I had picked up my last dill plant, planning to toss it into my compost barrel. Noticed just in time that it had Black Swallowtail caterpillars all over it. Thirteen, on a tiny, nearly-dead plant. They were making quick work of what was left of its vitality. I have plenty of Florence Fennel in the garden, so I stuck a couple long fronds into the pot, alongside the dill. Within seconds, the caterpillars were happily munching on the fennel.
"Piet Oudolf likes kinetic plants......plants with purpose, that romp, sway, tickle and cavort". From Ketzel Levine's Talking Plants.
How fortunate then that my visit to the Battery Park Rememberance Garden was on a fairly windy day and I got to witness exactly this kinetic display. The truth is I know very little about Piet Oudolf having only discovered him last year via the NYTimes article with the extraordinary images of hedges and grasses and seedheads. I've since looked at a couple of his books, his website and I now find that he's pretty well represented in NYC with this memorial garden and the proposed high line. . . .
It finally stopped raining this weekend and, very briefly, the sun came out. So we headed to the Parco Nord, a large park on the outskirts of Milan for a long walk.
The park covers 1,500 acres and is a strange mixture of cultivated bits, and natural areas - woodland and agricultural land. It's not a flower-bed type of park, but there are a lot of flowering trees and shrubs. We came across an area full of philadelphus - would have looked spectacular a few weeks back but it was all over now. I was hoping that the lavender bushes would be in bloom, but they weren't quite ready. . . .
I’m surer that it’s the case of the cucumber. The nodes are barely an inch apart and as yet no tendrils have appeared. It seems more like numerous stems than side-shoots spawning from the tomato. While some of the other plants are leggy, this one only appears to be growing outwards. I don’t know if [...]
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to weather
on Jun 2, 2008, 5:45AM
Posted by adekun Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2008-06-03, 06:34:25
Welsh Poppies with flowers like liquid Sunshine.They self seed all over Hilarys garden.I am always taking photographs of her garden flowers when i visit.I took these yesterday between rain showers and in the rain too. I am working today, with Tuesday given over to helping Hils clear her garden, wednesday for Allotment, Thursday is Harlow Carr again (Sixth trip since last year), and Friday for the allotment.I am working Saturday and Sunday. Thats where my photos will come from this week.
reBlogged
to poppis
Posted by snappy Reblogged by Old Roses to poppis on 2008-06-03, 06:34:17
GWA has released some numbers that say that 23% of “gardeners” read blogs and of these 27% read gardening blogs occasionally and 5% read them frequently.
Let’s run those numbers to see how we’re all doing with our subscriber numbers. . ..
reBlogged
to blogs
on Jun 2, 2008, 7:35AM
Posted by Doug Reblogged by Old Roses to blogs on 2008-06-03, 06:34:07
Japanese Wisteria Wisteria floribunda (wis-TEER-ee-uh)
This is from the Wisteria Tree at the Estate. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone because of the amount of pruning it takes to keep it looking good. When it is blooming it sure is beautiful and worth the work. This is its best year in quite a few for flowers. If you have never seen a Wisteria tree it is simply the vine that has been trained into a tree. It is quite vigorous but doesn’t need a support. I like to buy my Wisterias in flower although I don’t use them very often. I carefully consider where they are planted due to their invasive and rampant growth. . . .
I had naively thought that the deer issue last summer had to do with the drought. Not so. Apparently there is at least one deer that has found my garden and enjoys the fruits of my labor on a regular basis. About 4 or 5 of the tomato plants I planted [...]
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to pests
on Jun 2, 2008, 11:21AM
Posted by kerry Reblogged by Old Roses to pests on 2008-06-03, 06:33:24
I've seen some beautifully trimmed hedges recently in my travels, and they've inspired some reflections on the extent to which we lovers of shrubs and trees will go to incorporate...
reBlogged
to fence shrubs
on Jun 2, 2008, 2:56AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to fence, shrubs on 2008-06-03, 06:33:16
Calabaza is the Spanish name for the most common West Indian pumpkins, which tend to be smaller in size than those in temperate regions and have bright orange flesh and a sweet, rich taste. (C. moschata). The more common names are “rough skin pumpkin” or “crapaud skin pumpkin”. Interestingly, kabocha squash was actually bred from these–hence the similarity in taste, color and texture and the rough skin. . . .
Although I had promised my husband that we would not be buying plant material for the garden this year in order to make sure that we saved enough money for our trip and didn't have to worry about new plants biting it while we were overseas, did he or I, or you for that matter, really believe that that would happen? Even before this weekend, we bought three trees and a flat of perennials. . . .
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to plants
Posted by Sylvana Reblogged by Old Roses to plants on 2008-06-03, 06:32:39
I am a highly superstitious person. I always throw salt over my shoulder when I spill it. I always make wishes on white horses, when I go under train tracks and when I see hay wagons. But there is one thing I never, ever do and that is kill a spider. I am certain Death of Spiders. ..
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to beneficials
on Jun 2, 2008, 2:15PM
Posted by Hanna Reblogged by Old Roses to beneficials on 2008-06-03, 06:30:44
It has been over 3 weeks since I have made a blog post! I've been very busy in the garden, planting and finishing up several garden projects. On a rainy day last week I ventured down the mountain side behind our house and was astonished at the prolific show of wildflowers!
