Well, we had the first snowfall of the season here. Right at about the same time as everyone else, I guess. I wouldn't know. See, the snow happened while I was off on a cruise. Ha-ha! What timing! Granted, there was that low pressure weather maker in San Diego that gave us a few worries on landing. Which lead to a surprise landing in LA, before finally touching down in San Diego. But it was sunny and warm in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Beautiful too. Spent a lot of time in the pool on the ship, because it was open and I didn't feel like a shore exursion. I did set foot in Mexico to buy Chrismas presents/souveiners, though. . . .
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Posted by millionbells Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2007-12-10, 00:25:38
I've learned to peak out through the livingroom curtain before opening it each morning because there's always some animal adventure going on out there. Today, I found one bird napping on the feeder and a dove sleeping below. They both opened their eyes when I moved the camera, but they didn't fly away. The photos are quite grainy (it's a gray on gray day out there) but they looked quite sweet, lost in their thoughts:
I have been re landscaping the yard beginning May 07. It has been a true challenge with the drought and water restrictions. The lot is 110x175, a 6' privacy wood fence installed and stained. I have done a slope area from fence to street. It is arranged very lovely including several Knockout Roses which are still blooming some now December 8th. . . .
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Posted by Jessica Damiano Reblogged by Old Roses to roses on 2007-12-10, 00:24:59
Wednesday brought us the season's first snowfall here -- nearly four inches. Wrapped in a white crystalline blanket, the chard in the garden still looked delicious to me. It would look even better in a steaming bowl of hot soup, though, wouldn't it?
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Posted by Christa Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2007-12-10, 00:24:39
Planting live (not cut) Christmas trees in the yard and decorating them is a great way to enjoy landscaping and holiday celebrations simultaneously. But many people are unaware of the...
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on Dec 9, 2007, 2:45AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to trees on 2007-12-10, 00:22:48
I was reading Kim's blog post earlier this evening and I get the feeling she's rather surprised at the number of houseplants she's ended up with by the time she brought some in from outside for the winter. Forty-nine, I think she said?
Kim, you're such a lightweight. And I'm about to make you feel better about having forty-nine houseplants. Or are you up to fifty now?. . .
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Posted by Kylee Reblogged by Old Roses to houseplants on 2007-12-10, 00:20:10
i live in the n. east. i have been trying to start some butterfly weed for two years now. last year it was spindly, maybe 9 inches tall--swallow tail caterpillars ate it in oct. i figured it would be fine and come back, i was wrong. so this year i replanted and it did fine, then around late oct. it dropped its leaves. i am wondering if this happens and it will come back, or if it is lost too. no caterpillars this time, but i was not expecting to see it lose it's leaves. i have heard that they can be hard to start, any info would be great!
oh, i replanted in two places-both plots lost leaves.
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on Dec 9, 2007, 7:48AM
Wat Sisaket was first built in 1551 AD by King Phothisararat. It was rebuilt by King Anouvong Chao Anuvong, the last king of the Lan Xang Kingdom, in 1818. It is the oldest surviving original wat ( or temple) in Vientiane.
There is a cloister that surrounds the central sim, that contains small niches that house tiny silver and ceramic Buddha images. These were made between the 16th and 19th Centuries. Sitting on long shelves below the niches are over 300 mostly Lao-style Buddhas. . . .
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Posted by Nicole Reblogged by Old Roses to Gardens on 2007-12-10, 00:18:32
Our friend in Singapore, Gina Choong comes through with a floral cookie recipe in time for the holidays. (Pardon our rough conversions.) Thank you, Gina!
Yesterday I noticed this fruit the grocery store. Naturally, I had to give it a try. It is called Dragon fruit and a look at it on Wikipedia told me that it is actually an epiphytic vine-like cactus and is also called Pitaya and Strawberry pear, amongst others. The word epiphytic looked familiar and I realized that I did a post on Epiphytes quite sometime ago. Click on the link to learn more about them. . . .
