#11-Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners

Kay, anything an individual or group believes in strongly enough has power, and the purple cane symbolism makes perfect sense. I like the idea of February 14 as New Year's Day. We start 'greening' up around then, too. Think I'll try it next year. Each of the Spacecoast parents have wild colors and patterns. Probably the most distinctive I've ever seen. Should be fun for Travis to see what comes out next spring. :-)

Hi Debra,


Oh I love the ruffled edge lilies, peach , yellow, coral. Would you pick please?. That triple strawberry is gorgeous too.

Any that you send will truly be a blessing in the memorial garden (for my furbies- Elvis, John Henry, Dotty and Baby)


Have a blessed day ^_^

Sheri

Sheri,

You already have one coming I got specifically for the memorial. A daylily called Elvis Lives. :-) Because he still does live in your memory. (hug)
http://thebloomingauction.com/detail.asp?id=185508&n=ELVIS-LIVES---DF---L7D---Shooter-F-1998---DAYLILY

And I will set aside at least one each of the Leslie Renee x Bill Robinson, and Sweet Tranquility x Some Sweet Day for you, plus some of the zillions of others I have and am eager to share. The more I share with others, the more I have for myself. Not to mention, the more room I have to get morrrrrrre. LOL

Debra

Probably a good call, Carrie. Halloween is getting darker and meaner. I read somewhere Yuletide celebrations were once outlawed in England because the celebrations got too rowdy and offensive. I'm afraid Halloween will eventually met that fate in this country. Some places have outlawed Trick-o-treating already.
You should have no trouble sugar coating a Halloween/Plant article to celebrate the mischievous fun holiday people our age remember. It should be easy since it iss such a sugar-coated holiday anyway. I bet there are lots of plants named for classic Halloween treats like candy corn.
Kay hasn't left tradition entirely behind. She still thinks she has to have Hoppin' John or some combination of rice and blackeyed peas on Jan. 1st. lol. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. (JIm)

Debra,

I love the daylily called Elvis Lives. It actually brought a tear to my eye. and You are right...He does live on in my heart.

When Pookie & I start obedience classes again in a few weeks, there will likely be more than 1 who asks, is That Elvis?!?

I mean they could have been twins, except for the 11 year age difference


Sheri & Pookie, Dogwood deKatt, Marley, Sara & new little Chester

A brief jump back to purple foliage plants. Would anyone like some "Purple Queen'. It is hardy in ground in Zone 8 and some say 7. It is used as a groundcover and low accent here, but, I think its used a lot as a container plant elsewhere.
I'm moving it out of the Cando Garden in favor of rose periwinkle, soapwort, Chinese forget-me-nots and the ever-present pink sorrel. I've put some in the "Travis Garden" :-), but don't have another place for it in mind. It likes a little shade in this region.
I think daylily breeding would be fun. It seems logical that if you bred two early, reblooming, very fragrant daylilies like 'Metallic Butterfly' and 'Tricolor', the offspring will have those traits, but there are bound to be surprises. I doubt many are unpleasant surprises though. There just aren't many ugly daylilies. Are you going to try your hand at it, Debra? ~N~

I know what you mean about the commercial part of Christmas. So I go out of my way to uncommercialize it. I ring the bell for the Salvation Army and i wish everyone Merry Christmas or Feliz Navidad or Happy Quanza.I do a few other things I figure the Lord expects of me.I love Christmas.This year I'm decorating completely different.With small birdhouses and birds.The birdhouses will symbolise the gifts of the Magi and the birds will be my angels.
I'll have Nativity scenes all over the house.Not sure yet if I'll get a new angel or Nativity scene this year.
I do not like Easter. The thought of Jesus dieing a painful death on a cross tears me up.I am not worth it.Enough said.
Kay, I'd love some purple cane if you could spare some.They were selling regular cane as potplants at Lowes last year.
My pink sorrel has finally quit blooming. I have injoyed it.

Nadine, breeding is too much work. I'll take the unbloomed seedlings. The hybridizers send along paper work if you want so YOU can name and register it with the AHS. But I am bidding on some seeds. Never had a lot of luck with that, but will be fun if I can get any of them to bloom.

