Horticulturally Challenged

Practice what you Preach

2008-11-14T11:56:00.003-05:00

There is a myth that if you write about gardens you must have a perfect garden. Alas in my case that is not quite true, but I do make an effort.

So yesterday I was writing about fall garden chores. One of the most important, I said, was to rake the leaves from pathways and lawns. Leaving them lying on the grass and sidewalks makes for a wet slimy slippery mess, when it rains. Georgia is in a drought, but the weather forecasters are usually right when they say rain. That was the case yesterday - and they had forecast the damp weather all week - rain being a novelty right now. Did I rake up the leaves? nope. I now have a soggy pathway to the car, and a slippery slope to the compost area. Maybe there will be time over the weekend to do that chore!

What not to put in a garden

2008-10-21T21:15:00.008-04:00

OK - I'll admit that I have a very conservative view of art. Art or artifacts in the garden generally look gaudy and out of place, in my opinion. I prefer elegant statues or focal points of aesthetic value. Such as:

Elegant and classic

So although it is fall and Halloween is in the air, I still prefer simple decorations from chrysanthemums and grasses to straw bales and scarecrows. So imagine my horror when I saw a garden decorated with a bright yellow lady's 70's purse - and plastic. Frankly I would have been embarrassed to see a friend use the bag in the 70's but to see it in a garden in 2008 was baffling, not to mention ludicrous.

To clarify - the plastic bag was hanging open, decorated with plastic sunflowers, and was hung on the pole for the humming bird feeder. The displaced humming bird feeder was dangling from the corner of the purse. Now, this would be bad enough if it was on private property, but this was a public garden. Not only was this going to be a problem when rain fell into it, but birds sitting in it would be a health hazard.

A Potato!

2008-10-08T08:54:00.004-04:00

The little success - a real baby potato!

A few weeks ago I had some sprouting potatoes in the cupboard, and decided to plant them. I also had a black cloth planting bag from past conferences that I hadn't used, so decided to put three bits of potato into the container, and waited. Well they sprouted and have grown and now I have harvested my first potato from them!!!

Ok so it is a little one, and not quite enough to feed the family with, but it is start. Maybe I need to add some fertilizer to the pot. I don't want fishy tasting potatoes though.

Where is the Weed Bucket?

2008-10-07T21:57:00.004-04:00

Sunday was a terrific day for gardening. Yes it is still very dry - that could change tonight- and I got some great work done.
The problem was the weed bucket.

When we moved into this house two years ago, I was the proud owner of 3 large buckets (from trees that we planted in the last house), and two wheelbarrows.

The wheelbarrow was used to cart the recyclable material from the house to the curb - we have a long driveway, so using the barrow was a way to get it there. Recycle comes on the same day, but a few hours earlier than, the main garbage collection. So when the recycle people took the can-bucket out of the barrow, they threw it to the side, and the garbage people thought the barrow, now lonesome on the curb, was obviously trash!

We get curbside garden pick up too. Being someone who is obviously trusting, thought that using my precious buckets to take weeds and twigs to the curb was useful, helpful for them. They would know it was just a way of getting the things to the curb right? Nope, they took the bucket too!!

We are redoing the bathroom - that involved taking up carpet (yes carpet in the bathroom), then taking up 70's tiles. Guess where all these things were plonked? Yes -my gardening buckets!!
So now I have one wheelbarrow, and no bucket. But.... we got two kitties who use cat litter - two small litter containers were useful for weeding inside a garden bed. Last week, some bright and efficient spark decided to put the buckets into the garbage!

So Sunday, when I was weeding, I was down to making a pile on the side and loading it into the wheelbarrow.
Yes I managed - but really does everyone else have this problem with containers for weeds????

Those little plasic flower things

2008-10-04T21:24:00.004-04:00

I thought an update on the plastic flowers was in order. Apparently I had a senior moment when reading the instructions.
The discs do not show pretty little sun/cloud pictures, but the whole thing changes color and you match that with the chart. This was explained to me by dh who is a plastic guy and knows about these things. We then entered into a conversation on why they couldn't put a little heat sensitive thingy in the middle that was activated by sunlight and would be clearer. That is not as easy as it seems.

Doesn't alter the fact though that the three colors are so subtle that it is very difficult to see what is kinda sunny and kinda shady, and full sun vs part sun.

Guess I just have to go on instinct again- or maybe plain optimism!

When can I water????

2008-10-04T21:11:00.003-04:00

The kids are all home right now - two post college (one working and one 'looking') plus the the two younger ones - all guys. Teens and 20s tend to get up anywhere between 8 in the morning and midday. I get up early - as in I get up in the early morning (7-9am).

What is curious is that every time I want to water the vegetable garden, someone is in the shower or just about to go in. I think it is a conspiracy! Today it was noon when I wanted to water - I had been to do the radio show, so that was a decent time - right? Nope - someone had slobbed around all morning and decided that he wanted to shower - right then! I really don't seem to be able to win. Alas the water pressure is low when the outdoor faucets are on, so there is rather a yelp if I miss someone showering and turn the thing on.

My poor veggies had 30 mins first thing between me getting up and going out, 15 minutes at noon ish, and 30 minutes this evening before more guys wanted to shower.

I am going to get up at six tomorrow morning and water for two whole hours, and dare anyone to be in the shower then!

Patio Hibiscus

2008-10-03T10:09:00.006-04:00

I really don't care for fussy potted plants. By fussy I mean something that needs watering every day and needs to come inside when the temperatures get below 50. The patio hibiscus are two such fuzzy items.

