Trying to Keep it Native in the Garden. 2024 and Beyond for MrsLee

Here is my new shiny thread about the future, not the past.

I doubt I will worry about continuing this thread at the end of the year, just mosey along into the next and not worry about it.

I don't know what my gardening will look like this year with so many unknown health issues. I do believe there is healing in a garden though, so if at all possible, I want to be in mine.

Slowly planting native plants, thinking of water conservation, fire safety, sharing the space with birds, insects and animals. Focusing on the nature that is, and not what I can artificially create.

I am not militant about native plants, I don't intend to remove non-native just because they are that. It seems rude to me. If a plant is willing to live here with our water restrictions, then let it live I say. We were all invasive species at one time or other, but we can all get along with respect and consideration.

On the other hand, as plants die off, they will be replaced with native species as possible.

I have a question: lava rock house walls, fences, steps...were they made of chunks of lava rock in some sort of mortar? I can't picture it.

>2 fuzzi: Lava comes in many forms. Some are flows that frost and moisture break into flat paver like stones. Some are heavy and solid chunks that one can only gather small to medium stones unless very strong or possesses lifting equipment. If you find a certain type of lava, it is almost like pumice, light and airy and easy to gather large chunks of. Of course there are variations of all that from obsidian to almost granite like rock, My favorite being the white "popcorn" lava.

Our steps and paths were from flat lava rocks. The steps were held together with mortor. The rock walls were made of a variety of types of lava, but mostly of the medium heavy type with small holes, they were carefully fitted together like a woodpile, close and tight (it's an art) and not held together with anything except themselves. They were not tall, about 3'.

In the hills that surrounded our valley were many types of lava flows, and my dad and grandfather knew every one of them. They were hunters in their day. We had property on what was called the Bench. It was a fault that had risen in an earthquake in the distant past and is mostly made of lava flows. The bench has the medium to heavy lava, and lots of it. Sometimes an Indian grinding stone or mortar would be turned up in the fields while plowing, also many arrowheads. These were treasured items.

If I can find a picture of the steps or a lava rock house (my aunt and uncle built one), I will try to remember to post it.

>2 fuzzi:

My oldest brother and sister in front of the rock steps.


This is my dad fixing the rock path to be safer for my mom who was walking with a cane, and sometimes a walker by this time. First he had to dig up the rocks which had become buried over the years, then he poured cement and set the rocks in it so they were level.

Originally, my dad had a natural stain and sealer on the redwood boards he used to build the house. He redid the stain and sealer about every 5 years. One year, he was too busy in the potato field to get this done, so he hired two laborers to go get the stain and sealer. At the store, they asked for "Red wood" stain. By the time dad had a chance to check on them, they had half the house done in this hideous red stain. Mom wept. There was nothing to do but let them finish, but I think it rankled us all every time we looked at the house after that.

>4 MrsLee: such cuties!

>4 MrsLee: The old adage is still true, if you want something done right...

I thought you might be interested in this:

https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/blog/2024/01/11/lessons-from-the-lloyd-border/?f...

>6 Karlstar: Inspirational, thank you.

Went out to scavenge for green onions for salmon patties for dinner tonight. Not many, but I cleaned up the pot, got as many morning glory vines down as possible (they were dried and seeds bursting, so I'm sure there will be plenty again this year). I cut back my oregano, bringing the branches in to dry. Found a pot of succulents which has no drainage; they were swimming so I drained the water and put them on the porch. Hopefully they won't get as wet there. I also thanked a perennial sweetpea that is still alive from the wedding and beginning to bloom again.

Husband gave me a new orchid for my birthday. It is so pretty. Yellow background with purple streaks. Hope I can keep it alive. It's pot has no drainage and I can't get under the moss to see the set up. May have to repot when it's done blooming.

My houseplants need an overhaul this spring. Some need replanting, others topped off, some just a shower, although I can't lift most of them. Almost all need fertilizer and a cleanup.

My sister worked on the maidenhair fern which was in my grandmother Nora's yard/house. Cat started eating on it, so I put it on the porch. Now that it freezes sometimes I brought it in to the bathroom. Cat doesn't go on that counter much. Had to put my bedroom spider plant in sn unreachable place too. Sadly, there is not much sun for it there. At least it is growing new leaves. I planted Cat grass for cat yesterday. If he likes it I will get more and a bigger, heavier container to grow it in.

