August 2012, very hot and very dry.

What we need is about an inch and a half of rain in one day. I know that's not enough but it's a start. Not coming down so fast to create flooding anywhere, but over a day. Oh well, maybe it'll rain good somedays in real!
A year ago, it was the opposite, too much rain and melting up North I think! Remember this? - http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/04/2927480/communities-along-missouri-river.html
Well, I'll try to come up with a photo for the month, here is my pot of what I hope is my Black-Eyed Susans from a seed packet!

I get white ring tail hornets and lots of wasps in around my garden too!! I don't mind them "out there" as long as they are not interested in me!
Here's a five year old clump of B.E.S, without water except to start the season.Good heat and drought plant,that is the might be of why they have the reputation of being the most overused flower in many gardens.

My projects are at a snails pace,95, 95, you know,all the time with that.Old SOL is getting revenge for something.

95 actually sounds nice now how bad is that! We are 105 105 105 no rain no rain no rain, I never thought cone flowers would shrivel up but I dont have one blooming, the only thing with blooms at my house are the annuals in pots and one lone (dang can't think of the name) it has small orange blooms and the butterflies like it, and the autumn joy sedum is setting bloom heads, otherwise nothing is blooming.

Last year too much water was from way way up north not in Missouri, Missouri just got the aftermath of opening the flood gates. We have a friend who lives in the river bottoms and his house is built on a small knoll. Problem is for most of the summer the only way to get to his house was by boat and of course the basement flooded but the house didn't if I remember right. Really sad thing is right after the waters receeded and while he was trying to get things cleaned he had a stroke. He is doing alot better but living in the river bottoms would be tough.

happgarden; All I could think of was, we ,or you could be on fire with O.K.or Texas,or C.O and so on.
Upper 80's to about 90 are forecast for next week here,So it's going down some from the 105 107,from last month.a COOL 92 NOW as I type this in.Your temps are like the heat index here,only when that real temp goes over 98 or so words don't say it do they.
Rain all around only not here either.Hoping the drought may be breaking off some.

I remember now, yes, it was all that melting and rain in the Dakotas and the states around there. They opened floodgates up there to relieve them and it came here and flooded us out.
I remember English Landing Park was flooded and closed last Summer, I even wrote about it here - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8662859

Nice Black-Eyed Susans, juhur, I hope mine turn out that nice, I've always liked Black-Eyed Susans. I like how they flower later in the Summer.

Temperature going down very gradually! It was still nearly 100 today I think they said and forecast to only be 87 tomorrow, we'll see! In a couple months we'll be nervous because it's close to freezing and is it or isn't it time to bring everything in!
But, it's still August I suppose, it's not too late to be in the hundreds about 40 more times! My friend is a little concerned about the foundation of her house, they say such dry conditions can mess it up.
Will

Will, water around the foundation once a week. Fan the water and keep it about a foot away from walls. That will help with keeping it in line.

Thanks Pepper. Maybe soaker hoses will work the same, I'll lay them down there.

Foundations are a big problem with the soil shrinking away from the concrete.
Tax free shopping today if you can handle the crowds. I don't have anything that cost that much to worry about it. Thank goodness.

I didn't want up this early the dog got me up...ugh.

I was thinking about doing some tax-free shopping but I can't really think of anything to buy, I'm afraid the days of my Trapper Keepers and Superman lunchboxes are over! lol Altho, today my friend asked me what kind of lunchbox I want for school Monday and I said, "one shaped like a school bus", which I had when I was a kid! Maybe I'll convince my friend to buy a laptop, she needs one.

That is some nice chickens there. Those are some dastardly fires in OK., Crit. I saw on the news, witnesses said a guy was throwing burning newspaper out his truck window maybe, they are considering foul-play in Luther, OK. http://news.yahoo.com/residents-little-left-burned-oklahoma-town-192254982.html
Yeah, a little too close to your house, how unnerving, that's close, sure hope the fire doesn't move your way overnite or something. That is some misery for sure. - http://news.yahoo.com/oklahoma-crews-battle-expanding-wildfires-torrid-conditions-215438260.html Maybe you should get the water hose on your roof before nite? Just thinking out loud, but do stay safe Crit, DH and pets too.

Here is my 3 tiered birdbath, I painted about half of it, it's a little darker of a gray than I wanted but it's better than the way it was. - There's the Yellow Water-Iris back there in the silver can that I got from happ, I keep them in water. I'll find another place for them since I turned the watergarden into a raingarden. Actually, that silver trashcan has always been used for something else, mostly plants, never trash! lol

I cut a SpiderPlant baby and put it right in a hole with the big plant, I thought I'd try that, here it is in the photo. - It's the baby in the middle, with the roots close to the rim of the basket.

