Are people jumping ship here also?
woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
9 years ago
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glib2
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Cooler Weather and Irises Jumping Up
Comments (6)We have had a couple of nice slow showers in the last couple of weeks and things are really looking much better. As a matter of fact One iris I bought named Lady Friend is about to bloom. I'm not sure that I'm recalling the name correct but I think it's that one. I noticed last week that it was sending up stalks and buds. I'll look tomorrow and see exactly what the name is. I thought I put all my reblooming irises together but maybe I didn't do as good a job as I thought I did. Everything looks so good around here for a change. I just can't wait to see everything in bloom next spring. Walter do you have a greenhouse? I don't remember. I'm sorry that your area is still so dry. We have all had crazy weather/seasons this year. Happy Gardening, Marian Thank you Walter for giving me all the tips on the irises and controlling the weeds and so forth. It has really made a huge difference in my iris beds, besides saving me so much time from being on my hands and knees weeding by hand....See MoreJumping off the Band Wagon...Maybe
Comments (22)Thank all of you for allowing me to infiltrate your forum, despite ranting about plants that you are gardening with sans difficulty. To me, the problem is exactly the concept that gardeners like to share the wealth, and the receiver of bounty may find the behavior to be far different than the donor. That's how invasive species get started unintentionally. Why aren't we all on the same page? Some of it is commercial ventures like to make money as easily as possible. Which NE states have had to ban the production and sale of certain non-native ornamentals (like Berberis) because vendors wouldn't quit selling them, despite the pretty obvious effect this species was having on natural lands and plant communities? It is really hard to overcome this tendency, as well as the one where people can't fathom that an ornamental plant can behave badly. That's why I made the cockroach comment. I don't know too many folks that would defend these varmints (or rats) where they threaten our humble abodes. I consider most of the invasive species of plants to be "rooted roaches." Some people live too far north for roaches to be a problem, but...I bet they wouldn't have them around, even one, even if it couldn't reproduce! And they sure wouldn't share them with their friends. But gardeners are going to do what they are going to do. I just believe in providing the information - for them to do what they will with it - and not belabor and/or overmoralize. Well, maybe a little bit. A long time ago I made a comparison to growing known invasives to use of lead-based paint. As a society, we've decided that the dangers outweighed the benefits of a very good product, because the dangers couldn't be quashed and the danger was long-lasting. This might be the way to think about some of these plants that currently might eke by on current climate and growing seasons, which we know very well are not static. I mentioned above that I had planted a number of selections of Miscanthus sinensis around the Valley here. When I read up on their propensity to escape, and observed it myself around central KY, I determined that these plants would not be long for this world. I am just now reaching the end of that endeavor. I burned several large clumps in place last weekend to destroy the seedheads, and managed to singe two of my very nicest Ilex opaca ('Big Daddy' and 'Judy Evans') in the process. They had made quite the garden pairing. Today, out on the tundra, I cut back all the clumps that I could find that were the escapes and burned them. In the spring, I'll have to dislodge the root wads, or hit them with a graminicide to finish the job. I drive by the site of a former nursery that specialized in ornamental grasses and rhododendrons (what a KY mix!) daily on my way to work in Louisville. This nursery occupied about twenty acres, and that field (observable from I-64 in Shelby County) is now one vast mass of Miscanthus sinensis. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it happen. I will get a picture of this site this winter. If someone cares to re-educate me on how to post a picture in a thread here, I'll share the scene. I took a read through the Garden Rant link. Some notable statements: "...environmentally neutral - neither a detractor nor a contributor." "He's also friends with Doug Tallamy... Well, I know Rick Darke personally too. He's lectured several times in Louisville, and I took him for a ride through Cherokee Park one winter. He's a fine fellow, and I admire his ethic and design/gardening style. He has quite the eye for arranging native and non-native plants in a way where you wouldn't notice that those plants wouldn't normally belong together. I don't agree with him on the subject of Miscanthus, though, for the reasons I've mentioned above. Also, if one of your gardening goals is to contribute to supporting native systems and local fauna, a non-contributor (which could be replaced by a native contributor) doesn't seem like the choice to make. Saying he's friends with Doug Tallamy is really throwing up a smoke screen! I just listened to a long lecture presented by Doug at the national ASLA conference in Philadelphia in early October. What a great presentation! He has the greatest photos of bugs you may ever want to see, especially the caterpillars. The thrust of his presentation: every native plant you put in the ground (especially ones fed on by native caterpillars) is a huge leverage to supporting those populations, as well as the rest of the fauna that feed on the caterpillars! Think about it... All the birds that eat caterpillars, and feed their