Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners

Try this one, Jim. Doesn't "Feed me, Seymour!"come to mind? lol

Vickie, I am fond of cemeteries, the older the better. Did a class research paper once on how the culture of the area can be determined by the layout of a cemetery's plots and the material and style of the headstones. One of the oldest and largest in Garland is just a few blocks down the street from my house and it is so peaceful and very much like a park. Can see how smaller towns would have difficulty with maintenance. My mother is buried in Batesville and, because it's such a long drive from here, my sister and I are only able to check on the site every six or seven years. But the volunteer group up there does a nice job of caretaking.

Carrie, my boss had to drag me by the hair to really start using computers. Even after all this time with him--and in a company that recycles the dang things--I am still a novice and mostly clueless. :-) Just changing out my monitor gives me anxiety separation!

I may not have a very good memory for scent. But, I came home tonight to a scent I certainly recognized. The whole house smelled of roses.
It may seem odd to some but the smell of rose petals simmering on the stove is a comforting and familiar aroma to me. Penn. Dutch women sometimes use rose water in their cooking. I don’t get to dine on apple pie flavored with rose water this time though. Kay is just preparing roses from the mystery rose bush to make rose petal beads. The smell is still nice though.
Now, however, I might have dreams in which the roses eat me, instead of the other way around. LOL. (Jim)

Rose water is a byproduct of making rose beads. He may get that apple pie yet, if he behaves himself. LOL. Not much chance of that happening.
Wintergreen is on my want list also, Vickie. I haven't been able to convince myself to pay the rather high price for the plants I've seen mailorder since it would be chancey here. We are at its southern limit.
Bonnie, if it is Yucca filamentosa, I've cut them off below ground and they have come back. I have some growing on a fairly steeep bank that is hard to mow so I didn't keep it mowed down as I should have. The taproots on yucca are unreal. That IS a tough situation.
Off to pick more berries. Does anyone know if they can be successfully frozen? Kay*

Kay, some of the people here said dewberries should freeze like raspberries or blackberries. Can use a sugar pack or a syrup pack, but they advised if freezing dry pack individual berries that they be 'completely' dry first.

Bonnie, contacted some of the ag extensions here to find out how they would get rid of yucca without killing a chain saw. :-) Will let you know what they say.

Debra

Thanks Debra, these may be prized plants somewhere, but they are not here. They seem to love our climate, and they scatter seeds and sprout all over the place.

Bonnie, um, not fun news. The Extension Horticulturist/Master Gardener Coordinator for Dallas County, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M University System said:

"You all may want to try a back hoe as the underground rooting structure must be removed if future sprouting is to be prevented. As you have chosen to physically remove the plant the entire plant above as well as below grown should be removed by whatever means works best for you."

I also had someone say they used a chain and a pickup.

Sorry... :-(

What are rose beads? Or rather how are they made? For jewelry or what?
I can almost smell them simering. I love to add rose petals to salads n the summer!

Sheri, I have a friend from childhood who is now a Franciscan priest. He gave me a rosary made from rose petal beads for Christmas one year. (Perhaps, that is where the word “rosary” comes from?) I have been in love with rose petal jewelry ever since. Just about everyone who makes rose petal beads has their own recipe or little tricks, but it is really just finely chopped rose petals simmered at a low heat for an hour or two. It forms a sort of paste that you can shape into beads. When they are dry enough to hold their shape but still soft, you pierce them and dry them on a wire until they are hard. Some people like to varnish them to preserve them, but that destroys the most appealing part of rose beads in my opinion. This is that they retain a slight scent. If you store rose petal jewelry in an airtight container, the beads can last for years and keep a ghost of a scent.
. Kay*

Sorry, I forgot to log Jim out and log myself in. But, I do think seacane is a pain too. The green kind the flowers in fall anyway. Think yucca with dreams of world domination, Bonnie, if you have never seen seacane. LOL. Kay*

Well, I have never seen seacane, and if it is as tough as the yucca, I don't think I want to make it's acquaintance!!

Thanks for the information lovemyhouse, as disheartening as it was. I didn't figure it was anything easy like sprinkling them with salt, or something.

