So, after a beautiful end of the work week, we had a weekend steeped in rain, with harsh weather on Monday. The cold front that worked its way though is leaving us with lows in the 30s and there's talk of spotty frost in suburbs further out than I am. The tomato seedling does not like the drafts at the window. :/
Crabapples and magnolias and wisteria are blooming in the neighborhood. Tulips are soggily coming to an end, except for the ones I tucked in the hosta bed late. Silly me, I thought they wouldn't put up flowers this year. I mean it was February when I saw the stalks and figured they needed to be in the dirt. I'll have to wack those hosta leaves back so I can see the blooms.
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to weather
Posted by millionbells Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2008-04-30, 06:25:17
I've been a fan of the publications from Taunton Press ever since they published my Fabric and Fiber Sourcebook years ago. I really miss their old Kitchen Garden magazine, but their Fine Gardening Magazine is pretty good, too. It focuses more on landscaping than KG did, but the articles are all accessible to "common folks" and useful to home gardeners. I get an e-mail newsletter from them, and this issue included a video about making an easy-to-water strawberry jar. . . .
Maintain your landscape Low-maintenance is one of the benefits of xeriscape. It should help free you from many common garden chores. One of these is weeding. Keeping the weeds from growing up through the mulch may require some attention. When you begin your garden, be sure to pay some extra attention to it as the garden is becoming established. . . .
It's been a busy start to the week. I made some banana bread that turned out extra nice Sunday night. I wanted to take it with us on our field trip to Meijer Gardens, a fabulous botanical gardens in our area. I had Emily and one of her classmates, Amanda, in my group. We had the best time. We visited the Children's Garden, The Farm Garden, the nature boardwalk, the sculpture garden and lastly the conservatory where the butterfly exhibit was still going on. The girls loved it all, and thought the day went to quickly. The picture above is the tiny door next to the main entrance of the children's garden. . . .
One of my readers - I'm sorry I can't remember who - made a comment several months ago that they'd gotten some notecards at Hallmark with the Proust quote that I have under my blog title. Today, while looking for shoes to go with my dress for Jenna's upcoming wedding, I popped into the Hallmark store to see if I could find the cards. Woot!
I found the perfect shoes, too. On a Monday. I should have bought a lottery ticket.
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to gardeners whimsy
Posted by Kylee Reblogged by Old Roses to gardeners, whimsy on 2008-04-30, 06:22:11
For those of you in colder zones like mine, you’ve probably just recently planted your seeds.I just planted my first couple flats a few weekends ago, and I want to give a few tips on how to make your seed starting successful.First of all, I just want to tell you that I’m not one of those people who create their own specialized soil mixtures.I don’t have that much time or experience- yet.These tips are fast and easy to follow. . . .
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to seeds
on Apr 29, 2008, 10:21AM
Posted by Jocelyn Reblogged by Old Roses to seeds on 2008-04-30, 06:22:00
We finally got some of the rain to clean the air and brighten the world. These are the overgrown fig bushes that cover the window to one of the second story bathrooms. Although I love the view, I would also like to get the figs off them, so they may get trimmed back soon enough. . . .
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Posted by sk8ordiehard Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2008-04-30, 06:21:31
Hoya carnosa certainly manages to get through the smallest spaces. Somehow it squeezed through the front beam of our verandah and clinging to the ceiling sent out a bloom. Another Hoya carnosa with a string of blooms on our back fence trellis. Third shot down is Hoya nummularoides probably our last bloom before Winter sets in. Next is Hoya obscura which has been flowering fairly constantly through the Summer. Finally one of our latest purchases from David and Iris Liddle Hoya sp Kalimantan IML 1168 regarded as the very best of the two toned leaf species. This really is a beautiful plant as you can see.
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to hoya
Posted by roybe Reblogged by Old Roses to hoya on 2008-04-30, 06:20:52
Left to right: Gowanus Nursery, Liberty Sunset Garden Center, Chelsea Garden Center, and Brooklyn Terminal Market
Just a timely pointer to my post from last year, Sources of Plants for Brooklyn Gardeners, May 24, 2007. Since Blogspot doesn't give...
Crabapple, taken last fall at the Narrows Botanical Gardens
This Saturday, May 3 (rain date Sunday, May 4), the Narrows Botanical Garden in Bay Ridge is holding their annual Spring Festival:
Join us for our 13th Annual Spring Festival on Saturday,...
A teaser from the spring flower show yesterday, a Tulip in the Daffodil and Tulip Competition. I spent today shopping for more compost, bought some new pots for my Chilli plants and the Mallus Braeburn. I bought a Tomato plant for 75 pence, as mine are slow in germinating. Cat wanders how I can be so patient pulling weeds from the allotment, yet be impatient for things to start showing signs of growth?I wanted to watch a Tomato plant grow as my seedlings develop. . . .
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to plants
Posted by snappy Reblogged by Old Roses to plants on 2008-04-30, 06:19:01
..Is turning a humble common wildflower into a alcoholic liquird. The Dandelions are out in flower now all along the roadsides, and in wasteground. I am working early but will over the next few days collect some flower heads for wine making. I have made it in 2006 and 2007. . . .
