Pre-winter journal: roses' and our health & observation & wish-list
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7 years ago
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December Journal
Comments (18)MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone! (I'm not actually a real "Christmasy" person, but just thought I'd make it clear where my allegiance lies.) :-) I'm in Central LA also, and I also have friends who live in Minden. It's a very nice town. I am so very proud of my "dirt"...everywhere in this yard I have sunk a shovel, so far, I've turned up beautiful dirt. I don't know how it got here, just God's blessing, I guess. This is the first house I've ever owned (45 yrs. old, been married 22 yrs.!), and I've always loved growing things, but you know how it is when you're renting, you don't want to invest a lot of money in things you are going to go off and leave. In my last place I planted a couple of things that I dug up and brought with me, and satisfied my itch somewhat with some annuals. We moved here in November a couple of years ago, and I spotted a pile of pine straw in a neighbor's yard. He said I could have it, and also pointed out his "yard mowing" pile...leaves and grass clippings mixed, and said to get all I wanted! I cleaned it out! I'm telling you, that stuff brought earthworms as big as ground rattlers, and made the fluffiest soil! My yard is fairly big, a little over an acre, and while it has some NICE old trees and shrubs, it had been a little neglected the last few years. The owners were old and hadn't even lived full time in the house for a long time...they were just keeping the "old home place" for sentimental reasons and stayed in it on weekends some. The man had plenty of money to keep it up and did for a long time, but the last few years his wife got Alzheimer's and then cancer, so I had (and still have!) some clearing out and cleaning up to do. If only I could just get Pallen to come do it all in one fell swoop! Doesn't he do the loveliest things? But that would be an impossibility on my budget (barring a miracle, which I always leave room for!). :-) The lady who lived here before me must have been a lot like me...all kinds of plans but not enough time to carry them out! She had pots of all kinds of stuff lying around, mostly daylilies, but also some irises and hostas. I dumped one supposedly empty pot out by the compost pile that first fall and found a hosta growing right on top of the ground the next spring! LOL Those irises I mentioned...they are very small, with white flowers. I thought they might have been so small because they were in a pot, but I have since had them in the ground a whole growing season and they are still small. Is there such a thing as a dwarf iris? Anyway, they went perfectly in my "white" garden in my "courtyard" (understand, since I haven't been at this long, most of this stuff is still in my dreams in my head!). Ceresone, I am so glad to hear that your husband is still with you...of course, I don't know the whole story, but I'm assuming he has cancer or something. Makes me feel very grateful for my family's health! Christie, I sympathize with you on the soil thing. My mom and I have planted a few things at the cabin, and I was just amazed. I don't see how ANYTHING grows in the mountains! LOL She hauled in some topsoil to make a few little beds right next to the cabin, and I told her we were just going to have to find native or mountain plants for the bigger places. We won't be planting a lot, just close to the cabin, because the natural scenery is pretty enough. There is a little branch in the back that needs no adornment (it even has a beautiful old stone wall built on the other side of it!), and a little spot across the "road" that faces the front porch and has a little bit of "level" spot before it goes up the mountain...we are going to try to put some stuff there to look at when we're on the porch. Has to be drought tolerant, as we won't be there to baby it. We are going Chrismas shopping today, and I dread it. Today and tomorrow are "state tax-free" shopping days, and I figure it will be crazy. When the kids are grown, I am literally going to be a hermit. My dream would be to live at the cabin and hardly ever have to go to a mall again. Well, as long as I'm dreaming, let's make that never! I never did get an answer from the person who found that 'Autumn Moon' Japanese maple at the nursery in Fayetteville. I can't remember what their name was, but the thread subject was "Look what I found!" Does anyone know that person and what may be going on with them? I've been preparing a spot for one of those nearly ever since I moved here, breaking up the soil, digging deep, mounding the soil, putting in leaf mold (it never really did get to the compost stage), horse manure. I really, really want one of those. I hope I picked a good spot. Does anyone know if they are hard to move? I mean, I know it wouldn't be hard, but I'm wondering if they don't like to be moved once they're planted, like peonies. I have a peony in my "courtyard"...I know they are not supposed to grow well here, but since my courtyard stays cooler, I thought it might do. It didn't do well this summer (I'm thinking because of the soil), but it is still alive. I moved it to a "nursery" bed this fall because I am digging hardpan out of the ground, and going to put it back...it may sulk and die. Oh yeah, that is the only place I've found terrible dirt is right next to the house in my courtyard. There used to be some back porch steps there, I think, and it looks like some bricks literally decomposed in the soil or something. I spent three days on one part of the beds this fall, digging out that stuff to about a foot down and adding my "compost" to the good soil that was left. Whew! That's the only thing about all this, I'm about to be too old to do the kind of work it takes! Well, you guys must think all I do is talk, but really not, it's just that I don't have anyone "in person" to talk about gardening with! I've got to go now and get lunch for the kiddos, then make the dreaded trek to the shrines of excess and commercialism. :-) Bye for now!...See MoreTrade list / wish list/ giveaway list, for Raleigh Fall swap 2016,