Debra, the ‘Metallic Butterfly’ x ‘Tricolor’ sounds like a sure winner…for fragrance lovers anyway. .
Flower breeding might be fun, but it also requires arduous record keeping, timing and, without all the high teck, extreme patience. It would have to be a working garden because I believe you have to deny access to the bees after you fertilize a plant. Covering the bloom or banding the bloom shut. Not something you are likely to do in your front yard.
STILL haven’t finished the ramp. I’ve decided to dedicate one day a week to nothing but work on the ramp. I did bite off more than I can easily chew with this project, but I continue to gnaw at it. Still think it will be worth the effort since, once finished, it will be almost maintenance-free. Maintaining a wood ramp was a constant struggle in our humidity. Metal gets too hot now that a large tree has been removed and the space receives full sun.
Jim is working inside today on another door. This place was designed and manufactured in the 80’s when an open airy look was popular. There has never been a door between the master bedroom and the master bath. Privacy was achieved by angles. When the Jacuzzi is on, the heat and steam bleed into the bedroom. The problem will be worse when the roll-in shower is installed.
Nadi is immersed in money-making work today and, hopefully, some house cleaning in her area. Neatness and Nadi are anonyms. :-) k*

That one is yours, then, Kay. :-) You are right about the record keeping and I'm in this for fun. Maybe if I get to the place I can afford to retire, might consider it then.

Oh, my goodness! I get two more plants from Bob Selman at Blue Ridge and he sends four bonuses:

Bradley Bernard
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/287151/

Cat’s Pajamas
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/147852/

Watchyl Arsonist
http://www.ctdaylily.com/images/watchlyl_arsonist_maybe.JPG

Strawberry Jazz
http://www.thebloomingauction.com/detail.asp?id=110531

Robin Calderon at Earlybird sent this one:

Double River Wye
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/315016/


This message was edited Aug 18, 2011 9:22 PM

Debra, You're going to have enough lillys to start your own business. Are we going to hear about the daylillys that ate Dallas? LOL

mebbe. if they eat all of dallas, then there will be less traffic and garland's air will be cleaner! {grin}

btw, My step-son and his family are moving to Dallas somewhere, eventually. Daddy went first to start the new job, Mommy is staying home with the 4 kids in Nowhere Special, UT, to sell the house. So I may be able to meet Debra some day!!!

This message was edited Aug 19, 2011 10:32 AM

Okay, Sheri, you're the holdout. Shake your family tree and see if any relatives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area fall out. LOL. .
Debra, the form of ‘Bradley Bernard’ looks different from most. Kinda cool. I have a DL question. The DL’s you’ve sent look lush and they are spreading, but there haven’t been any flowers. Am I doing something wrong or is it normal for them to want to become fully established before they flower. I know MK sometimes removes buds from shrubs the first year after transplant. She says it encourages them to focus their effort on developing good roots. She says species DL’s naturally do that. Species DL’s rarely bloom the year after transplant. But, MK admits she knows little about the modern hybrids and a lady from church said it might be because there is too much nitrogen in the soil. Do hybrid DL’s take breaks and work on their root systems the way the species types do?
Carrie, did you ever write an article on Community Supported Agriculture? PJ remembered reading a CSA article on DG and he thought you were the writer, but couldn't remember for sure. I’m looking for info on CSA’s. I don’t think I entirely understand the CSA concept. PJ has been talking about applying the CSA concept to ornamentals. He calls it CSOG. Like sending Debra more money to buy daylilies and getting daylilies from her a year or two down the line after they’ve started multiplying would be a case of Community Supported Ornamental Gardening. When someone gives MK seeds or potting soil to grow a shrub or perennial for them because they aren’t good at growing things from seed and she gives them back transplant size plants that is also a kind of CSOG, even though no actual money changes hands. When my friend, Scott, who isn’t able to garden at all, buys Amargia a Magnolia fig and we give him most of the figs, does that mean Amargia is engaging in small-scale CSA? Maybe, it would be called CSH (Community Supported Horticulture). Since Agriculture implies larger scale food production.
Vickie, I know MK is going to buy ‘Pele’s Smoke’ now that she knows a source. You might want to wait for that one. The common, local purple cane is okay, but not as pretty as Pele’s. The stalk AND leaves are purple on PS. Only the stalk is purple on the variety we have. I’ll underplant your container with some ‘Purple Queen’ tradescantia and you’ll be set up. Lol.
If you look in the produce department of large grocery stores around Christmas, you may see stalks of raw cane. If you want to experiment with the classic commercial sugar cane, it roots very easily. MK renewed Amargia’s sugar cane supply one year after cold wiped it out by buying a couple of stalks from the grocery store in Dec. It will root everywhere it is jointed. She cut the 5’ lengths they sell in the grocery store into segments and rooted each segment. ~Nadine~

