rcn--I am trying to move us on to a new continuation of the "Spring/Summer/ now Fall Projects"....
I think I am screwing up trying to transition this post......I believe I forgot to hit "send" after I previewed the first attempt.
If this turns out to be a duplicate--please forgive me! Here it goes again!
We came from HERE!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1001085/
I feel SOOOO frustrated, as I have NOT done anything YET that I planned to do in the Spring.
Now it is September--and I simply have to buckle down and get some of this done!
Cooler weather coming this week! YEAH! That is one reason for my procrastination......
--Still have not divided my pregnant Onion nor re-potted my miserably pot-bound Spider Plants.
I have about 3 pots of "Spiders" in this condition. Need to separate/root prune, etc....
--I really, really need to "bite the bullet" and divide my Clivia I inherited from my friend 3 years ago.
Trying to find (el cheapo) heavy enough pots the divisions can grow in. Might just go with clay.
Then--I might just sell these. They would fetch some decent $$.
NOT shipping, though! Has to be local!
--Also--be still my heart--I am thinking of passing on my HUGE Mama "Maya".....The one with 2
magnificent flushes so far this year. It has become a small "tree"....No room in the basement--as
I now have 3 others to overwinter. Not 100% sure yet????.....I have one great cutting growing.
Will take more as I dig up Mama and do more "carnage".....Might also contact Rawlings....
Any takers in this area from DG---COME AND GET IT--FREE! Otherwise--I will advertise/sell it in
the "Pennysaver". D-Mail me if you are interested! You will need a P/U truck!
Well--will post more as the "guilt trip" continues!
Picture--"Maya".
Gita
Well done on making the transition, Gita!
Yup the day approaches when we come to grips with our big babies and what can we keep over winter. I am pleased with my four new brugs this year--thanks to Gita-- and they are not so big yet that I'll feel pressed to keep them.
Gita-- it would be great if there were a small nursery that could take your extras on consignment..Has anyone had experience with Craigslist?
I have armloads of rosemary cuttings to un- load-- the one little sprig that came from Chantell two years ago is now a great bush. I'd like to prune it but not throw away all that wonderful rosemary.
Sally--
OH! I have thought of Craig's List! However---It moves SOOOOO fast. that the next day your Post might be on page 13!!!! BUT--It is the ONLY place you can post things in your locality. NO mailing necessary! I may just do that.
Rosemary is an evergreen in our area. No need to do cuttings! Fresh herb in the middle of Winter! NO problema!
You can cut it back and chop up the "twigs" and dry them--and have fresh, dried Rosemary all year long. Mine is thriving in my "YUK" bed! Whooopie! Anything that loves it there makes me happy!
Thanks for your responses to me starting this new Thread.....
I just thought it was time to do so.....
Gita
Gita, thank you! I noticed last week that the number of posts on the old thread had slipped past 200 posts and thought about starting a new one - just hated the thoughts of having to type "FALL"! LOL Don't feel bad, I'm sure we're all in the same boat with regard to what we DIDN'T get done this summer :) How's this for frustration? I've got annuals I finally sowed in July that are STILL sitting in their cell packs!!! The poor Castor Bean plants aren't even a foot tall and they're getting ready to bloom - so much for the "tropical" look I had planned for one spot in the gardens! I dug a few holes for some of them, we got rain and the soil was too wet, then it got too hot and I didn't feel like it :( I should have just stuck them in the ground anywhere - all I really wanted was to get them to produce seed so I wouldn't have to buy them next year!
I hate to say it, it's technically not even Fall yet and I've already jumped ahead to thinking about projects I might have fun with over the winter ^_^
Yes I am headed in that direction and have noticed a few days with that Fall feeling in the air. Yesterday I tackled more of that strip garden and am heading back down there is a few minutes. I'll post a few pics when I get back. Not sure if I will have it done but I'm getting there.
Oh, I am so glad not to be the only one with unfinished business. You know some of my cell packs only got planted a week or two ago. LOL
we just can't eat that much rosemary and I have (pipe) dreams of getting something in return for it.
