I didn't intend to take such a long break from writing about my garden. I can't quite put my finger on what has kept me away - life I guess. There was the hospitalisation of my husband, the weeks of recuperating, the 10th birthday of my son, the school productions for Kindergarden (Peter Rabbit show) and Grade 3-6 show (Rocky Monster show), the visit to Berry to catch up with family, the visits of family from Melbourne, the school fete....anyway, just life. . .
reBlogged
to watering weather
on Nov 8, 2007, 4:18AM
Last week as I was sitting in northern Virginia typing a smug post about escaping the frost, I was blissfully unaware that in central Virginia the pepper plants were frozen under their Agribon-19 cover. Oh well. . . .
reBlogged
to weather
Posted by Entangled Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2007-11-09, 00:32:13
For people who want to donate an animal to struggling communities to make them self sufficient.
You can send a cow (or a goat, sheep, or fruit trees etc). For example the cow produces milk for the farmers, the manure becomes fertiliser to grow vegetables. If the Cow has calves these can be sold, or used as meat. The cow is symbolic of the community becoming self sufficent. Where life is hard these small acts can reap big benefits. Another initiative they have been doing is about gardening training. . .
reBlogged
to environment
Posted by snappy Reblogged by Old Roses to environment on 2007-11-09, 00:31:26
I wrote this up back in early October but some how it never got posted. Thought I would share it.
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It’s Sunday evening and I’m sitting at my computer at about 11:30 pm contemplating retiring for the evening when I hear, “KERRY THERE IS A POSSUM ON THE BACK PORCH!!!!”
The problem with that statement (other [...]
reBlogged
to pests
on Nov 7, 2007, 4:26PM
Posted by kerry Reblogged by Old Roses to pests on 2007-11-09, 00:30:40
At this latitude, winter is pretty dark. Today, the sun officially rises at 10:51 and sets at 3:30. So we have a whopping 4 hours & 40 minutes of daylight! Of course, it's overcast today, so there's not any actual sunlight. It diminishes rapidly; tomorrow's sunrise is10:58 and sunset is at 3:30. I believe the sun will set until next year on Novemeber 18th. . . .
reBlogged
to weather
Posted by AnneBrygger Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2007-11-09, 00:30:32
I went by the community garden plots last weekend. Though I will not get assigned one 'til April of next year, I was wandering through, thinking of which one I would like. I spoke with two gardener who said they loved gardening there. They mentioned a couple of plots at the north side, near the meadow, that seemed unused. These are just where I would like to be. One is covered with raspberries, which are prolific in the gardens and everyone picks. I don't want to remove nice berries. But the one in the top photo looks perfect to me. I'm hoping.... Lots of other nice ones too.
I was recently asked to give a talk at the GLTE - Great Lakes Trade Exposition and I was asked to speak on my my 10 favor shrubs. I don't know about you but this is nearly an impossible task. Every day I have a new list of favorites - depending upon what's going on in the garden. . . .
reBlogged
to plants
Posted by Tim Wood Reblogged by Old Roses to plants on 2007-11-09, 00:29:52
To reduce our waste (including recycling) for our 90% Reduction endeavor, I have cancelled our morning paper. : ( My theory was that we could get our news online. The same day I cancelled our morning paper, our laptop went down in flames. Not literally, but it’s totally fried. We lost everything on it, and it’s in the shop for repairs. Five days out of warranty, but phew - they fixed it anyway (like we were going to have it any other way!). . . .
reBlogged
to catalogs
on Nov 7, 2007, 12:40AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to catalogs on 2007-11-09, 00:29:29
"Autumn is the eternal corrective.It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"
Not only that, but I am still in the process of sending some giveaway bulbs to others, thus ensuring that all their bulbs aren’t in yet either. Not only that, but it’s been snowing a bit and it’s about 35 out right now. Not only that, but the roofers should be here any day now and that might present me with difficulties when I do get my act together and plant the rest of the bulbs. . . .
reBlogged
to bulbs
Posted by EAL Reblogged by Old Roses to bulbs on 2007-11-09, 00:27:51
This is one of the first winter vegetable harvests of the season - good old Brussels sprouts. I've already had some leeks off the allotment and snuck a parsnip earlier in the month but they go with colder weather than we are having at the moment. I think this is Seven Hills but I'll need to check. Some of the buttons are a bit small, others slightly blown but I'm looking forward to them. . . .
I'm home sick today, and it's cold out, an opportunity to do some blog maintenance, dust off a draft or two, catch up on some of the huge backlog of blog reading.
LinksI've been working on...
This is listed in the sidebar Calendar, but I wanted to highlight this community meeting happening next Monday.
Sustainable Flatbush is about to enter an exciting new phase of our activities in the...
Illustration of Front Yard Planting from DCP's proposed Yards Text Amendment online presentation
At tonight's CB14 Public Hearing, this is sure to be one of the items on the agenda. On September 17,...