I'm trying to grow cat grass for the kitties. Does that count as a garden thing? If this works, I will get a heavier pot and make it a centerpiece for my round coffee table. Maybe with an elf or dragon peeking out of the grass. Although that will have to be cat-proof.

I found a millipede on the floor day before yesterday. Tried to give it a home in my bug jar for grandson to see; with some dead house plant leaves, or almost dead which I moistened. He curled up and dissolved in the bottom of the jar, so today it is in its final resting place in a flower bed.

Today we went to Home Depot for heavy planting containers for the cat grass, and a bathroom faucet. We found both of those, and so much more!

Husband decided he needed some sand to fix some of our rock patio unevenness, and some cement blocks for something to do with a nonworking gate in the fence below our house. I think there is a gap he is trying to keep dogs from squeezing through.

While he was doing that, COLOR caught my eye. I bought two red cyclamen plants; they usually do well for me with minimum effort. Then I saw primroses and thought they would be a nice seasonal splash of color for my little red wagons out front. Across from the primroses were Johnny Jump-ups. Violets, apricot, yellow, blues, they used to do very well here and reseed every year, so I bought 3 six-packs.

While I was looking for the pots for the cat grass (I bought two), I also saw a lovely orchid pot and since I received a new orchid for my birthday and it seems to be in a planter with no drainage, I thought I should replant it when it finishes blooming. Walked past the brand of garden gloves I love, Daizy (I think?) made of goat skin. They are the best I've had; flexible and strong enough to keep rose thorns out. Even though I bought a pair last year, I decided to get this pair as a backup because I had a hard time finding them last year. Home Depot did very well out of us today.

Oh, then on Amazon I bought a big bag of cat grass seeds (oats and barley), and Amazon suggested I look at the other seeds this company offers. They had a pack of ten different varieties of sunflower seeds so I thought I would try them on my terraces in the backyard. If they grow and the deer let them bloom, the birds and my daughter-in-law will be happy (her favorite flower), so will I.

Guess it is that time of year when the garden person in me is perking up. I had better get all that planting done before my next infusion in February though.

>10 MrsLee: enjoyed shopping with you, vicariously.

We have wild ground-cover similar to Johnny Jump Ups, think it's called Maszu.

I have been very disappointed with the quality of name brand seeds I have purchased locally. Even Burpee seeds had poor germination, and I was wondering if they weren't stored properly? So this year I ordered seeds from Baker Creek. I bought squash and borage from them last year, and was very pleased with the quality, so went whole hog. I ordered about four varieties of Summer squash, looseleaf lettuce, cantaloupes, other stuff. I'm looking forward to Spring planting.

>12 fuzzi: I envy you your vegetable garden. Between the soil, heat and pests here, I don't have the will to fight that battle. Oh how I love vegetables from my garden though! Oh well. Farmer's Market is a close second.

>13 MrsLee: I'd stopped vegetable gardening due to heat and my inability to tackle the soil. During Covid I decided to try gardening on a small scale, one raised bed (4'x8'). Tomatoes and beans did well, and I was able to handle sowing, weeding, watering on the smaller scale. I added two more a year ago, had tomatoes, peppers, Summer squash, melons, and beans. For Christmas I ordered two more raised bed kits. I see them as an investment.

Finished planting my wagons today. It feels good to get my hands (and about everything else) dirty again.

Another day of sunshine and open doors and windows here today. Starting Wednesday, we are supposed to have another week of rain. I'm taking a chance and not watering the new plants because the wagons are not draining well and we are going to fet a lot of rain.

>15 MrsLee: getting your hands in dirt is good for you, physically as well as emotionally satisfying.

My little project. These wagons were full of weeds. They always get full of weeds no matter how many times I have cleaned them out. The one on the right has oxalis which I have carefully taken out every year, sometimes twice a year for three years now. The one on the left I planted this last year for the wedding. It doesn't have good drainage and the plants in it died, but a weed came up and was solid through it! I think it is a weed I am rather fond of, it has little orange flowers on it, so I left about four in there. I like to live dangerously.

>17 MrsLee: oh, I like those. I have a wheelbarrow planter that my dh created for me.

I spent about ten minutes in the yard today. It was a beautiful day, but cold. I cut a broken branch off of my elderberry bush. We had some high winds last week that blew a big branch out of my redwood onto the elderberry bush. It was the worst kind of break, a tear lengthwise through the branch. I tried to bind it with some wire, we shall see. The branch I cut off I shoved into a pot of dirt on the off chance it will make roots and grow.

