Oh Vickie, I hope you didn't catch it from me!!!!
Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners #9
Yes, Vickie, it’s a mock orange. It is gorgeous at the moment, but MK still wants to move it out of the Fragrance Garden because it is a modern cultivar that doesn’t have much scent. She wants to sniff around for the old-fashion variety. :-)
I’m going to find room for this Mock Orange in my corner as soon as it is finished blooming. It puts on as dramatic a show as the Bridal Wreath Spirea and comes into bloom just as the Spirea is fading. I’m not concerned about its light scent. The fragrance of Japanese honeysuckle is so powerful in my corner during April another highly scented plant blooming at the same time would be overkill.
Japanese honeysuckle is a very common woodland plant here and there is a wooded area that makes up the southern boundary of my corner. I thought wild Japanese honeysuckle vines were native plants for most of my life. It’s funny, but I’ve never seen the native (Lonicera sempervirens) Alabama Crimson honeysuckle (aka: Coral honeysuckle) in the wild. lol.
I made a little extra money filling out surveys the last few days. I made $130 and PJ made $60. I’m not sure why PJ and I get selected for these things, but the money comes in handy. I haven’t been sleeping well so haven’t had much energy lately. MK cut me some slack. She is letting me paint tires inside in air conditioned comfort. I’ve also been painting paint cans to use as hanging planters and for storage. Some of them have come out cute enough to sell. We don’t have curbside recycling here so re-purposing things that would end up in landfills seems like worthwhile work. Now, if I could only figure out what to do with all the milk jugs. We formerly saved them to put in the recycling bins on the military base, but they’ve stopped that program. We will need to get even more creative or find another recycling drop site nearby. .
After several years of trying, MK has finally succeeded in establishing thymes. Humidity seems to be the key here. The chamomile is flowering. I need to get busy and learn the best way to dry it for tea.
Carrie, hang in there. At the rate computerised music tech is moving, you WILL be able to share it soon. When Vocaloids first came out (2004), the voices sounded synthesized, but I can't tell the singer isn't human with the latest version. Your more decerning ear might be able to tell, but most people can't.
PJ is battling gremlins in his computer. He will probably be around later today. ~Nadine~
Amazon has a good book on making things from plastic, including milk jugs. It's very good.
katie
How about those darn plastic bags?
They can be fused into material. Google it. Lots of intersting ideas out there. All it takes is the energy to do them!
katie
The year I was 7 or 8, my very crafty aunt made Easter baskets for all of we children out of milk jugs. There were 10 children in the house at the time and things like that get expensive x10. They were made to look like rabbits, lambs and ducks. The head was made with a Styrofoam ball screwed down and glued where the lid was. A hole was cut high in front, opposite the handle and the edges were covered with ribbon so they weren’t sharp. They were decorated with toole, curling ribbon and beads and just so cute I don’t think it crossed any of our minds the adults were going cheap. The colors and decorations were geared to each individual child’s preferences. That made them extra special. I can’t describe any of the purchased Easter baskets I had as a child, but I still have a mental picture of my one-of-a-kind milk jug Easter basket.
I’ve tripled plastic shopping bags, filled them with dirt, tied them off, lined them up and covered them with Kwik-Crete to make a fast erosion barrier. That's just a twist on sandbagging though. I hear you laughing at the idea of someone making rocks, Vickie. But, remember, we don’t have many rocks larger than pebbles here.
I saw a water bottle carrier once made from crocheted strips of plastic shopping bags, but I’ve never tried doing it. I bet people have used that technique to make other things. Kay*
I think all three new daylilies are beautiful acquisitions, Debra, but 'When I Dream' ROCKS! (Jim)
Okee, Jim. If I don't kill 'em, will send you some as soon as it looks like they will ship okay.
I thought that Jim was saying he dreamed of rocks and Debra was going to ship him some rocks!
I can do that, too. :-) And next year, after they multiply a little, might just send him a benign vampire to go with the Dream rocks.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/164473/
(this guy was the main reason for the order. not keen on the color all that much, but what black and white monster movie fan could pass it up?)
