Sorry, I've been remiss in starting a new thread. We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1400894/
Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Your Neck of the Woods 2015 Part 6
You find the greatest giraffe pics. What the heck were you doing up at 3:21 AM? Hope you guys are having a great vacation.
ditto
I know what he was doing up at that hour.. he was looking for adorable giraffe pictures, and it looks as though he found another one! :)
Well, we're expecting a bunch of soil and mulch to be delivered today. Gonna get a bit of a head start in prepping the border of the fence-line areas, making the soil happier (to be ready for the shrubs n' stuff next year), then mulch it all over so it'll stop splattering mud all up the bottom of the fence when it rains. UGH that looks so awful, a pretty white fence with brown and black SPLATTERS all up the bottom of it. I sure hope my face cooperates! =)
We gave in and finally turned on the central heating this morning. It was 58 degrees in the house and 35 degrees outside.
you're tougher than we are- but then again, you mentioned an electric blanket...! we turned on some heat a few days ago when the bedroom got to 63 overnight.
If I don't find touches of frost today, I likely will tomorrow. Still early for real frost/freeze, isn't it?
This message was edited Oct 18, 2015 8:03 AM
We made it thur another night without freeze damage. Still have the amaryllis to bring in and the caladium bulbs. JR is here this weekend, we went to a movie on Friday night and a surprise party for the Twins 40th BD at their sisters house on Sat. Between that he has been running the stairs to the second floor taking up plants and bringing down Halloween decorations. Such good help he is. Next we are going to dig up the Amaryllis bulbs.
We didn't get any freeze damage either, which is a good thing because I had forgotten to bring in the pot of green beans I'm growing for my daughter's cat (she loves to eat the leaves).
Well, it's 45 degrees and sunny, so I'm headed out to dig up Siberian Irises.
The coleus and basil and still looking great!
I'm starting to see a bit of red on the pineapple sage. Maybe I'll get a glimpse of the blooms, after all!
NO frost here, ditto those canaries the coleus and basil, are OK. Green bean leaves, what a novel pet green.
I found the Crinum lilies someone sent me, I had forgotten completely where they were, they were covered with tropical milkweed and blue salvia stems.
I try to have pansies every fall, but not only have I not bought any yet, (they must still be on sale or clearance) I don't know where I can put them. I've kept adding to my zone-pushing bed and it's getting full .
My neighbor called and told me he had several trash cans full of beautiful pine needles for me!!!!!!!!!!!
Woo hoo, Sally. I know you love those pine needles!
I have accumulated more than 20 pots of amaryllis, and realized I needed more surface space for the pots inside the house. I rigged up a hanging shelf in the conservatory using a 6' piece of that wire coated shelving and hung it with chains lopped over the aluminum cross beam supports. Looks a little tacky, but what they heck. Once the pots of amaryllis are on it probably won't look so bad. Oh, and I did this while Mike was out working today so he wouldn't poo poo the idea LOL.
Good idea, aspenhill! What did Mike say about it? It sounds like a great way to overwinter them, assuming you don't have a cat that will jump up there and tip the shelf, that is.
Sally, half of our cats have been absolutely crazy about green bean leaves, and the others won't touch them.
Exciting about the pine needles Sally! We might have a solid week or two before they really start falling here but I'll get my stash then too. Aspen, your conservatory must look amazing with all those plants in there. Whenever I talk about you with Darcy, I always say your the lady with the cool house. That's how she knows you because that was the first swap she went to.
We had a mega frost this morning. It was 31.3 this morning when I left the house for work. I'm not sure the extent of the damage but we'll see about that later. I did check the dahlias this morning and they looked okay. Then again, it was pretty dark as the sun was just coming up.
I wonder why some cats like green bean leaves. I was going to plant some beans next year, but not if it attracts all of the feral cats to my yard!
We got a bit of light frost, but the tropicals are still looking good. No damage to the coleus or dahlia blooms, but I should check again later in the day. Sometimes the damage doesn't show up until sunlight hits them.
Well it looks like summer is definitely over here. The alocasias surrounding the gazebo look like they're melting in the sun. The coleus are just black and hanging also. The needles from my white pine have been falling for about a week. :-{
PS. You can still see the frost on the grass here.
This message was edited Oct 19, 2015 8:49 AM
Oh Ric, sad day!