I went outside to distribute some of my cat's hair on a tree for the birds. He has the softest fur. I have found bird nests on the ground lined with his fur before. I had to walk around a little to see what is happening. The violets are lovely, some narcissus are blooming, and other bulbs are sending up flower stalks. The quince bush is lovely and there is a little bit of bergenia beginning to bloom.

>19 MrsLee: you're slightly ahead of us. For natives we have deadnettle starting to bloom, no violets yet. The Camellia opened its first blossom, and the daffodils are forming buds on the ends of their stalks.

>20 fuzzi: We have had a very mild year this year, compared to last year. I think we will be seeing a lot of early blooms.

I just read all the messages. Garden sounds great. I had some snow yesterday.

I managed half an hour in the yard. Cut dead stems/blossoms off the pinks and some calendulas. Since I couldn't find where the contractors put my garden gloves, and my legs felt like wet pasta, I called it quits. Not before I admired the pretty pink camellia that is starting to bloom.

>23 MrsLee: good for you.

Why would the contractors use your gloves?

>24 fuzzi: They didn't use them (I don't think), they removed everything from the bathroom cabinets before they removed the cabinets. It was a surprise to me that they were removing the cabinets, or I would have emptied them myself. I found my clippers and other tools (I keep my special garden tools in the house because they are for my use only), but not the gloves. Couldn't get into the bedroom where they had stashed stuff, now all that stuff is in the living room, but in such piles I can't get there either.

They laid the new flooring in the living room and bathroom yesterday. Hoping for more progress today. I like it, so that's a good thing. It is much darker than what I had, but I think it suits me better.

I bought it hoping to tone down the pink tone in the pickled oak cabinets that are out there. I am not a fan of pink. My grandmother picked these because she had spent forty years in a kitchen with almost black mahogany cabinets and she wanted lightness. Same cabinets I have in the main house now, but about 16 years ago we stripped and sanded them as much as possible to lighten them. It helped a little. Pickled Oak was all the rage in the 1990s. I hate it. I don't have the means or the energy to paint them, so I looked online for easier solutions. One was to get the daytime LED lighting which we did the last time we had to replace the ceiling light. It helped a lot. Another was that if you had to replace the floor, get something darker that would draw out the wood tones. So we shall see. Whether it helps or not, at least I love it in the other rooms.

>25 MrsLee: well, I just learned something new today, the definition of pickled oak.

I have no idea what wood or finish is underneath the paint covering my kitchen cabinets/cupboards, layers of paint from about 50 years. I have no interest in doing anything to them except maybe, MAYBE someday replacing them. They're original, and the bottoms are warped so items placed inside have a tendency to slide or fall over. I can't stack cans, either, the cupboards aren't tall enough. Bleh.

>26 fuzzi: I didn't know the name for it either, until the other day I was searching for solutions and typed in something like "how to get rid of pink undertones on white cabinets." I found a hate group dedicated to eliminating them. My people!

>27 MrsLee: bwahaha!

I hate the gray look that is so popular right now. Ick. I'd rather have everything white, though soft pastels are preferred.

Grey has always been my wished for background color for walls, and played a small part in choosing my current home. (Love it when someone else has already done the messy part!). I am a color junkie, and it suits well my wall hangings and decor.
My mother chose to paint her kitchen pink when they first bought their house in 1959. She was totally sick of it when they moved out in the 90s.
The first house I bought had a kitchen painted and wallpapered in a teal blue the color of a swimming pool. You felt like you were sitting at the bottom of the pool.
I’ve thought about painting my kitchen cabinets sage green; but I’m pretty content with the white the last owners chose.

>29 2wonderY: I have to laugh at the "Our Old House" group on FB. I follow them because at times during my cancer treatment the only thing my brain can manage is scrolling on FB, so I decided to join some groups with interesting photos. Anyway, they are always complaining about the "flippers" who buy an old house, rip out anything with character and paint everything grey and white.

All these years I've put up with my very dark kitchen cabinets, and now they are in style again! Everyone (well, lots of folks) seem to be painting their cabinets black or very dark colors. :)

Wild, wet and windy here today. I spent the day putting our bathroom back together after the repairmen fixed the flooring. I'm happy with what I chose. It gives my bathroom a woodland feel, and, it really helped tone down the pickled oak pink cabinets! Woo Hoo! I'm cleaning and organizing as I go, moving pretty slow due to lack of energy, but slow and steady will win the race. Still have the living area, kitchen and bedroom to do.

