I've confessed to having second thoughts about the whole lawn removal project, but maybe it's just
impatience with the work in progress, construction site look of the garden at the moment. Compared with my neighbors' lovely green lawn, ya know. But I'm over it (for now) and moving on. . . .
reBlogged
to design
Posted by Susan Reblogged by Old Roses to design on 2008-01-15, 18:23:44
This is the latest that my Narcissis romieuxii have bloomed, but with all of the snow days and over-cast days, the three week lag is not a surprise. (plus, the big freeze I had!) Still, the fragrance yesterday from these tiny Narcissus from the Atlas mountains of Morrocco was intense and sweet. Not unlike Paperwhites, these are some of the winter blooming narcissi, and are easy enough given that one has a cool and bright place to grow them. This is my fifth year growing them, and the seeds from my first winter sowing them in 2004 are already budding up! (See below). These will be repotted next year into a larger hand made pot one I get going on the wheel again. . . .
reBlogged
to bulbs
Posted by Matt Reblogged by Old Roses to bulbs on 2008-01-15, 18:22:38
Last fall Bambi and family dined on this Aeonium, removing all the nice, fat rosettes but leaving one tiny one. So it came into the house
for R & R and just look at it now! TWO rosettes on each stalk. Of all the succulents I have out there, this is the only one they seemed to taste. (unless I'm forgetting something...like what WAS in that green pot anyway..?)
reBlogged
to pests
Posted by weeder1 Reblogged by Old Roses to pests on 2008-01-15, 18:21:25
I've said before that people in Milan are, in general, not very aware of the quality - or lack of it - of the plants they buy. You see people happily loading their supermarket trolleys with plants that are half dead from lack of water, or which have more yellow leaves underneath than green ones on top. In garden centres, where the quality is better, they'll go for the plants with the most flowers already in full bloom or right at the front of the display. Ideal clients, obviously, for anyone looking to rip off their customers. . ..
reBlogged
to flowers
Posted by Sue Swift Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-01-15, 18:21:15
This is week 2 of the 100-ft. diet challenge and meal #2 was Pumpkin-Kale Soup with Mushrooms. I usually hesitate to make soup because, whether I follow a recipe or totally wing it, I never seem to get it right. But for the next few weeks, I'm going to be depending heavily on my reserve of homegrown pumpkins, and pumpkin soup seemed like an obvious thing to try. I looked through a lot of pumpkin soup recipes, but in the end I decided to adlib it. It came out with a rich, thick (but not too thick) broth that was really delicious. Here's the recipe:
There's a really moving article in the S.F. Chronicle today about a Redwood City gardener named Catalino Tapia, who started a scholarship fund to help struggling college students. The Board of Directors is composed of other gardeners and they've solicited donations from among their clients. Since some national news outlets picked up on the story, more than $137,000 in donations have poured in, all of which will go directly to scholarships (the foundation is seeking grant money to cover administrative costs). . . .
It is sort of an in-between time, with all the forced bulbs yet to come (you can see their progress in the last post) and most of the holiday blooms over. Yet, there is still some color, with pink and red cyclamens, violet and light pink African violets, and 2 schlumbergera (Christmas cactus) just showing deep fuchsia buds now. . . .
reBlogged
to flowers
Posted by EAL Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-01-15, 18:19:18
Whilst having lunch yesterday, we were visited by this young fox. It came right up on to the deck and began nosing around amongst the pots and boxes of plants. It didn't seem the least bit frightened when we went out to take photos.
It looked a bit lean, but was bright-eyed, so I don't think it was ill at all. The parkland nextdoor was being mowed at the time. Perhaps it has a lair out there and was frightened out of it.
reBlogged
to pests
Posted by Alice Reblogged by Old Roses to pests on 2008-01-15, 18:18:31
Nurseries: Include your postal mailing address on every page of your Web site. At the worst, provide the link to a "Contact Us" page that has this information on every page of your Web site.
I value local sources of plants for several...
My parents, in Alabama, have three huge oak trees in their front yard and they always have visiting Blue Jays feasting on the acorns from the trees.
While we were home for Christmas, I mentioned to my mom and dad that I wanted to gather some of their acorns to take home with me to see if I could attract more Blue Jays here. Some time passed and we began to wonder where my dad had disappeared to, I went to look for him and finally found him outside on his bad knees gathering acorns for me. He is that way, always wanting to do something for someone. He never has been very expressive with his love, but he loves to do things for us. . . .
I've just read some very, very sad news. My good friend and blogging-buddy, Andee, from Chacala, Mexico, has passed away from what is believed to be a stroke. Her son was kind enough to write to let me know.
I'm sure that many readers know Andee from her blogs. She had a refreshing viewpoint and never hesitated to speak her mind. . . .
reBlogged
to gardeners
on Jan 14, 2008, 7:37PM
Posted by La Gringa Reblogged by Old Roses to gardeners on 2008-01-15, 18:14:38
"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain."
~ Henry David Thoreau
There was a book I remember hearing about last year that fascinated me. Discovering Nature's Alphabet is a collection of photographic images by husband and wife team, Krystina Castella and Brian Boyl. In each photograph, natural elements form a letter of the alphabet. . . .
reBlogged
to photos whimsy
Posted by Kylee Reblogged by Old Roses to photos, whimsy on 2008-01-15, 18:11:31
hi all! do maximillian sunflowers get planted like any other sunflower, or do i want to start them off differently (like starting indoors, or cold conditioning, or anything else)?