I have never heard of the rose petal beads either. I think I must have led a very sheltered life!! But I bet the aroma is really lovely.

Don't know if anybody here is a fan of knockout roses, but I have one single one and 2 double ones and they are loaded with blooms. They are pretty, but I long for some old fashioned kind with fragrance. I have a fairy rose, which is a climber, and it has a slight scent, but I want something that when you walk within 5 feet of it that you can smell it.

I had'nt heard of rose beads either. How totally wonderful. Have one old fashioned rose with a fragrance. It is not as pronounced as advertised tho.
I had some bad news today. My BIL in ETX passed away this morning. He has been sick for awhile. Will go down for the funeral, which is Friday.Should be back Saturday.

Safe travel Vickie. Watch out for the goonies out there. We all want you back safe and sound...er....safe at least. I don't know that I'd recognise sound. That is said in jest of course since all of us admitedly have our "fog" or other isssues.
love & prayers,
Sheri

Have decided to go down with my nephew in his pickup. We have'nt visited in a long time and we'll both injoy the visit on the way down there.
Sheri, i think this "Fog" is something we can all share, Since there's plenty to go around.

So sorry to hear about your loss, Vickie. Hope the trip goes well. We will be thinking about you.
Hang with us long, Bonnie, and you will be fully armed with knowlege should you ever find yourself on the Gulf Coast. Or, terrified to come here. LOL. And, we should know what to watch for in KY.
I “rescued” my mystery rose from a graveyard years ago. Is this graveyard week? LOL. The family of the deceased thought it was ‘Mr. Lincoln.’ I don’t know much about roses, but I don’t believe there is a climbing version of Lincoln and I don’t think the blooms are such a dark red. I suspect the ‘Mr. Lincoln’ died and what I have is whatever rootstock the nursery used for grafting. Not sure about that, though. It is one of those type roses that have the fragrant leaves with touches of a magenta color in the new foliage. I do love that, but the look of the foliage is probably a little coarse for some people’s taste. It was blooming beautifully in shade when I first saw it. That is what caught my attention. It is rambunctious, however. You can’t be hesitant with the pruners. Maybe one day I’ll actually figure out what kind it is. :-)
I will be envying you with your ‘Knockouts’ in another month or so. Those are very resistant to blackspot, aren’t they?
Sheri, the lily in the bud picture I put on your b’day thread bloomed today. I’ll try to get a photo of it tomorrow. I think you’ll like it. Kay*
Photo: Mystery Rose

I had a regular Mr. Lincoln and the blooms are'nt the same color. uh Do i dare say i think it's prettier?

I thnk the knockouts are pretty resistant to just about anything. However, some critter has been muching on the foliage at the bottom of my biggest and oldest one. Had to bring out the big guns and give it a spray. It looks better already.

That is a pretty rose, but in no way would I think Mr. Lincoln.

I love the Gulf coast, we have vacationed there several times. Maybe we are just not going the right places to see seacane, and the native plants.

Hullo - I'm stil here! I wish stuff still came with instruction manuals but it's all online these days! Gimme a good old-fashioned instruction book to read!

Sorry about your BIL, Vickie - have a safe trip and have a good time with your nephew. (Road trip!)

Carrie, I complain about no instructions all the time. It's so sad there used to be simple instructions in everything and now not a hint of instructions.
This ole girl needs instructions on how to use a disposable camera and notta. Nuts!

Bonnie, we try to hide our seacane and kudzu. Don't want to scare the tourist. lol. The kudzu is sort of hard to hide though. Like a pink elephant in the living room. You probably saw seacane, but mature it looks much like bamboo and it goes by many aliases. Mostly you see it on old farmsteads. They made fishing poles and other practical stuff they needed with it. They were smart enough to plant it in dry places so it didn't run wild. It only goes crazy when it has free access to a lot of water. I guess I've come around to accepting the definition of "weed" Kay uses. "Any plant that is where it shouldn't be."
I like the form of fairy roses, but all the ones I've seen are pink. They do come in other colors, don't they?
J. was laughing at the instructions that came with a new blowdryer she bought for her hair. The instructions informed her that using the product while in the shower could be hazardous. Uh-h-h. You have to wonder if it was someone's idea of a joke or if there was a real incident that prompted the manufacturer to put that warning on the instruction sheet. :-) (Jim)

Carrie, I'm with you. Want that paper in my hands so I can carry it with me and fold it up and dog ear the corners and mark on it...But you'll win! :-)

Debra

I'm still here working on my computer .... Jim, I've only seen pink Fairy roses but there may be other colors that I don't know about.