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to wildflowers
Posted by Connie Reblogged by Old Roses to wildflowers on 2008-06-03, 06:30:16
One of my goals in the garden this year was to have red ripe tomatoes by June 1st! I planted the seeds on Valentine's Day, potted them up inside multiple times, warmed the outside tomato bed with black plastic, and planted the tomato plants outside in Early April under a clear plastic tent.
June 1st has now come and gone, so its time for an update. Here are some pictures taken on May 31st:
reBlogged
to tomatoes
Posted by Marc Reblogged by Old Roses to tomatoes on 2008-06-03, 06:29:28
Guest blog by Jessica McFadden, A Parent in Silver Spring
The butterflies are here! Now through mid-September from 10-4 each day at Brookside Gardens, your child and you can be surrounded by live butterflies. "Wings of Fancy" features Asian, Costa Rican and North American butterflies flying freely through the south conservatory and feasting on fruit and tropical flowering nectar plants. Butterfly nirvana is achievable right in Wheaton. . .
I don't really like dill. I've got nothing against it per se, but it's not really a favorite of mine. In my worry about the dreaded cucumber beetle however, I've decided that dill might just be the herb for me...I just need to find some space for it. . . .
reBlogged
to dill
Posted by Black Eyed Susan Reblogged by Old Roses to dill on 2008-06-03, 06:28:27
Another gardening season is upon us, and after much consideration, Garden Gremlin is back for another year.
It almost wasn’t. The enthusiasm for gardening is still there. I still feel the same excitement in spring, at the start of the growing season. There’s that slight sense of disbelief, now tempered [...]
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to blogs
on Dec 31, 1969, 6:59PM
Posted by gremlin Reblogged by Old Roses to blogs on 2008-06-03, 06:27:57
… voices in me said, If you were a man
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.
But must I confess how I liked him,
How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
Into the burning bowels of this [...]
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to bnenficials
on Jun 1, 2008, 2:50AM
Posted by Bill Reblogged by Old Roses to bnenficials on 2008-06-03, 06:27:45
Last weekend we planted my garden in between plantings I put together this herb garden/pot for my friend Steph. Of course the tags are an idea from Martha Stewart.
Here are my two trays of seedlings right before I put some of them in pots and the rest into my garden.
The more it gets working, the more it begins to smell
Long periods of sitting around doing nothing are parenthesized by short bursts of activity
It devours seemingly non-edible foodstuffs with inanimate ease
Just when you think it looks HOT it lets off gas
It needs to be turned and prodded to get it working
It's preferred habitat is outdoors and within close proximity to the shed
Worms and bugs crawling all over it doesn't seem to bother it - in fact, it seems to attract them
No matter how much you water it, it still stinks!
If you spread it too thin it has very little benefit
However, it does keep getting better with age
For those who were looking for something a little more related to compost (ie. serious stuff!) then you could check out some of my past posts on how to compost, a review of the humble compost tumbler or how to make compost bins.
This was just a little fun. Hope you got a giggle from it...
reBlogged
to compost whimsy
on Jun 2, 2008, 6:54PM
With human-plant relationships more enmeshed than ever, it’s time to extend ethics to the botanical world. Many thanks to the EarthScholars for this provocative essay.
An article in last week's Chicago Sun-Times reports that vegetable gardening is seeing an surge in popularity as people look for ways to save money in the face of the...
reBlogged
to gardening
on Jun 2, 2008, 10:23AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to Gardening on 2008-06-03, 06:22:11
Usually the bigger the flower the better, but Cypripedium x andrewsii is an exception. This very small-flowered lady's slipper is a naturally occurring hybrid between the yellow lady's slipper and the white-flowered Cypripedium candidum.
I completed several tasks this weekend at my garden plot: I transplanted half of my broccoli plants from my shady home garden to the sunny plot and covered these with row cover. I planted pole beans (green and cranberry type shell) on the east fence, planted a few more zucchini, watermelon and winter squash seedlings, planted cilantro seeds that I saved from last year, filled in the soy bean row with a few more seeds, and added some purchased eggplant seedlings to the potato bed. I also weeded, cultivated and watered all the beds. . . .
Michael is in hog heaven - he picked the first tomato of the season today. I myself am not crazy about tomatoes. In fact, I didn't even eat them until a few years ago and today I only like them on a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich (which, he informs me, is what we will have for supper tomorrow night). Our vegetable garden is very small, resides under a dogwood tree of all places, and consists of a narrow raised bed that runs around the perimeter of a small enclosed area. Still, there is apparently enough sun to produce tomatoes and a few peppers and herbs. I added mushroom compost this year which really caused the tomatoes to grow at warp speed. I also added a tip that I learned from a lady in my master gardener class that she said her father did and he always had great tomatoes - add 1 tablespoon of lime and 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts to the planting hole. I usually have to spray for blossom end rot but I have not noticed it this year. Perhaps the lady's tip did the trick!
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to tomatoes
Posted by Phillip Reblogged by Old Roses to tomatoes on 2008-06-03, 06:20:14
via Outside on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