Didn't notice the blue tape until I posted this in the Green Dragon. If you want to see the toilet, you can go to that thread. It isn't very exciting. :)

Think I will work on the bedroom tomorrow because most of the clutter (files and boxes of family history) are in my dining area at the moment. Since that is the main passageway from our living room to the kitchen, its a pain to have a narrow path.

The flooring is so pretty!!

>32 lesmel: Thank you! I almost walked right by it thinking it was too dark, but I'm glad I gave it a second look.

>31 MrsLee: it looks very nice. When I had my bathroom floor redone I didn't think I wanted the wood-look. Now I'm not so sure.

>33 MrsLee: Is this laminate, tile, hardwood?

>35 lesmel: I think they call it vinyl plank flooring. It snaps together, but they did an awful lot of hammering to get it good and tight. It isn't the most environmental, but the cost was reasonable and the contractor said it was the most waterproof and scratch resistant that he knew of.

We wanted a manageable evergreen fruit tree to plant between our house and the neighbor's. Bought a pink grapefruit tree. Hopefully it will survive the summer, and the winter if we get a cold one.

Couldn't stop there though. I lost most of the plants in pots on my side porch this last summer. Since it is almost impossible to keep potted plants alive outside here in the summer, at least in the sunshine, I thought I would try some shade loving plants to keep on the porch. 2 ferns, some other plants which are normally indoors and I don't know the names of, but a couple have arrowhead shaped leaves, and the colors of the others are spotted green and pink. I planted herbs as well, cilantro, spearmint and sweet (Yerba Buena) mint, lemon thyme and English thyme. Then I saw marigolds! I wanted the bright splash of yellow, orange and gold. So I planted some of them on the porch, although they will need more sun later. I had a friend helping me and she put the rest of the marigolds in a flower bed outside my kitchen window.

Planting things is such a hopeful activity. The primroses and violas I planted in my wagons last month are blooming beautifully and make me happy.

>37 MrsLee: growing things bring us joy.

Marigolds are my favorites, especially the Petite varieties.

All the flowering bushes are bursting. So pretty with pinks, yellows, whites, blues, lavender and salmon.

>39 MrsLee: Yay spring!!

I’m finding life coming up through the leaf mulch. Promise of peonies that were hard done to last year.
Also, I took two PeeGee hydrangea cuttings last month from WV. I see today that there is a tiny bit of bud swell and greening.

>40 2wonderY: I don't think my peonies have poked through yet. At least not the ones down the hill. My yard has some weird micro-climates. Up around the house the plants bloom a week or two before the ones down the hill. It's not that big a hill!

Finally my sunflower seeds are sprouting. Those in the plastic clamshells for fruit are poking up. Those in the cardboard egg carton and mushroom box have not. I can only suppose that the plastic gets warmer? Let's in more light? The mushroom box doesn't have a lid, so gets lots of light. All have been equally moist.

Weeded a patch of wild carrots that have been bothering me for awhile. Then I walked around the yard a little cutting back stuff that should have been cut back 2 months ago. I don't think I was out there longer than half an hour, but my legs were wobbly when I decided to walk back up the hill and go inside. :/

>42 MrsLee: don't push yourself.

My husband's idea of working in the garden is to dig up flowerbeds and cover them with rocks. Back in the day I refused to let him do this, but now, with my limited energy and water being a precious commodity, I have given in.

The latest bed he dug up is on the side of the house. We have a low fence between our house and the neighbor's which holds vinca, sweet pea vines and two grape plants. I would get rid of the sweet peas, but it is impossible, so I try to live with them. They are beautiful when they bloom.

We planted a grapefruit tree there, and the elderflower I planted last year is doing great. 4 miniature pink roses are over there as well. For the new bed of rocks, we will be getting 3 planter pots. These need to be very large, otherwise the sun super-heats the pots and they cook the roots of whatever is planted in them. I'm trying to figure out what to plant in them. I hope to use calendula as a filler, because it will be easier to care for them and harvest without bending to the ground.

My preference for the taller plant in the pot would be a perennial that makes something edible. We have more than enough citrus trees. Maybe guava? My 2 guavas down the hill make pretty (and edible) flowers, but no fruit since the first year I planted them. Will have to see what the nursery has/recommends.

