On schedule, students are back in class and the school house lilies are in bloom. Jill Nokes, author of the forthcoming book Yard Art & Handmade Places, notes the paradox of their simultaneous uprooting and rediscovery. Thank you, Jill!
You may remember my crazed post earlier this year about the savagely rototilled hostas. Well here are the survivors; they're doing very well, and I plan to give them permanent homes this fall, now that I can see what they all are. Yay.
reBlogged
to hosta
Posted by Jane M. Reblogged by Old Roses to hosta on 2007-09-08, 06:39:00
They've been busy over at the Village Garden Store in Mendon, completely revamping the display areas, product, and basically everything. I spent a good amount of time there chatting with Ann Marie, a former worker who's come back this year. She is full of energy and knowledge. I asked her what plants she was really into right now, and she headed straight for this Japanese holly 'Helleri', a sweet, petite spreader along the lines of a dwarf boxwood. Cute!. . .
reBlogged
to nursery
Posted by Jane M. Reblogged by Old Roses to nursery on 2007-09-08, 06:38:50
I'm talking about my hardy fuchsia. I don't know why I'm so attached to this damned thing...it's really not so exciting. This May I at the Chelsea Flower Show I met the enthusiasts behind the Hardy Fuchsia Society, and I guess their passion wore off on me. Though I don't build mine little tunnels to live in over the winter. Anyway, here's my first acquisition, purchased at Ballantyne Gardens in Liverpool, near Syracuse. . . .
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to fuschia
Posted by Jane M. Reblogged by Old Roses to fuschia on 2007-09-08, 06:38:22
Jim started school on Tuesday, and Hedgehog slept in, since she’s being home schooled. Sara and the kids returned Sunday from their few days in Vancouver, filled with gifts, stories, and lots and lots of pictures. . . .
reBlogged
to vegetables
Posted by Tim Reblogged by Old Roses to vegetables on 2007-09-08, 06:37:48
My family held a cookout in Baltimore, MD over the Labor Day weekend and as usual they asked me to create an appetizing salad fresh from the vegetable garden.
I was happy to comply with the request and considering all of the delicious garden produce at my disposal, it was an easy task to whip up a salad that was so colorful and attractive that some guests were actually hesitant to dig in and ruin this edible arrangement. . .
It's been many years since I've been enrolled in school, but I'm back in the classroom again -- as a Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County master gardener in training. . ..
The Master Gardener program's roots date back to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Morrill Land-Grant College Act, which essentially was a farm-grant program since the country was mostly agricultural in those days. . . .
Did you miss my Great Long Island Tomato Challenge? Now worries: You still might have a shot at glory. Hicks Nurseries in Westbury is holding their 10th annual tomato tomorrow (Sept. 8 ). . .
If you were to tiptoe out into my garden early in the morning you might well over hear a conversation among the other vegetables "You know ... she likes the tomatoes best." Well there ARE other things in this garden besides tomatoes. . . .
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to vegetables
Posted by Leslie Reblogged by Old Roses to vegetables on 2007-09-08, 06:34:02
This year's tomato harvest was the best ever. The problem is, they all ripened at once. The humidity of late July and early August caused a leaf browning and interfered with new blossoms. So I have very few green tomatoes out there to sustain me through September. So I have been experimenting with rejuvenating some of the old plants. I don't expect I will see anything red by first frost, but the project will teach me something about how to manage such a process earlier in the season. . . .
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to tomatoes
Posted by Leslie Reblogged by Old Roses to tomatoes on 2007-09-08, 06:33:32
Fall's cooler temperatures will bring some decisions about those tender outdoor plants in your garden. Marie Iannotti observes, "Not every outdoor plant will be happy inside and it can be...
reBlogged
to plants
on Sep 7, 2007, 3:24AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to plants on 2007-09-08, 06:33:08
We've recently added a variety of winter hardy cacti to the garden. To find them, look on the other side of the "hens and chicks wall" near the parking lot. You may be surprised to know that some cacti grow this far north, but in fact there are several varieties of Opuntia, more commonly known as Prickly Pear, native to Canada, as well as Escobaria vivipara.
If you're in Toronto, go ahead and welcome the new little cacti. That means you, Steve, the only person I know who lives even part of the year anywhere near Toronto. Actually, that's not true. Nevermind.