Carrie, I have faith in you. :-)

Jim, the Fairy Rose is only pink. The "Flower Carpet" roses are similar in form and size, but come in several colors including dark red and amber/coral.

Debra

Hugs Carrie. How does one get instructions on how to construct a computer on line when one cannot get online till one constructs the computer.LOL

Those commonsense precautions pop up everywhere. I can't decide if everyone today is thought incapable of common sense or if(horrors) we,actually no longer have commonsense.
Since i have no commnsense,I am going to dig up some kudzu to plant.Since it has a useful purpose.

Might get to try Jim's fan idea. This weekend is supposed to be in the low 90s with high humidity and, since this is the first full weekend I've had off in three months, the plan was to be in the yard as much as possible. "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." Or, we plan, God laughs. :-)

Exactly, Vickie! Just go online to download the driver to your modem that gets you online ...?

Well, it only got to 90 today, but the humidity was really high for us. Of course, I forgot to ask the warehouse guys for one of the fans to try out Jim's technique. Good thing there was a consistent, steady wind and it was reasonably comfortable in the shade. Had lots of Gatorade, too. Wasn't an MS day, so I got cocky and worked too long. I go out with six things I want to do, then spot 19 more that need taking care of and start bouncing back and forth between them all. The gardener's version of ADHD. LOL Stayed out four hours digging a LOT and pulling more of the thousands of seedlings my cedar elm sheds every year. (They are EVERYWHERE.) Which means tomorrow will be a creaky day. Thankfully, it will just be the "I'm not as young as I used to be and old muscles are talking back" rather than the "Uh-oh, I think I did a baaaaaaaaaadd thing!!" :-) And I don't have to drag around the office tomorrow, so I can be a sofa spud with coffee and a book all day.

My kid laborer who was going to dig the daylily bed is co-opted to his church for the next few weekends, and the other broke his hand and is in a cast for six weeks. Looks like the red'uns will stay in pots for longer than anticipated. Kay, most of them are rebloomers and I was looking forward to posting the photographs, as there are some really glowing reds. Afraid it might be next Spring before that happens, now. :-) Did get the Agastaches, Baptisia, and Banana Cream daisy all planted. Fingers crossed they like their new homes.

Debra

Debra, certainly sounds like you "tore it up" today. I do that too, when I have a day where I feel good. Usually I pay for it for the next 2 or 3 days. I was sort of like that today, but certainly didn't do as much as you. We were in the 80's today, with a slight breeze which kept it comfortable even out in the sun.

Since I was late doing my winter sowing, I transplanted those tiny plants into bigger flats, painted a bench that I keep potted plants on in the garden, and also painted a couple of decorative lawn ornaments that had faded from the sun.

DH used the power washer on the deck and the front porch yesterday, and today I moved the front porch furniture back.

I had planned on hiring some help in digging and dividing all of my daylilies, some 170 something, but have nowhere else to put them, so guess if they get dug, it will be because I am digging them to sell, or to give away. I have some really pretty ones, and some very expensive ones. I just can't manage it all by myself.

I have talked to a lady who does house cleaning, and I am going to hire her to come every two weeks to clean for me. I have just gotten to the point that I can't do it all anymore, and my house isn't that big.

Then, I will have to conserve energy to get the freezing and canning done later on. DH has a big garden, and I try to put up as much as I can, in order to enjoy the fresh from the garden,and to save on grocery bills.

I have talked to my Dr about my lack of energy, and he assures me that it can take up to a year to regain my strength from my illness and hospital stay. I have started walking again. I used to walk 2 miles every day, and I can only do the equivelant of about a city block. Pitiful isn't it?