Man, I wish it would just rain already! It keeps getting all ominous looking and gloomy out but it doesn't rain! I keep hoping it will rain so I don't have to do the soaker hoses by the foundation but it never rains!
At least I didn't need my sunglasses earlier when I forgot them!

Will

This message was edited Aug 4, 2012 7:42 PM

At least we are getting the threat of rain. It's a step in the right direction drought wise.

NICE PIC'S AND GREAT conversation here all!! Shshshshhhhh, It's for two days been raining here.
Could jump in the bath with the birds?(lol)

63°/81°/53°
Sunny. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.

Ju,
I planted muskmelon. One is sunburned, the other two look pretty good. Small, but still green and not sunburned.
Your flowers are pretty and your melon is cute, LOL!

Crit,
I lost a volunteer squash that was a really nice plant. It grew in the compost pile and kept wilting. I'm betting a stink bug got into the stewm. I pulled the plant and burned it when it dried out.
All our garden that gets shaded did great with watering. It is just plain too hot for peppers, for sure!

Will,
I got stung by a yellow jacket when we were doing cider. I grabbed him with the wheelbarrow hadle, LOL! It stung alright! Burned is more like it, but it was mostly my fault for not seeing it. My Aunt told me My great greandfather kept bees. He never seemed to get stung. I think that's why I like bees. Maybe because they like me?
We water those arborvitaes every year. They were exceptional plants when we got them from Walmart. They were $20.00 apiece. I wish I needed more at that time.
Squirrels will drop shells and such on you. I swear they do!
NICE tererrium!
You can walk across most of the little rivers here. Only the Mississippi has enough to boat or fish in :o(
That sure is a beautiful fountain! Well worth the trouble to get it.
Yep, really nice arbors! Water them deep once a week while they are little. Don't overwater. That kills more plants than no watering.

Happ,
We all have to go missing off and on.
Good for you, getting a vacation!
Iowa has missed all the rains too :o(
NICE coop!! They need to be well built. Chickens are an investment.
LOVE the solar chandie!! It's beautiful and so inventive! LOL!

Will,
What will your new job be?
ROTFL over your wasp encounters!!
Nice paint job. It will look like a new house for a while.

Pepper,
I sure hope you get a better chance for rain.

Crit,
Those are beautiful chickens!
Oh, I am so sorry you lost all of them :o(
Prayers going out. I've been praying/pleading for the whole midwest to get some rain and I didn't forget to give thanks for what we recieved.

Opps, sorry. I usually read my way down. This time I hit ''end'' and missed the new thread. How embarrassing!

Will,
I hope your Susans bloom.

Ju,
I have seed I took of a plant at DD's but haven't sowed any yet. I'm not sure where to put it yet. I love them most of all the coneflowers and rudbeckias.

Will,
It's amazing how much the earth has dried and compacted with no rain. Your friend is right to worry. Mice also can dig in easier around foundations. That's small potatoes compared to your house sinking tho.
Nice paint job on the fountain :o)

Yesterday we had the most beautiful thunderstorm ever!! There was constant thunder and we got 1&1/10'' out of it!! Altho it came down pretty hard, it all soaked in. I hope this can end our dry spell. Some farmers have cut their corn. Not harvesting it, but maybe using it for silage. One field had gone completely yellow in just a few days. The irrigated corn isn't much better. They say the drought is worse than the 1930's drought. It's scary.

Right now I'm researching yard trees. Do you know how hard that is? I have to have a tree with no nuts, no surface roots and no big pest problems. That leaves out oak, maple and ash.... I'm looking at yellow poplar right now, altho it's short lived.

I just bumped someone's post that asked about the yellow poplar. No one had answered him.

My sad muskmelon and my green, and one hot pepper. The peppers get shaded about 2:00 pm.

You are increasing the heat by having that plastic under the melon.
We have super melons this year, up to 10 lbs.

Me Bernie? Last year we used black coffee lids and this year I tried the white. I was trying to keep them from getting musty on the ground. Next year they are going to be planted more in the shade too.

I must say, every melon we've had, be it Missouri or Indianna, has been GOOD! Now they are getting home grown. Some are from the Amish in Kalona. Some from a local farmer between us and Muscatine.

