#11-Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners

I've gone through periods like that, Katiebear. I don't know anything to do except just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I want someone to manufacture the kind of stuff Carrie mentioned recently. You know, the indestructible stuff that is so safe babies can teeth on it. :-)
Battery chargers have been giving me grief lately. I bought one on sale from PCH, but it didn't come with a power adapter and it was 6 volt AC. A real oddball made in China. PCH sent me another one of the same kind and it exploded. It literally blew apart. I bought one of those 15 minute chargers from Radio Shack and the power adapter burnt out ONE WEEK after it was out of warranty. They've changed design and they don't carry that type of Power adapter anymore so even though the base unit was okay, I had to buy an entirely new charger. I just bought another one from Radio Shack with a standard power adapter that charges in 2 hours. So far, so good.
Yesterday was a very productive day, but it exhausted all of us. We are spuding today. Things have started blooming again. Lantana, Rose of Sharon, Purple coneflower, sunflowers and black-eyed Susans have carried the week. The common cosmos are hanging in. There are some things from a cutting mix Vickie sent me and a wildflower mix someone gave Kay that have buds. I copied the list of flowers in the mixes so IDing them should be easy when they bloom. The rose periwinkle are still going strong, but it is if-y that they will make it through the winter. We will do what we can to see we have those next year.
Tomatoes and 'Sugar Baby' watermelon are still producing. Figs still aren't ripe. We will divide up that tree and move some off-shoots to a warmer place on the south side of the property. We have some dramatic micro-climates because of the stream and the lay of the land. I think we inadvertently found another cool pocket. (Jim)

I'm quite alive, just a little damp around the edges so far.

Jim, I take 3900 mgs -- and the total recommended daily max is 3600 but my MD said to add the ectra 300 at night. Helped for a while. Jim, I think gaba is a drug you develop a tolerance for -- when DH started on it, he started on 300 at bedtime and he was a zombie (is that the word you used too?) within minutes. Now it doesn't help him sleep at all.

Does that lantana come true from seed? I'll go find it. 'Ham'n'Eggs', right above us. Is that a bushy or a trailing? I love the ones that are maybe orange and pink or orange and red - most of the ones they have up here are plain yellow. Come to think of it though, my husband is very sensitive too it (and lawn grass and weeds and every other thing in the world). Last time I had Lantana, I put it in a container in the middle of all the containers where he really couldn't reach it. But the FIRST time I had lantana, I had the trailing kind, and planted in the ground where it scrambled all around among everything. I think it was maybe the first year we had that bed, so there weren't that many weeds, and it was when Ray was only working normal hours so we would spend time outside together. He would get a horrible rash from the lantana. But I still love it.

This message was edited Aug 27, 2011 8:07 PM

I have a problem with lantana too. But, there are few plants able to produce as many blooms in unamended soil in high summer. I can't find a satisfactory replacement for it. The garden would be dreary in July and August without it. Ive been careful about gloves and long sleeves when I work that bed and haven't had a problem this year. I guess it will stay. The scent of the foliage is so distinctive it isn't hard for me to avoid contact. 'Ham & Eggs' is an upright that is almost the size of a small bush here. I think it would make a nice standard. I can't interest Nadi or Jim in the project though. Jim says Amargia isn't the place for "poodle plants". :-) At least, not at this point in our development. Later, maybe. Fortunately for the look of the late summer garden, Jim doesn't have a reaction to it. Some breeders have taken an interest in lantana of late so we should be seeing more varieties very soon. I would like to try some of a trailing type for hanging baskets in sunny areas. I've limited my hanging baskets to shady spots because I just can't find anything other than sedums and cacti that can thrive in the sun even watering once a day.
Glad you are better, Sheri. Spider bites aren't anything to mess with. It took almost a year for a bite on my leg to heal. It left quite a scar. k*

I did'nt know lantana caused an alergy problem.Thats sad cause its such a hardy plant.
Vonnes been having spiderbite problems with her animals.We're gonna sprey all around next spring. We also have a problem this year with tent worms and were told to sprey in the spring to get rid of them.
My pink shamrocks are blooming again.Guess they like this cooler weather.Me too.
Thank you Kay for giving me the idea to decorate for fall now.I put a fall leaf spray on my computer.My 2 harvest angels are in the living room.