Comments (311)My banana is not only doing better but much better! He seems to be extremely happy now! He's got his 7th leaf coming out! (Ignore the boxes. They are critical to maintaining his happiness, I swear!) So spring seems to have come absurdly early. I'm both really excited and enjoying this warmth and really really worried. My peach is blooming 3 weeks earlier than last year. As well as my nectarines. Ralph, remember I had a bunch of baby purple leafed peaches? Well I guess they're old enough to bloom too! Completely unexpected! The ones I potted up but didn't bring to plant swap (potted same time as plant swaps) didn't bloom so I guess they got too much shock from being transplanted, so whoever got them last time it probably won't this year, but next year seems likely! But most worrisome of all... 3 of the 6 blueberries I have are in bud, and one of them has started blooming... I know there are various types that bloom at different times of the year but this seems absurd! Of course after checking out weather for the week looks like we're going to get a frost! Obviously! I just hope I get SOME peaches... :( Anyone know what this is? Its in a few spots of the garden so I think its a pack of bulbs I got and planted and forgot about... but they're anemones right? Just that most of the pictures I looked up have black insides not yellow. In addition to all those... I see that my pink banana (musa velutina) is coming up. My black magic taro, midori taro, black and blue salvia, purple and black salvia, my crinium, all those irises I got from the swap, the canna lilies you gave me Ralph, my candy lily, and my toad lily (which ALSO seems to have spread some! there's a sprout about a foot away from the main body! WHICH IS AWESOME). I'm just worried that some of these are tender and shouldn't be arriving so quickly =___=; Like the taros and bananas... But some like this quince is perfectly fine to bloom now. No fruit expected so go enjoy yourself lil quincey! What sites do you guys use to check for frost? What's your assumed last frost date around here? Do you use the 50% value or wait longer? As for the plant swap coming this spring... (when is it again?) I may have gotten a little excited with seeds: Of the things I should have extras of to bring... some cardoons and artichokes (started in beginning of January so would be nice and ready for spring), some edible hibiscus (Roselles), cape gooseberries, naranjilla, and maybe some others... have 27 varieties of tomatoes which I need to separate the seedlings for and throw into other pots so we'll see how much space I have for spares :3 Ralph, the coleus you gave me at last swap is doing great btw! I gave him a haircut and making some more cuttings of him... should have some cuttings from various salvias as well (although I'll be honest... I let too many of them sit in tray of water too long and got root rot :( whoops... added a bunch of pebbles/stones to them now so pots sit above the drained out water so hopefully the rest survive .___. ) Also, if there was anything anyone wanted from these seeds https://imgur.com/a/trPlW I can throw in a pot and start for you guys before the next swap :) And Karen, you are right. There has been a lot going on outside, although to be fair right now its getting confused with all this warmth. I do need to get myself some more winter plants though! Like lenten roses. And yes... the greenhouse... I'm debating going halfway and getting a quick cheap(ish) throwup structure to enjoy now and then later getting a fullblown one (...maybe I'll get a different house w/ more land... hahaha.) or just going all out now... I do kinda wanna do everything which tends to be warmer/humid environments but that could get really expensive in winter so still debating on what the focus should be... did you buy a prefabricated one or completely create it yourself? Any recommendations for which sites to look at pre-fab ones?...See MoreEnd of year's best: soil prep, buy list, lessons learned, winterizing
Comments (63)I didn't think to do that, but I imagine it's about the same age as the house: 100 yrs old. Its twin is on the other side of the walkway by the new compost pile and is probably feeling surprised right now and wondering its fate. There was also a massive elm that died a long time ago, but I think they grow bigger. One limb heated the house for two years. That's the wood compost I now use. We cut that ourselves and couldn't move the pieces they were so heavy. By the driveway is another huge liquidambar (sweet gum) that was planted in the teens or twenties for Arbor Day. They were giving them out for planting and the original owners' kids planted them. Now I park my car under its shade, but worry about limbs falling. They look small far away, but are really heavy. There are quite a few of these beauties in the neighborhood from that time. The original landscapers and builders really thought about shading the house in summer and solar gain in the winter. They chose unusual species and natives as well. Such forethought is generally unheard of today, but it wouldn't be that difficult or expensive to incorporate these ideas that worked so well. I'll need to replace the awnings now that the tree won't shade the front rooms....See MoreTrade list / wish list/ giveaway list, for Raleigh fall swap 2017
Comments (416)Am so excited to have drupes on the new Edgeworthia papyrifera that I got this spring. If I can catch them at the right stage of ripe and then get them to germinate ~a year from now, it will probably only be another decade before flowering. So why am I so excited? I don't know but have decided to just enjoy the moment....See MoreVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
7 years agostrawchicago z5
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoKelly Tregaskis Collova
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7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agostrawchicago z5 thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValleystrawchicago z5
7 years agostrawchicago z5
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agostrawchicago z5
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agostrawchicago z5 thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValleyKelly Tregaskis Collova
7 years agostrawchicago z5
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agostrawchicago z5 thanked Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValleystrawchicago z5
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agostrawchicago z5
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