I suppose I will send some fresh in with hubby for the work break room/ give away stuff table.
And why are they called 'pipe dreams?" Hm, Hallucinogenic?
My "unfinished work" is now hurrying up and fertilizing some things in a last ditch effort to get the most growth out of them I can to hold them for winter--cannas. I am sending a huge box of liriope to my sister to day- yay- now that she has time to plant, and I have stuff she wants. Its so much better to do a whole bed of groundcover than have to spend all the money or buy small and wait for the sleep creep leap thing.
Lots didn't get done this year, I never got a chance to plant any annual seeds.
My beds get so full of perennials I get very annual deficient. which gets kind of blah in midsummer.
Just came in for a break and I measured that bed it's 46 foot long. I'm down to the very end now and it is the worst area as it is mostly viney things. Wild raspberries, wild grapes and some trumpet vine all buried in lemon balm and what I think might be cat nip. Didn't measure the width as I broke Ric's measure tape and never got around to it, but a good 4ft wide.
Esp right now I have very little going on in my garden on the side of the house, I need to plan for next year.
That is one long bed, Holly.
jen,
3 years ago--in the Fall--I walked my WHOLE garden--every bed and took detailed notes as to what worked, what did not, what to plant again, what not to plant, etc. I wrote down plants I would like to buy and where to plant them and what not to buy. It was several pages long....
You guessed it! Next Spring--I couldn't find it! Looked and looked--in all the "logical" places. Nada!!!
I was so mad at myself.....
Later that year--WAY too late to do anything with all these notes--I found it way back on top of my fridge.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........Gita
Don't you just HATE that.
I was planning on putting zinnia seeds in my side garden but then I had milkweed growing where I was going to put them, I figured I'd like to attract some monarchs, well who knew how ratty that milkweed was going to get, last couple weeks covered with flies and wasps....ICK. Sorry monarchs will have to find your host plant somewhere else next year.
Pictures help a lot. I am always making lists never to be seen again. LOL
I've started moving some of my lists to word documents and in my DG journal but that is slow going.
Jen, you need scarlet milkweed. It's very pretty, I had some a couple of years ago it and collected seeds but then I misplaced them. LOL
Gita has something she calls butterfly weed and I was going to ask if that is what I call scarlet milkweed?
Well I didn't quite finish my job today. Ran into some poision ivy so I backed off and got some spray. I'll be back at it in a couple of days.
I did get a couple of wheelbarrow loads of debris out of the way.
Holly--
I do not think so.....The seeds (very few) were from someone at the Seed Swap and they were really labeled as Butterfly Weed. I had asked for it for a long time if anyone had them--so someone had it and gave it to me.
The one in the picture is a young plant--as I said--from seed this Spring. Being it is a perennial (yes??) and it is blooming for me the first year, makes me very happy. It only has one stalk and is just 14"-16" tall. The blooms are definitely orange.
I know I mentioned this before-----to protect your lower arms from bugs, thorns and touching plants you should not touch----cut off the ribbed tops of worn out tube socks and slip them over your forearms.
Just remember NOT to use them to wipe your sweaty brow with. So handy for that!
IF you know that what you are working with is not poisonous or likely to give you a rash--it IS very handy to use your covered forearms to wipe your sweaty brow with.
Holly--I give you so much credit for all the hard work you do in your garden! Applause....applause......
I no longer have that kind of stamina. Used to haul all day long--NOT any more.....Old age sucks!
The mind is willing---but the body has all kinds of other plans.......
BTW--remember the "mystery plant" no one was ID'ing for me? It just started blooming. I already pulled up the bigger one--finally thinking it was a weed of some sort. Now there is a second one and it has started blooming.
What is it? Is it an annual or a perennial? Sorry about the fuzzy picture. Will take better ones later.....
Gita
jen- I have the same experience with common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Get it out soon, cuz the longer (years) it stays the more roots you'll have sprouting later.
