Gardening Funk

16 years ago

Last week I went out for a few hours to work and it was the first time in well over a month. The backyard is still a mess. I am just in a big blah mood for it. It's so darn HOT and ugh ugh ugh!!!!

So, someone, please post some very beautiful photos of gardens so I can have the urge to get out there.

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Comments (31)

perrisquirrel
16 years ago
I know what you mean. I go out just for a few miutes each morning and pull a few weeds, 10 minutes tops. My front yard needs a major weeding so badly right now. It is just too darn hot.
msmarion
16 years ago
Oh I'm sooo glad I'm not the only one. I run out every other day and check on things and water a few things. I feel so bad for people who have to work outside.
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I wouldn't describe it as a garden funk exactly, more a lack of motivation & the absence of anticipation & excitement I've normally felt in prior years when Spring approached. The emergence of some long-awaited perennials was gratifying this past week but didn't give the surge of excitement I've typically felt in previous years. The only thing I'm in a buying mood for is Hakonechloa/Japanese forest grass. A nearby nursery has a variegated form for sale and promised to save me a gallon pot until it's warm enough for me to plant it in my north-facing shade bed. I've tried to buy it in the Spring for several years running only to find it sold out wherever I shopped. I grew enough perennials, trees & shrubs from seed via winter sowing between 2010 & 2012 to fill all my garden beds and may, with very few exceptions, never buy from a nursery again. The ornamental dogwoods I grew from seed the first year have grown taller than I am already--I gave my neighbors two that are currently 6 ft. tall. All my butterfly bushes were grown from seed that another gardener sent me because I was (at the time) a newbie winter sower. They're all amazing plants; maybe not hybrid cultivars but healthy, thriving all the same & doing what they're meant to do. Garden clean-up has just begun but I'm gradually chipping away at it. I regret it's happening so late this year--I feel like us gardeners (okay, other folks too I suppose) have been cheated out of six or more weeks of nice weather thanks to the l-o-n-g, l-o-n-g winter. Everyone suffers when this happens but I think gardeners in particular feel the pain of those lost weeks when garden beds normally awaken. It's time lost neither our gardens (or we) will ever get back. I can sympathize with your garden funk Kevin. Funny thing about a garden, though. Eventually it begins to lift your spirit out of the mud and into the sun.
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I'll try to pound the keys quietly, J is sleeping. I made do with a solid metal typewriter in college and never have re-trained my fingers. And, I see I've forgotten about the seed swap..drat! My gardens, such as they are, are looking thin and brittle. The rains keep going around Roanoke. We did get three solid days of rain a week or so ago and I felt guilty for wanting a break. My roses all burst into bloom again, despite light frosts, but I think they'll be zapped again tonight. I've been in a sort of gardening funk this year. Too hot, too humid, too dry, and now cold and windy. I was busted by a neighbor last week. I thought they were all gone, but on my third wheelbarrow load of leaves from their lawn, he came out with his newborn and said "Um, are you stealing our leaves?" Awkward! He didn't really mind me taking the leaves, he just thought I was taking an awfully long time to do it. I've spent a good few years playing up my being an eccentric (plus I give them eggs and baked goods), so he and his wife aren't too surprised by me. He ended up walking back and forth with me while I hauled leaves, which I've been dumping into the chicken run. Every fall here, I've gathered bags and piles of leaves, which either take forever to break down or clump into sodden messes, so this year I'm making the hens earn their keep. So far, so good. They stomp each day's leaf pile down and I've been lacing the leaves with garden debris that won't kill the hens or make the eggs taste bad (which means I end up putting most of the debris in my rubbish heap that the hens get into despite my efforts). I do need to get out and rake the run some to stir the leaves up, but since the time changed I've been hard put to get in the run when there aren't hens running around. The hens gave us a full dozen eggs a few weeks ago, but they have been doing a regular cycle of 8 and 10 eggs since. I keep waiting for them to stop producing as much now that the days are shortening, but we still get way more than we need. I made a batch of pickled beets and eggs (the 1st batch ended up on the Himalayan, who was NOT happy), but I can only eat so many pickled eggs. I was happy that they turned such a nice deep purple. And I really only like dense chocolate cakes, so I've gotten tired of making angel food and sponge cakes. I think I have a chocolate lard pound cake recipe laying around somewhere. Most of the eggs go to friends and neighbors and we've gotten some baked goods made from them back, which is a nice bonus. We've had to branch out to co-workers, we have so many extras (we were still reluctant, but you do what ya gotta do). I suppose I could donate the eggs to one of the missions, if they'd have them. I took some with me as a hostess gift last Saturday when we went to a late Halloween party, I believe our hostess used them for her houseguests the next day. One of her friends