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to weeds recipes
Posted by snappy Reblogged by Old Roses to recipes, weeds on 2008-04-30, 06:18:38
Gail has been focused - I’d say “fixated” if that didn’t have a wrong sounding tone - on getting the seedlings transplanted by May 1. So yesterday I worked on basils and Nicotianas and thought about whether or not I have “the touch” (a.k.a. a green thumb). I used to work with a 70 year old Dutch gardener named Gerard who taught by nearly silent grumble and who definitely had the touch. I remember planting out bedding annuals with him and watching him knock salvias out of packs, open the roots with rips and tears and shove them one after another into the ground. The fascinating thing for me watching him was the delicate balance - his handling of the plants both wasn’t nearly as rough as it looked nor were the plants as fragile as I thought. . .
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to transplanting
on Apr 29, 2008, 4:11PM
Posted by Kris Reblogged by Old Roses to transplanting on 2008-04-30, 06:18:14
The Aerogardens are chugging along. The pictures above are from late January. All the herbs (above) did quite well, although the basils seemed particularly happy. They are still going strong, although the purple basil is getting somewhat odd looking leaves. The dill also did well, but a few weeks ago it just died, although it had not gone to seed. The mint has more or less overwhelmed the parsely at this point. . . .
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to tools
Posted by AnneBrygger Reblogged by Old Roses to tools on 2008-04-30, 06:17:51
I have leaf spots on my Christmas Palms. I noticed them last year when I planted the palms, but I thought it was normal. Over the past year, they've gotten worse though, and now I need to do something about it. Here's the photo. I've scoured the internet for the name of this disease, but can't find it. I've tried an organic fungicide/pesticide, but it didn't work. So, now unfortunately I'm resorting to sevin, the bad stuff. Argh.
Pots and cans are the perfect space-saving containers in which to grow this favorite fruit. The potting process is quite simple and takes only minutes. If you feed and water the plants regularly, you'll have juicy strawberries for the picking all summer long.
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to berries containers
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to berries, containers on 2008-04-30, 06:17:07
Hey, Mr. Green is a cumulative assortment of green every day questions and answers posed to Bob Schildgen (aka “Mr Green”) for his column in the Sierra Magazine.The column was started in 2005 to provide useful answers to question posed by their confused or curious readers who wished to protect the environment in their daily lives. . . .
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to books
on Apr 29, 2008, 6:50PM
Posted by Green Talk Reblogged by Old Roses to books on 2008-04-30, 06:16:54
Mary-Anne Collis, an MSc student from The University of Exeter is spending the summer carrying out a research project into the nesting habits of swallows. Swallows have been in decline throughout Europe since the 1970s, probably because of the effect that widespread agricultural spraying has has on the insects that form their food. Collis is trying to discover the criteria that the birds use when choosing a nesting site, and to find out which agricultural practices best encourage them to nest and breed. . . .
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to birds
Posted by Sue Swift Reblogged by Old Roses to birds on 2008-04-30, 06:14:15
My future herb garden is growing well under the lights. It is my first time growing this many herbs from seed. Can't wait until it is time to plant them outside. . . .
Gardening is supposed to be relaxing, right? Then why do I feel such anxiety when my plants don't come up right away? It is like my child is late coming home late. I'm poking the ground, looking for signs of life, wondering when, when, when? Finally my hidden ginger came up, then the white crinums came back to life. But what about the pine cone ginger that grew against the fence (2.)? I knew they would be late because last year I planted over them with Mexican Petunia when the sprouts forcefully found their way up. So I was pretty happy when I saw these little sprouts popping up. My ginger is back. . .
Do you ever get so mad at someone for giving out bad advice that you'd like to spit but still shut your mouth because you know they either won't listen or think their opinion on the subject is completely, utterly right and you don't want to start a row? Grrrr...I am biting my tongue so hard right now that I can taste blood. . . .
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to blogs
Posted by Tina Reblogged by Old Roses to blogs on 2008-04-30, 06:10:01
Kris of Blithewold fame asks the question, "Do you have 'the touch'?" - the green-thumb touch, that is. Are you able to deftly transplant a seedling with an accurate amount of force and pressure that firms its position in the soil and aids its eventual growth? Or, do they end up becoming snail-bait?
It's an intriguing question and one that I've not considered much - mainly because I've presumed that there is no other way. My 'touch' after all, is my touch. How can one change that. . .
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to transplanting
on Apr 29, 2008, 7:01PM
Want some red in your yard? How about a Japanese maple like this? You can have one. I took this photo in a neighborhood in Edmond, Oklahoma. Although this is a great example of a mature ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple, which is one of the more common types of red Japanese maples [...]
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to trees
on Apr 29, 2008, 10:16PM
Posted by Dee Reblogged by Old Roses to trees on 2008-04-30, 06:09:09
The Surfside Gardens, one of the endangered community gardens in Coney Island, is the focus of the latest segment of A Walk Around the Blog.
Related PostsEndangered Coney Island Community Gardens, February 4, 2008
LinksThe episode, Kinetic...
We're having some cool, wet spring weather this week. I was worrying about my tender little tomato sprouts that have been out in my mini hoop house all last week. . . .
via Morning Glories on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
So I was pretty happy when I saw these little sprouts popping up. My ginger is back. . .