Muscatine's are supposed to be best.
I'll put mine up against their's any day.
At Des Moines farmers market on first Saturday of May, someone was selling "Muscatine" melons. I would think he was lie-ing a bit, because they sure looked shipped in from California. Of course the poor housewife won't know the difference!

billyporter All trees have surface roots it is nature and their function. Mesquite, might be worth looking at,or hybrids that are seedless.There is a tree that looks similar to mesquite with small leaves and a big full crown only I don't know the name.Lot a good that does (lol).Basswoods or Linden might be worth looking at,they are street trees in cities, not much fuss or mess, and I read and hear they take heat, cold , flood or drought,well.
I have the messy old pod producing Redbuds, they make shade in four to five years,but those pods are everywhere.I believe there is a hybrid now that has no seed pods The flowers take a while,only they are well worth the wait.
80'S '90'S LOTS OF RAIN THE PAST TWO DAYS!!!! .Goodie. I was and am picking lots of little yellow cherry tomatoes.
CountryGardens ;Well they could of come from the local Farmer's Market in Spain .Or have ya heard "that one" before. Really always love listening and looking at the produce and garden you do,One of the very best of things! I remember asking you about the sangria melons, one day, I am going to have to try those.Only I have never been able to grow melons worth a darn.

Billyp, did you mean Liriodendron tulipifera (Yellow Poplar) or betula alleghaniensis (Yellow Birch)? I saw the thread in Trees, did you know that's from 2009? Golden_Eagle isn't a subscriber anymore, he was asking about Yellow Birch. - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1003162/
It isn't called Yellow Poplar much, it isn't a true Poplar they say, it's usually called Tuliptree I believe, it gets very tall, some say it's the tallest deciduous tree in N. America - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liriodendron_tulipifera
I always did like Tuliptrees but I wouldn't have anywhere to plant it. I used to go to the trees forum alot.

My new job, I don't have it yet. It will be in the field of computer support or help-desk hopefully. That's what the training is that starts tomorrow. Kinda to update a certification that I already have from many years ago and to help me land a decent job in a field that requires A+ and Network+ certifications. This is the course. - http://mcckc.edu/PDF/continuinged/CompTIA.pdf

Yeah, those pesky ol' wasps, unfortunately for them their glory months are coming to a close!

An inch and a tenth, braggers! lol

This message was edited Aug 5, 2012 5:11 PM

What about Sorrel, Oxydendrum arboreum?

A large tree or a small-meduim tree, billyp? Does it matter deciduous or evergreen?
Here's some trees to maybe give you an idea. - http://forestry.about.com/od/arboriculture/tp/small_yard_trees.htm

Billyp I have a great book I picked up about trees, if I can remember I will look and see what the suggestions are.

Pretty chics you have there Crit. Night time is really dangerous for chickens let alone stray dogs. A friend said foxes will lay out of the edge and watch and then run snatch one and run off. We let ours run free but we have a big old black lab that won't let anything up in the yard during the day, but at night the fowl are locked up tight. I did read that what every kind of coop you build the fencing has to be buried because animals dig under it to get the fowl. Also the top needs to be covered so racoons, snakes, and birds of prey don't help themselves. Also read chicken wire alone is not thick enough to keep the bad guys out. We are using a dog run right now if we want to fence in the chicks, but at night they say the ducks will sleep by the fence and racoons will stick their arms in and try to pull the ducks thru the holes in the fence, I don't think chickens sleep next to the fence. Our neighbor had a big old black snake get in her pen and ate some of her smaller younger chickens, plus coyotes got a couple. So having said all that, we are going to build a stockade...rofl.

Here are some samples from the internet. http://www.clarkfarmbusiness.com/Chicken-Runs.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=A20PVog0ra0 Video of a chicken house run and coyotes trying to get them...I never thought they would be that bold.

I got 3 cantalopes off of my vines and their is nothing better....so sweet and so good. I made raised beds using concrete blocks last year and planted the vines in the opening of the blocks and even with this heat the vines did fine, I have a watermelon on a vine right now, so exciting...rofl.

It is true. You definitely need to bury the fence at least two feet. Use wood as you blockade.

63°/93°/64°
Scattered clouds with the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm developing this afternoon. Hot. High 93F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%

Bernie,
Thanks!! Fruitland, off of Muscatine, is a sandy island and they grow supurb melons! Conesville, south of me, same story. Just a mile and a half east of town was my Dad's home. They also grew melons when he was a kid. They strapped them on the car and drove to the next town to sell them :o) Sadly, most of the original growers are dying and their kids aren't carrying on. It's really sad. I hope the Amish will pick up the pace.
I think he was lying a lot!! It's too cold to even plant seed except in a greenhouse. Aren't there laws against selling ''shipped in?''

