New thread for flower photos and word pictures and whatever else we decide to stick in here...... with stock photo attached so you get the idea.....
We came from over here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/978148/
This message was edited May 3, 2009 6:26 PM
Paj, speaking of your dear gophers, I thought of you when I saw the recent Gardeners supply catalog as they are saying Castor Oil is a gopher repellant. They have both a granular form and a liquid form with a shooter to shoot it in their holes.... I'll see if I can find a link.
Well, I was wrong, the Castor oil is only suggested for moles:
http://www.gardeners.com/Mole-Control-Castor-Oil/YardPests_Rodents,11883,default,cp.html
But they do have a real stinky garlic thing for gophers, have you ever tried it?
http://www.gardeners.com/Gopher-and-Mole-Repellent/YardPests_Rodents,35-690,default,cp.html
Just thought it might be worth a look-see.
I will check it out. I have known about the castor oil for a while. I tried several things, but not stinky garlic. Actually gophers absolutely adore onions. Attack them in preference to many other good veggies, but maybe they don't like garlic. My fear is that they would adore the garlic in their burrows.
Well, maybe they'll be so fat and happy from garlic they won't feel like eating much else? :D
After three very nice drizzly, gentling raining days the sun came out this morning. Well, it was out for a bit yesterday afternoon too I guess, but then it rained again. It's been wonderful.
I think it's clear that my new Helebore approves of the location I selected for it. It pouted about the sun it was getting the first couple days, (The leaves on the trees aren't filled out to shade the area yet) but now it's grown about 6 inches.
My Chocolate Chip Bugleweed (Ajuga) is now fully blooming too. Notice a theme in me garden? Johnny Jump-Ups (Violas) everywhere! By the way, I didn't offer them for the DBG sale, but I could easily afford to dig a few up if anyone needs them. Not to mention there are dozens of new volunteers starting everywhere.
Two falls ago I collected a bunch of trashed planters that people had put out for trash pickup and dumped them in my new beds to help fill them. My father also donated a bunch of his old planter fill. I noticed I had acquired some new residents with the fill, mostly tulips. The big leaves came up everywhere, but no flowers. What a pleasant surprise! Free dirt and free bulbs, can't beat that. Well this year I'm beginning to see some blooms. Here they are.
Some Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine' is starting to take off. All my Campanulas are getting excited about spring and should be blooming very soon too. I don't know how, but I did a puple overload when I did all this stuff! Please all you DBGers stop me if I pick up anything purple at the sell! Except Lavender, I want some of that for my herby area, oh but then, I had my eye on some of the pink ones anyway.
I like the little red speckles on that tulip. Doubles don't do well for me. I still have a couple out there but for the most part they poop out in a year or two.
Ok last one. I'm very excited about this one and can't wait for it to really open up this spring! This is one of the new small flower trees I put in. It's called a Yellowhorn or Chinese Chesnut, Xanthocerus sorbifolium. This one is actually a strain they hybridized here in Golden, CO that's supposed to be more cold hardy and less shrub like than it's parent and was a plant select in 2007. I've read that they actually produce nuts that taste like Macadamia nuts! I hope so, that would just be too cool. In addition, they get these gorgeous long trains of white flowers that eventually turn a deep red in the middle. These first ones seem a bit smaller than I thought they would be from the pictures, but maybe they get as they go, oh well, they're still very pretty. Anyway, very excited about this one and man, I had to do a lot of research to find it here in Denver! I actually had to call farm where they started it to get a location for purchase, but now I have lots of detailed information on it too.
That is outstanding. I've never heard of it before.
That Chinese Chestnut looks like a very cool tree. How did you learn about it? Nurseries really need to start carrying some of these new plants instead of sticking with the old tried and true entirely. Actually, they stick with what their supply supplies and they think in terms of what they can sell the most of and don't do enough adding new varieties and educating their customers.
Seems to me we might have had Chinese Chestnuts in Louisiana and Mississippi when I was a kid -- but don't remember for sure. I know we never ate any of the nuts.
Upon returning from our vacation this weekend I was delighted to find my new primulas in full bloom, as well as several other flowers. I'll post some photos when I get home from work today.
I was being a total klutz putting away dishes yesterday and dropped a heavy lowboy glass that tumbled down the counter, then onto the doormat (narrowly missing the cat), bounched across the slate floor and crashed into a flat of tomato seedlings. One poor baby has a smushed stem but I moved it to a deeped pot and I hope it pulls through and grows new roots. Surprisingly, the glass didn't even chip.
Darn -- flying glasses! And broken tomatoes. I bet it will grow more from the roots and the top part might put out roots too if you put it deep enough in the soil.
Pajaritomt, here's a link to my journal with the entry that has the information I've collected on it. I need to get better about posting links too. : /
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/237977/
Yes, the Yellowhorn is apparently more commonly found in the eastern central states from what I've been told. I'm with you, you would think more of them would go after the plant select items, but I suppose it's the growers more than the outlets.
