#11-Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners

Please remember Debra, When you run out of room for all those Daylillys,I have lots of room for them here.LOL AND.....Are you starting a daylilly Halloween garden? You are going to love those late bloomers.
Our weatherman was talking about the wonderful year of weather we've had so far this year. The coldest January,Febuary,the most tornados,The most straight days of +100* May celebrate the New Year a little more joyfully this year.

Vickie, for sure there will be Bonanza, Witch's Laugh, and Cleo. Do you like those?

Witches Laugh. This is one time i'm after a theme.
I've decided to start a Voo Doo planter.LOL
If i don't get out and water tonight i'll have a cemetary of ghost daylillys.

Vickie, a Halloween garden. What a great idea! I can pull all these into it:

Quote the Raven--Bela Lugosi--Wait until Dark
Nosferatu--Rocky Horror--Witches Laugh--Dracula
Voodoo Dancer--Dragon's Orb--Grey Witch
Third Witch--Brown Witch--Killer
Snake in the Grass Boo--Darker Shade

What do you think should be the annual and shorter perennial fillers? Have to be some orange and yellow in there to go with all this purple.


This message was edited Aug 7, 2011 1:21 PM

I think you need calendula to heal all the wounds. kb

good idea, katie. i like the flower form, too. will do that.

Good idea, Katie! I was thinking she would probably want DEADNETTLE as a perennial groundcover, also called white Nancy (which is how I first met it, because DD#2 is named Nancy). It also comes in various pink and purple forms, but white would be the right color to offset the little trick-or-treaters. It needs water to get started, but once it's established, there it'll be. Orange portulaca for an annual--would that self-seed for you, Debra? Here, we would use orange impatiens or something else very water thirsty but I'm concerned that would wilt in your heat.

Carrie, the usual impatiens would wilt, but I think SunPatiens might work. Had a clump of Salmon Variegated which did well enough in the heat, it was killed second year by winter freezing. http://www.sunpatiens.com/

So orange Sunpatiens and Calendula. Maybe a nice marigold or two. Orange Lantana. Ooh, maybe Gazania. STRIPED orange and drought tolerant. :-) Like Gerberas a lot, but they need too much water.

What else?

Oooh, oooh! California Poppies and Cosmos.

Yes, and didn't I say orange portulaca? I certainly THOUGHT orange portulaca.

You did, I fastened on the impatiens and slid right over it. Yes, portulaca. :-)

Orange impatiens? Cool. All I ever seem to find are the pink ones. We just moved the pink ones out of the hanging baskets on the deck into the Cando Garden. I was wondering what I could replace them with that would go better with all the copper and brown. .
Debra, what about orange in the foliage? There are coleus and cana that would fit the bill. Some small canna have orange flowers. Is it too dry there for canna?
Some white spider lilies might be fun. Several different plants are called spider lily so I guess I should say Lycoris albiflora. They look like white versions of red spider lilies (Lycoris radiata.) ~N~

Debra, if I had to pick a favorite among your newest daylily acquisitions, I think it would be ‘Witches Laugh’. But, ‘Nosferatu ’ will be a great addition to your Fright Night motif.
Portulaca is tough! Kay once filled the cells of concrete blocks with soil that wasn’t amended, planted the seeds and they grew fine. .
If you want coleus, three of the better orange foliage types are ‘Fire Dragon’, ‘Sedona’ and ‘Molten Orange’. There are new sun tolerant varieties coming out all the time.
K. says another plant you might consider is dwarf Mexican sunflower.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55104/
I tried to help with the weeding today. I ripped out some dewberries. They are delicious and thrive in the shade, but someone needs to develop a thornless variety as they’ve done for blackberries. I want to replace them with something more friendlily.
It wasn’t as miserable outside this morning as it has been. Humidity is down to 56% and we were in the low 90’s. Best of all there was a slight breeze. I’ll still probably dream of October when I take my afternoon nap. Kay and Nadi got up at dawn and are already taking theirs. (Jim)

I am stopping in for a moment to say that my legs hurt. I've been getting back to the brown bagging of my bedroom walls and it involves some stooping and some going up and down the step ladder. I think if I keep at it I may not feel like I'm going to die every time I move but it's rough going.

