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#21 |
Lord of the Pants
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,382
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You know, the only thing I hate about living in a city apartment is that I can't have a herb/tomato garden.
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#22 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Someday! Puttering about the plants, sniffing living herbs, it's really calming. Growing some lettuce in the early spring, then making that first salad...a great simple pleasure! Hope you can green your thumb up someday!
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#23 | |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Quote:
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#24 |
Corruptor
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Jozi SA
Posts: 1,885
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Hey, Liz - those were well written! Are those the pieces you submitted to the newspaper you wrote for?
'fraid I'm not much of a gardener myself (it usually ends up in a tug o' war with the dogs - whatever I plant they pull out ![]() ![]()
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#25 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Yes, those are some of my garden columns. Thanks!
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#26 |
Corruptor
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Jozi SA
Posts: 1,885
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Well, it's officially winter now, but luckily we don't get snow etc though we have had cases of black frost that have killed my dad's rose garden - it used to be his pride & joy & he had 58 different bushes - all different colours & names, of which the Black Rose and the green ones were my favourites because they're so unusual. I am not overly fond of roses, to me they symbolise formality, which is something that definitely does not suit me.
I should try & get a pic of my dad's garden & post it - 'specially in summer - we're quite lucky 'cos we can grow anything from succulents to sub-tropical plants & in summer the Tibutchina (sp?), jasmine, bougeainvillia (sp?), carnations etc are all in bloom. There's even a cherry-guava, pine-guava and my mom's fruitsalad plant and lemon tree, a peach tree and apricots & gooseberries - it's a bit of a hotchpotch - add to that the veritable zoo they have going on (what with 2 dogs, an avery full of birds and a fishpond) - it sometimes looks like a jungle ![]()
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#27 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Ooh! That sounds interesting! You must be zone 6 or 7! Sorry about your Dad's roses! I don't grow them, they are too "touchy! The key too sucess is often picking the right plant! Even though it's supposed to be early summer here, It's been quite chilly for several weeks! Our heat still runs of a night! Bring on the 80's!
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Happy Atheist Go Democrats! Last edited by Lizra : 06-04-2003 at 07:36 AM. |
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#28 |
Corruptor
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Jozi SA
Posts: 1,885
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Ye should see that place - the one corner has a rock garden with all kind of succulents and cactii and right next to it he has a fishpond with sub tropical plants (watercrest, palms, ferns etc) going & the weird thing is they all grow, I guess he just has a greenfinger or summin - he always laughs at me 'cos I want to plant all the 'pretty little flowers', but I do it at the wrong time of the year or I forget to water them properly - either too much or too little.
I found out last night the one really funny looking plant in their garden is called a "Mother-in-Law's Tongue", it's a funny little thing that looks like a sharp tongue sticking out from the center of the plant. Haha - plants have the funniest names ![]() Oh,, I wanted to ask you (I forgot) - what exactly is 'mulch'? ![]()
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#29 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA
Posts: 10,820
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I believe it is a compost of decomposed plant material, right?
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Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |
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#30 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Mother-in-law tongue is a common houseplant here. I was just talking about it today. People with "brown thumbs" like to grow it indoors cause it's almost impossible to kill!
![]() Mulch is shredded material put down around plants, trees or shrubs to smother weeds and retain moisture. It could be many things, but most commonly shredded wood or bark of some sort. It is used to beautify the yard in suburbia, so attractive nuggets of dark brown or reddish brown bark is usually used. This type is usually dyed. I've seen straw, leaves, wood chips, wood shavings, sawdust, dyed,shredded wooden pallets, shredded newspaper (ugly!) and coco hulls sold as mulch. The coco hulls are very pricey because they are a beautiful rich dark brown and make your garden smell like chocolate! ![]() Any kind of natural material that is available in abundance could be used...puverized corn cobs, pecan hulls, seaweed, whatever was available would work. This type of vegetative organic material should be something that breaks down slowly and doesn't stink or attract animals though. Grass clippings are used sometimes, but they "compost" quickly and tend to steam and stink! Blah, blah, blah! sorry! ![]()
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Happy Atheist Go Democrats! Last edited by Lizra : 06-04-2003 at 08:43 PM. |
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#31 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Well, how about a little more non fiction!