Bonnie, yeah, I hit it pretty hard. There is so much to do, even with such a small yard and I so rarely have energy to work outside when I get home during the week. The house needs powerwashing, branches hitting the roof need trimming, there's weedy grass in every bed to pull out, half a truckload of mulch sitting in the driveway to spread out, and on and on. I've basically done everything for myself since I was eight years old, but having a house at all is such a miracle to me that not being able to do everything myself at *53* years old it isn't as frustrating as it could be . LOL

Think I will take the hire route, too, and get someone in to at least pull the weeds. The boss will let me bring a tall ladder from work to trim the branches. And, I'm sure, insist on sending one of the "boys" to do the trimming. If I fall off the ladder and get hurt, he doesn't have an operations manager anymore and will have to take it himself. LOL

Those daylilies do spread fast. 170 is a LOT. Sounds like you have plenty of stock for a sale. :-)

Hooray for housecleaners! Even if you do have energy, at some point, you have to choose where it's important to spend your time. I think it's a great decision. Housekeeping has never been high on my priority list, and even less so when the MS and the fifty'leven other things popped up. But one of my dogs is long-haired and a prolific shedder. I don't have dust bunnies, I have dust jackalopes! Thinking of talking to our office cleaner to see if she has time for my house every month or so. It's less than 900 square feet, all hard surface flooring, and one tiny bathroom, which shouldn't take her long to dust and sweep.

Walking a block at a time is a great start and you can slowly build up. I'm sure it is hard to adjust after the two daily miles and you ARE back out there, now, so it will come. :-)

Debra

Thanks Debra, I know it will come, but I just need a little more patience. I heard a joke once that a preacher told about a lady who continuallly prayed for patience. The Lord answered her prayer by giving her 6 kids, so I am a little hesitant to pray for patience!!

Bonnie, remember you're getting advice from someone who is proud of being able to walk 30 feet with a walker and two braces, BUT... with MS like mine, for instance, you have to build up in incredibly tiny increments. One day I'll do 10 minutes on the bike, the next day 11,and the next day 12. I can't go 10, 30, 60 or anything. But amazingly, if you build up in those tiny increments, eventually you get to where you want to be. (I don't have MS days and non-MS days, I have MS all day and all night, 24/7! No way could I do what Debra did.)

Oh, Carrie, I have been so insensitive. It is like I cried because I had no shoes, and then I saw someone with no feet. Sort of puts into prospective. I was very healthy until my hospital stay in February. Was able to do anything that I wanted, and I was so sick, that the Dr said it would take a year to regain my strength. The only infirmity (I don't say disablility) was my limited sight.

I certainly have learned to be thankful for the little progress I make. There are days that I have my private pity partieis, but I am soon back on top again.

Bonnie, I’m the oldest of four, raised my siblings pretty much myself, have a couple of teaching certifications, tutored learning disabled students for a few years, and am boss and mentor to most of our college-age staff. I don’t mean to come across as arrogant or “know it all,” I simply can’t help trying to “fix” things for others. It’s become ingrained over 40+ years. And I have to use all those psychology and sociology and grief classes SOMEWHERE :-), so, here goes, hope it doesn't make you mad:

You aren’t insensitive that I can see, or you wouldn’t be so upset thinking you have been to Carrie. Of COURSE you aren’t saying that your situation is worse than anyone else’s. Of COURSE there are others in worse OR better shape than you. What people like Carrie and Kay and Jim and Vicki do every day astonishes me. I don't think there is anyway I could have their pain and still be able to carry on as fully as they do. But this is what did happen to YOU. It is natural--and healthy--to acknowledge that physical abilities have been affected by whatever it is, be it a one-time accident from which you will completely recover or a chronic illness from which you won’t. If you try to mash it all down and pretend everything is the same as before, it will come out and bite you in the anatomy when least expected! :-) There are adjustments to make, or grief stages, if you will, to go through. Even if all you did was break a toe and have to limp around for a few weeks, it is still a loss. The only question is the degree. Trying to suppress those stages takes more energy than it does to go through them, so why not let them loose? Again, I’m NOT AT ALL saying that we shouldn’t take others into consideration or that we should feel sorry for ourselves all the time. It’s only that I believe being fair to yourself means not being too harsh WITH yourself for expressing the discomfort and changes you are experiencing as you do experience them. :-)

Debra

Thanks, Debra! :) I wasn't saying poor me, you think you've got it bad, think of me, I was truly trying to share my experience about building back physical strength slowly. Of course it shows that you're NOT insensitive that you thought of us and not yourself. Now let's get you back into shape! 1.2 city blocks?