Nadine, it is common for some DLs to not flower first year. If they have just been divided, the "babies" may take more time, if just divided and a hot summer comes along, if too shaded, etc. And it could be nitrogen, they seem to like it. This excerpt is from Dan Trimmer, a really fah-mus hybridizer. I do not baby daylilies, but check this out:

"We must understand that our daylilies are not typical perennials. With most of our flowering plants a “balanced” diet is recommended lest we get too much leaf and little bloom. Thus 10-10-10 or 6-6-6- fertilizing programs are recommended. This is not the case with Daylilies. Daylilies are in the family of plants known as monocots. They’re in the same plant family as ornamental grasses or corn!"

Which is cool information and may explain why I like them so much--I LOVE fresh corn on the cob AND ornamental grasses!! LOL

Nadene, I want the purple one you have, cause of the blessing plant . I love plants that have special meanings.
Debra, I have daylilly seed that are just getting ripe. Do you want them? My very last daylilly is just opening its last bud. I thought they had all quit, but this one surprised me.
How does one ship DL seeds?
Sheri, I'll be your sister than you can come and meet the rest of the family.

Vicki, thank you, but I think I am surfeited for the time being. [grin]

Uh....Vickie,

that sounds fun, but I already thought we were sisters!???


LOL,
Sheri

You guys are adorable!

Sheri, Of course we are.
Carrie, Of course we are. All of us,You too.
I think Jim,Kay and Nadene ought to have a family reunion for us.Don't you? Just imagine laying on the beach,discussing the merits of their different gardens. Planning where they could put the swimming pool.Boy could we have fun teasing our little brother Jim.LOL

Hm-m-m, excluding Nadine, am I the youngest? I think I'm a few months younger than Carrie. I'll be 50 in November. (Jim)

You iz younger'n me...

I became officially antique in May, so yes, Jim, you're younger than I am. But look on the list of names thread - someone there might be younger and lurking. ^_^

PJ went to the doctor today for sleep medication so he will look as young as he is. (Sorry, but at the moment, he looks OLDER than MK so she can't joke about having a toy boy. They wouldn't give him sleeping pills. The doctor said any med that would allow him 8 hours of sleep uninterrupted would turn him zombie. They are trying a double dose of the neuropathy medication to see if that helps. He can get to sleep, but the pain and spasms wake him up a lot. They've also put him on a high dosage of potassium for some reason. I hope this works.
"LAYING on the beach", Vickie. Ha! Dream on! Kay would have us working gathering seaweed for soil amendments (You can blame Katiebear for that. She’s the one that tipped Kay off to the garden uses of seaweed.) After that, if you pick up a sand pail full of broken shells, MK will buy you an ice cream. (That has always been my experience anyway.) The broken shells are brought home and used to add more calcium to the soil or keep slugs away or something. Of course, she will encourage you to try some surf fishing or fishing off the pier and be thrilled when you catch something no matter how edible the fish is. Gotta have fish to get the corn to grow big and strong, you know.
My Da said, when I was 4, I told him that corn grew from fish. I guess I saw MK bury the fish for the corn, but missed the part where she planted the seed. :-) ~N~

Theres been a lot of gripeing by the medical assoc. That dr.s had been over prescribing pain and sleep meds so naturally the big brains now underprescribe.Really hope it helps Jim.
Don't go on a strict low sodium diet if you are taking potassium. Gotta keep that sodium -potassium level balanced. Bananas are high in K and good to eat.
I sure get bossy sometimes. LOL

