Dahlias: Looking forward to spring - Part II

Is he an invertebrate?? (Damien's comment).

My doctor said that the procedure you went through Dan was preferable but she was concerned about my low platelet count and anemic condition. She said after the cutting and scraping she usually uses acid on the media at the base of the nail to finish the job of killing that portion of the nail. With burns there is always the possibility of infection, so she just cut it out and scraped it a little. I am hoping it doesn't come back. She gave me three injections but she sprayed some sort of very cold stuff on the skin so all I felt was a little pinprick each time. I was so afraid it would hurt awfully. I almost hyperventilated doing my deep breathing thing when expecting pain. Silly me.

I have 14 acres , it could take a while to plant it all in Dahlias. lol The pond takes up almost two acres, can't plant Dahlias there...maybe waterlilies, hmmmmm.
Just got through planting 3 1/2 flats of tomato and pepper plants. Several varieties because everyone likes a different kind of tomato around here. I will plant the Dahlias in the flats later this weekend. I need to check them and see if they are in good shape anyway, even if I don't plant them.

Mary, the last time I had the nail procedure, the doctor sprayed the area with a numbing/ freezing agent called ethyl chloride. When I mentioned that the other doctor didn't use that, he looked at me and said "You're kidding." That time the shots were much less painful.

One doctor called fingernails and toenails "wonders of the medical field", or something like that. He said no matter how much a nail bed is damaged, they will still try to grow back, even with the scraping and deadening. Even after all these years I still have a small piece of nail trying to grow in the corner of the nail bed. Every two months or so I use foreceps and give it a yank. Out comes a small nail about the size of a watermelon seed that is somehow still growing out of sight. There's no pain at all.

Arlene, the swaying palm trees are there. You just can't see them because of the fog. lol

Nanny - We need photos! Having 14 acres would be 13 3/4 more than I could handle!

The fog! Sorry, I never considered the fog was hiding the palms, bikinis, lifeguards, etc.

It's hard to find one picture that takes it all in. so here are several different angles of views that give you a general idea of the lay of the land, so to speak. The house sits to the back of the property.I have too many pictures and it is hard to find exactly what I am looking for. lol When we get the fountain put back in, I will take some better pictures. .

What a beautiful spot - such lovely grounds and the fountain looks magical.

Thank you, Arlene. It is my little slice of heaven, and a work in progress. I would like to get a little fishing pier built someday. And I have outgrown my greenhouse and could really use an expansion on it, lol. There is always something to be done around here. Just mowing and keeping up with the flower beds is a full time job in the Summer. And here I am creating more work with new flower beds. Some people would say I am not quite "right" in the head. lol

That is a beautiful property, Nanny. I could be dangerous if I had that much land. Looks like a nice manicured golf course. By the time you finished mowing that much grass it would be about time to start mowing again. lol Last summer I saw a Amish man in Pennsylvania mowing his lawn with one of those old reel-type push mowers. Bet you don't have any of those. lol

"Little"??? I can't imagine the amount of work the mowing is. Do you have any help with it?

Enjoy what you do and all you grow: forget other people.

My DH does the mowing along with one of the guys that works for him. He has a John Deere tractor with a Woods Bat-wing finish mowerthat he uses for the big mowing then they use a zero turn mower to do the places the big mower won't fit. I don't have to mow. But I do have the responsibility of the greenhouse,flower beds and garden. It is a lot of work but I enjoy it. Spring is my favorite time here, when everything starts to to turn green and bloom. I am truly blessed to live in such a place.
I had everything pulled out of the greenhouse replacing the glazing on the roof which was covered by mfg warranty. But we had to practically dismantle it to fix the thing! All of the roof panels and windows started showing hairline cracks and they replaced every single panel that was defective at no charge.

This message was edited Mar 20, 2015 12:07 PM

As far as I am concerned you DO have a piece of heaven (my idea anyway) right there. The only thing I guess I would add would be more trees for more privacy. Your flowering trees are to die for. And that greenhouse!!!! Oh well. It is not to be. I must stay here with my palm trees, life guards and green surf hidden by fog, as with Dan.

It's all so glorious and shows you found the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. All that work certainly keeps you looking so young and beautiful!