Ju,
I'm talking roots that break the surface and are a hump in the yard, like the silver maple I have.
I've looked at both and disreguarded them already. Some are short lived, some have honeydew problems, some are weak, etc. I have yet to find the ''perfect tree, LOL! I grew up with a red bud. I pulled many seedlings from Mom's flower beds.

Shortleaf,
Yes, the tulip poplar and yes, I bumped it :o) I even found the Shortleaf Pine in my Audubon book.
That may be your best bet for a job. DD could have done that, but she didn't really want to fix them. You will be busy when you start!

Pepper,
I think that was zone 6. Yep I considered it too!

Will,
Yep, saw all those too. I'm looking for medium now. Deciduous and I want a width of about 25' tpo shade the beds and garage. Height 25' to 30'.

Happ, I hve looked thru three or four books of my own. I'm leaning towards a bird friendly tree now. Service berry was a thought, but it's short lived. I can't have something DH has to take down in his old age. I have a new list to research.
I can believe that about the raccoons! I agree. The chickens need to be locked up at night. Leaving a light on in the chickenhouse all night cuts down on the pecking order that goes on too. YIKES on the snake! Poor chicken!
I know coyotes have to eat too, but there are plenty of rodent and rabbits for them!
Melons!!

Yesterday after a bit of weeding and filling birdbaths, I sat outside and read. I actually came back in later to put on pants and a sweatshirt. The cool air gave me goosebumps, LOL! Today we will be hotter, but may get rain. May...

I am standing on the property line. The garage and bed in the yard are what I want to shade. The maple is farther back. It's limbs are longer at the bottom, so I'm looking for a top heavy tree. I don't have a lot of room to work a tree in, LOL!

Yes Shortleaf Pine (Pinus Echinata), that's what I'm named after! I am rather short but that's not it! Shortleaf Pine is an interesting tree in Missouri. It was nearly logged to extinction in the early days in Missouri.
There is a few old growth ones I think in parks in South Missouri, if they even exist, they are very few, they are making a comeback. The Missouri Dep't of Conservation sells them very cheap, probably to re-establish them to their former glory someday.

I got the first day of that class done, it'll be good I think. An introvert like myself kinda takes on the properties of a numbskull at first in a classroom. I did find out an interesting bit though about the certification that I already have, it doesn't need to be re-certified! I am "grandfathered in", but oh well, going over it again can only help. When I initially did it self-study I didn't have any hands-on like this class, which is good.

Sally, Carpinus caroliniana (American hornbeam) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Hornbeam and Yellowwood - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladrastis_kentukea are highly thought of in landscaping too.
Will

This message was edited Aug 7, 2012 11:13 AM

Has anybody ever seen a SpiderPlant baby have a baby of it's own so soon after cutting it off the big plant in about Feb.? - That's an Ozark Witch Hazel on the right of it and a Cholla to it's left in a Christmas can!

My friend here got this Persimmon as a sapling from Powell Gardens Arboretum in Sept. 05' and now 7 years later, I just noticed today it has Persimmons! It's not self-fruiting (dioecious) so I don't know how it got pollinated, maybe from insects from another Persimmon tree some distance from here, I don't know, I haven't seen any nearby. I have a little one in a pot that I was going to use to pollinate it but I think it's way too small now to do it.

Boy, talk about being persnickety on watering, I water these Elephant Ears every steenking day! -
Here they were 2 days ago. - I don't have a photo of them yesterday, but I remember watering them less than 24 hours before that ugly photo was taken.

Also, something to consider on being a computer repair technician is that in a few years they say the personal computer will be on it's way out and that you will store all your computer stuff at a remote location called "Cloud". "Cloud" is quite a lot different and very much controversial in do you really "own" your stuff?! Even Steve Wozniak (co-creator of Apple) says it will be "horrendous" - http://www.infowars.com/wozniak-cloud-computing-trend-is-horrendous/ . Altho, the instructor at school says these jobs will still be needed to work on the "Cloud terminals". Your DD, Sally, might have done a good thing by not wanting to fix computers! lol

Does anyone know how I can make this Philodendron 'Micans' fuller and bushier? You said to prune it Sally, does that make it bushier?

I have seen spider plants do that over the years, sometimes that is why you will see a bunch of plants together in a pot,all the little ones are stuffed back in the pot with the parent plant and as having little ones of there own it makes for a tremendous display. The other plants there I would not have any idea.
When it gets to "Cloud Cloud" I will have my disc recording devices to turn unto.I won't ,I can't ,trust all that with my "stuff" Even if ""they"" and ""them"" already know everything about me anyway.(LOL) "Arrrgh" as Snoopy used to say!!
I am still watering here also,even with the rain, the ground won't absorb the water it has gotten so dry. My plants have chlorosis and I am complaining again.One solve leads to another problem it natures politics I guess?