Honduran avocado on left; Mexican Hass type avocado on right
My friend Eduardo brought me a half dozen of these gigantisimo Honduran avocados from his tree. This photo shows one of them compared to a normal sized Hass avocado. Oddly, though avocados are very popular in Honduras, you'll rarely see guacamole served. . . .
reBlogged
to fruit recipes
on Nov 7, 2007, 11:42AM
Posted by La Gringa Reblogged by Old Roses to fruit, recipes on 2007-11-09, 00:25:50
If Acer Green Waterfall, shown yesterday, is like a bed of glowing coals, Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' is the whole bonfire: all summer it sits peacefully, cloaked in attractive dark green leaves, then suddenly one day in November it just lights up in Halloween colors of bright orange and yellow. Being a japonicum, it is hardier than the far more common palmatum species of Japanese maple; I've never had so much as a twig die back in winter so far, and it seems fairly tolerant of dry weather, too. However, it apparently doesn't tolerate direct afternoon sun (my tree is in a pretty shady spot). It will reach 10' X 10' eventually, which I am greatly looking forward to: it should be absolutely spectacular in the fall; however it is slow-growing, so my little five foot tall tree has a long ways to go. Aconitifolium refers to the fact that the broad leaves of this maple look like those of aconite (monkshood). I would think it would be an excellent choice for areas of the upper midwest that might be chancy for the more tender palmatum Japanese maples.
reBlogged
to trees
Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to trees on 2007-11-09, 00:23:54
That old farmhouse near the middle of the picture is where my friends M and J live. When, and if, the proposed new reservoir is built the water level will be 19 feet over the top of their roof. You can see a bit of the creek to be dammed over to the left of the road.
They had a glimpse of what it might be like during the summer. The creek overflowed and came up to within a few feet of their front porch steps. They climbed up over the hill behind the house to safety. That is the same path I took to get to the spot where I took the photo.
reBlogged
to landscape
on Nov 7, 2007, 7:02PM
Posted by Bill Reblogged by Old Roses to landscape on 2007-11-09, 00:23:29
Last Friday, I chaperoned my son's third-grade class field trip (literally) to a nearby restored prairie. The kids had been studying the prairie and its plants, and this field trip allowed them to see the plants growing in their natural habitat. It was wonderful to see how many plants they were able to identify. Hope for the future.
I've been looking for the scientific name of this begonia for a long long time...
B. heracleifolia (Sunderbruchii) Origin - Species 1830 Mexico by Deppe-Schiede Description -Rhizomatous - Large bright green star shaped leaves with a hint of burgundy. A must in the South Florida landscape. Flowers - Profuse light pink flowers on tall spikes that bloom late winter to spring.
And the building next door decided yesterday was a good day to have their multi-story office building pressure washed. What sort of thought pattern necessitates this behavior?
reBlogged
to weather
Posted by sk8ordiehard Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2007-11-09, 00:22:06
I have this unreasonable - not dread exactly - worry maybe about the approach of winter. I have to keep reminding myself that there are stillcolors in the winter. I will find them… I know I will! But I keep thinking “the monochrome is coming the monochrome is coming!” and I run around madly trying to glue all of the fall color - every leaf - to my mind’s eye for safe keeping. Good thing I have a camera.
reBlogged
to autumn
on Nov 7, 2007, 3:26PM
Posted by Kris Reblogged by Old Roses to autumn on 2007-11-09, 00:21:51
Last week, I posted a blog about Thanksgiving decorations for outdoors. The post linked to an article about Thanksgiving wreaths. Reader, Gloria replied with such a thoughtful comment that I...
reBlogged
to whimsy
on Nov 7, 2007, 1:38AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to whimsy on 2007-11-09, 00:21:25
Now you KNOW I love New England asters. I feature them prominently in photos showing off my garden. I tout them as native plants that require no fussing at all, even in periods of drought. But this year's superdrought taught me to ask one more questions about a plant's (supposed) tolerance for drought. To wit: Will it not only survive but actually look good?. . .
reBlogged
to asters
on Nov 7, 2007, 10:10AM
Posted by Susan Reblogged by Old Roses to asters on 2007-11-09, 00:21:00
A dusting of snow has appeared on the Pyrenean mountain tops a sure sign that the weather is turning cooler despite the bright blue sky. Daytime temperatures in the garden are still pleasant in the low twenties centigrade (mid 60’s F.) Though night-time sees the thermometer record temperatures around 5C. . . .
reBlogged
to weather
Posted by Colin & Carol Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2007-11-09, 00:19:22
Have you visited bloomingwriter? A truly interesting writer who engages your brain. She asked some questions about garden magazines,
So friends, tell me: what are your thoughts on your favourite gardening mags? Are they as good as they always were? Do you find yourself wanting more from their articles? Have you noticed a dumbing down, a tendency towards sound-bite or news-clip type short pieces rather than something you can really enjoy? Or am I being picky?. . .
reBlogged
to magazines
Posted by Ilona Reblogged by Old Roses to magazines on 2007-11-09, 00:18:58
via MucknMire on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