It was started in 1970 with a collection of cactuses and succulents amassed by Karen Sausman (who still is executive director). Now it is home to plants and animalslong-ear owls, bighorn sheep, cheetahs, camels, zebras, gazelles, giraffes, wolves and much more.
Spooky. I don't recommend visiting right now, as it's 110 degrees in the shade. But maybe by November it will have cooled down a bit.
Well, not cactus so much as agave. But it is tea, available for sale in Europe.
Kenzai Organic Green Tea and Kenzai Organic White Tea are brewed from organic tea leaf rather than extract, and sweetened with a touch of organic agave syrup from the Mexican cactus-like succulent.
The Bendigo Weekly, in Victoria Australia, winner of the 2006 Walkley Award, tells you to plant cactus. Who could argue with the award-winning journalists there?
"Its rare, this is the only garden of this type and size probably in all of Australia," John said. . . .
Also known as the Epiphyllum, or Orchid Cactus. In Jackson Mississippi, the Clarion Ledger tells all:
These jungle plants are easily damaged by high temperatures and strong sunlight, which cause discoloration, spotting and even holes in leaves. They grow best in bright light but not hot midday sun, and prefer frequent light watering, not soggy potting soil or desert-like prolonged drought, plus occasional very light feeding....
The fall speaking tour has started, and not only are we selling bulbs quicker than we thought, we are seeing a surge in the demand for Ann Swan's botanical drawings of the flowerbulbs. ASA Magazine has just released a nice piece covering the artwork. When John first called Ann, she was vacationing in France, and through the broken international connection she responded "I'm sorry, I don't draw bulls.". . .
reBlogged
to bulbs
Posted by Chris Reblogged by Old Roses to bulbs on 2007-09-08, 06:30:59
We call them green beans or string beans here. I sowed a French fillet type of green bush bean, which, according to the seed packet, is a variety popular for the Japanese luxury restaurant market. I'm on my second sowing. I picked a bunch and sautered them in olive oil and minced garlic. For the last minute I added several halved cherry tomatoes--also picked that morning. It was good! These beans are meant to picked when they are nice and thin and no more than 5 inches long.
reBlogged
to beans
on Sep 7, 2007, 1:58PM
Posted by jdolangreen Reblogged by Old Roses to beans on 2007-09-08, 06:30:25
I just saw a horrific thing. I was looking at the Weather Underground site and clicked on Tropical weather to check on tropical depression 99L to see if it would affect our weather soon and break this dry spell. I clicked on Dr. Jeff Master's Wunderblog and as I scrolled down the page he had information on the lastest Artic sea ice studies and it doesn't look good. . . .
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to environment
Posted by Ki Reblogged by Old Roses to environment on 2007-09-08, 06:30:15
These are pictures of the coccoons in my butterfly cage. A friend showed me how to make it and this is my first time using the cage. I am excited to. . .
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to beneficials
on Sep 7, 2007, 9:41AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to beneficials on 2007-09-08, 06:28:31
Don't say I never gave you any eye-candy! Here Ken assists Barbie's gardening efforts by digging a planting hole in the brutal DC summer humidity and he never breaks a sweat!. . .
Sometimes I am just amazed how often I am surprised in Chacala. About who is related to whom, for example. Or bits of people’s history that they share with me. Or pieces of Chacala history I hadn’t heard before. Or who speaks passable English. Or has been to the U.S. . . .
Following a fluttering butterfly about, through thistles and brambles trying to identify it, is not made any easier by the mimics. Butterflies don't mimic other species of butterflies out of admiration; it's a matter of survival. The two most well-known butterflies that are copied are the pipevine swallowtail and the monarch. Both of these butterflies protect themselves by having eaten toxic or distasteful plants when they were caterpillars. The mimics have realized they don't have to eat poisonous plants; they just have to look like they do...
reBlogged
to beneficials
Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to beneficials on 2007-09-08, 06:26:24
I saw some great water gardens this summer. I will leave it up to your imagination to think where these were taken. If you look closely at the Water Lily there was a Bee flying around. . . .
A friend gave me some sunflower seeds for my birthday, so I planted them by the back door. they have grown to be 10 to 12 feet tall! And as you can. . .
reBlogged
to sunflowers
on Sep 6, 2007, 10:15PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to sunflowers on 2007-09-08, 06:25:24
via Notes from a Cottage Garden on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