It's getting to where I can't find anything in the kitchen because it has gone to pieces while I try to finish the brown bagging.

The dogs say that as long as they get their home-cooked dinner the rest of the house is fine with them - especially the bedroom with the a/c. I'm trying to adopt their atitude.

katie

Don't die, Katie, and I don't even think you should feel like you're going to!

Katie, jes do a little at a time with healthy rest brakes & Siesta's in the heat of the day. I love you too much to have you go doin silly stuff than wears you out or is not good for you. This horrible heat is really heard to work in so please take it easey and drink lots of water.

Hugs & puppy kisses,
Sheri & Pookie

Please don’t push yourself too much, Katie. It can seriously backfire. I know how frustrating it can be. I feel like I’ve been living on a construction site for several years now. But, pushing your body too hard just isn’t worth it. YOU are innately important, not the work you do. I came from a workaholic family so I know the battle well. Haven’t won it by any means, but I’m still slugging it out. If I’m inactive for long, I can hear those ghostly voices in my head fussing at me for being useless and telling me to get off my lazy backside. (The voices in my head aren’t nearly so polite, of course.) Nadi is a godsend. She is louder and more persistent than the ghosts that live in my brain. She is determined to teach me how to chill. And, I initially hired Jim because he IS unapologetically lazy. Like most successful lazy types he can be counted on to find the most efficient way to do things. lol. Laziness is the mother of efficiency.
I’m finding little things to do that burn off the nervous energy without too much physical stress. I’m trying some teapot weeding. I bring the teapot to a whistle and take it out and pour it on encroaching grass. Don’t know if it will work on grass, but it won't hurt and I've found an easy way to do a tedious job if it does.
Nadi has proven herself and is getting more and more work from her employer. Working on the ramp has become her exercise program. That frees me up to do the concrete part of the project. Painting containers and those signs Carrie mentioned as something creative she can do for fun. Nadi still has a hard time recognizing plants so when I tell her something like 'It's in the Stone Bed", she sighs and ask which of the three beds around the stone well I mean. She really liked Carrie's idea. By the time she is through everything around here will have a name. :-) Really, that is needed when more than one person is working a piece of property. Jim has started helping me with the weeding. I was falling behind. With all the rain, things grow incredibly fast. Jim says I need to take advantage of this extra inside time and “clean up” my computer. Get rid of some of the bookmarks and go through my email in other words. I bookmarked an online nursery to order from later. It is buried up somewhere in all my bookmark. I know it is. :-) k*

I'm glad my idea about signs is useful. I thought of a few more orange plants--Helenium, Tithonia, Gallairdia, have orange cultivars. So, ladies and gentlemen, may I borrow these ideas and write about a Halloween Theme Garden for Oct. 31? The only problem is, all the plants can't be daylilies. But people love to name Irises almost more than DL, and hostas are in there somewhere a close third. And I also need copyright-free pictures, like not from a website. Darn, I just saw a Monarda in the Bluestone catalog called 'Goblin'!

Debra, can spider plant, usually grows indoors but some places grows outdoors, grow outside there? If not spider plant, then spider wort? Is there anywhere in the world DL or Iris bloom in Oct.?

Carrie, I would love to read an article by you on a Halloween theme garden. Reblooming Iris and Daylilies can be blooming here until November. Roses into December.

Don't know about spider plant outside. Might be too hot. Spiderwort will grow with water. Here are some non-daylily ideas. :-)

Lavender "Graves"
Geranium "Tiny Monster"
Dianthus "Bewitched"
Cuphea "Bat Face"
Hosta "Ghost"
Witch Hazel
Elderberry "Witch's Broom"
Iris "Superstition"
Elephant Ears "Black Magic"

Dear friends,
Here is a link to my Elvis' thread. He died yesterday and was laid to rest in my back yard today.