I've always wanted to try the fish with corn plants but love fish too much and it never makes it to the cornfield.

i have a condition that destabilizes my sodium-potassium balance. low potassium can cause all kinds of cramping and painful body complaints. if he is getting the potassium because of a deficiency, it might ease the spasms and such. hope it helps. (hug to everyone)

Bananas as medicine. I like that. Bananas and grapes are my favorite fruits. My potassium was only a few points from being critically low so that is probably a big part of the problem. The blood pressure medication I'm on removes potassium from the body. Potassium levels will be something I'll have to watch as long as I'm on it. I love the way they tell you this stuff.
Traded some muscadine grape seeds for some European muscat grape seeds. In the name of International garden trade relations, I need to eat some muscadines so I have the seeds to send. It's a tough job but someone has to do it. ;-)Jim
'Ham & Eggs' Lantana

avocados and oranges have loads of potassium too

Guacamole, here I come!
"Fall fever" hit Kay a little early this year She had me put up the first scarecrow. Nadine's crow friend wasn't impressed. That crow is so comfortable with people it's a little creepy. Nadine showed me an article about corvus (crows, ravens, jays, rooks and a few others.). They rank among the most intelligent of animals. I thought it was impressive that not only are they tool users, some are tool makers. Kay talks to the crow. She says they can learn to speak as well as parrots. Her uncle had one that could talk. I going to find out if she is putting me on. The article didn't mention that. It did say they can recognize individuals. It's loud when I'm around. I wonder if that means it doesn't like me. (Jim)

LOL Jim have you got a witches crow? Do you need a black cat?
I'm making myself wait till Sept before i put up any scarecrows. Mine are small and for decoration only.
There is a cold front due in tomorrow.Temps in the 80,s and lows in the 60,s

Crow is just mad because Jim doesn't acknowledge him. Nadi sings for him and I talk to him. He only gets raucous if you ignore him. Having crows around is a good sign. They are like the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to West Nile virus. West Nile has wiped out almost half the crow population. They are very susceptible.
This was my "scarecrow tree" decoration, not an official scarecrow. I was sorting through my Halloween decorations and thought I would go ahead and put it up. Fall planting has started so I'm in an Autumn mood.
Jim is continuing with his deck farm. Carrots and lettuce went into the porch rail planter. I'm preping for the in-ground crops. Nadine is cleaning house without being asked to. (Will miracles never cease)!

Jim, are you taking gabepentin (neurontin)? DH and I both take that. I take 13 times his dose though!

Yes, Gabapentin is the med the doctors want me to double up on at night. That brings my daily dosage up to 1,200 mgs. (Jim)

I took gaba once. Think it was when I had that stroke.
Love your scarecrow! I'm determned to wait till Sept 1st for mine. I hate to hear about the crows. I don't want to lose any species.
Carrie, Hang on tight this weekend. We'll be thinking about you.

We haven't had any West Nile Cases reported so far this year. Mosquito population down from the drought, so maybe?

A quick note to let you inow I'm still alive and OK. Puter is dead, one a/c is dead, the other maybe dying. We've had a little rain which has raised the humidity but probably saved some plants. We've had a couple of bbad blackouts. It's the time of year when everything that has been waiting to go wrong, does.

I'm headed to Ca. next week or the week after.

Tony and I are hanging in - hope you all are, too.

hugs, katie

Hi Katie!

Hi Katie!

I am home from my week in the hosp for IV antibiotics; spider bite (looks like brown recluse, followed by horrible MRSA infection.
I am blessed to be alive and not missing any parts. All the credit and praise Of course I give to God.

Prayers for all in Irenes path, especially that eyes will be opened to the truth of God's prophesy. He desires all to come to Him and none be lost, but He did give us free will to make our own choice.

Hugs,,
Sheri

PS. I am not trying to open a debate, just felt I had to express my beliefs and opinion. 1st the VA earthquake and now this probably devastating hurricane. Our eyes are trying to be opened to the truth.

Sheri,So glad you're home and recouping, and still have all your parts.
I'm thinking about Irene and everyone in its path. I was concerned about you, did'nt know how far you were from the coast.
We need to think about Carrie, She's not that far from the coast.