Yardening 6- Feb 2014- Snow SNow go away!

The support pantyhose are really a great idea. The thing is athletes are especially prone to developing peripheral vascular disease (PVD). Much of it is the result of minor injuries to the venous system that aren't even noticed. The heavy support stockings help support the veins and move the blood and lymphatic system back to the heart and relieve pressure on the veins in the legs so the valves don't break down. This is major league important for anyone who spends time on their feet. When I was teaching I always at the beginning of the term stressed to my students the importance of wearing GOOD (orthopaedic grade) support stockings, good bras (yes they're expensive but so is having a boob lift and it hurts a lot less than a bad back) and the best nurses shoes you can find (yes they're not cute but come to me when you're 50 and tell me how important cute is when you have plantar facitis).

BOY have you got that right!! When I was doing nursing, I wore the ugliest, but best-supportive, shoes I could find. (this was back from my early 20's onward). Never cared what they looked like, all I cared about was that they were intelligent. Now I'm in a different trade (and considerably older!), and still my shoes are fugly, and still I don't care! They are made for being on my feet all day and giving MAX support and max comfort all day long. Near 50 and still no leg/back problems. Yay! =) Five gold stars and five thumbs-up for Yehudith and her brilliant advice! =)

I look at the high-heeled and/or pointy-toed shoes I see some 20-somethings wearing, and the mother in me wants to say "seriously? - do you have any idea how much long-term damage you're doing to your feet?" (I'd leave out the damage to legs and back). I almost always opt for biting my tongue and being grateful that I got through to my own daughters.

Oh yes, that is something to be thankful for for sure, Muddy! I'm thankful that I have a son and never had to go through that! < =D

(now, we just won't look in my closet to see the boxes of "Eeeek those are high!!" heels) ;)

wellllllll, if y'all had daughters six feet tall, you wouldn't have the heels question either
: ^D

I was 5'8" all my life--but now, over my aging years, I have lost 1"and am now 5'7".
Like in retail--they call it "shrink".....;o).

Since I wear all kinds of clunky tennis shoes at work--that add at least 1" back to my height--everyone always says---"Yeah--but you are TALL!!!" HUH?

LOL--Sally--No one in YOUR family is under 6 feet! No stepping stools needed....
G.

Well it looks as if the top fashion trend is snow boots. The Weather Channels says chance of snow 100%. Good thing we have seeds to cold stratify, winter sow, start growing indoors,etc.

Wonder if anyone will be wearing high-heeled snow boots out in THIS stuff today? heeheeheee Ugh, down here it's not even turned to snow yet, it's still lots and lots of ice falling. Eeewwww!

Speedie---

here is a look outside my front door--right NOW.
VERY fine snow--falling continuously....G.

yehudith, In the position I retired from we pounded the stairs and concrete for our 10 hour shifts. We also used a lot of ladders. I have "very close" veins and my legs would get tired and sore. I wore support hose or compression stockings a lot. Men's hose were so costly, so more often than not I bought women's, besides they were great for tying up plants. We were required to wear safety shoes, I usually just bought comfy well padded shoe that looked like safety shoes. Then I found Bates tactical composite safety boots, they were comfortable and weighed less than my shoes. A win-win.

Oh man, I feel for you guys down south...we were supposed to get that snow earlier last week but it kept trending south and I'm super happy about that! We only got a very light dusting :) I hope that doesn't ruin any of your spring projects!

Looks like we are pretty much done with about 6" of snow. Very good sledding snow, not so good for snowballs or snowmen. Shovels very easily. Boy is it cold out there though!

Still coming down here. It is a good thing that the snow will blanket everything for this very cold night tonight.
It sounds like Speedie and Muddy and Chantell might get hit harder.

Record colds tonight. Predicted here--about 5*.

Think of me as I walk out the door tomorrow at 7:30AM to go to work.
There are almost NO customers when it gets like this--and by now--everyone
should know we have NO salt--NO Pellets--NO snow shovels--and NO scrapers.