Sheri

Sheri, Left a message on your thread. Hugs
Vickie

Ah-h-h, Sheri. That's sad. I'll see if we can come up with something appropriate to plant for him in his final resting place. Is it in sun or shade? Kay insisted on taking Standley's remains home from the vet and burying him under his favorite tree. I did the same for my ferret, Marnie. Marnie's antics got me through the tough times after my divorce. I had no plans to get a pet then, but she stole my heart when the little scoundrel stole my watch. She was still a baby and the watch was almost as big as she was at the time.
That reminds me of a plant you might consider,Carie. I laid Marnie to rest under an old cabbage palm because she liked to play with the tree's hairy trunk. A groundcover of something called "ghost plants" were planted around the tree as a ground cover. Marnie was rough on Kay's ghost plants. It was lucky for Marnie that the plant can grow from a broken leaf on the ground. Rather than destroying the plant, Marnie multiplied it. Kay said since Marnie "planted" most of the ghost plants, she should have them. They are a form of sedum I believe. It wasn't intentional, but the combination of the gray-haired tree and the pale gray/blue/green leaves of the ghost plant made for an eerie look in the fall. .
Kay was wasp stung twice today. My attempts to get rid of the wasp that have made their home between the wood of a planter and its lining have failed so far. I thought I had taken care of them, but they evidently worked together and moved the tube nozzle of the insecticide and the towel I used to keep them from escaping. I succeeded only in ticking them off and making them even more territorial. I'm going to drop the mini-greenhouse down over the entire bed tonight and set off an insecticide bomb inside that. If that doesn't work, I'll have to pay the Terminex man to deal with the problem. The flowers growing in the bed are a welcome site, but will not be for much longer if we can't water the bed. That is what Kay was doing when they attacked. It is finally beginning to dry up some. (Jim)

Jim,if ou shoot a full stream long enough, it

if you wait until almost pitch dark, they will all be in there for the night. then spray the opening with wasp spray.. Don't know what the towel was for, but I always use a full can and spray for a good length of time before stopping. They cannot fly past the spray & and if you give a good enough blast they willdie..

The silver ghost plant sounds lovely and I believe it is hardy to zone 7.

Thanks for all the tender thoughts for me & Elvis, who was such a special boy.

Sheri & Pookie Presley

This message was edited Aug 12, 2011 8:15 PM

Sheri, my thoughts are with you during what must be a difficult time.

We had a similar problem with yellow jackets in a planter. We put the whole pot in a green plastic garbage bag when they were asleep, then sprayed poison in and resealed and ran. (DH had by this time already been stung over 100 times!)

Debra, thank you, thank you thank you, thank you. That's half the work done already!

Debra, I thought you would like to see the color of the new foliage on the rose you sent. I've decided to overlook the fact the blooms are pink. :-)

gorgeous color, and heartening to see. thank you. :-) may be pink, but they smell good. LOL

Lily Auction even better in some ways than eBay. :-) Very soothing to a slightly bruised and lacerated spirit this week. Ain't nothing like retail therapy...

Vino di Notte
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/18806/

Desert Icicle
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/115632/

Dominic
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/260376/

===========================================================================
Jim, seems that multiple seedlings from the same parents may not look exactly the same. Kind of fun to play around with, I think, and most are infinitely less expensive than the parents! I have three unbloomed seedlings coming that are a cross between these two:

Spacecoast Pattern Plus
http://www.mydaylilies.com/daylily-gallery/daylily-images-a-z/s/spacecoast-pattern-plus-john-kinnebrew-2008-10286
Spacecoast Modern Symetry
http://daylilies.net/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=656

Going to be a tossup as to what they look like, but should be at least in the neighborhood of the parents' appearance. Interested in one of them?

Also, bidding on 10 seedlings that are a cross between Halloween Hocus Pocus and an unknown (hybridizer can't read tag [grin]). ABSOLUTE gamble, there! Interested in trying a couple if I win? Here is the Halloween:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/81992/
==========================================================================

Vickie, I KNOW you want one or two of the Halloween seedlings, too, doncha? :-)

Sheri, do you like the Halloween colors? No telling what it will look like, just like having kids LOL, but might be fun for you to see.

Debra, I suggested we might as well call you Amargia’s Ornamental Acquisition Specialist and just send the money earmarked for ornamentals your way. It insures Amargia has pretty flowers and that you get the retail therapy you need even when you start running out of space. LOL.
The Chinese Chaste Tree blooms are a more vivid blue in full sun. (We discovered Vitex negundo DOES have a common name.) The blooms were a baby blue in semi-shade. ~Nadine~

Debra, look what I found!

http://www.glasshouseworks.com/blackgarden.html

very cool, carrie!!