I didn't either. Maybe that is what makes my forearms itch sometimes. Will experiment. Have New Gold in a couple of places, a fluorescent orange/red, and trailing lavender. Check this out. The Dianthus had survived in this pot, winter freezes or summer heat, for five years. The trailing Lantana was put in as tee-eye-nee plugs this year. Which one is all crispedy-crunchy and which one is surviving what may be the hottest Dallas summer on record? :-)

'Ham & Egss' is said to be sterile. I'm not sure the seeds are 100% sterile, but it isn't enough viavility to worry about. We had them in well amended soil the first year and found some new plants in the bed the second year after we had moved them elsewhere. We aren't even sure they grew from seed. It could have been small root pieces. Considering how many seeds are produced and how much birds like them, we would have lantana everywhere if they were viable.
The foliage and unripe seeds being poisonous is an advantage in some garden situations. They are safe from browsing deer, yet you get tons of bird and butterfly activity. They are a good honey plant at a time of year when forage for the bees is scarce.
I've heard lantana has become a nightmare in certain parts of Australia. It doesn't sound like Lantana camara though.
Any rain or breaks in the heat for you, Debra? Kay's sister in Houston says the grass she worked so hard to get perfect crunches under foot now. Her other sister in Bowie lives by a lake so has fared somewhat better. (Jim)

nooo...sad sigh...

I've decided that pots may be a good way to plant. I have to water them anyway and they bloom and last longer.

My prayers are going up for everyone affected by hurricane Irene. Carrie, are you OK??
I'm having kind a bit of a tough time at home by With only dry dressings, I don't qualify for a nurse, yet I am not steady enough to bath or cook,etc.
It will all work out though.
Ha Ha, my friends at church are calling me "spider woman"

Sheri

Our electrician was able to fix the dead a/c and boost up the dying one - home visit cost $25. Love Mexican labor costs, especially from honest people I deal with regularly.

We've had three light rains and two big winds. Lots of leaves and branches to clean up and toss in arroyo, gradually expanding my little hill top.

Still without a computer but most grateful for a/c and local internet cafe.

Sheri - eat ice cream and wear perfume.

hugs, katie

As long as your not climbing the walls, Sheri. Are you able to reach the site of the bite to keep it cleaned and dressed? Don't know what I would do without Jim and Nadi to assist me with the things I can't do for myself anymore.
BTW, Sheri, do you have any Eastern Red Cedar in your yard? The reason I ask is I just discovered they are the favorite tree of eastern bluebirds. That may not be new news to you, but I've been moving some babies and reading up on them. Sometimes, the very fact that something is commonplace in your world creates its own sort of ignorance. I've grown up with red cedar and never bothered to learn about them. I've always just thought of them as Christmas trees.
It's still hot, though not as bad as it was. I've been watching gardening videos and listening to pod cast when I come inside to catch my breath and cool off. Came across this one on the Horticulture magazine website and thought it was interesting. It's a conversation between the author of "Wicked Plants" and the creator of the garden exhibition the book inspired.
http://www.hortmag.com/horticulture-radio/radiogarden-episode-6-friend-or-foe-part-i
Jim painted the north side of the house today, the backdrop for the CanDo Garden. After debating every color in the spectrum, we painted it....white. lol.
Found what appear to be white morning glories blooming in an area slated for clearing. They are growing in full shade and the vines aren't growing aggressively. These I have got to rescue. k*

Kay, Could your white morning glorys possible be Moonflowers? We have some wild moonflowers that bloom in the late evenings to nextday. big white morningglory type flowers.
I have cedar trees. I think the birds planted them. I'm an ugly woman.I don't get limbs from them,I get them from the forest.I love the smell of fresh cedar. Is'nt it really a juniper? Carrie, we need an article about cedar for christmas. LOL
Tomorrow I take DD to Little Rock to see GS,than on to Texas.Will be gone a couple days.
Katie, Know you appreciated the rains.
Know Sheri got more than enough.

Trailing lavender, Debra? For real! We have prostrate rosemary, but I've never heard of trailing lavender.
Vickie, I think Harvest Angels are a cool idea. I will try drawing one. ~N~

All right! Mine are carrying baskets of small pumpkins and grapes.

Hi all,

I am actually much closer to the western central of NC about 2 counties below VA. We did have wind gusts and a bit of rain, but not even enough to affect my outdoor hanging plants..