SO? Who would venture out to do any shopping???
Plumbing may do a good business....frozen pipes...let drip the lowest faucet you have tonight!

G.

Be careful out there tomorrow morning, Gita! I bet there will be lots of black ice. I normally leave for work at 5:45, so I understand how hard it is sometimes to just open that door and walk out into that black cold....

I will have to leave for work that early tomorrow too if my office is open on schedule and if the kids have school as scheduled.

It sucks but we gotta do what we gotta do (till we win that big jackpot, anyway).

Stay safe and warm, Karen...

I get up about the time you leave for work..
Gonna be cold!!!Need to warm up the car a bit before I drive it.

Lets hope this is the last of the snows. G,

Fortunately I didn't have to get up and leave that early today. My son's school is delayed and my work was delayed with the option of telework. I am taking the telework, for which I am grateful even moreso now that not only is my garden under the weather literally, I am under the weather figuratively with a cold. :(

Our DG group seems to be getting hit hard with colds - critter, gita, ssg, and now typwc. Hope you all get well soon!

Lots of germs going around.
Community College is closed due to ice.

Thanks, Aspen! Hope everyone is back to 100% soon!

I think just about half the people at HD are also sick with colds--or have been.

None of us really do what we could to help---like, wipe down the computer you
just uses for 2 hours taking classes! Table, keyboards, mouse etc...

We have sanitary wipes available--or, like me, I carry little packets of "Wet Wipes".
Do I always use them? Nope....sometimes....if I think of it.
G.

I think we ended up getting maybe 6-7 inches down this way - not entirely sure, I didn't check any official place or anything. (I just know I was NOT about to go out in it!) =)
The drive to work was semi miserable this morning, but MUCH better to drive home this afternoon. Sucks when you're driving along a main 2-lane road and suddenly the lane you're in just sorta gradually disappears under a layer of icy snow! EEEK!!

I shoveled 8-9" from my driveway and sidewalks - not fun, but better than the 20-24" we had in 2009-2011. I'm having a drainage pipe installed underground in my yard this Thursday, and will have to dig through the snow to rescue a perennial before the guys come through with their shovels. To make matters worse, I haven't decided where to put the plant I'm digging up!

This message was edited Mar 4, 2014 7:39 PM

Does anyone here grow blueberries? Which cultivars do you have? I'll be growing mine in containers so I'm looking for dwarf cultivars. Behnkes has a sale on them right now, so I was going to take a trip there this Saturday.

I got two bushes late last summer, Don't remember off hand what variety they were. I will see what they will do this summer.

SSG, I don't grow blueberries but I've heard that they are actually very well suited for containers because they are kind of particular about their growing conditions.

Try looking here for recommendations about varieties:
https://extension.umd.edu/sites/default/files/_images/programs/hgic/Publications/HG68_Getting_Started_with_Small_Fruits.pdf

Lol typ, I landed on that page, too!

But that article doesn't recommend container varieties, so I was wondering which ones were easy (and pretty!) to keep in containers.

Hmm. Okay you're right. Well I guess I would say the ones that are dwarf or semi-dwarf are probably the best suited. If it were me, I would consider getting the Bluetta and/or the Blueray. Elliott sounds nice because it has ornamental qualities.

In another google search, I found this, but none of the plants listed in the Bayer site are also listed in the UMD site.
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/articles/grow-blueberries-in-containers

Anyway, good luck! Let us know what you decide!

We get a good amount of Blueberry bushes in at the HD.
Don't know the variety....
The DO make big berries--and, in later summer--I snack on them as i water them.
Yummy!

I try to avoid container planting (too much watering), but if I were to grow a blueberry in a container, I would buy a Top Hat because I think they're adorable : )

http://www.gurneys.com/product/dwarf_tophat_blueberry/blueberry-plants

I have 3 high bush blueberry plants that haven't produced much, in part because they didn't get enough sun. That factor has changed with the removal of a huge tree. I finally got around to testing the soil last year (first time ever) and found that it wasn't acidic enough (I know, kind of hard to believe in our area!), so I have been amending it. Even if blueberries don't produce much, they are wonderful plants because of the blooms, beautiful fall color, and resistance to deer, insects, disease, you name it.

