So I said to the Feds

That reminds me…

In reply to The Feds are doing a bangup job too. :)

… :^0 yea, yea, I know. anyway…
In most Arabic Countries, at least in North Africa, and the Middle East. (doesn’t leave many out does it? ?:| ) There is the Death Penality for even thinking about Drugs. So what’s the first thing freely available, and freely offered, and really Free, on the streets? Smoke.!. No, not your run-of-the-mill garden style mary-wan-ya, that you might have in the US, but… Packed with a big punch, hard to the bone, pure, fresh, Hash. :0 oh-my. If one smokes much of that, they don’t care about dying anyway. :^0 (well it is a flower, no?)-d

They smoke hash there?

In reply to That reminds me…

News to me. There’s hope. 😀

Yeah… I know all about assassins/hashashins ya’ buzz kills. :0 Everybody knows hash is bad for ya’. After all it comes from a plant. :^0

Well, Not Officially mind you :0

In reply to They smoke hash there?

It’s bad for their health :p (not to mention it could lead to a shortened life span) :^0 , Of course x-Stan, (pick one) doesn’t Officially grow poppies either. (Nice flowers though, rather hardy too. should be in every garden. Too bad the VFW started useing plastic ones from China 🙁 ) And since nobody is officially growing / useing anything, those in rather High Places in the US, aren’t officially Profiting either. (nor do they officially assoiate with women that actually have Sex. :0 )
at least not that I would know, of course. -d

My Mother grew poppies back in the 60’s.

In reply to Well, Not Officially mind you :0

A patrol cop came over to our house because we lived right on the corner where it was easy to see them. He said it wasn’t illegal to grow but people used them to make opium and heroin. That’s my Mom, the narcotics dealer. :^0 She pulled the plants out but I remember to this day what they looked like what it was like pulling the seed pods apart so Mom would have seeds for dope err… I mean planting the next time.

Mine too, but you’re right…

In reply to My Mother grew poppies back in the 60’s.

Those were the ’60’s hummm. At one time it was a patriotic thing. Times change. They still grow wild over here. It’s difficult not to be thinking of the Peom “On Flander Fields”. I guess we never learn. Actually there are several varities, most aren’t good for anything other than just being Flowers. Some just for the seeds, for food, leagaly. (Poppy Seed Rolls and all that good stuff). And believe it or not some are grown leagaly for the Opium. (We are in desperate need of Morphine now, with all our guys, & gals too, getting shot-up and blown-up.) Grow a few, just to keep a couple of memories alive. -d

As I understand things most Poppie is OK

In reply to My Mother grew poppies back in the 60’s.

Only a very small % are for the illegal trade. But saying that my father used to grow Poppies every year till he died and other than pulling some out occasionally =because they where the [b]Wrong Type[/b] he was very pleased with his Poppies and most of the street had Cut Poppies as center pieces on their tables.

But here fairly recently Poppie Seeds disappeared because the majority of them where Opium Poppie and you could germinate then quite easily. All of the Nasty ones that I’ve ever seen when under flower are white. Well at least the ones here that are grown by the Government are all white. 😀

But I wouldn’t know as I never look too closely. However a few years ago here one bright spark decided that as they wanted to grow [b]”Grass”[/b] without any risk they just added the seedlings to a Garden Box well several actually outside a Police Station and allowed the Police to grow them for them. Apparently no one was any the wiser till they came in one mourning and all the plants had been ripped out and disappeared. They only realized what they where growing when the Official Police Report was starting to be written out as they had to give a Botanical Name of the missing plants. Maybe I’m stranger than most but Ifind things like that funny. 😀

Col

Now I’m ready to plant!

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

Of course it will be some time yet before I can, but it’s 59 degrees today and thankfully melting the 14 inches of snow from a week ago. I plant alot of flowers in the spring as well as the vegetable garden and am always looking for suggestions on what to plant. I prefer perenials but plant annuals as fillers also. I have all different planting areas from shade to full sun. Any ideas?

Shade seems to be the biggest problem for most folks…

In reply to Now I’m ready to plant!

so here is my shade list:
hostas
false deadnettle
ferns
azalea and rhododendron
hydrangea
impatiens
coleus
daylilies
early spring flowering bulbs like hyacinth and crocus
miscanthus
creeping charlie (moneywort)
lily of the valley
magic lily
spider lily

dappled zone:
peony
iris
daffodil
creeping charlie (moneywort)
magic lily
spider lily
creeping phlox

edit typo
edit again: I’m just a bit to the south of you in zone 4-5.

Thanks

In reply to Shade seems to be the biggest problem for most folks…

I will enjoy looking into these plants while I wait out the rest of winter.

First flowers of Spring 08…

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

in my yard. Crocus. They’re a bit late this year. I’m thinking that is because it was cold later in the year?

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/FLOWERS/FIRSTSPRING08FLOWERS.jpg

The English Crocuses have been and gone

In reply to First flowers of Spring 08…

At least they have down here in the Warm south. I can’t speak for the Frozen North where Gadget lives or, brrrrr, Scotland.

I took this pic in the centre of London just a month ago when it was so warm that we thought we were heading for some sort of record early Spring.

Neil

Beee-yoo-tee-ful!

In reply to The English Crocuses have been and gone

I have a mix of different colors, but the yellow are always up first. I wonder why? But it’s nice to see the cheery yellow after a long, cold, dreary winter.
Now I am itching to see the purples and the stripeds show their colours!

spelling just for you

I’m waiting for the Bluebells

In reply to Beee-yoo-tee-ful!

They turn up here in April/early May in the woods where I do my walking; huge drifts of them that turn the woodland floor blue. I will certainly post some pictures of those.