Since they have a ‘Bela Lugosi’ daylily, someone should develop a ‘Boris Karloff’ and ‘Vincent Price’ daylily. :-) They would be must-haves for a goth theme garden.
I've been checking out Gothic themed gardens today. Making a path into the woods has made it vulnerable to erosion so MK extended the line of dark leaf cannas into the woods for erosion control. It is perfect from a practical perspective. Cana indica 'Purpurea' is so hardy and has such an extensive root system it is good for erosion control. Nearer the house where it gets full sun it turns a coppery-brown accented with olive green. But, in the shade of the woods, they will stay dark. It will have violet to burgundy leaves, depending on how deep the shade is.) Now we need to come up with a design that will work with that dark backdrop I might try a sales pitch for Goth in that space. I saw some interesting dark and mysterious characters when I was looking through the Whatcom Seeds catalog. Although, I believe I would want punches of crisp white for contrast.
I always thought the grove had an eerie feel to it even before MK told me the story behind the concrete water trough. It is a feeling evoked by the hanging Spanish moss, I think. The old concrete watering trough will make a great planter, but it was originally made to be a grave liner. That does suggest a goth theme, doesn't it? lol. . ~Nadine~
nadine, if the daylilies do well, i will send you a bela :-)
...and a moonlit masquerade, if you think it will fit with the theme. that was the bonus daylily and it is a rebloomer (bela is single season). has both the really dark purple AND white. a two-fer! :-)
That’s okay, Carrie. Because of the way my reader said it, I thought Debra had multiplying rocks for a moment. Darn, I wanted some of those. It would save me a lot of concrete work.
I’m afraid a flower cultivar named ‘Boris Karloff’ would inevitably be drawn into the “franken-flower” controversy. ;-)
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/15157
….and I can’t even begin to imagine what a ‘Vincent Price’ daylily would look like. Now, Bela Lugosi, that’s different. He had charisma. I’ve always thought he could have made it big as a mainstream actor, if only he could have managed to tone down the accent. Kay*
OK Now you need my Armageden Iris.
Kay, I've got the multiplying rocks. Oh boy a haunted grove. A few venus flytraps is needed. LOL Oh and hide your garden gnome behind a tree,
Am praying you guys escaped the storms. We got storms but no tornadoes.
I was feeling pretty bad and DD came and stayed with me. Am so much better today. But till not up to par.
Didn't do a lot outside today. Have another cold and feeling whiny. But did plant the Caryopteris Snow Fairy and two Weigela Midnight Wine (I swear, I did NOT notice it had pink flowers until AFTER hitting "buy"!!) Moved a Chrysanthemum, watered, pulled some grass. Checked on some Echinacea Sundowns I potted up, two of them for Carrie. Doing really well so far and I am pleased--one has a bud on it already. Grabbed a can of white spray paint out of the store room and was going to mark lines on the grass for the next bed and walkway in front. But the dang-it thing musta set on the shelf too long. paint is so thick it won't spray!! prolly just as well, think using a rope or cord will be better until the lines are finalized, then use a new can to paint when we figure out what we're going to do.
bid and won 1,225 baby plants for a former employee to get a side business started. (blue salvia, white verbena, white mini petunia, rose geranium, rose mini petunia, and 'vanilla' gazania). i'm keeping 60, so think going to need those new beds soon--or a whole bunch of pots... [grin]
I hope you are completely better soon, Vickie. Here’s a beautiful woodbine honeysuckle for you that Papa Jim found in the grove.
Debra, Jim says he's not buying your story about the 'Midnight Wine' weigela. :-) He's still convinced you're part of the pink conspiracy. He ordered that 'Red Sentinel' astilbe so it appears he is going through with the red, white and blue garden. I think it goes without saying which garden we will be celebrating our 4th's in. As long as he doesn't decide he needs a cannon or something of the sort for ambiance, we will be okay.
I've just been doing some garden task for Jim today. I re-potted his ponytail palm (bottle palm) to an extra large container on wheels and planted the newest muscadine grape hybrid Jim found at the nursery.
I was going to make a Journal entry for the new grape, but wasn't able to find a PlantFiles match. Has anyone else run into that problem? I usually go in through a Google search. Think that could be why it isn't showing up? All I can find is an entry for the wild muscadines.