Muddy, Mike kind of just shook his head when he saw my shelf contraption, but didn't make the roll your eyes kind of comments that I was expecting. I think he was tired and was just happy I wasn't asking him to do anything LOL. I am still rearranging plants in the conservatory, but it is looking pretty green in there right now - thanks for the kind words Seq :-)
Those poor alocasias Ric! You bring them in to the greenhouse for the winter don't you? I hate to see summer end, but the fall colors here in the woods are starting to do their thing, and it looks pretty spectacular.
Summer's end is a bummer but we need it to end if spring's ever to come :-)
http://days.to/spring/2016
ooooohhh, nice site Jeff
That is a nice site! I have one similar that I bring up every day at work to count down the days until retirement, but it doesn't have any pretty pictures like that site does.
I just noticed that it is greenthumb's bday today! Happy birthday David!!! I hear you are getting a lot done in Texas, but I bet you sure are ready to come home. Hope you are having a great day.
We cut the tops off the alocasias, dig up the bulbs and store them inside over the winter. Just the type of tropical plant I like no fuss, completely dormant winter storage.
WOW--we really are having a lot of Birthdays lately!
David--I wish you the Bestest Birthday ever!!!!!
Too bad you are not able to celebrate it with your sweet heart....
But--you can always make up for it later..... :)
Gita
Happy Happy David. Hope it is a good one.
Happy Birthday David!!!
Cool site, remind me when it's in the 30s. LOL
I had one of those calendars too, Teri.
Happy birthday, David!
Happy Birthday, David! I hope y'all had a great day ; - )
Happy B'day David!
Happy Birthday David!!
Happy Birthday David. Hope the great state of Texas is treating you right and that you are beyond the camping out indoors phase of renovations. Have you seen any Monarchs or other interesting bugs, birds, plants or minerals? YeeHaw!
Happy Birthday, David!!!
Thank you everyone for your "Happy Birthday" wishes. The renovation crew I am supervising brought me the tastiest tres leches cake I have ever eaten, very moist and sweet. Texas is quite different from Northern Virginia. The Dallas suburbs where I am are pretty much flat and dry, with little in the way of familiar flora. My only excursions out of the house are to Home Depot, and occasionally Lowe's, and I never make it to the garden department, so I don't know what plants are being sold.
Unsurprisingly, tex-mex is a ubiquitous cuisine as there is a huge Hispanic cultural influence. McDonalds is about the only place that does not serve tacos. I have seen gas as low as $1.76, but food in the grocery stores is more expensive than back home. Dairy seems especially high, probably because they grill most of their cattle.
Haven't seen much in the way of insects, except for the mosquitoes that visit me while I try to sleep. Doors sit open much of the time due to traffic, power cords, air lines, etc, providing easy entry. The one critter I get to see now and then are little 2-inch geckos that live in the walls and attic. The people are friendly, but the women wield chain saws.
Tomorrow the granite gets installed in the kitchen and the three baths. Currently, the only functioning sink is the one in the kitchen, temporarily set in a sheet of plywood. Cooking is limited to the microwave, but the new double oven may go on-line tomorrow or Thursday. The propane tank for heating the pool (not yet finished) goes in Friday, so the gas cook top will then be usable. Thursday the mirrors will be installed in all the baths, allowing me the first look at myself in a couple of weeks. All surfaces in the house have been re-done except the tile in the kitchen and the entry. By Saturday I should be able to fix a decent meal, shower, and shave using a mirror, just in time for me to depart on a plane Sunday. Really looking forward to being back home. I will post some photos of the project in the privacy of my own home.
This message was edited Oct 20, 2015 10:49 PM
David, it's so good to hear from you!
Wow David, it feels like you've been in Texas for months! Have your picked up a bit of Spanish? 😀
Looking forward to seeing you at the next gathering! Too bad we're going to miss you at the bulb sort party.
Wow that is a Texas sized cake ! Love the ? candle too. Was the chainsaw toting mama coming in to cut the cake?
I got quite used to house geckos in Hawaii,,very good on mosquitos, quiet and generally only seen and not encountered. Thought they lived on the walls, not in them....
LOL on the mirrors!
WOW that cake is huge!!! Looking forward to seeing pics of the project.
coleup... answer your Dmail.
Belated Birthday wishes, David!
Everybody is invited to Saturday's get-together, starting at 1 pm: lunch at my place, bulb pickup & visiting, then an early dinner at Chef Lin for whomever is still around !
I love doing food for parties, not so fond of trying to figure out what everybody might want to drink, so if you want something other than water or tea, please bring your own... or scrounge in the fridge... or try out the soda stream!
Have at least 6 cases of Porter. LOL Ric
LOL My personal consumption is about 6 per year -- bottles, not cases!