I appreciate all colors including orange and yellow . Just not a fan of that holiday, much preferring to celebrate a fall festival that is not ghoulish.

^_^ Sheri

Actually, it's All Hallows Eve, holy (hallowed=holy) Spirits were abroad because the next day, All Saints Day, is when they go to heaven. Then (historically) people started trying to scare away the evil spirits and welcome in the good ones. They dressed up to scare the evil spirits away so the good ones would be safe. Somehow it evolved into the Hallmark/candy holiday we celebrate with little girls dressing up as ballerinas and princesses and boys as cowboys and superheroes. I read that a third or some huge percent of all candy is sold around Halloween!

It is non-the-less rooted in pagan superstition and folklore.


Origins of Halloween

All Hallows' Eve

By David Beaulieu, About.com Guide
.

See More About:
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Even the pumpkins smile during the fun holiday of Halloween.
David Beaulieu
More Images (2)




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The pagan origins of Halloween are so palpable that there is little wonder the holiday has generated considerable controversy over the centuries. Falling on October 31, Halloween history tells us that this celebration is only the herald of the holiday that medieval Christian Europeans were intended to celebrate -- All Saints' Day, November 1.

And thus the story behind the term itself, which is short for "the eve before All Hallows' Day," the latter referring to the fact that saints of Christianity were "hallowed" individuals. It is thought that the Church decided All Saints' Day should fall on November 1 to make it coincide with its precursor, a Celtic festival of the harvest. By "overwriting" the pagan origins of Halloween, perhaps the new religion could steal some thunder from the lingering Celtic influence in Europe.



Pagan Origins of Halloween Not So Easily Silenced


But if this was the Church's intention, the strategy backfired to some degree. Drawing on Celtic traditions, people evinced much more interest in honoring dead ancestors than in honoring dead Christian saints. To curb this un-Christian tendency, the Church instituted another holiday to promote Christianity -- All Souls' Day, November 2. On All Souls' Day the people were encouraged to pray for the souls in purgatory.

All Saints' Day was instituted as a holiday in the year A.D. 609 (initially celebrated in May, it was moved to the November 1 date in A.D. 834). Prior to that, a study of the pagan origins of Halloween reveals that the Celts had celebrated "Samhain" at this time of year. The Celts inhabited large portions of Western Europe throughout ancient times. They are perhaps most widely recognized for having been the people Julius Caesar fought in what is now France in his famous Gallic Wars (58-50 B.C.).

Despite this ancient French connection, it is only very recently that France has begun to write any pages for itself in Halloween history. But now the French do celebrate the spooky holiday, replete with the delights derived from dressing up in scary or bizarre costumes. About's French Language Guide, Laura K. Lawless, informs us about the Halloween history in France.

In the modern celebration of Halloween in the U.S., most people essentially enjoy the aspects of the holiday that derive from pagan origins of Halloween, albeit with a secular mindset. Some die-hards of Christianity, however, still vehemently oppose the holiday, harking back to the controversies of medieval times.

and that is all I wil say about this issue. We are all entitled to our own beliefs. I was not in need of any explanation. I am very informed on Pagan hollidays

I thought we were talking about flowers!

Wow, you know MUCH more than I thought I did. I'm doing this Halloween Garden article which I hope too many people don't find upsetting.

Armagians, have you heard of a purple sugar cane called 'Black Magic Repellant Plant'? It's even listed that way in PlantFiles.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/112386/

That's wild, Carrie. Had no idea there were different kinds of sugar cane--or that zone 8 is warm enough to grow it! :-) That one fits right in with the other plants, though. Be interested to read what Amargia folk have to say.

I've always liked halloween. Way back when. Things could get a little out of hand. DH and friends were known to turn outhouses upside down.
Some boys in my class took apart an old VW and put it back together on the roof of the highschool. AH YES Those were the good ole days!! LOL

hahaha Vicki!

DEFINITELY a Halloween Hocus Pocus x for both of you! [grin]
===============================================

Okee, the hybridizer included these extra seedling crosses. Won't know what the blooms look like, but again its like seeing kids pop out. Little of this parent, little of that one...I prefer the flatter edges and stronger colors, so these are up for grabs, who ever hollers first until they run out. Bet it won't be Jim, though--most have PINK in them!