![]() ![]() ![]() October Garden Friends There are many seasons in the garden, and one way they can be identified is by their blooming flowers. In early spring, the tiniest bit of growth and green excites us, we watch for crocus, hyacinth, spring wildflowers and little Johnny jump ups. Then comes the traditional spring bloom we all love, redbud trees, tulips, daffodils and dogwoods. These flowers warm everyone's winter weary soul with their cheerful display. Late spring is one of the most beautiful. Gorgeous iris, peonies, poppies, and sweet smelling lilacs and lilly of the valley take our breath away. As the summer growing season starts, things begin to get a little confusing. Every perennial under the sun comes up, and the stores are exploding with bedding plants. Naturally, I start planting as soon as I see them, and that's when the traditional seasons of bloom start to blur. There's so much blooming and being planted. By the time the petunias, marigolds, sunflowers and daylilies of summer proper are coming on, I take my cue to head inside for a couple weeks of air conditioning. It's a different world when I emerge in late summer. The vegetable garden has totally gone to pot. I try to avoid it at all costs unless I feel the urge to can salsa or who knows what else. The gladiolus are finished and the clematis has come and gone. After a couple weeks of serious deadheading and cutting back, a new way of marking garden time emerges. I begin to segment what's left of the gardening season by the bugs. First come the eagerly awaited lighting bugs in middle summer. Little ones delight in the miracle of creatures that actually light up! Fourth of July fireworks and lighting bugs make summer in Indiana the best. Then comes the equally incredible butterflies, also very popular among the young set. There's nothing prettier that a butterfly sailing on a warm summer breeze. I'll just pretend Japanese beetles, cucumber beetles and squash bugs don't exist, so that puts us at our present point in time, early fall. To borrow a popular joke from my youth, "Why does the wooly worm cross the road? To get to the other side!" Now that I can finally drive down country roads without killing lots of butterflies, these silly wooly worms start running across them. Where are they going? What will they do there? Something to do with winter coming, no doubt. The praying mantises are getting mighty big and turning brown. My garden is suddenly sporting lots of neat spider webs with big, fat, black and yellow striped spiders. Where did they come from? All of a sudden they're all over the place! Once again, I'll pretend the big ugly grasshoppers don't exist, and the noise from the crickets is tolerable as long as you don't think about it too much. I certainly don't look forward to late fall's invasion of ladybugs. These Asian ladybugs have really turned into a major nuisance. One sunny day in October they'll start swarming my house. They'll come inside and stay with us all winter. Why, it wouldn't be Christmas without a couple hundred ladybugs all around! The sound of crunching ladybugs underfoot starts to make me crazy by January. Unfortunately, they seem to get worse every year. (the rest was local stuff) Bugs are fun!
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#32 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 516
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that was satisfying, Lizra...
you don't like the sound of crickets? I love their 'song' but HATE the sound of cicadas... more non-fiction would be good, guys! we can't let Lizra bear this burden all alone ![]() I'd offer one of my own contributions, but trust me, only an insomniac would care to read my sleep-inducing prose...
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Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) |
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#33 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Yeah, cicadas are icky!
![]() ![]() This year we had a serious problem with deer flies in the late spring. They would swarm the car ( you were afraid to get out!) for about a month, also descending on you when going to the mailbox! ![]() ![]() Right now, we are having an abundance of sweat bees. Gazillions of them, hovering in place. What are they doing just hovering in their little territories? It's neat how each year the weather dictates a different pattern of insects. I hope the "day of gossamer wings" (those filmy spider webs that float in the breeze) is as stong as it was in 2001. One Saturday, late in Oct, 2001, the filmy webs were floating everywhere! Some people actually thought it was a terrorist thing (!) because the white webs were so abundant! It was awesome! Anybody else have bug stories (you know...non fiction! ) ![]()
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#34 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 463
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Those are beautiful, Lizra!
Now it's September, do you have a piece telling us how to put our gardens to bed for the fall/winter? Where/when to plant bulbs? How much to cut back roses? My poor little garden needs all the help it can get. |
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#35 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Well, here's part of a November column....jumping the gun a bit, but it's what you request!