Lol. I need a pot of gold to keep it all going. That isn't me in the tractor, that is my niece and she is 11 or 12 there. Thank you for the compliment, though. The Magnolia trees are one of my favorite things about this place. But almost every year the frost gets them or the rain beats the blooms off. So they rarely last more than a few days. So I always try to take pictures to prolong the enjoyment.
My greenhouse is my guilty pleasure, I wanted it all for myself. After living here for 8 yrs. I finally talked DH into letting me spend my savings to buy it. It is my job to take care of it and I am not allowed to complain if it is too much work, because I asked for it. lol If I really whine a lot He will help me do things I can't do alone. There are just some jobs that require 2 people. Most of it I can do, but there are times when I need a little extra muscle.

I am very lucky to be able to live here. It all came about by a tremendous stroke of luck and being in the right place at the right time. Some day I will tell the story. It is kind of long and complicated. lol
We do have to work hard to keep everything looking good. Several people have expressed an interest in buying this place, but I wonder if they would want to do the work to keep it up. It takes an investment of time (and money) to keep a property this size looking the way it should. I think some people think it just looks like this all by itself. lol.

I had planted all my store bought dahlias in cake containers and half of milk jugs. It doe's not look pretty, but I hope it works. Most of them have pips on them, planted them in moist soil and sometime I just spray them from top. Do the dahlias need lots of lite, right now they are in a east side window, gets light for 5-6 hours. This is hard work, they better grow. Etelka

Etelka, it doesn't matter if it looks pretty or not, as long as it works. I sometimes use milk jugs to start tubers. The only thing I do differently is I don't cut the side with the handle. I like to leave it on there so I can use it to pick up and move several at a time. Much easier than trying to get a grip on the thin plastic wall of the jug.

Stay away from that buttermilk! Yuk! Unless you use it in biscuits or pancakes. lol

I buy buttermilk by the gallon, drink it, also make old fashion buttermilk pie, yum.

Nanny, I counted on you to fake it and accept the compliment! I'm in agreement about the magnolias but most years their timing works out beautifully but it's too sad when the frost gets them. I also agree about needing two people to do some jobs that are too difficult or awkward to try and do alone. I'm sure too many people just see the beautiful property and can't imagine the work that goes into it to keep it looking great...or they think they can hire out the work. Maybe they can if they won the big lottery.

Etelka, Dan is right - "pretty" doesn't matter as long as the tubers grow. Seems like 5 to 6 hours should be wonderful right now and they will do well. When do you plant them outside - mid April?

Dan - Etelka is a cook so I'd bet her buttermilk pancakes are divine (since she cooks for a church).

Years ago, one of my grandfathers favorite "snacks" was crumbling cornbread into buttermilk with salt and lots of black pepper. One day he was sitting in his chair with a glass of this stuff. He said, "Wow! This stuff is good." I was probably 4 or 5 years old. I asked what he was eating and he said, "Ice cream." I got up in his lap and he gave me a taste. OMG!! It only took one second to realize I had been set up. Nowadays, I think that might be considered child abuse. lol To this day, a few of the family still call grandpa's concoction ice cream.

How funny!

Dan that is funny! But since it wasn't really harmful, probably not child abuse, not nearly as bad as giving one a plug of chewing tobacco and telling them they couldn't spit it out. Poor little guy turned green as grass. I don't care for buttermilk either. My grandpa used to eat cornbread and sweet milk. Boy does that bring back memories!
pirl, I just had to tell the truth, that way it won't be such a shock when you see an actual picture of me. lol
I am stubborn and I hate to admit that I can't do everything myself, it really is tough to ask for help. But sometimes you have to swallow your pride and do it.
Etelka, I use whatever I can find to plant in. It may not always be pretty, but the plants don't care what kind of container they are growing in as long as the conditions are favorable. I am partial to take out food containers that have the clear snap on lids for mini greenhouses to start seeds. and I use milk jugs, you can also use bleach bottles( or any gallon size jug) cut down the middle from top to bottom as long as you prop them so they sit level. You can get really creative when finding containers to start things in. It is a good way to recycle things.

Do you have that ill mannered older woman who jumps in front of the mirror just as most women do?

It is difficult to admit we're not as strong as we once were. I gave in last week and called a local guy who has done some azalea trimming for us so he could dig some shrubs I want moved, and help with odd jobs that have become too draining on my spirits.

I just bought more lettuce in those deep clear plastic with lids that snap in place so I'll have good starter homes for my seeds.

You know that woman too!?! She really gets around. She reminds me of someone I know. lol Those are great containers, I save them too.

The side benefit of having more salad is another benefit. Of course, I had to spot those local pecan pies (serving for two) in the clear plastic so I bought one. I can resist anything but temptation.