I got from critter the red one A incarnata and its much more attractive. Smaller scale, thinner leaves that are still all there and green. Also comes white.
Then theres butterfly weed A tuberosa which is the orange one also perennial.
I only get monarch cats very late in summer if ever and very few. The common milkweed smells great in bloom and bees love it but as you see it looks horrible later.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher[common]=&searcher[family]=&searcher[genus]=asclepais&searcher[species]=&searcher[cultivar]=&searcher[hybridizer]=&searcher[grex]=&search_prefs[blank_cultivar]=&search_prefs[sort_by]=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search&searcher[genus]=Asclepias
About seventeen years ago I started a border of Siberian iris in the backyard. One narrow strip of divisions. Since then its grown to a patch about twenty feet long and 2- 3 feet wide. It barely blooms and last year only one measly stalk from all that, probably from too much shade and root competition of trees that have grown (Imagine that, over time, small trees make more shade and more roots...duh) Yesterday I was working on pulling it out. Tiring for the arms and back and slow...
I am finally convincing myself that this bed should just have those kinds of woodland things that bloom and then go dormant with the summer drought.
Here is a fall project you will like. Sedum Autum Joy. Don't do anything. Let them peep up through the snow and divide them early next spring. The patches in this picture are three of about seven or eight patches we enjoy. A single division was given to me about fifteen years ago. I divide them by making an "+" with a shovel about every two years. I give away three and replant one. Lots of them are visable all over my immediate area. I line up young guys with new homes to do my divisions in return for the three pieces they can keep to plant and share with others.
This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 5:21 PM
It IS Labor Day--so I have been "laboring" away.....
Here it is--mid-afternnon--and I have spent the day outside catching up on things I have been meaning to do since Spring. REALLY had to fight the inpulses to go shopping! Lots of self-talk!.....Yeah! I persevered!
Today--I FINALLY divided a huge potted Spider plant that was so root-bound it was yellowing out most of it's leaves. Had to break the ceramic pot in pieces to get it out.....Started out accidentally as I banged it on the table--and then i did it on purpose.....No other way.....OH WELL!
Then--hacked the Hell out of the root-ball with a big knife--like cut all the roots off all around the root-ball and also about 3" off the bottom. Then I repotted it in fresh soil in a 10" hanging basket. It WILL be OK! I KNOW that! I will give this away--most likely--as I have 2 other HB of Spiders already. Connie (my last tennent that i work with) asked me for some plants.....
THEN--continuing with my resolve in this great weather we are having--I I FINALLY divided my "Pregnant Onion" and gained about 15 new pots of this plant afterward (Like I needed that!). That took about 2 hours.....Put the bigger "onions" in 5" clay pots and 2 clay Window Boxes-- The smaller rooted "onions" went into 4" clay pots. The pea/bean/marble sized "babies" all got put in cell packs and in 2 shallow pots to grow as they can. I have done this before--and then I have all these plants to share at the next "Plant Swap" with DG people. Of course, by now, everyone that has ever wanted one of these already has one.....WOE BE ME!!!!! WHY do i do all this???? I have to now find room for 10+ more pots of something in my house for the Winter.....
Will, probably, keep all these on the windowsill in my laundry Room and just ignore them! Water them when I think of it--that's all.....
OH, OHHH----There is also the "Climbing Onion" that has to live on this window-sill! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm......It DOES climb a lot!
I could, probably, make some $$$ if i sold these--as i do not think there are too many people that know anything about these "odd" plants I have....leave alone own one of them. Should do this, also, with all the Brug cuttings i root.....Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
Will have to wait until next Spring--as these divisions need to "settle in" and grow a bit.
That leaves still dealing with the HUGE Clivia......Oh, I need someone to hold my hand on this one!!!! It is over 30 years old--and has been in the same container for all that time.
IF I am successful--I can sell each of these divisions for at least $25-$30. A rare plant--indeed.
Here's the original, crowded planter of the Pregnant Onion. Has been haunting me since Spring....
Here is a close-up of the cluster of Mamas and babies......