![]() November Garden Friends The annuals in the garden have died, the perennials are beginning hibernation, and the garage sales are going, going, gone. Basically, the party's almost over. ![]() The warmer days of late fall are the best time for garden work. You don't get sweaty, the kids are in school, and the mosquitoes have disappeared. Watch out for the ladybugs though, they'll fly down your shirt and bite you. ![]() Let's see, dahlias, cannas and gladioluses to dig, newer plants to label so I don't forget them over winter, and lots of dead things to cut down. I like to start out spring planting and dividing, so I try to get most of the clean up work done in late fall. When the tender new spring shoots come up, dead foliage just gets in the way. Some plants are attractive when dead, so I do leave various artemisias, ornamental grasses, and Autumn Joy sedum. Just make a note to get out there very early in the spring to cut them down. Things seem to happen so quickly in spring, it's quite easy to fall behind. Of course, I leave all the live stuff, which is actually quite a bit. The first year biennials, such as sweet William, hollyhocks, rose campion, and mullein are still growing. Lots of perennials have been rejuvenated by the cooler weather. A walk through the garden last Thursday showed primrose, coreopsis, yucca, chives, columbine, borage, veronica, blue flax, Shasta daisy, garlic, red hot poker plant, calendula, forget-me-not, horseradish, poppies, lambs ear, bishops weed, strawberries, lavender, sage, thyme, catnip, snapdragons, hold it! The garden's not dead yet! It's just too chilly to enjoy it. Unfortunately, all these plants will eventually die back, and my winter interest will become my wood stove. ![]() When you cut the dead plants back, don't leave the ground bare and exposed. Mowed leaves are perfect for covering the open areas and sleeping perennials, insulating them and enriching the soil. My wonderful in-laws have many mature trees in their yard, and they are kind enough to pick up the leaves with their mower and bag them for my garden. The crispy dried leaves look so pretty in all the golden hues of autumn. They smell good on sunny, early winter days. Dried leaves are gold for your garden, if you don't have your own, ask a friend or neighbor for theirs. Remember to save a few bags for mulch in the spring. SPRING BULBS I've never planted spring bulbs in my country garden, for fear that the chipmunks and squirrels would eat them. After watching my cats eat chipmunks and squirrels daily, I think it's worth a try. ![]() The areas where I recently dug up the cannas, dahlias, and glads seems like the natural place to plant my new alliums, tulips, and narcissus. I'm going to plant them in half circles, towards the front, so there will be room for the summer bulbs late next May, in the middle of the half-circles and towards the back. I love trying new things in the garden, and look forward to my experiment next spring. ......So, there's some tips for bedding down the garden, it was fun to add the Entmoot smilies! ![]()
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Happy Atheist Go Democrats! Last edited by Lizra : 09-18-2003 at 12:22 AM. |
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#36 | |
Fowl Administrator
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Calgary or Edmonton, Canada
Posts: 53,420
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Now that I'm back in school I resumed writing for The Gateway, the campus newspaper. Last year I mostly did movie reviews and such for A&E, but this year I switched over to Opinion.
Enjoy. Also ignore the editorial errors (some actually weren't present in my original draft, but the section editor mistakenly introduced them... oops). http://www.gateway.ualberta.ca/view.php?aid=1617 Quote:
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All of IronParrot's posts are guaranteed to be 100% intelligent and/or sarcastic, comprising no genetically modified content and tested on no cute furry little animals unless the SPCA is looking elsewhere. If you observe a failure to uphold this warranty, please contact a forum administrator immediately to receive a full refund on your Entmoot registration. Blog: Nick's Café Canadien |
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#37 |
Domesticated Swing Babe
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Reality
Posts: 5,340
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Excellent writing! Love it, IP!
![]() ![]() Actually, there were two machines, but one was already jammed and suffering from severe machine indigestion...broken. ![]()
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Happy Atheist Go Democrats! Last edited by Lizra : 09-28-2003 at 09:50 AM. |
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#38 |
Fowl Administrator
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Calgary or Edmonton, Canada
Posts: 53,420
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Thanks, Lizra. There's going to be more where that came from. Obviously it's in a very different vein from your gardening column...
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All of IronParrot's posts are guaranteed to be 100% intelligent and/or sarcastic, comprising no genetically modified content and tested on no cute furry little animals unless the SPCA is looking elsewhere. If you observe a failure to uphold this warranty, please contact a forum administrator immediately to receive a full refund on your Entmoot registration. Blog: Nick's Café Canadien |
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