I saw an elephant ear yesterday in Lexington, MO that was almost as tall as the house (1 story but not ranch) and the leaves were bigger and taller than a normal person. I wish I could have gotten a pic of it. It was HUGE!!

I stuffed a baby back in my big SpiderPlant. Oh, those other plants were just in the photo to have something besides the SpiderPlant to look at. I'm eager to show off my "cactus in a Christmas popcorn can"! lol

Cool Pepper, I'd go there just to see it and get a photo! Lexington isn't that big, is it easy to find?

It's right off of 24 highway. You can take the exit into Lexington there and turn right to go into town or you can get off at Napoleon or Wellington and take 224 hwy in which is a scenic byway and you can view the damage from all the flooding last year. That will take you straight into downtown. Then you can drive around and check out all the old houses. You can't get lost easily because you have an area between the river and 224 and 224 and 24 hwy that is the main section of town. So you will always be near one of those.

Here's a good site for you. http://www.visitlexingtonmo.com/

Thanks, I might do that, get a sweet tea from McDonalds and go to Lexington. I haven't been there since about 1994 when I went there to see that cannonball in the courthouse from the Civil War.
When the flooding was so bad in 1993, I went to Napoleon, MO. to see the "lake" that was temporarily created by the great flood on the Muddy Mo.'! There is a church parking lot that was perfect to view the flooding.
That was before I had a digital camera but I got lots of paper photos.
Thanks, Will

Cloud is a really bad idea. You do not own your own data all your info is stored out there they own it they can search it and they will use it sell it no matter what they promise just like this site things get sold and the rules change. If you are a Company and your software let alone your data is out on someone else's server and that company goes bankrupt you will be like the farmer's whose grain were in grain bins who went bankrupt you can not get your grain until the bankruptcy court gives you access which could destroy your business.

happgarden;
Does that sound like a Money thing or maybe insurance?The women here have been hit three or four times,Mine once while parked.One time a person had insurance besides us.Turn in claim and all that happens is they raise your rates,your fault the others fault doesn't matter all the rates go up and no one is able to enforce the demand all must be insured.
It sounds like a another access to electronic crime and you and I know who ends up paying able or not! BAH! HUMBUG!! to more of that kind of change!!

Yes, I agree, Cloud IS a bad idea. How can they impose this kind of privacy issue on people? My instructor says he doesn't even have internet service, if he wants to do anything, he "goes to his Mom's".
It's probably gonna come down to how bad do people want to compute. I don't really know alot about Cloud, I hope there is some options, I don't want my data and everything stored somewhere else.
I think you'd pretty much be giving up a ton of information.
I hate to sound like Kramer on Seinfeld but maybe, "it's all big business"! I too say, BAH! HUMBUG!!

The about it, as to having talked with a few people about the idea,is that professional and teens really love the Idea.
That means our opinion is (well you know).. at that, it is going to happen and we can take that as an old time ("Enjoy IT")

I've got a couple hibiscus working on re,blooms, A few garden pathways to be done.All the little things that never ever finish,as there is no such thing(lol) BES still blooming away,definitely sun and heat lovers those ("guys"") are.All this wears me out,as to projects and having "Ideas".?

You know I was in a good mood before that came in (lol) Suppose we will hearing "Get off of my cloud" as to thread.Instead of "Get out of my head"??

Storms in area!!! Whoo hoo!!! Coming my way too. I've been listening to the thunder.

It is storming now, I was outside until it got too bad to stay out. Unfortunately, a big Sycamore branch fell on the neighbor's incoming power line. It didn't break the line, they are nice neighbors, with an infant, hope it didn't cut their power off. Man, hope this rain accumulates into something!

Isn't that a song by The Rolling Stones or somebody, "get off of my cloud"?

Yes it is ,not a rolling stones fan either huh? Rained all night last night, my hibiscus ,planted two days ago enjoyed that to delight. Makes all a bit mucky in the garden.As long as I do not sink beyond my knees or mobility it is all right with me.Still at a potassium and chlorosis thing and this rain should help with that immensely. That is the problem with" big" "trees near power lines or the house.
Only if I were the tree I would still complain that ""I was there first""LOL Good that no one was hurt, a lot of that this year.!

I never thought of one ounce as being difficult!!




I have thought it about microns and sub particles just not about ounces lol.