Ah Arlene... Oscar Wild???

We looked at a property today. An lovely little house with a to die for view on a south slope. 20x40' greenhouse and raised beds. Only problem is that the greenhouse and garden area must have been abandoned for several years. Raspberry bushes growing up into the middle of the greenhouse. I loved the house, loved the view, loved the sun!!!

But as Damien patiently pointed out, I wasn't 40 or 50 or 60 anymore and the work involved to clean up the greenhouse (complete with electricity and water) would have taken me a full year, to say nothing of the overgrown beds. I hate not being 40 anymore if only for that reason. But he is right. He wants unimproved property so we can build the house we want and he will have a greenhouse built for me that is a size I can handle. Without having to bush wack out years of weeks. I could have done it 25 years ago. But no more.

Yes, Oscar Wilde!

Ortho's Poison Ivy and Tough Brush Killer could probably take care of the raspberries but you'd still have to spot their point of origination or they'll just return.

Now that I've finished reading the entire post...Damien is probably right. It's just not as easy as the years roll by and won't ever be as easy as it was once upon a time.

One of our original neighbors had an attached greenhouse. The home was sold when the couple died within days of each other. The "new" people, now there 20 years, weren't able to get parts for the 1950's greenhouse anywhere. So it's still there but used for storage, not as a greenhouse.

Pirl, Salad is a good excuse to buy those containers. lol And I would buy the Pecan pie too. It is my favorite. ;)
Oh Mary, how sad that the property was not in better shape. A 20x40 greenhouse is about the size I need. lol and in a few years that probably wouldn't be large enough. I have nearly maxxed my greenhouse capacity.
I hope you find something that will work for you and that you really love.
When we bought this place it had to have an awful lot of work, the property was overgrown with underbrush and the had had to be practically gutted and remodeled. We added the unattached garage and the greenhouse, and had the pond built. So I know what you mean about the hard work of getting things in shape. I was 15 years younger, when we started this journey. It's a good thing, too. I don't think I could do it now.
The great thing about starting from scratch is that you can have exactly what you choose.
.

One friend had her home built and thought she had covered all the bases. In the end she said she wouldn't make the same mistakes again...she'd make all new mistakes. That's so true.

Home Depot didn't have anything of interest.
Walmart had some that interested me
Lucky Number
Lavender Perfection
Ferncliff Illusion
Jumped into my cart and came home with me.

See that! Dahlias can jump. Dan had the same thing happen to him.

I was at Barnes and Noble and bought a book called "There's a Moose in my garden." Obviously about Alaskan gardening. I am preparing for a new garden and want to give more thought to it this time. And yes, I will make all new mistakes. Sigh. Since we don't have the ground yet I am not sure what to prepare for; slopes, flats, trees, etc. Damien is accepting of my desire for a south facing sloped property with trees to be judiciously removed to provide sun for my garden. The hunt continues. In the meantime I planted broccoli and Bok Choy in my indoor greenhouse, repotted my peonies into separate pots, also sweet onions and yellow onions into individual pots. Sprayed for aphids on the iris once again. Tomorrow I need to plant lettuce, and some evening primrose seeds. My poor car will never survive in the garage til April 1. I might as well bite the bullet and pull up the dahlias. No, No.... resist.

I hear you Mary. My garage is filling up quickly with pots and flats added to the collection of rather large plants and banana trees that already reside there. We are still a month or more away from moving day, when they can return to their outdoor homes. The garden needs to be tilled and it really needs another load of soil hauled in there. We had a load hauled in when we built the raised bed but it has settled and really needs more. I had to fight tooth and nail just to get a little garden patch, why are men so stubborn? lol He sure did enjoy the veggies, though!

Now that's a raised bed!! You can really grow some fine vegies there. How did you surpress the grass. Or did he cut it out and turn it over. What a lot of work that would be. I was going to put in a new flower bed but if we are to move then no point in that.

The dirt was hauled in and weadded more topsoil to fill it up, Then it was tilled twice to make it really loose. Grass wasn't an issue til Fall, not a lot of grass now but it does have some huge clumps of weeds that need to be dealt with. I need to make a new flower bed too, and iI would like to make it a raised bed, but I haven't really decided yet.

Well, now that we are actually starting the dahlia launch perhaps it is time to get a new thread.

Here is where we went:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1389553/

This message was edited Mar 29, 2015 1:22 PM