said "Oh, you're the chicken man!" I was thinking that I am NOT a chicken-man, but I let it go. ; ) The lady who threw the party is interested in keeping some hens also, so that would make her the 4th person in the neighborhood to have some. It will make getting rid of eggs really difficult. Today, the hens mostly kept inside or squatted in the leaves. They don't mind rain, but they seem to really hate wind. I need to either put up plastic sheeting or some straw bales to form a windbreak for them. I fixed them a nice big bowl of low-fat peach yogurt with corn and cherry tomatoes (artfully arranged) and also gave them rice with Brussels sprouts and a side of greens and scratch before I left for work this afternoon. I noticed as I was heading out that I had three cats glaring at me...I forgot that they were out of food. Chickens have vastly lower food standards than cats do, just in case sometime in the future you have to make a choice between getting a hen or a cat. (I saw the hens fighting over a field mouse last week! The last time I saw the mouse, two hens each had half and were doing victory screeches.) Although, chickens seem to see people as a way to get to something higher or as a food source (in more than one way), and cats have been known to feign affection if it means they can get something in exchange. Speaking of cats, China, our sickly Himalayan, has been a burr magnet this year. I like burdock and let some grow/keep Johnny away from it every year, but we haven't seen all that many burrs on the cats before. Now when China goes out, she comes back in with burrs everywhere. The plants are gone, so we assume she is climbing into the brush pile. I have gotten a few burrs off the more fluffy hens, but nothing like China. We tease them out of her fur every night when we give her medicine, but she usually forgives us by the morning. (And, if you remember me saying she had been prolapsing, she hasn't since she started getting shots and nightly medicine.) If it counts as gardening, I did finally get a few seeds off my Zauschneria by putting sachet bags over the branches. The bush is still small after two years, but it's thriving and the hummingbirds love it. I've struggled to get the seeds from it though, the pods always seem to either be unripe or already burst. I'm surprised it's still living, I thought it would die over the winter last year when the temps hit single digits. Hopefully, I can coax another plant or three from the seeds. I still need to move some plants before the ground freezes and I really ought to reseed the lawn while the hens are cooped up more often. I have to leave the yard now to find dandelions and other weeds, which seems incredible. I actually bought a bunch of dandelion greens last week and felt even more guilty than I do when I go to the liquor store. The hens eat grass too, but leave it for last. I think they killed off the purslane and chickweed too, which means I'll have to buy weed seed again this year. Thank goodness I collected dandelion seed this spring! The hens still follow us around when we let them out, although now most of the crickets and other bugs are dead or hidden away. Sophronia, escape artist Barred Rock, actually followed me all the way around the house two weeks ago. She even ate part of a Scotch thistle! She discovered a number of grubs while she was up front. Unfortunately, coming back around the house she also discovered the cyclamen patch. In trying to pick up one hen, I attracted all the rest. Now, when we let them out we have to keep them from trashing the cyclamen flowers. But, now that they only get a few minutes to roam the yard, if they are lucky, they tend to stay close to their coop. And that's enough from me! Thanks for asking (again!). 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GG, looks like your buotii got the memo, mine didn't (shhhh!). I watered it well, it perked right back up and didn't even lose one leaf. Ok, maybe one, I don't remember. But if so, that's it, just one. Someone may have leaked the memo to sp. Tanna Island though. It looks great, but if you feel the leaves they are very limp. I feel like it will pull through, but it isn't responding as rapidly as the others. Fitchii already looks right as rain. I think it got too much light in the window though, it is pale yellow green. I was hoping for some red coloration. Guess that's not happening there. I'm glad everyone seems to be on the upswing out of the funk. The funk was not the good kind of funk. I agree, even the thought that my plants weren't doing well was enough for me to want to avoid them. The violets are looking pretty sad. As is my stephanotis. I think with care they will all recover though. I don't know if I can pull off the outside hoyas this year then. There isn't any real shade and no way to create it, really. It's a narrow space with a few large obstacles (ridiculously large AC unit, smoker/grill, trash can) and I can't block access to any of these items. Also, my landlord is promising a new fence this year (though he has promised that for the past three) and I don't really trust anyone he has working for him to treat my plants nicely. But we'll see. Maybe I can test out a few bits of hoyas, so that I won't lose the whole plant if it doesn't work out.
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jardinerafloridana
16 years ago
I will join you. It seems like I weed one saturday and by the next the darn weeds are back. Why is it the weeds grow so much faster than the plants I am waiting for.
dghays
16 years ago
Makes you wonder if you try to cultivate weeds if ornamentals will pop up and try to overtake things...