Hey guys, I am sure I am insensitive sounding when I complain too. I do not mean to sound like an insensitive jerk to Carrie when I moan and groan. I am Thankful I can walk. But when I work too much I hurt because of the fibro so I really need to moan and groan some because dadgummit it hurts.

I love you Carrie and I am so proud of you for the challenges you have faced and you are accomplishing a big goal in walking. But when I am hurting I am just feeling sorry for me and I forget about others. I do not mean too but I just neeed to vent my frustrations. I am sorry if that is insensitive. I need a hug now cause I have a headache I can't shake but I will send you one if you return the favor.LOL ((((())))

Bonnie and debra try to take care and hugs to each of you. scraps Do either of you use a rolling stool while you work in the yard. I found a great heavy duty one at Harbor freight that has what is called a tractor seat on it and it has really been helpful in my yard work. I will see if I can find a picture and post it. scraps

YOU POSTED A PICTURE!!! Yeah Steph!!! I couldn't sit up in that, sadly.

Hey folks! STOP FEELING SORRY FOR ME!!!!! I have pain, you have pain, we all have pain. Today, among other things, Steph has a blood pressure headache (owwweee) and Bonnie feels loss of her ability to walk/run. Those are no less valid or urgent because of Jim's back pain! Hugs (gentle) all around - group hug.

I have to mention that my typing is so rotten that I have firefox set up to underline mis-spelled words in red lines - and "owwweeee" is underlined in a very painful red.

Carrie, I know you were. You are the least likely person to say "poor me" that I have ever talked with, even if it is only by email. :-)

Miss Scraps, we all need a place to safely vent how we are feeling when we are feeling it. This is it! And I am soooooo happy I found it and that you have all accepted me. There isn't anyone around me that understands-or wants to hear about-having a disability or chronic condition, except maybe my sister. But she has her hands full with the kids and grandkids, 'specially since her husband's a long-haul trucker and is only home every other weekend, so it seems like I'm adding to her burden and I keep quiet. Here, if I go "waaaaaaahhhhh, I don't feel good today!!!" nobody will say suck it up, or stop being so whiny, or you look fine to me. LOL It is SUCH a relief. :-)

Debra

I love DG. I would not have spent the money on a new subscription if not for the fact that I think being on here with you guys does more for my depression than my prescriptions. I think that group hug just made my headache better.LOL. I hope you all feel better too. I think that Carrie started us a new theme song. Sung to the "Barney" theme song tune.

I have pain, you have pain, we all have pain.

I have a hug and you need one so take one down and pass it around.......LOL.

You guys are terrific. I already feel better. I was so-o-o-o depressed for awhile.No particular reason,just depressed.
I took your hug and used it Now i'll pass it to Bonnie.
Steph, that buggy is a winner. Does it have brakes? Would you use them if it did?
Carrie, I don't feel sorry for you. You have beautiful music in your head. I do empathise sometimes tho.

Thanks for getting this back on track. If you could meet me, and be around me, I am one who just does not take sympathy from others well.

I am glad to know that this is a good place to moan and groan a little, then hitch up your britches and get on with it. That is the kind of person I am. I know that of everybody here (or so it seems) that I probably have the best prognosis, for a full recovery from my illness, and for that I am grateful. Thanks everybody for helping me put things into perspective. I have truly come to feel that I am accepted and welcomed here.

Thanks Debra, I don't take offense at truths. Sometimes just have to step back and try to assess the situation and find usually that the other person has hit the nail on the head.

Jim, this one is for you. It ain't pink! LOL

Debra