My boyfriend has 3 1/2 gorgeous acres of land- and we want to start an organic garden, as well as plant a good bunch of nut and fruit trees. Everywhere I read, there appears to be a whole long process to even sprout or begin a tree from a nut (seed), and then at some point, all the instructions talk about grafting. Is this really necessary? It's not that hard in nature! Any recommendations? We want to start with pecan, almond and walnut tree. Also, does anyone know exactly how tropical you have to be to grow dates? We're in Austin TX (zone 8)
WOuld appreciate any help and advice, especially from personal experience!
reBlogged
to trees seeds
on Jan 14, 2008, 5:02PM
Posted by Milena
Reblogged by Old Roses to seeds, trees on 2008-01-15, 18:10:06
we recently built a greenhouse and have lots of plastic sheeting around
we were going to do a layer of plastic sheeting, then an insulating bubble wrap, with an outer layer of sheeting
but....
the sheeting we have says 'not recommended for greenhouse use'
is this because of the detieration factor, or the uv?
i would love to use what we have, because money is not what we have-- but a green house is worth it... anyone have this experience?
thanks!
reBlogged
to tools
on Jan 14, 2008, 10:55AM
Posted by amanda
Reblogged by Old Roses to tools on 2008-01-15, 18:09:46
The words Pinellia and prolific seem to go together; the two pinellias I've recently shown (tripartita and petatisecta) are quite frisky to near invasive respectively, and P. ternata is recommended only if you have a gravel driveway you want converted to foliage. However, then there is the other side of the coin; Pinellia cordata, which is sometimes called "miniature dragon". It is demure to the point of delicacy, being considered borderline hardy in zone 5, and borderline difficult everywhere. . . .
reBlogged
to wildflowers
Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to wildflowers on 2008-01-15, 18:09:26
Since I've been home I have been watering and adding manure, and lots of blooms have popped up. Which led someone to indelicately exclaim "are you saying all the plants need is water and s---?" Well, yes, with our tropical climate, that's about it! Plumeria pudica these cloud formations look great with the bougainvillea
reBlogged
to flowers
Posted by Nicole Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-01-15, 18:08:48
Entries for our 2nd Annual Washington Gardener Photo Contest are now starting to roll in. There is still plenty of time to prepare and get your entries in to us by January 19. See the full contest details and entry form posted here. . . .
I'm fascinated by winter blooms. Over the past years, I've learned that gardening in the south is really a year-long event and everything doesn't necessarily close up shop in winter. Why did it take so long for me to notice this. . .
reBlogged
to flowers
Posted by Phillip Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-01-15, 18:07:58
(To paraphrase UB40 ...) Some months ago I was working on the plot when I heard a rustling coming from the compost heap. I am not one of those people who jumps on a chair at the merest hint of a mouse, but my skin crawled at the sight of a rat crawling through my kitchen and garden waste. I left the rat to it, hoping that it would fall prey to the regular baiting programme in place on my allotment site to deal with the pest problem. But this week I was reminded of the issue of rats on...
reBlogged
to compost pests
on Jan 14, 2008, 3:05PM
Instead of spraying chemicals on your plants next spring, how about being a little proactive and rocking the boat for those pests now, before they get out of control. . .
No, despite the umlaut this isn't a new and intriguing piece of furniture from IKEA. "Pflanzensprüher" is a german word meaning "pressure plantsprayer" and I've always thought that if you need some humour in your work you should add a german word or two (this is probably a swedish thing). I bought two plantsprayers at a cheapstore today. The lables were made for EU and printed with no less than twentyfour languages - for exemple "pressure plantsprayer" is called "pulverizador de pressão para plantas" portuguese (does anyone dare to aim with a thing like that at a flower?!). Languages aside I bought the plantsprayers to be able to spray my plants to prevent infestation from bugs and pests. The Uppsalawater is pretty rich in calcium and with a trusty sprayer I can be sure to use demineralised water instead. . . .
reBlogged
to tools
Posted by Rosengeranium Reblogged by Old Roses to tools on 2008-01-15, 18:06:35
I visited this garden last summer. It's one garden zone warmer than my own 5a, and a world apart.
Think beautiful jungle. The plants were huge. Or 'uge' as Donald Trump so annoyingly says. I had a hard time photographing it because there were very few wide open spaces. And everything was in such massive scale, that shooting close seemed too close and, well, there wasn't anywhere to stand back and get an overview, due to lots of fantastic trees. . . .
It seems we've been spared the huge snowfall that was predicted for our area overnight. Sure the snow fell, but with 42-degree temperatures, it didn't have much of a chance of accumulating on the ground. . . .
Silver maples are very popular landscape trees with the public in eastern North America. Why? Well, the fast-growing nature of silver maples is their main selling point. But as is...
reBlogged
to trees
on Jan 14, 2008, 1:56AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to trees on 2008-01-15, 18:01:23
For some reason this morning, I was remembering one particular pond I built years ago. I was called to look at the job and begged by the owner to get a pond installed by Saturday when his daughter was getting married. He wanted a huge pond, patio and much other landscaping. Could I do it. It was Monday when I went to meet him. Yes, I could do it if I could get another job rescheduled and hire enough temporaries to do the work. I would get lights in and work after dark if necessary. . . .
reBlogged
to ponds
Posted by Jan Goldfield Reblogged by Old Roses to ponds on 2008-01-15, 18:00:07
Our fruit trees are ready for you to come in. We have our complete selection of peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and pluots. Bare root season is the time to come in for our complete selection. We do have most varieties...
reBlogged
to trees
on Jan 13, 2008, 2:07PM
Posted by Jungle Jim Reblogged by Old Roses to trees on 2008-01-15, 06:10:11
Sometime I feel like that, when I'm looking for litterature or browsing blogs. But at last I've taken a look at Patti the Garden Girl, and here's the first film about her making her sun porch an indoor garden. Take a look at her website (www.gardengirltv.com) and (especially) her movies.
via Hillside garden on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