One thing I've only recently learned is that some berry-producing shrubs will not produce many, if any, berries unless they're growing close enough to a suitable pollinator shrub. Even when shrubs are advertised as "self-pollinating", the missing fine print would say that they produce much more when they have a friend or two nearby.

This message was edited Mar 6, 2014 4:45 PM

I don't remember my cultivars but one is definitely shorter and more compact than the other two. I'd buy the ones described as ' smallest", they have fine surface roots so do not let the containers get dried out. I've always read 'get two different blueberries.'

I got my blueberries! I ended up getting a Bluecrop and a Bountiful Blue. They already have flower buds on them! I know I'm supposed to remove them once potting them up (to help with root development) but I really wish I didn't have to. :( My yardening chore tomorrow is to make my peat/pine bark mix for the containers.

They were on sale at Behnkes and I had a coupon, so I got a pretty good price on the pair. Lowes has blueberries for only 10 bucks but they didn't have any smaller cultivars.

I finally put up my raised beds today! They looked so beautiful and I was so proud, until I realized they looked like giant kitty litter boxes for all of the feral cats in the neighborhood. That's when I remembered greenthumb saying that I should place chicken wire over the beds. Tada! Thanks, greenthumb!

Oh boy, Ssg, I wanna see pics of your new raised beds!!! CONGRATULATIONS!! =)

Got into work today to find that, while I was off yesterday and Thursday, BOY they've been busy! Got a delivery of some shrubs and topiaries, so they've got them all placed really prettily! And then, of course, is my new seed display corner, wheee!! :) Right-Hand-Man Paul and I put those together today. We're getting there, slowly but surely. :)

Looks really nice Speedie.

Thank you! It's nothing spectacular, really, but it's a start. There was an over-grown topiary and an overgrown butterfly bush (that used to over-hang all over the walkway) that got removed so that first "display" of stuff could be placed there. Let me see if I've got a pic of the old look...

Still makes me sad that this crape myrtle went from this -- to that. < =/

Wow, what a difference!

That butterfly bush was definitely overgrown, but I love seeing butterflies all over it.

That crape myrtle still makes me sad. :(

I like that topiary that looks like a Saguaro cactus with arms.

That wasn't just crepe murder, it was mayhem and mutilation! THere are some in a shoppping center near me with the same treatment. What in the world are they thinking? They could limb up if needed they weren't sticking out anyway, and they could get a beautiful shady spot. Ya know what- I bet that store doesn't want the view blocked for their sign. Grmph.

It s pretty much inexcusible at a nursery though
8 ^O

I agree huge difference. The change makes the walk way look more open and inviting. The Butterfly Bush definitely needed relocating.

I agree removal of overgrown bushes, especially green meatballs= good move for nursery/landscapers

Noticed this morning that some of my newspaper customers were busy outside yesterday...bundles of twigs and branches curbside and many clumps of ornamental grasses trimmed down in advance of new growth.

Many of my azaleaswill have to put out new leaves after this winter. Mental note to feed them
well soon.

The deer have eaten almost all of the euonymous bushes and winter creeper vines/ ground cover.
They are quite hungry and will start on hydrangea and Japanese Maple and other bushes soon. Time to put deer netting over some plants I'd rather not have the bother.

February Gold daffodils missed their calling this year.

My new Autumn Ferm is still as green and full as the day I got it! Most of the Hardy Geraniums and Heucheras seem unphased if a bit bedraggled. Some of my Abelia bushes which remain evergreen for me most years look like they have 'freezer burn'.

ssg I have blue Crop and it does okay in container. Glad you have covered your raised beds..fresh clean soil is pretty irresistable to outdoor kitties!

Lots of worms at the surface in the leaf litter.