And--after 2 hours of "laboring"-----Here are the final results. Like I need another 12 pots of something to find room for in the house for the Winter!!!!! Bah--Humbug!
Got a "wake up" call dealing with these plants.....had read that the juices of the leaves might give an allergic reaction to some people. Well-- I had always touched them and all that and had never had any problems--BUT, today--I cut the long leaf-fronds short as I re-potted them--and all of a sudden, my arms started having a prickly feeling to them. More and more.....I remembered reading (on DG) about how this can happen and realized that I was just being careless with handling the fresh-cut leaves......
I ran down to the Laundry room and washed my arms well with brown soap. Dried them off and then went to the bathroom and slathered them with Cortisone Cream. Then pulled old sock-tops over them as i continued (carefully) with all the rest of the "onions".....being aware of NOT getting any of the fresh-cut leaves in contact with my skin.
It did the trick. Will now be more careful in the future......
Here is pic of all the new pots and cell packs that I ended up with after my labors were done with.
The cell-packs have all the bean sized/marble sized baby "onions" in them.
HELP!!!!!!!! Where will I put all these in the house??????
Gita- you crack me up. You talk tough about getting rid of plants that aren't performing or exciting, then look at you. The thing is---I know that you keep them all because of your generous nature and wanting to be able to share them with someone, for their enjoyment. . You're a cream puff!
My pregnant onion is one mom and two teenage daughters and fifty babies at this point, PLUS a whole lotta ants! I am not sure what I will do--toss it and just keep babies...or,...It might be fun to see if it can be left to completely dry out for awhile and then revive in the spring.
Gita, Wow, that was a Labor Day! LOL Great looking plants. So glad you finally got an ID on that mystery plant.
Doc, Your sedum sure is beautiful.
Sally, Sounds like you have had a good bit of work going on, too.
I on the other hand spent most of my holiday lazing around down at Josh's summer cabin on the river, closest I came to work was a bit of babysitting the grands, you all know how hard it is snuggling babies. LOL
Hope to get myself back in gear next week, fall is coming and there will be a lot to do. First off is trying to finish that big bed. I have decided that will be just the place to put my bicycle trellis with the honeysuckle. I have been thinking about a good spot for that and think it will be just perfect.
I would take lazing at my kid's river cabin any day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! god willing, some day!
Hay, Sally
There's nothing wrong with how my "onions" are performing! Not gonna chuck these!
Of course i am a "Cream puff"---That's what makes me so sweet.....:o)...heeee heee....
I also repotted a 10 some years old, multiple bulb Pony Tail Palm. Forgot to mention that....
I bought this, who knows when, as a 3.8" little pot. The bulbs were about as big as the "onion" babies....There are about 6 or 7 of them. They have been living in a 6" clay pot all this time.
Bought a nice New England pottery pot at Ollies for $5.99 and planted it in there. Of course--I had I pulled all the roots loose. It was so root-bound! Should be happy in this pot for 10 more years.....Will probably outlive me! The fronds are OK. Just the ends were getting yellow....
My red Epi looks a bit sad......A couple of the "branches/"leaves" were all dried up and brittle. Broke those off and threw them away. See! I CAN do it, sally!
Also moved it to a bit more shade.....I think it was getting too much sun hanging on my laundry pole in the middle of my back yard. Looked a bit sunburnt.....
My Brugs will be the next headache! Fall is coming.....Hope I find a home for the Maya.....Will keep you all updated re Rawlings......
Beddy Bye time for me....Good night!
Gita
Sally, for the ants. Get a bottle of Terro, its a brand of ant killer, small bottle, thick liquid. I put a few drops on the planter rim rear the soil. The ants just feed on it, I replenished the drops for a few days till no more ants come to feed. Works great.
I do keep these planters out of my pets reach just to be on the safe side.
I accidently brought into the house a planter last year that had a good size ant colony the Terro took care of them. They were the small ants.
Terro is inexpensive and works great. We have had no ants in the house since we began to maintain feeding stations using Terro.