young, etc., need those beasts around to support their life cycle. If the plants the caterpillars eat are not there, then they don't exist to support the birds, the birds don't raise as many young, and you see the spiral that begins. I highly recommend everyone take a look-see at getting Doug Tallamy's book Bringing Nature Home: How Native plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens (Tallamy, D.W. 2007. Timber Press. Portland, Oregon). You can see more about the text at http://bringingnaturehome.net and you can delve into all things Doug at http://copland.udel.edu/~dtallamy/ if you haven't had enough. Apocalyptic? I don't mean to be, and I don't demean gardeners who plant what they like. I just think that there is a lot of opportunity for illumination, and every little bit helps to see the light and the big picture. Runk, trun is a wise man, in more ways than one... On another site, I've often offered up proposals for plant naming; trun has inspired another. Miscanthus sinensis Intensely Incestuous...See MoreMid-Remodel People, Check in Here, How's it Going- THREAD 2
Comments (35)I have hesitated to post here because I have been mid-remodel longer than most of you have been alive...(ok maybe a two year remodel isn't that long...) anyhoo, I finally feel, that since we're six weeks or so away from completition, may be I can post in the mid-remodel groups thread :oP Tile guy finished the shower and floor (this is an entire house remodel, from bottom to top, adding a bathroom and moving many walls and soffits). So my master actually looks somewhat like a bathroom and my evil plans are actually coming to fruition (I used crocodile tile and I both worried about it and loved it...now everyone loves it) :oP The deck of the soaking tub can't be finished until we get the circle cut in the tiles (since the last tile guy lost part of the circle we had cut earlier). There's on guy in the state who cuts these circles...it's a pain! So that room can't have cabinets or anything until the deck is finished since they butt up against the tub (which is 36" high). So tile guy is heading down to the family bathroom, which after THREE tubs that leaked, is finally plumbed with a new jacuzzi tub (I will never try to save money with american standard AGAIN!) I should have just dropped a couple grand in the first place instead of giving it to the plumbers. That room will likely be finished this week :) The powder room floor is done and the toilet set, but still waiting for parts to actually work. (The old plumbers didn't know how to install so they cut the expensive pipes down to shorter pipes and installed the "high tank" very low on the wall). But it's the only room that's actually plastered, so it looks to be "done" almost. I will finish the move out this week on Friday, but between then and today I will get the first couple of coats of venetian plaster on the hood wall in the kitchen (a bear to reach if I don't do it now...since there's less than 12" in the gap...once trimmed out...my butt won't fit) :oP Next week our finish carpenter is ours full time, so while I'm gone, he'll be laying down the layout, repairing the floor and finally setting cabinets! When I get back I might feel like I have a kitchen. ANd hopefully I will have new granite and marble by then. (The previous slabs I purchased in full were sold so I have to start over). All in all...we feel so good about seeing work actually happen. We can see that we'll actually get to live in our home again someday! Hopefully for a few months before we have to move out to a bigger home when we have child number two :oP But we'll cross that bridge later I guess!...See MoreLIBOR Jumps 4% Overnight!
Comments (23)What are CNBC's worriers now? The 700 billion will be hoarded by the banks and no 'quality' loans can be made so the consumer can't keep on keeping on. Sure liar loans can be made. They can keep on with the derivative crap shoots. But when it comes to quality investments...well it is painfully clear that AAA ratings are not the same as there were back in granddads day. Back then they had a modicum of ethics and honor. Accountants actually meant what they said. But whenever honor is brought up we must remember ...'Honor dies where interest lies.' Let the rich pay for their mess Loan Wall Street the money, but do not give them money. Charge them interest and take back hi grade collateral. Don't put in on the backs of the working class. When we were in the darkest hours of the bailout meltdown, a commentator on CNBC complained how the 'poor taxpayer' will be stuck with all these bailouts. Then they backed off of their pity switching some of the blame to the taxpayer, for living beyond their means and consuming too much as a cause for Americas financial problems. We complain when the consumer stops spending, so the stock market doesn't tank. Then we blame the consumer for doing what we push them to do with ultra low interest rates, 24 hour advertising and loans that require no proof of ability that the loans can even be paid back aka "Liar Loans." http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liar_loan.asp America has been built on debt and spending. 