Yardening- almost September 2015

Hey Sally, So you have moved up to "in person" triathlon watching. I can tell you that watching a Marathon or triathlon is a lot of work. I figured I walked 8 miles watching Jen run the DC Rock and Roll Marathon. A bit luckier with the Triathlon probably only walked 3 miles as they swam down the river along the island so I saw her off, walked to the end of the island to see her emerge and get her bike then out to the bridge to see her go out with the bike and come back. Then back to the bridge to watch her run out. She did a loop back to the island to drop the bike and start her run. Her Tri was a shorter one I think she swam a mile, biked 14 miles and ran 3 miles. I bet your son is doing the full Triathlon. How far is he going? I got a real swelling of pride when Jen ran her first Marathon. Thinking my child has accomplished this. WOW

Many times I wish I could sketch cartoons. The picture of Cam passed out by an azalea...haha

The drain spade looks like a great handy shovel for shrub/perennial beds.

You have a good point about the Amish, Seq4!

It's a sprint Triathlon not a full Ironman etc. Still- yes the walking to watch is enough to tire me out! Yes, you try to time their stages so you can watch each transition, back and forth between areas, then dawdle between while they are out. We've watched two September tris around here. Its a fun party atmosphere in the morning, loud music getting everyone pumped, dawn breaking, all these buff, and non buff, young and non young, getting ready, and all the family support. Most touching is the groups running with disabled members. I haven't seen these two but there are more than you'd think of teams with disabled members.

http://www.teamhoyt.com/

Yes it is a huge blast when your kid gets to the finish and they announce the name!!!!

Ha... if the bush wins, I hope it's just a matter of being passed out !

Reminds me of some years ago when my Dad was pulling out a stubborn bush. He tied off a cargo strap around the base of the bush, hooked it up to the back of the car, and pulled it out. When that bush finally broke loose from the soil, there was so much tension, it flew about 75 feet, clear over top of the car and well on the other side. Flying bush.. awesome.

holy ....hannah!
My dad used a chain. Quite fun for kids to watch. A good physics lesson.
We had some guys here once, were going to pull a Calycanthus that way. Stems are too thin and brittle for it, I told them, But I'm just a girl.... so I went and churned the butter or whatnot while they tried and failed. Some guys just don't listen to girls....

You sure are right about buff and non-buff participants. There were all sizes, shapes and ages at the Triathlon that Jen was in. You would see these guys running without shirts and you could see that they had pacemakers or the big scar from major heart surgery and there was one woman that was huge certainly not what you would picture as an athlete but she sure was doing it. There was a husband and wife team, wife was blind. He swam with the women's group and called out to her to keep her on track, they used a tandem bike and ran beside each other. Neither of them were what you would call great shape by looking at them but they were doing it, too. Very inspiring.

Inspiring, indeed, Holly! I often wish DG had a "like" button for stories like this.

Here's an article from Washington Post about the DC rain hole. Some of you weather nerds might appreciate the detailed explanation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/09/11/were-thursdays-lackluster-rains-tied-to-our-ongoing-dry-spell/

Apparently, there's a form of "climate memory" where dry conditions become self-reinforcing.

We are now officially in a state of "mild drought."

SSG, When we were up North they talked about the north end of Victoria Island. It has a rain shadow that is created (I believe) from Olympia Mt in Washington State. It creates a dry spot behind it, that shadows the north end of Victoria Island.

Pretty interesting article.

I hope your son ate a nice pasta dinner and has a great race tomorrow, Sally!

Cam, please don't let the bush knock you out ; - ) You might try taking a Sawzall and cutting through the roots from the surface on down, going right through the dirt, so that you can dig it out in smaller chunks. It's probably not great for the Sawzall, but it might make it easier. That's how I got rid of killer ornamental grass clumps that just wouldn't budge. I use it to saw through Siberian Iris clumps too.

Interesting article; thanks ssg! I hope Silver Spring "forgets" that it's dry tomorrow ; - )

Thanks, Muddy, but no worries.... I won't let it win. :) I have a small hand saw that I have used before on stubborn roots. It will take some work but I'll get it done.

Just like in war, a good strategy to employ when digging up a mature azalea is to Divide And Conquer.

That pic makes it hard to know how big those root balls are but the biggest one on the left would not fit in one of he Lowe's yard debris bags.