Another vote for Terro- Doc has recomended it before. Thanks!
But if you can't find Terro, as I didn't , and got desperate- the Combat bait which is a yellowy goo that's in a large syringe, inside a small box. also seems to be working. My kitchen ants came back last week. I put a dab of bait next to the trail and could see them going to it within seconds!
Question remains- do I love that pregnant onion enough to bring it in? space is limited and I can keep just tiny ones and have a biggie again down the road. I have pretty much no place for a hanger, and those long leaves need to hang.
Well--I cut all my long leaves down to maybe 6-7" when I repotted all the divisions. Just too sloppy with them hanging 3' down!
Hope that won't affect the future of these.....
It is a done deal--can't fret over it now.....G.
My garden overhaul began in earnest in July. I won't redo all the photos and comments, but the project is still underway. If you want, you can travel to the iris forum to read up. It's been overwhelming at times but that's what happens when you have loads too many irises and it's been time for dividing some of the clumps for more than 3 years. Check it out here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1011949/ .
All the rain overnight has exacerbated a crack in the bathroom skylight and I awoke to find that the bathroom roof is leaking and the ceiling paint is bubbled and the drywall is no longer dry. What a sad way to start the day. Does anyone know anything about installing new skylights in a DIY manner?
Roni
Thanks for the info on Terro - we have those pesky little ants that have a trail all the way from under the deck right up to the back door and every year they find a way into the kitchen :( Spraying helps for a few days and they'll retreat but they always come back - maybe this stuff will do the trick!
Gita, you've been busy! Makes me tired just thinking of what you accomplished over the Labor Day weekend! Your Brug is beautiful, I hope you find a home for it. We're going to be getting rid of some of our houseplants this fall, there just isn't enough room anymore! Fortunately a few friends have already indicated which ones they'd be willing to take off our hands so I know they'll have a good home :)
Doc, your AJ Sedums look beautiful :) My mother uses them as a "hedge" growing up her front path and they always look neat and tidy. I just wish I could convince her to leave the stalks standing through the winter. She always cut back them back in the fall and I always liked the look of them "peeping" up through the snow :)
Holly, that IS one long bed! I don't envy you having to remove all that "debris". I got some weeding done over the weekend, wheelbarrow wasn't close so I used the piles and lined them up as my "mulch" border! It looks a little messy until I lay grass clippings on top of them and then no one knows what's hiding underneath! LOL
Roni, sorry about your skylight, maybe someone could help you on these forums? Construction http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/construction/all/ or Home Repairs and Maintenance http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/repairs/all/
How's this for a Fall project? I spent the weekend planting my ANNUALS! LOL I just had to make good on a bet - Rick said I wasted money on the seeds because by June I didn't have them sowed. When I finally sowed them in July he bet me that they'd never see dirt! Well I might not get any flowers but they ARE planted :) At this point I'm only hoping that I'll be lucky enough to get a few flowers so I can save the seeds! The Castor Bean plants were only a little over a foot tall but they were already flowering and I've had one Zinnia flower so far so I might just get lucky :)
Roni- I love your rock walls!
Thanks Sally! Hopefully I'll have extra time to slip out and photograph the progress and we'll have another tier finished this weekend as well as the gardens amended and replanted. Lofty goals, LOL.
Wow Roni, They do look great! I'm going back again and take a better look at everything. I have a ? for you. I promised a few irises and never did get them dug. It has been such a crazy summer. Is it too late to dig them and send?
Today--I am tackling another procrastinated project.....Making Pesto out of all the Basil I have.
I have been growing it all Summer....I have NOT picked one leaf of it since Spring! Nada! It has grown and grown (some to 2' tall) and some that have already bloomed and gone to seed.
Another weekly project I had to do--was mow my lawn, as they were calling for rain this AM. It is now almost 4PM--and there has been NO rain--but my lawn got mowed this morning.....
Every time I go out on my Patio (daily!) I see all my Basil growing gung-Ho---and I feel so "guilty" for never doing anything with it.....Guilt is genetic in our Family--by the way......Ahem.....