I thought Gardening Funk was a new type of music!

Gary
SusieQsie_Fla
16 years ago
Hi Misti
Here's some photos from my "gardens" (I think you coined the term "pot grotto"), just to show you something green and pretty. Since I work outside in the heat all day, being out in the yard all sweaty is okay with me. These first two shots will show some of the stuff I got from you and Ricky and Kat and Lady last year at Ricky's swap.

{{gwi:920912}}
{{gwi:886563}}

These next two are from the Cafe at the Chokoloskee Mall

{{gwi:920914}}
{{gwi:920921}}
Irma_StPete
16 years ago
SusieQsie, your pics are so fun!. I can't believe your epidendrum radicans growing from your bicycle basket (and bird cage). Do they do fine in the cage without dirt? I'm bringing the same to the Tampa Swap September 1 - git yer bikes red up, folks!
cindeea
16 years ago
Misti-I understand completely. Last year I was in so much physical pain, the heat just seemed to magnify my misery and I could not do a thing. I had no interest at all and everything was dying! Now that I am getting phys therapy, it still does not relieve the hot, hot, hot, and humid heavy air, but I limit myself to 20 to 40 minutes max and just concetrate on one chore. Fall will be here soon and we all can look forward to getting back to doing what we love on a regular basis. In the meantime....Bud Light helps! lol
mistiaggie
Original Author
16 years ago
Chockoloskee has a mall??? LOL! Thanks for the photos!
beachlily z9a
16 years ago
Oh, do I understand! Except my funk is from anaphalatic (sp??) shock from a sting on June 22. My right hand is still a mess and I can't wear gloves. I'm hoping I can get outside next week (with gloves)--the weeds think they have a pass this summer and it ain't so!
laura1
16 years ago
I haven't had a choice about working outside. I work outside in the morning and still sweat like a pig. When I got home I would cart my plants and other things to the new house. (WE ARE MOVED) Remind me to NEVER move in July/August again. Now that I have all these potted plants I need to make a plan (!) and get them in the ground. I sure don't feel like going out and watering them. I have dozens of boxes calling me "open me!".
coffeemom
16 years ago
The garden is on it's own until fall veggie season.

Supposedly I'm getting around to doing all those "rainy day" and/or "Aug. heat" projects I have written down somewhere, like 1)Clean out closet.
Oh heck, I'll go with the Bud light!
countrynest
16 years ago
I had been weeding for ten minutes or so last few days. Now my hypertension is up, I do not need another stroke. So I look out the windows as the weeds take over paths and everything
else.
My married son mowed this evening for us. The air is filled with the scent of Eucalyptus.Night blooming Jasmin, Four O'clock and a faint scent of Crape Myrtle. Then the Mosquitoes and Fire ants send me back in.
It's Paradise.

Felix
happy_girl
16 years ago
Crab grass is my worst enemy. It is trying to take over my yard. I don't have a great lawn, it is a combination of Bermuda, Bahia, St. Augustine & weeds. I can tolerate everything except the crab grass. I have been fighting it every morning & late afternoon for the past 2 weeks. I was out there this a.m. at 6 o'clock until 10 but hopefully 2 more hrs. tomorrow afternoon should finish it up. Thank God!!! My butt is getting sore even tho I sit on my kneeling pad.
gcmastiffs
16 years ago
The weeds have won! I give up.. Until cooler weather.. A heat index of 105 is not pleasant gardening weather.

Once it cools down, I'll rescue all the plants hidden by weeds.

But, it is a good time for cuttings now!

Lisa
cindeea
16 years ago
Kristi.....you wrote down a list???