??ice cream & perfume...Katie??

I love and cherish all of my DG friends,
Sheri & Pookie & the kitties

wrong picture! I was trying to post one that showed how exact Elvis & Pookie's profiles looked alike. Don't know who this cat is, bit he is fast as the wind!

Will have three extra each of these seedlings:

166

22

277

Each are lovely ,Debra.

I like 166 best. 277 is serene and calming. 22 looks like me. Like it hasn't had enough sleep and has racoon eyes. ;-)
Nadine painted an inside-out tire pot blue with a red stripe around it for my Old Soldiers Garden. I was thinking of putting some candytuf in it. It survives well into winter here. Think that would grow in a large pot? (Jim)

That was good info in your last article, Carrie. I will print the list of what should be stored where for how long and magnet it to the fridge as a reminder. PJ is talking about putting the blackboard back up for keeping a running list of what’s in the fridge. He says we are wasting energy when we have the door open for a long time checking what we have. I have to admit it is not the most efficient meal planning strategy.
I like 277 best, Debra. It makes me think of spring frost. 22 is an interesting shade. . ~N~

A 166 and a 277 for Amargia, then. :-)

Don't know why it wouldn't grow in a pot, Jim. What is the worst that can happen if you try and it doesn't work? :-D

Amargia's Ornamental landscape by Debra’s Daylily Nursery. :-) Thanks again.
Vickie, I guess our mystery vine COULD be a moonflower. It has no scent, but that doesn’t mean much. I’d always heard about the wonderful fragrance of moonflowers so I bought Kay a pack of seed. They had no scent and hated our summer heat. It was a Martha Stewart brand so I thought it would be “a good thing.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) The next ones I buy will come from a nursery that specializes in fragrant plants based in the south, not someone based in New England.
Started buying plants for fall planting. A new fig, Improved Celeste’, and some Italian Jasmine which is hardy here without winter protection. For the veggie garden, turnips and spinach. I added Gollum Fingers’ (aka, Hobbit Jade, Jade tree, Dollar tree, Cassula ovate ‘Gollum’) to the houseplant collection, but it is marginally hardy here so Kay will eventually add some to the Mer-matron’s Garden. It has the look of something that might be found under the sea. That is Kay’s special realm and she says she’s too old for a Mermaid Garden. :-) She didn’t respond well to our suggestion that it be called the “Old Sea Witch” Garden.” (Jim)
Woodland Mystery Vine--Morning Glory?

I don't think so.

Trying my hand at growing daylily seeds. Knew I had a reason to keep the sawed off Gatorade bottle tops and that bent up peony cage. :-)

Please tell me poison ivy doesn’t have pretty white flowers! It just occurred to me I have no idea what a PI flower looks like and I know there is PI in that area.

Wow, that's inventive, it seems most of us eventually fall prey to the seedier side of gardening, Debra. You miss out on some majorly cool stuff if you only do plants. The bees made my gardening seedy because you need to do mass plantings for them. I quickly learned that even if I were able to find good honey plants at a nursery, buying plants would be prohibitively expensive since I would need so many.
~Nadine

Definately NOT poison ivy.PI is my most prolific plant.
How many is so many? They love my catnip.So do my cats.