2 seedlings of Leslie Renee x Bill Robinson
http://www.daylilymeadows.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2697
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/208002/

3 seedlings of Sweet Tranquility x Some Sweet Day
http://www.floralandhardy.ca/SWEET-TRANQUILITY-DL-p7731.html
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/206702/

1 seedling of Triple Cherries x Worth it All
http://www.daylilies.org/DaylilyDB/detail.php?id=152948&name=Triple%20Cherries
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/129195/

Also, won a couple of mixed lots of unbloomed seedlings, basically to get the one or three I really wanted. Soooo...toss these in the grab pot. Will have one each of these seedlings:

Promise Fulfilled x Holy Guacamole
http://www.mydaylilies.com/daylily-gallery/daylily-images-a-z/p/promise-fulfilled-ted-petit-2006-8327
http://www.dancingdaylily.com/items/HOLY_GUACAMOLE/

Evelyn Kloeris x Barbie in Pink
http://soulesgarden.com/ZenCart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3988
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/263958/

Richard Taylor Yates x Turning up the Heat
http://patrickguidry.com/images/Richard%20Taylor%20Yates%20042109.jpg.JPG
http://www.stardreamerdaylilies.com/daylilyimages/TurningUpTheHeat.jpg

Metallic Butterfly x Tricolor
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/72041/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/128456/

Jay Farquar x Green Revolution
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/128210/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/207137/






This message was edited Aug 16, 2011 9:14 PM

I think a holiday is what you make it yourself and I’m ruled more by the natural cycles of my part of the world than calendar dates. Halloween here is probably more like most people’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. I’ve never seen the sense in celebrating an arbitrary date like Dec.31st. You’ve got to get rid of the old to make room for the new and Halloween feels like the appropriate time of year for that. It is when nature starts cleaning house and clearing away the old in my region so it seems appropriate. I celebrate Valentine’s Day like New Year’s Day because that is when everything starts greening up and starting anew in my region. (Nope, I’m definitely not a slave to the calendar or tradition. Lol.) My biggest struggle with a holiday is the commercialization of Christmas. That grates on my spiritual nerves. Easter is my favorite holiday, but I enjoy Halloween because to me it is also about re-creation, renewal and new beginnings.
Carrie, Purple sugar cane is a powerful healing and protection symbol in vodin (voodoo) rituals. The color purple is associated with power and wisdom. Plants with purple foliage are often used to combat negative magic. Sugar cane is especially symbolic because it is a symbol of the darkest times, the days of slavery on sugar plantations. Symbolically, purple sugar cane is about turning something dark and terrible into practical wisdom that shields and protects. I don’t know anyone who literally believes purple cane has magical powers in and of itself. I do know people who believe understanding the symbolic meaning of purple sugar cane veils their hearts and minds from the influence of black magic. The symbolism purple cane has been given has power. Does that make sense? I’m probably not explaining it very well.
When planted outside the residence or place of business of a Mambo (voodoo priestess) purple sugar cane is understood to mean the Mambo doesn’t perform any kind of malevolent magic. She is strictly “rada” in her practices.
I love the ornamental and “chewing” canes and they do grow well here. I’ve been looking for Pele’s Smoke. It isn’t readily available here. The chewing and ornamental canes are easy plants once they are established, but they need quite a bit of water in the beginning to become established.
The last two days have been lovely. A slight cool front is moving through the south and we are getting a preview of fall weather. We’ve had the pedal to the metal taking advantage of this break in the weather. Things will go back to normal all too quickly.
Debra, my GS went gaga over “the outer space lily”. lol. I gather it has really bright colors. That is Travis’s thing. California poppy orange and hot pink are his current favorites much to the distress of his Grump-pa and he-man father. This GS says I should call the south side of the children’s garden after him (The Travis Garden). It was his garden first. I might make a real gardener out of him! He informs me I can call the “girlie side” with the playhouse and stuff whatever I want. ROFL. Don’t think Grump-pa and Dad need be concerned. :-) k*

That explains the 'Black Magic Protection Plant' a lot, Kay. I don't think I will go into that in the article; I'm trying (somehow) to write more about trick-or-treating kids and stay away from the 15 plants named Black Magic. I think. And actually talking more about the plants than their spooky names.