If it stops raining long enough this weekend (forecast says not) I will be out to see if the wild garlic has flowered and, if I can, I’ll post up a picture as well as pick a whole bunch of new leaves for the most AMAZING garlic mayonnaise.

Mmmmmmm…

Neil 😀

Nice picture. I saved it.

In reply to First flowers of Spring 08…

Here’s the first growing plant in my yard.
That’s Chinese Iris sprouting in the so-called rose garden. Talk about hardy plants. They were coming up under the snow! They get to stay, it’s just the weeds that are going out.

Bluebirds

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

My mom has a bluebird house between the house and the garden. Here are a couple of pics. It’s magical to see the baby birds!

How very cool!

In reply to Bluebirds

So are those eggs ‘robins egg blue’? 😀

Ok, it WAS bad, bad, bad…

Is that the equivalent of a milk man joke for birds?

In reply to How very cool!

Thanks! My mom is the coolest person I know.

I found a nest

In reply to Bluebirds

in the Orange tree in my backyard when I trimmed it a few weeks ago, however it was already empty. But considering a dozen little birds seem to like the tree, I can guess at what its occupants were 😀

The bird thread is over here——>

In reply to Bluebirds

Kidding. I tried that once. It didn’t fly. :^0 Went to all of 25 posts.

I said to post whatever floats your boat and you didn’t flame anyone so you’re now an official member of the TRGC. Nice to have you here. 😀

So Beth do the Birds come and show off their babies

In reply to Bluebirds

To your mother after they have fledged?

Here [b]SWMBO[/b] is not only feeding the hoards but trying to attract as many Baby Birds as possible. At the old place she had lots show up to be feed in a rotation so that they never overlapped or all showed up at once. Not quite sure just how she trained them but there was a constant calling from birds who had her trained just right. 😀

However it was interesting to watch the Parents teach their babies how to gather their own food by standing beside me in the garden waiting for something to be dug up. The babies took a long time to even get close but once they had you couldn’t get rid of them. She even had a Pet Possum who would walk past the front door with her baby on her back.

The rest had more sense than to get too close to [b]SWMBO[/b] but this one would piratically take food from your hand. Well when she had no baby she would actually walk up to you but with Bubs around she was different. I just loved the look that I got when I chased her out of the VW. I thought she was a neighbors Cat. The Possum was quite put out that I had moved her on though. Like all the wild life around the old place she wasn’t just overweight she was FAT! :^0

I now think I understand why I’m constantly broke. 🙁

Bluebirds are extremely skittish

In reply to So Beth do the Birds come and show off their babies

So they don’t “show off.” In fact, mama and daddy will sit on nearby branches and watch very carefully when you check the nest. Then they immediately fly in and check on the babies. They are amazing to watch, though.

Mom’s got a whole nature preserve going on, with very little effort. She’s got the bluebirds who I SWEAR know her. She’s got a squirrel that comes up on the porch steps to get the nuts she drops there for him. She’s got gorgeous ducks that waddle through the ivy and eat big juicy spiders under the shade tree.

last year

In reply to Bluebirds are extremely skittish

in an Aeonium pot (mini version) I found a nest with 2 eggs. I thought it was odd, especially the location. Anyway, the next day I found the mother bird and she was watching me like a hawk whenever I came within a few feet of the nest, she let me know. However, I was Spring cleaning and her nest was in the area of all of my tools, soil, and pots.
Anyway, after 2 days of this she must have gotten fed up. Monday eve, I saw her in the nest, she saw me and took off for an hour.
Tuesday eve, the nest was abandoned, and the eggs were gone. no shell casings or anything. I did not know that birds could move their eggs to another nest before…

Your Mother sounds like SWMBO Beth

In reply to Bluebirds are extremely skittish

I swear that she will tame anything to her at least even though they act like everyone else is out to kill them if they even think about walking out the door or look out a closed window. Well except for Lizards which scare her senseless. I used to have a very nice 2 foot Blue Tongue Lizard come visit me till she scared it away. 🙁

If the birds live that close to someone they must know them and over time will accept them as one of the family who is tolerated if not openly accepted. I’ve seen some strange things with supposedly [b]Wild Animals[/b] accepting people and know enough not to even consider it strange or unnatural.

I just wish that [b]SWMBO ed[/b] pets didn’t come into the house to get their way.

Of course not being a mourning person all their noise isn’t overly appreciated either but I get into trouble for closing a window let alone shooshing away the birds.

Even her Pet Possum which are supposed to be as skittish as anything would only move 3 feet away when I shooed her out of the car. She then took to glaring at me for disturbing her and didn’t so much a move a muscle when I looked in the car with her baby inside it. She’s was nice as she took the baby away after I left.

Not sure what going on with her now that half the house is demolished. Drove past the old place today going somewhere and walls are missing. Sure that the Possum is really happy as her sleeping place in a roller door is currently gone. 😀

Col

Goldfinches and other garden wildlife…

In reply to Bluebirds

‘My’ goldfinches from last year and a swallowtail I got a good shot at. The greenish one is the female. The goldfinches are right off the patio in the raspberry bed, and well, the swallowtail is in the butterfly bushes that line a fence.

http://tinyurl.com/2dtkg7

http://tinyurl.com/2hamlf

edit the usual

TR’s Garden Club – Part 2

In reply to TR’s Garden Club

This discussion grew to be too cumbersome for me. There were a number of posts I’d like to have answered further up but I’ll freely admit, it’s too confusing, to me, to find the right spot when a discussion goes linear. Takes too much time.

Please join me in TR’s Garden Club Part 2 when you’re done with this one. Thanks. 🙂

TRGC-Pt 2: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ytxn7j

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