I put the honeysuckle pic above in PF. Everyone said it was good. No one can accuse DG of discrimination. They used the work of a blind photographer. ROFL. Kay*
I loved the honeysuckle.
LOL! I hope your hybrd muscadine is not like the white ones i got from Lowes. It is like a Kudzu and wants to take over the world. Also the birds always beat me to the ripe berrys.Which reminds me I saw strawberrys to pick today. Hope to get SIL to go pick some tomorrow with me.Fresh strawberrys mmmmm Heaven.
I went to a local grocery store instead of Walmarts. They have a larger variety of most things. I can't see that big a difference in prices either.
I don't know if i mentioned it but am considering getting rid of all my fancy phone extras and Dish TV,so i can have more money to do stuff with.I really injoyed spending a couple of nights in a motel when we did'nt have water. I might even get half way civilized. Reckon?
Not too civilized to associate with Amargians, I hope. lol. We're a pretty wild bunch.
The latest muscadine hybrid Jim is trying is ‘Southern Home.’ It is a black bunching cultivar that some claim makes good red wine.
In my experience, rampant vines are the nature of the muscadine grape beast. I’ve tried all the different trellis systems used for European grape varieties. The traditional overhead arbor like you see on virtually all old southern farmsteads still works best for muscadines in my opinion. Trying to use the single arm trellises like you see in California vineyards was a pruning nightmare when we tried to use it for muscadines and their hybrids. I’m hearing from commercial growers that pruning muscadine vines as severely as they do European grapes cuts way down on yields anyway. We are working with 3-armed trellises and overhead arbors and 5 varieties, so far. I do want to add at least one more type grown primarily for its large, succulent leaves. My DD, Melinda, loves Greek food and good grape leaves for wrapping foods are not always easy to find in the stores.
I told Jim, if we are going to have all these muscadines, one of us needs to start making grape vine wreaths for the craft stores. Lol. Muscadine could certainly keep a person in wreath making material.
Vickie, I imagine the furry and feathered neighbors think of your muscadine as exotic treats. Much the way the deer view Jim’s apples here. So far we’ve been lucky; the wild animals seem to prefer the wild muscadines that grow in their woodland to what’s in the garden.
Strawberries! All I have are the ones I grow for groundcover in the flower beds. Jim found a couple he PLANNED to share, but somehow they didn’t make it all the way from where he found them, to the garden sink, to where I was working. :-( They ended up in his mouth somewhere along the way.
Debra, is the friend you are helping just going to be selling locally? Kay*
Vickie, Summers with my paternal grandmother on the farm was a Heaven on Earth with gooseberries, cob corn, and new dug potatoes. But there is nothing ON this Earth better to eat fresh than ripe strawberries straight off the vines. :-)
Kay, she is going to start out selling containers off her porch. Her house is older, small, and now backs up to $700,000.00 homes in a new development. Lots of new traffic on the two-lane road, and people from those houses stop, wanting to buy her own plants. They think its 'quaint'...so... [grin]
This message was edited Apr 20, 2011 5:16 PM
Hm-m-m, new homeowners with only the basic landscaping passing by all the time....that sounds like it could work out well..
Yeah! These housing developements that cut all the trees down and name the streets after them. OFF my bandstand now. LOL
Living with my grandmother did have its goodtimes. I was welcome to help myself to any fruit or veggie at anytime and i did. and everything is better straight from the tree,vine or plant. I even loved English peas straight from the vines. I found out in a hurry that somethings have to ripen tho. like peaches and plums. I kinda liked an occasional green grape.Tho i wont buy one if its green.
Debra, your neighbor should do good.
LOL Kay, When my GS stayed here years ago, His strawberrys never made it to the house either. I did'nt complain cause i picked too and they were good for him.
I really meant to give her that strawberry! I really did! I washed it for her and everything. Putting it in my mouth was some sort of involuntary response.
You ladies have inspired Nadine to put strawberries in the hanging containers she made from paint buckets. I think it is her way of guaranteeing she gets some strawberries.