I ended up finding it at one of the larger nurseries here that a lot of the landscapers use called Arapaho Acres. I think there's another place way up north close to Boulder that might have it as well. It was much bigger than I really wanted to start with (meaning expensive), but oh well, no delayed satisfaction that way I guess!
Sounds like a lucky strike! Hope you're right and it pulls through. When you work so hard all winter protecting the darn things, it so frustrating when these little things try to thwart all our efforts and hard work to get these little plants going! So far my husband has actually been my most dangerous predator. Hehe, poor guy, he feels bad every time.
I bet that tomato baby roots from the stem just fine. You can't keep a good tomato seedling down (even if you use it for bowling practice tee hee).
Nice pictures and lovely plants, kTalia! If you have extra violas I would like some. Sometimes they reseed for me and sometimes not. I like purple, too. And orange. And, And, And! We didn't get much rain here but we did get a little and it is warming up. Things are starting to go crazy blooming. My garden tends to peak in late May, early June. Then it bakes for awhile and revives when the rains come, if they do. I'm looking for xeric plants. However, I do like my non-xeric clematis and roses! Blue flax, up close.
I just luv blue flax. It has such prettiful foliage and it's easy to weed out where you don't want it. I'm hoping the red flax reseeded but it's doubtful.
"it's easy to weed out where you don't want it." I think I need to pay more attention to things that are easy to weed out. After reading the invasives list, I might have a bit of trouble in my future.
I had some of the red flax for awhile. It wasn't as hardy as the blue. I like blue flax very much, it is no trouble for me. Lamb's Ears are worse and still sold in nurseries all over town. For awhile I had Missouri Evening Primroses, onethera (sp.?) all over the place. Then it was arugula. Then calendula. Always something coming and going. This is Cochinea, or something like that, called, "Hot Spot Coral". New for me from last year. I'm interested to see what it does.
I like the flower form on those. Not hardy here sigh.
They are tiny, little flowers. I'm not sure if they will do well here but they made it through last winter near a south facing wall.
Welcome back, Katlian! Sounds to me like the tomato enlisted the glass and the cat in a plot to get itself into some nicer digs, as it were.
;-)
Lovely to see all these flowers this morning, thank you all!
Not a flower pic, and maybe not so cool, but my weeding came to an abrupt halt this morning. Fortunately I only nicked my knuckle. I just bought this thing a few weeks ago and no I see it's not as metal as I thought it was. The core seems to be some composite. I'm going to try and take it back, but I don't have the receipt. We'll see what they say. My husband will claim it was just a clever ploy to go back to the nursery and get more plants.
They should take it back Ktalia and at least give you credit for a better tool. WHEW! that could have been a nasty cut. I stuck myself good yesterday in the finger. I thought "Cool look at all the ladybugs in this bed" til I realized I was leaking. DUH! Maybe our fingers are sub-consciously morphing with roybird's?
Ladybugs! Oye. Perhaps. Or maybe gardening is really just a dangerous sport!
Wait til rose pruning time!
I don't have any rosey plants yet. I just can't seem to decide what kind I want.
I've read that freezing a bar of soap makes it easier to shread. Think I came across it on a piece about remilling soap but it should work in the garden too.
I just read on the lily forum that putting a raw egg by the plant will keep rabbits away. I'm going to try it on Damien.
If it gets to the sulfur smell stage it might keep me away too ;)
I'm hoping it won't be stinky if I don't step on it. I will not take bets about not stepping on it cuz we all know that's gonna happen for sure. Maybe the rabbits think it's the egg of a big predator bird and that's why they stay away. Wait a minute! The magpies or crows will peck it to bits in a minute! Not gonna work sigh.
Maybe you could get a simular effect from matches. You could make a little fence of the wood ones. Don't smell like much to us but maybe to the bunnies.
The crazy ole cat would light himself on fire for sure. EEEK!
Roflol. I can just see the crazy ole cat staring in one of those you can prevent fires why you shouldn't play with matches adds. Funny in my head it's very 1950s style film.
I could leave a full wateringcan beside the matches for safety and he would demo by knocking it over. He's decided that he now has to drink like a puppy from the pouring watercan rather than lick his beluved water/plant food mix off the plants and stones. So now I "water" the crazy ole cat by pouring water on his head while he laps it up. Too funky weird.
Sounds like a really character. Not that that could come from hanging out with the seed serinador (?) ;) My kitties all play fetch. And they have no problem stealing something to throw, cough drops, jaw breakers, steel ballbarings, darts.
I will check out your journal kTalia. After dinner. We are going out. I started unloading the manure from my truck in order to not look too "country" in the great city of Denver. I am wiped out so DH suggested going out. l There aren't too many restaurants here but there are a couple.. We will hit one of them. Oh if I had been so smart as to live across the street from a good restaurant like roybird!