That’s good to know, Vickie, since I transplanted some. :-) I don’t know what a PI flower looks like either.
I would like Nadine to get more catnip for the Bee Corner. Her ladies are getting defensive about the catnip in the CanDo Container Garden. They don’t seem to like the chive and basil flowers quite so much.
I need another hummingbird feeder with the longer necks on the “flowers”. The bees are hitting the feeder hard and keeping the birds away. With the longer necks, the hummers will be able to drink, but the buzzers won’t be able to gain access.
There was some impressive rolling thunder today. I’ve never heard it go on so long. Kay went out for awhile between rains, but didn’t stay out long. There was quite a bit of wind. A few minutes of being pelted by cones and other pine tree debris led her to the conclusion today was an exclusively inside day AND the pines have to go. (There are still two that are dangerously close to the house. Pines are a bad tree to have close where wind and lightning are an issue. The old-timers go so far as to say that pines “draw” lightning. I don’t know about that, but they are brittle. There will be plenty of clean up when things clear up.
We were without power, but only for a few hours. I need to get our emergency preparedness back up to spec. We have all the necessary things. A gas generator, lots of flashlights and candles and lanterns. A wind-up emergency radio. Plenty of drinking water since we have a Culligan water cooler in the office and only get delivery once a month. (I never complain about the space the spare cooler bottles take up when we have bad weather….just all the rest of the times. lol.) Things had gotten very disorganized lately, however. I’ve been feeling so out of it, I haven’t been keeping up with the maintenance on the generator. A generator isn’t much good if you can’t get it to start. Flashlights are no good without charged batteries nor are candles if you can’t remember where the matches or lighter are. I just plain forgot where I had stashed the wind-up radio. We spent most of the day organizing our emergency gear.
Man! I wish I could send some of this rain out Texas way. I think Mother Nature is going through a crisis and needs some Lexapro, or Valium, or maybe just a nice cup of Tension Tamer herbal tea.
I remember once when Kay lost her temper when her mother was around. It was all I could do to keep from laughing when Miss Helen said, “Don’t you go having one of your hissy fits on me young lady. I brought you into this world, Girl. I CAN take you out.” Kay calmed immediately.
Does anyone know where to find GRANDMA Nature? (Jim)

Jim, you are just too funny

:-)

Jim,I'll make some catnip tea and go pour it on the ground. Maybe that will calm mother nature down,
I'm really worried about those Texas folks,They don't seem to be able to stop those fires.I've got kin near 2 of those fires.
I've used Miss Helens threat on my two before.

Rock on, Miss Helen!

She had to be tough. 6 of the 8 of us took after our father in height. We towered over her by the time we were 10 or 11. I never understood how such a small woman could have such an intimidating presence, but she manage it.
#3 sister lives in Weimer which is between San Antonio, Austin and Houston. She tells me smoke from the fires is beginning to affect the air quality in Houston. So far, the warnings are only for the elderly and those with breathing problems.
It is beautiful outside at Amargia today,, but we are all taking an inside day. The Mind and Spirit want to be out there, but the body rebels. It is virtually impossible for me to be outside without working. I go outside with the intention of passively taking in the beauty. Then, I notice some weeds or some spent blooms. I start pulling weeds or deadheading and it goes downhill from there. Perhaps, I’ll find it easier to stop and simply appreciate when the landscape is further along and the things that need doing aren’t so in my face. It is good I honestly enjoy the work process. That, for me, it is like active appreciation. For a person interested only in the end result, gardening would be a fiendish sort of trap. I’ll reserve passive appreciation for that point in the future when active appreciation is more of a pain than a joy. I can always appreciate someone else’s garden for the present. :-)
Jim built another planter for his “deck farm.” It only needs painting and finish work now. I’m not sure what he can plant in the shady, NW side of the deck. Edible varieties of ferns for fiddlehead salad? Lettuces or a new variety of mint might work. Both are shade tolerant, though not shade loving. Since he has taken the plunge and eaten herb flowers like chives. I guess I could try to persuade him to plant calendula for its edible flowers and reach a compromise on the edible/ornamental issue. I wonder if it was the edibility of daylilies that sold him on hemerocallis. :-) He doesn’t eat the daylilies. I think it is just the idea that he could. :-)
ROFL. So much for my day inside. A package of plants just arrived from Almost Eden. They look healthy and happy it would be a shame to leave them in their little shipping pots until tomorrow. I’m just going to plant them and come right back inside. Really, I will. I can do it. I know I can. k*

Two fans of a bonus daylily arrived today. Miss Vicki or Miss Sheri, would either or both of you care for one of these?

Exotic Rings
http://www.hemnut.com/frames/aindex.html

I would like one Debra.
This cold still has me down.I did some sit down cleaning.Think I'm getting tired of chicken soup and orange juice.Need a pizza!! Maybe I'm better. LOL

Debra, i would love one. It will be planted over my dear departed Elvis' resting place.
Love ya Lady,
Sheri

Sheri, I think it will look nice with the Elvis Lives daylily I have for you. Will be sending yours out next week.

Oh Debra, that is just so kind of you. Even Brought a tear to my eyes.

Vicki, you ready to receive some daylilies yer ownself?

Did I tell you all about being in the hospital 1 week after a Brown Recluse spider bite that got infected with MRSA ? I'm fine now. Home nursing and CNA's ended Friday.
I am very blessed Sheri