I'm resurrecting a resurrection plant. Kay is rolling her eyes, she calls it spike moss. (Jim)
Jim, We all know you meant to give that strawberry to Kay. I can just see you as you look all around.Then look down at the strawberry.Than a big smile as that juicy berry disappears down your throat.Well I've been guilty too. LOL
Whats a Resurection plant? Spike Moss?
More thunder boomers tonight.Well we need the rain.
The fairybells have 2 blooms.
They are a novelty plant you see in the stores around Easter. It's a native of the Mexico/N. American deserts. They claim it can be in its dried up tumbleweed state as long as 50 years and still be revived. You put them in water and they green up in a day's time. It is a fascinating process to watch, but then you have to figure out what to do with it. Interestingly, genetic engineers are using genetic material from them to produce more drought tolerant food plants. It's a very, very old plant species. Jim and Nadi both love the odd-balls of the plant world.
Resurrection plant, False Rose of Jericho, Spike moss
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53493/
my yard is getting more crowded with stuff i WANT to see. yea! less boo, hiss! st. augustine
I have to temporarily call a halt to creating hanging pots from old paint cans on account of nesting season. lol. The cans I had drilled drainage holes in, but not painted yet, were hanging together on a bungie cord. Some birds obviously thought they would make fine nesting sites. There are already eggs in the nest inside one of the cans. We live in the woods. You wouldn’t think the birds around here would have a housing shortage.
I did decide to put strawberries in my Okami pot. The pots are geared to anime fans. Okami is a game with a wolf character named Amaterasu who does magic by painting with her tail. :-) ~Nadine~
http://okamiworld.com/index.php?action=media;sa=item;in=4
Ni-i-c-c-e, Debra.
I'm not allowed to touch the planted buckets. They say I can't be trusted with strawberries.
Could you wave or something to let us know you're okay, Carrie. (Jim)
Kay, what a nifty plant!
Nadine, that is so fun. :-)
Jim, I think Carrie is traveling a lot this month and next. Hopefully she is well and just away.
That's good to hear! I was afraid she might be sick.
I promised Kay a picnic on the beach tomorrow so Happy Easter, Everyone! (Jim)
Jim, That was thoughtful and sweet.
Yeah, he does that sweet and thoughtful thing sometimes to keep us off-balance. It makes our current decision tough. Nadi found ripe dewberries alongside our road when we took the garbage can out to the main road for pick-up this morning. Now, we have to decide whether to share them with Jim or not. Kay*
No, I wish I were travelling! I'm fine, still coughing too much, but composing the heck out of something. Thinking of starting an opera! I would write all night if I could. I want to take composition lessons (haven't had a lesson since 1988 and my style has certainly changed). Also ordered a whole bunch of plugs from eBay and have to pay and get them potted up! Plus school vacation is awful b/c I need a substitute PCA. And I'd rather have wine than just whine!
Carrie mentioned an online purchase and I looked them up...Six plugs each of Coreopsis Early Sunrise, variegated Oregano, Gold Lemon Thyme, and Golden Oregano later...Vickie, Kay, Carrie. Would you guys like a plug of of any of these? My Mother's Day gift to you. :-)
Took this at 6:30 this evening. Weird what storm cloud cover can do to lighting.
Jim's says that is a cool pic. Is the variegated oregano Cuban oregano or an honest-to-goodness oregano? I had a variegated Cuban oregano in my central Florida garden. You can use it like "real" oregano. But, I learned the hard way when I tried to grow it outside here it couldn't tolerate Zone 8b winters. I should have grown it in a pot.
Nadine has buried herself in studying up on the local wildlife. She had a close encounter with a fox while she was picking wild dewberries. Jim has been painting the kitchen all day. I'm sure he's told you a time or 200 how much he loves painting. I spent the day working on the w/c ramp. Running behind schedule on that. Hope the boss doesn't dock my pay or something. :-) Kay*
You guys be careful and head for cover if need be. We're praying for you.
Vickie
Kay, the grower said it is Origanum majorana 'Variegata'
Huntsville where Jim,Kay and Nadene live was hit by a tornado. I did.nt see that anyone was killed.They will be without electricity for 4 days. Lets keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
Alabama was hit hard. My sympathy goes out to all Alabamans.
Vickie