I did not buy them - it was the husband. He was walking around Home Depot and decided he liked them, so came home with the two in the car. "They will look lovely on the deck or patio" he claimed. I groaned - they were about 4 ft tall and in gallon pots.

Step one - find two bigger pots because they would topple over in the little black one. They also need more watering in little pots.

Step two - keep watering.

It became apparent that these little guys were 'mine' when it came to watering and care, but 'his' when they put out nice blooms.

Somehow they have staggered through life and are now in year three, still in the same bigger pots, but I do forget to water them, even now. Yesterday evening I noticed that one was decidedly drooping and begging for water. So it got the shower left overs (we are in a drought so collecting the cool water as the shower heats up, is one way to water thirsty potted plants).
A sad and drooping plant.

By this morning it was perking back, so it will get to see another day.

Happy again!

Resorting to Plastic Flowers??

2008-10-02T17:27:00.005-04:00

Knowing my ability to kill living plants by neglect, our eldest saw me staring at a plastic plant - "reduced to plastic plants are you?" he enquired.

Well only in a manner of speaking. The little plastic stakes are supposed to show how much sun you get at any particular part of the garden. I picked these things up at a conference and thought I would test drive them.

In essence you attach a small plastic, red flowerhead to a plasic stick. You put a little sticker onto the flower and leave it for 8 hours. It is recommended that you do this before 9 in the morning for the best effect. At the end of 8 hours, the sign will show if the area recieved enough sun to be classed as full sun or part sun (or shade). The sign should be a little cloud, sun or whatever, and should be as easy to read as those over the counter preganance tests.

So in the dark at 7.10 this morning, I traipsed out to the veggie plot, my herb garden (struggling because it is in too much shade) and the rose garden which is in a marginal full sun although in dappled shade at the edge of trees. I expected 2 full sun and one part sun.

Right now it is almost 6 pm and two are looking just like they did this morning and one has gone yellow. None have the little symbol in the middle to show full/part sun.

I am not sure if they were not pointing directly to sun or not, but they were tough to push into the ground - we are in a drought so the clay (affectionately called soil) is somewhat solid. Even if they were not pointing to the sun, they should reflect a cloud or something!

Regardless I am leaving them there another hour or two to see if they spring into life at 7 pm.

I know you will all be holding your breath to hear what happens! This is what they look like at 5.30 pm. Do you see a cloud or sunny image??????

Sweet Peas

2008-09-30T09:41:00.004-04:00

For many years I have attempted to grow sweet peas. They are easy to grow in England, but have proven to be challenge for me in the USA. The basic problem is that they need cool, but not cold weather to grow and flower. Most of the areas that we have lived in had two minute springs where the temperature is cold and frosty one day, and then zips straight through the 60s, 70s and into the 80s in a matter of a week or two. Sweet peas need two months of steady mild temperatures. Places like Seattle are perhaps best for them, we haven't lived in Seattle though!

So being the optimist in Georgia, where fall planting is the in thing, I am trying sweet peas again. I found one packet that has little sweet peas and they grow in a pot. These might actually work for me. If they do, I will have sweet peas around Thanksgiving. I also put some taller ones in the vegetable bed with the beans, so at least they will be watered regularly.

Visitors

2008-09-26T14:10:00.008-04:00

Gardening can be fun, but more often than not, my endeavours lead to frustrations. The fall veggie garden is one of those cases.

In the south, the weather is still warm enough to grow a decent fall crop. Even Home Depot is selling cabbage plants etc. for the fall gardener.

So with all the good intentions, I decided to embark on a fall garden. I weeded the veggie patch, I sorted some likely seeds, paying attention to such things as 'days to maturity' and watered well. I marked the rows carefully. I also planted a few indoors where it was cooler and germination more likely.

The outdoor group germinated quite nicely within a few days, and some is still getting going. The green filet beans were up and running before last week. Then I left for a conference. I came back to nothing the beans had disappeared on me!

On closer inspection I noticed that some stalks had been left, just to remind me that the beans had indeed been there. The culprit is rabbits!!!!!!

I know of two rabbits or families of rabbits. One sits and watches me as I take the veggie clippings to the compost area, or take the laundry down to hang on my laundry line. He scuttles to the side and watches quietly.

The other is a rabbit on steroids that inhabits the wooded area near the vegetable garden. I see this guy in the evening, and sometimes in the morning - he is large, very large! I think he is the one snacking on my beans.

So here I am - beanless. I think a few are still germinating, without protection they will go the same way. Fencing, covering, whatever will be done this weekend to see if i really can get a fall garden going!

The Bald Cypress

2008-09-25T16:34:00.002-04:00

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) "Wave Hill" was a new addition to the garden last spring. We are still in a drought, but spring was not too bad. After planting, the little guy was watered, mulched and left to settle. Almost from the start it lost needles. Thinking that I was not watering enough, I persevered and sure enough some little bright green needles came back. Alas they were short lived and finally dropped.

It is going to stay there, just on the slim off chance that it will revive next spring - I can but hope!

An Introduction

2008-09-25T16:27:00.000-04:00

The gardening world is full of pretty pictures and perfect flowers- right? Well among all those wonderful alive and growing things, some do not make it. This blog is a tribute to all those green things that have not continued to thrive in my care. Some died because of neglect. Some I forgot to water and some I overwatered. Whatever the reason, the end result is a brown stick or do shrivelled leaf.
My hope is that this blog will be of comfort to all those other horticulturally challenged humans who persevere in caring for stubborn, and sometimes ungrateful plants, shrubs and trees.