70% of our 'economic heath,' better termed as 'economic sickness' is based on consumer spending. When the consumer can't compulsively spend any longer our economy collapses...we are not a healthy country. Without compulsive spending and conspicuous consumption we would fail as a country. In a TV commercial, Discover card was promoting endless consumption 'as a good thing' and they wished to do us a favor by helping us spend money better as we create more debt that we can't afford to pay. Do you see the insanity of all this? Add the rapidly approaching depletion of all fossil fuels and global warming to this pro consumption picture and we can see we have created a time bomb. Our whole system is based on an unsustainable model that will eventually collapse no matter how much money that is printed up by the fed. Well, the fed can do what it likes. After all, it creates money out of thin air. Used to be the fed at least printed money. Now all that needs to be done to create billions is to magnetize a silicon chip. This is what fuels the hard commodity people that want something tangible for real wealth. Wall street has degenerated into a greed fueled, legalized 24 hour crap shoot with the blessing and full faith and credit on the US of A behind it. It is like an alcoholic that has inherited a whiskey factory. More of their drug wont fix them - it only increases the sickness. Same with greed. Greed is never satisfied by attainment - it is only satisfied by contentment. In simpler times, we had stock and bonds to invest in. Most accountants did their jobs and earning did not have to be restated year after year and earnings were real. EBITDA had not been invented and our US dollar was backed by gold and later by silver. In 1973 stock options were added to the mix. Then the late 90's brought us internet day trading as a new way for the masses to gamble in the privacy of our own homes. Fast forward to 2008 and things have become much more complex when it comes to financial gambling. We've got interest rate swaps, total return swaps, equity swaps, forex swaps, currency swaps, constant maturity swaps, basis swaps, volatility swaps, credit default swaps, variance swaps and many more 'derivatives' to place our bets on. We talk of living in a sustainable world, yet our actions betray our true feelings. All we have to do is to look at the stock market to see what happens when growth declines even a little. Even if a company yields stable earning, but does not grow its earnings it is looked down upon. Stability and balance is part of a sustainable footprint, yet we shun such balance. With one breath we talk about cutting global warming and how we have to cut our dependence of fossil fuel. Then with the next breath we demand no cut backs in our standard of living, we must spend and consume above all else...build more, build faster, build bigger. The GDP must only go up, up and away...all the while this consumption just increases global warming and keeps depleting the fossil fuels faster and faster. Sick...sick..sick mentality, buy more cars, build more houses and monstrosities of architecture, spend more but 'cut back' to save our dear fossil fuels. For all practical purpose we will be out of crude oil in 2 or 3 decades and possibly much sooner. Consumption is ingrained in us and we know no other way. And even if we wished to amend our ways, how could all our retirement funds take the hit? Our world population has grown to levels where it has passed the point of no return for supporting a sustainable human population as we know it today when it comes to their energy demands. And what does all that consumerism lead to? It leads to the mess we are in now and the bigger mess the world will be in once India and China pick up momentum to copycat the envious lifestyle that they have held in high esteem as the 'American Dream' Fueling the problem of consumption is the games the Federal and World banks play with interest rates. They manage the economies in ways to fuel consumption and mask the real trend. Witness the recent cries for Federal bankers to lower interest rates...so the stock market can go up...fueled by spending of the consumer. It is drug habit that Greenspan got us hooked on and we just can't get away from. Our economy is not based on sustainable health - it is based low interest credit to encourage compulsive spending, debt and living a life of constant consumption with a 'disposable mentality' when it comes to durable goods. All this consumption to artificially fuel our economy to make our retirement funds only go up contributes to more and more global warming and the depletion of our natural resources. Then the governments juggle the numbers to make the inflation figures seem artificially low, so everyone's retirement portfolio will make them happy so they will continue to buy and consume more...and on it goes....IT IS ALL WE KNOW and the bill is coming due soon! We must accept we have built a defective model for long term population support. We can only keep on keeping on as long as the crude is free flowing and affordable by the masses. Once we officially come clean with peak oil and accept responsibility as a country, we can at least be at a semblance peace with the outcome of our actions and recover a modicum of honor in the process as we restructure our country for a post carbon world. Until that time, we are living in a dream world that is rapidly becoming a nightmare. We have the tiger by the tail and cannot let go...but our grip is getting tired and all hell is going to break loose soon. Thoreau didn't think much of those that lived beyond their means and he said so in Walden. "Some of you, we all know, are poor, find it hard to live, are - sometimes, as it were, gasping for breath. I have no doubt that some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners which you have actually eaten, or for the coats and shoes which are fast wearing or are already worn out, and have come to this page to spend borrowed or stolen time, robbing your creditors of an hour. It is very evident what mean and sneaking lives many of you live, for my sight has been whetted by the experience of others; always living on the limits, trying to get into business and trying to get out of debt, a very ancient slough, called by the Latin - 'Res Alienum' or 'another's brass' for some of their coins were made of brass. Living, seeking to curry favors, lying, dying, and buried by 'other's brass'; always promising to pay, promising to pay, tomorrow, and dying today insolvent." (Quote shortened)...See More- Emily H9 years ago
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