What a novel idea...think I'll go pop the top on a Bud Light and contemplate that concept!!
manature
16 years ago
Oh, lordy! I'm with most of you...I was working outside every day, heat or not, until last week. Then it just got unbearable. Even ten minutes leaves me gasping for breath and totally drenched in sweat, and that's just from watering my containers! My coleus are all bleached out and leggy, and if I don't take cuttings soon, I may lose them all! My beds and brick pathway are FILLED with weeds! ACK!!

I did get a weed burner which I plan to use this weekend, but it is HOT work, being anywhere near that torch, so that's gonna be hard to handle for very long. Plus, once burned off, I need to do a follow up application of Round Up on some of it, so that it doesn't resprout in 24 hours. (That's already happened in the test area!!!) I figure a One-Two treatment should get it under control, if I can stand to be out there long enough to do it.

Ooooh, I'm LONGING for cooler weather...a mere 85 would seem glorious!

I saw an add for a tall outdoor fan that has a mister feature...you hook it to your hose, and it cools the air for ten feet or so. (Says it drops it 25 degrees!!!????) I was thinking that might be a lovely thing to have blowing on me while I weed. Anyone ever try one of these??

Marcia
corar4gw
16 years ago
Yes, yes, yes to everything except the Budwiser. Beer gives me an instant-migraine hangover! Don't think I could deal with that AND the breath stealing heat and humidity. Would I live anywhere else? NO WAY!
The misting fan reminds me of the "swamp coolers" we had in Arizona when I was a kid. Out there we NEEDED some humidity!
So, until the weather is a bit cooler, I will do the minimum required. Mowed the back yard at 7 this a.m. and my neighbor, bless him! mowed both his and my front yards. This will earn him a pan of lasagna and/or a loaf of bananna nut bread. Hey, even baking is cooler than weeding!
cora
Irma_StPete
16 years ago
mistiaggie - re Chockoloskee has a mall???
Wow, I sure missed that one. I was envying SusieQsie for having a funky house when it's really a funky mall. Envying living in the Keys. Wonder if it's as hot & humid there as here - bet not - bet breezes and accompanying lack of skin nibblers.
So the epidendrum are not growing from a bike basket! But what a cool idea that would be.
bodiggly
16 years ago
Irma,

The Keys are as hot and humid as mainland FL and the sun is a lot more intense. There isn't too much breeze in the summer. That is when everyone does their diving as the water is so calm.

Also, they have their share of mosquitoes and no-see'ums.
manature
16 years ago
Boy, I remember one really hot and humid night when we were camping in a tent on the beach on Longboat Key (camping area)...the no-see-ums came right through the screen and nearly sucked us dry by morning. For sure the Keys have everything the rest of Florida has, both good and bad, in spades. But they are so beautiful, it's worth it. At least, they still were the last time I was able to go. I understand they are changing fast, but I continue to remember them fondly.

Marcia
katkin_gw
16 years ago
Misti, I do understand, I see people all wilted, worse then their plants so I know it affects them.

Susie, I am glad I am not the only one, that works outside all day in the heat. I was beginning to think I was crazy. I mean I do get hot and sometimes hose off, I even have a pool, but I am too busy to swim. lol

Beachlily, the next time you get bit by anything put ammonia on it right away. Even wet a paper towel and hold it there. I am not saying it will stop it completely, it does in most cases though, but it will certainly lessen the affect.
FlowerLady6
16 years ago
I came in here today to see how everyone is dealing with this heat and humidity and we all sound like we feel the same. I've got vines that need trimming and other things too and I just can't get up the energy to do any of it. I mowed a week ago yesterday and what little grass we have needs mowing again. When I do go out to work in the gardens, it's early in the mornings and then come in between 9 - 10, after that forget it. Even then I'm soaking wet. Every year this heat and humidity drain DH and I of energy and makes us feel ill. Hopefully, we'll get some cooler weather sooner than later.

This morning I was out walking around looking at all the variety of flowers growing and I felt very thankful for all that we have.

At least we aren't having any hurricanes.

FlowerLady
laura1
16 years ago
Marcia...don't bother wasting the Round Up after using the torch burner thingy. Round up works as a systemic and if there are no leaves/foliage it won't work. Hmmm...unless you wait a few days to let it sprout out again.
Ok, I don't want anymore whinning here. I've got two yards to mow.
We were in the Keys a few weeks ago and we sure enjoyed it but it was hot!
SusieQsie_Fla
16 years ago
FlowerLady, I hope you whispered that word "hurricanes"! Shh.