One hour and fifteen minutes this morning. Done. Gone. I won. It lost.

Imagine there's no rain shadow whining this morning. Looks like a nice slow cool drench...

Very nice, steady, soaking rain here. Timing could have only been a little better. After I pulled out that azalea, I was able to plant the 8 cone flower plants in that area and the 6 helleborus I recently received in another area and get the mulch put down before the rain started. Just didn't get a chance to mow the yard but oh well, I'll take the rain regardless of the timing.

You sure were busy this morning!

Yep, Terri.. when I started, it was barely light enough out to see. I knew rain was coming. Oh well, now I can get some housework done while it's raining. :) And it's a beautiful rain !

We got almost an inch! :D

I'm doing my happy dance.

Tomorrow, I'll be digging up and potting up the swap plants, digging up the dead shrubs, and planting the new plants I got today. I also have some serious weeding and mulching to do.

Oops, forgot to buy grass seeds today.

2 and 3/4 inches but I'm more happy for YOU than I am for myself, SSG... I know how much you needed that !

Thanks, CAM! Wow, you really got a good soaking today!

We sure did. Steady rain for hours with some torrential downpours mixed in. I'd say most everyone in the area got at least some rain today, this was a widespread system.

On the downside, the 10 day forecast changed and we're right back in hot temps in a few days. On the day of the swap it's to be 88 damn degrees. Ugh.

We are rounding 1.5" here. What a pleasant surprise as I didn't think we would get this much. Between Thursday and today we are looking at 4". Feast or famine theses days. As CAM mentioned, no rain for us in the next 10 days and towards the end of the forecast the temps are inching back up to the mid 80s.

Glad you finally won the battle CAM.

Thanks, Jeff. I think I burned about 400 calories getting that bush out of the ground but it's done. Whew.

Yay, Cam! That was a big stump!

I'm glad you all got rain, but I'm still whining! We only got .1" yesterday and probably about that today.

Wow, Muddy, with all the moisture we got that come from the southwest to northeast, I thought for sure you'd get a decent amount. Bummed for you !

And yeah, that was one stubborn system of roots, let me tell you. Looks kind of bare there now. It'll take a few years for the magnolia tree to grow and fill in that spot to create the look I"m shooting for.

The Coneflowers will help fill in while the Magnolia grows (I imagine that's why you planted them!).

Yes, and they'll serve as a nice backdrop to the magnolia after it matures, I think. They'll be in the center of that bed, I'm putting garden Phlox, Laura and Blue Ice on both sides of them.

Our town has a big Septemberfest and it was postponed. THAT was the reason we didn't get ANY rain yesterday. Watching radar and we were in a groove of nothing.

Was it postponed because rain was expected, Jan? That'll teach 'em!!

Yes, that was the reason. Hehehe.

Oh man, talk about depressing. I just looked at the 384 hour GFS computer model and there is no rain in sight for me until 10/5. At that far out, the accuracy isn't the best so even that might not exist. I sure hope that weather model is wrong :-(

We have a 50% chance this afternoon. System coming from the southwest, I bet it breaks up as it comes through the mountains and we get squat. And yep, other than that, nothing in the extended forecast. Blech.

Don't speak death on my dreams CAM!! I'm hoping that little bugger sticks together and we get some of that this afternoon.

I'm hoping too, Jeff ! I've just seen those mountains break up those systems too many times. Fingers crossed !

The Delaware Bay tends to affect the weather for me. We see precipitation across the river and we get NADA. Hoping you get some.

Well it's not looking any more promising for me than it was a few hours ago. It looks like a nice amount of .15-.4" in different areas. Heck, I'd tak .15" and be happy with it.

Yeah, .15 would keep me from having to water all the beds where I just planted new stuff yesterday morning. Looking like we'll get a little bit here.

I think we might have gotten about .15 so far, and it's still drizzling! It's been drizzling off and on most of the day, I think, so it'll soak in nicely.

I was sooo happy when it started to rain this morning.

We didn't get enough to register on the rain gauge :-(

Watered the dahlias tonight but it's so late in the season I am having trouble finding the motivation to water much.

It's been raining steadily here for two yours. Jeff, looks like it's coming your way.

Cool, I just checked out the radar and I may get that .15" yet this evening.

Or more. :)

Nothing here. Boo!!!