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Posted by Miss Canthus Reblogged by Old Roses to fruit on 2007-12-10, 00:16:30
Around this time of year I'm intensely interested in the motions of the stars and planets - most particularly the Big Star without which none of us would be gardening. It's only a couple of weeks until the winter solstice and longer days, but nature is kind (sometimes) and provides us with longer afternoons even before the solstice. I thought I knew when the earliest sunset of the year occurs, and that it occurs about December 8, but that turns out to be true only if you are located at about 40 degrees N latitude. For those further north, who I'm sure would be even happier to have longer afternoons, you'll have to wait a few more days. For those further south, you're enjoying later sunsets already. . ..
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Posted by Entangled Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2007-12-10, 00:16:11
Its getting pretty cold for northern vegetable gardens. But, even under several inches of snow, there are veggies growing. Skippy and I took a walk over to the Belmont CSA garden, a mile from our house and grown by Gretta Anderson. I wish I had such beautiful vegetables. She has very nice heads of broccoli - probably her second harvest of this row. I planted mine too late this year and will remember that next year. This broccoli hardly seems to notice the snow. . . .
Elizabeth Lawrence in her book The Little Bulbs, (without a doubt, in my mind, the finest book of American garden writing) introduced me to Carl Krippendorf, who gardened in a large woodland (which he called Lob's Woods) in Ohio. He built a house there as a young man, where he and his wife Mary lived for 64 years, during which time he steadily every year planted huge numbers of flower bulbs of all manner, which became naturalized. After his death his woods was sold to Stanley Rowe and a group of other naturalists and became part of Rowe Woods, which then formed the base for what would be the Cincinnati Nature Center, now over 1000 acres, with Krippendorf Lodge, Carl's original house, still preserved in his woodland full of flower bulbs that still bloom every spring. . . .
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Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to bulbs, gardeners on 2007-12-10, 00:15:19
Over the past year, I've started a little family practice of us all writing down our goals for the school term. My husband, son and I have all had fitness related goals this last term of 2007. My 5 year old daughter has 3 goals. One is to do well in the ice cream, Paddle Pop "Lick a Prize" competition. One is to eat more "strong food", particularly foods that are green and are grown in mum's garden, and the final one is to "pick flowers for mummy". So, this week I'll share with you a photo I took as I was settling down for bed and turning off any stray lights that were still on in the house.
Heading into the holiday season has me thinking about generosity. The holidays of the winter season invite us to take a moment to be deeply grateful for all the unique and inspiring opportunities, strokes of luck and amazing people we have had the fortune to encounter. Being in the spirit, I would like to take this moment to convey how moved I am by the work of our volunteers. Urban Sprouts has had the most generous volunteers helping us build our gardens, work with youth in classes and assist us with our ongoing research projects. . . .
My hibiscus shrub has the most beautiful coral colored flowers. This is a macro of one of the blooms. Note the extremely long pollen covered stamen. . . .
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to hibiscus
on Dec 8, 2007, 2:08AM
Posted by Tricia Reblogged by Old Roses to hibiscus on 2007-12-10, 00:13:45
Usually, with roses especially, I'm a dead-heading fool-- clipping each blossom that's past its prime, so the blooms keep coming. This year, I'm making an effort not to (now that its December)-- with the idea that the roses need to rest up some for next year. Also, some rosebushes will form lovely hips (the seedpods). Mostly mine just have the soggy, moldy-looking old roses just sitting on 'em still. And some just keep blooming, like Hot Cocoa here.
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Posted by LisaBee Reblogged by Old Roses to roses on 2007-12-10, 00:11:50
When Spouse took Brix out for his walk this morning, it was -6F. Here you can see Brix wearing both his jacket and boots for the first time. He was not amused.
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on Dec 8, 2007, 11:50AM
Posted by Talbin Reblogged by Old Roses to dogs, weather on 2007-12-10, 00:11:41
Spider mites are one pest many homeowners have on their houseplants but are not aware of them because of the mites size.
You may need a magnifying glass to see them. (...)
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on Dec 8, 2007, 11:02AM
I believe in giving the devil his due and, in this case, the "devil" is Bradford pear trees. The experts warn that it's a mistake to plant Bradford pear trees,...
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on Dec 8, 2007, 12:13AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to trees on 2007-12-10, 00:10:00
via The Balcony Garden on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