So--I got one of those flat, rectangular beer boxes and picked and picked.....until this box was overflowing. I only picked the Sweet Basil--as all the others were too late....AND--especially Jill's Italian Basil--whose seed seems to be so scarce--I am letting that go to seed so i can get some.
I did pick some side leaves and chopped them up and put them on a plate to dry.
Will do the same for the Thai and Lemon/Lime one. Seems many of these were already ready to harvest...so I cut off many of the browning scapes for seed.
OK! SO! Today I shall make Pesto! I use a basic recipe--nothing extravagant!
******************************************
First--I measured out how much Basil leaves I have--as one batch calls for one cup (tightly packed) of Basil leaves. Kind of gave me an idea of how many batches I will be making.
Then--following the recipe---I measured out all the ingredients so I can just haul up my food processor and GO! Seems I will be making 5 batches---each resulting in 2 cups (?) of finished product.
NOW! "STAGED" just for you all--here is my project in progress.....
Here is everything measured out by batches.....ready to go. Did not want to do multiples of one batch....Too chancy for results. BTW--The glass of wine is essential for me to get this done perfectly......:o)
We have" The Basil---the Olive Oil--the Pine Nuts--the freshly shredded Parmesan cheese--the chopped garlic--and the coarse salt (I use Sea Salt)...
Will post my basic recipe below......
Gita
Here is a close-up of the ingredients.....One batch per bowl of basil.
Please excuse the cluttered kitchen table.....That is it's "normal" state....Used the towels to cover some of it so you could concentrate on the ingredients.
See WHY I save all kinds of small, plastic containers? They come in handy----The really small ones are from Crystal Light lemonade mix. The larger ones are from those pudding six-packs.
I also use these to sort all the seeds i am collecting.....NOW! get your brain into a "green" mode! NOTHING exists with ONLY one life! EVERYTHING has another life of some sort.....
The MOTTO of my life!
Here's a closer up look at all the ingredients....
Here is the basic recipe I use for Pesto--Probably got it from DG....????
There are many variations......I had copied out one for "Sicilian Pesto" and liked it....
If I could only remember what i did with it?????? DAH! I searched and searched...Nada!
PESTO SAUCE—From “The Book of Sauces” by Gordon Grimsdale
1 cup fresh basil leaves—tightly packed
2 garlic cloves crushed (size not specified). Use as you prefer...
1/2tsp. Coarse Kosher or Sea salt I am a Sea Salt user.
2 Tbs. Pine nuts (I use a bit more--using a regular Tbs)
½ cup Olive oil
2 Tbs. Freshly grated Parmesan or Peccorino cheese. I am liberal with this as well.
(BJ's, and those kind of places, have this in a big, plastic jug for about $7.99.)
Makes about 2 cups.
TO DO:
--Place Basil, garlic, salt and Pine Nuts In a blender/processor and whirl until finely chopped.
--With motor running—add Olive oil in a thin stream. Scrape down sides as needed. Whirl until well mixed. Continue to mix until you have a smooth sauce.
--Add cheese and mix with a short burst of the mixer to blend.
--Serve over hot, freshly cooked pasta.
Note:
Use only high quality Olive Oil—NO substitutes! If the sauce is a bit too thick, thin with a couple of Tbsp. of the pasta cooking water...(assuming you are doing this just for dinner).... if not--I have NO idea how to thin it? More oil? Maybe some broth?
Store any leftover sauce in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one month.
I freeze mine in Zip-Loc Snack bags. It really never freezes. Too much oil.....
Gita
AHH--Here I am again--a couple of hours later......and no one has posted in-between???
Wanted to show you the finished product. There are 10 baggies, each holding about 1/2cup of Pesto. So--Not all that much in the long run--but enough. I will now freeze these and use/give away as needed.
Hope you do this--it is a delicious way to use up all the Basil you are growing...
Gita
You were on a roll. No one wanted to get in the road of progress. LOL