Misti, I read your question about the Mall, so I got on my bike and took a couple of shots of it.

{{gwi:920922}}
Here's a close-up showing the Chokoloskee Mall sign...it even looks tongue-in-cheek.....
The other end of the building is the post office. It's kind of a "time stood still" place. When I'm not too busy, I go there to pull weeds from the gardens and catch up on all the goings-on.
{{gwi:920923}}

Yes, the epi plants are growing out of the bike basket. They seem to be living quite happily on that birdcage; the ones in the bike look like someone plucked all the blooms off, but here's a pic from a different angle. This is around the side where they have an outside dining room.
{{gwi:920957}}

Since I have already high-jacked this thread *sorry!* I'm gonna show ya where I get to work this month, painting this orange house, so you can see that even though it's working in the HEAT, it's really, really cool!

{{gwi:920959}}

Here's a better shot of the Chokoloskee Bay...the view from my "office" window!

{{gwi:920961}}

No, this is NOT my house (wish it was) and I did NOT pick the color. So now I'm going out to play in the dirt in my container gardens and get a little sweaty.

See ya - Susie
manature
16 years ago
Thanks, Laura, but I was thinking of doing the weedburner, then watching for any new sprouts and hitting them immediately with RoundUp. I did remember that it has to be absorbed through the leaves.

I used my new weedburner this morning, as a matter of fact, and it works great. But it was too hot for me to stay out there long enough to do the whole path. So I guess I'll do a section a day, and then follow up with the RoundUp on any new sprouts that pop up again.

Will let you guys know how my new system is working.

Susie, LOVELY pictures! Your "mall" is darling and the colorful photos look so inviting. I'd love to DRIVE BY in my AIR CONDITIONED car and admire those places! But I think I'm staying inside until about December now! Arrrgggh. The heat is utterly oppressive here. Still, it's pretty when I look out the window!

Marcia
buttterflyy
16 years ago
I've told myself 'I can do anything for 15 minutes and NEED to do something or other each day.. even if its...water something. But.. I've listened to you and the great advice about gardening from inside during this awful heat... and have gone to valueseed.com and ordered some seeds.. nothing to break the bank and something to get me inspired again. Took a sketch pad and outlined the property.. house, shed, trees, etc and am happy 'planning' where those hopeful plants and flowers will live. So happy not to feel so guilty thinking of you all out there tending gardens while I sit inside watching!... What absolutely beautiful surroundings in your pix.. just beautiful.
laura1
16 years ago
Butterfly-I need to do the same thing, plan. I have a bunch of plants/rooted cuttings that need a happy home in the ground but I don't want to go planting willy nilly like I usually end up doing. I want to make to paths and get rid of a bunch of this grass!
I did get my rain barrels (3) set up. That was work. I have them setting on cinder blocks 2 blocks high. I kept having to reset them because they were 2 inches off this way or that. I learned the hard way that the rain barrels need a flat surface to sit on when full of water. I had one crack that wasn't seated property. Anyway it was hot work but it is done. We had rain after I finished so maybe it filled a couple.
As much as I'd like to wait until cooler weather to do these projects I just can't wait that long.
acoreana
16 years ago
Guess I'm not the only one!

I've felt so guilty I haven't even looked @ this forum in the last couple weeks, lol.

Better get my you know what out there and water my container plants...poor things.

Great photos!

Nat :-)
jardinerafloridana
16 years ago
Susie - Wow! it is an International Mall...LOL (Havana cafe) I loved it. Great pictures.
katkin_gw
16 years ago
Oh I love the mall, I want to go to the cafe and have lunch.:o)
SusieQsie_Fla
16 years ago
Hi Katkin! Come on down!

Ya might wanna wait til winter, though!

It's almost 100 down here. (94) But yesterday was worse - humidity so bad, my ponytail was sweating! I stayed out til 8:30 doing repotting because it was so much more bearable with the sun down. It actually felt COOL with the bay breezes rustling through the mahagony leaves.

Give anything for a pool right now! I'd never be too busy to jump in - or accidently take a dip. Even water from the hose is near boiling. But being wet makes it easier to endure the heat.

Susie

Gardening Funk

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