I plant vinca (not periwinkle), portulaca, and purslane in planters around the house. They handle heat and drought very well. Lantana and pentas are also pretty heat-resistant.

FYI: vinca roseus has been renamed
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/catharanthus-roseus/

>45 fuzzi: Those are nice, but I want some elevation since the planters will be 2-3 feet tall. I have lantana. Oh boy do I have it. All around the yard! It volunteers like crazy. I might get some special color of it, like orange, because birds and butterflies love it (which is the only reason I have put up with its volunteering habits).

We had quite the hailstorm, lightening and thunder here today. My loving husband ran outside and covered my seedlings in between downpours.

Went to check on the seedlings this morning. I've been keeping them in plastic storage stackable drawers. They get light and have protection from the weather; I thought. I could hardly open the drawers as there was 4" of water in them! Some of the planters were floating, others were underwater. We protected them from the hail, but not the flood. This is why I hate gardening.

>48 MrsLee: Part 2.

So I rescued the seedlings from the depths of the water. The soil was surprisingly intact, and the plants were ok. They dried out for a couple of days, but yesterday high winds and rain were predicted. I didn't want them to blow away, so I removed the drawers from the cases and put them under the picnic table against the house. Table is covered with a plastic tablecloth, no holes in it. We had the high winds and a LOT of rain, and I was feeling pretty smug for thinking about protecting the seedlings.

Went to check on them this morning and one drawer was completely full of water, the other was only half full. These drawers are about 15" deep! I don't even know how that happened! I gave up the plants for lost, then realized that the ones in the cardboard egg carton were floating (submerged but floating) so I pulled them out, then pulled the others out from the bottom, under all that water. I've lost some, not sure the others will live, but I put them on the side porch this time and we will see what happens. More wild weather expected. Yes, I could bring them in the house, but with company coming I don't want my counters covered in dirty containers, plus I'm just mad at this point and don't care much.

Yikes!

No gardening done this weekend, but time spent in the garden. My two grandsons and their parents were here, also my daughter.

First there was an egg hunt in the rock garden out front. Later that evening there was a second egg hunt in the backyard, in the dark. Plastic eggs were filled with glow sticks and my yard was full of glow. Lots of fun. The frogs were cheering on the egg hunter.

Seedlings live. If I can feel alive, I want to plant them tomorrow or the next day at the latest. Liver is getting worse. More and heavier drugs are prescribed. Not looking forward to a liver biopsy. I keep thinking if I can just get over this hump then life can be better, but there always seems to be another hump. Have to do what I can when I can and be satisfied.

Daffodils are almost finished, so are all the redbud, but they were so pretty this year! Woodland hyacinth and lavender are taking on the job of color in the yard. Transitioning from pink to blue. Butterflies and bees seem happy. Orange blossoms are also about to open. Can't wait for that fragrance. My freesia seemed to go by fast this year. The hail didn't help, I'm sure.

Oh so sorry you are in poor health . I hope the biopsy gives you good news

>52 cindydavid4: Thank you!

>51 MrsLee: thank you for sharing. Peace and grace and comfort to you.

I like the idea of the nighttime egg hunt.

I managed to do an hour and a half of gentle gardening! Planted some of the sunflower seedlings, pulled weeds first. Watered and put out snail bait on them and on my marigolds. I suspect it is probably slugs, earwigs or pill bugs, we shall see. Might just be lousy plants or too harsh planting methods.

I also pulled up a bucket full of wild onions. I use these in cooking, which you can find in my thread in the Cookbooker's group if you are interested. Watched a lot of videos this morning telling me how to be careful not to damage the bulbs so you will have some next year. HAHAHAHAHA! These suckers have minute bulbs coming from the parent plant, and from the blossoms, as well as seeds from the blossoms. I've been digging at them for 30 years and my grandmother for 30 years before that. They are as hardy as ever.

I also got one of the cat grass pots ready for a new planting. We are expecting rain and thunder showers the next two days, not sure of the proportion or timing.

Beautiful weather today, but I'm feeling a little sick, so nothing got planted. Still hoping to get the seedlings done this weekend because I have a minor surgery on Monday that will put me out of commission for at least a week while it heals.

>56 MrsLee: just seeing this now, praying for a complete and quick recovery.

>57 fuzzi: Thank you. I have a cold, canceled the surgery, no seedlings in the ground. But I'm able and willing to read for the first time in a while! So not all bad. :)

I made a lilac simple syrup today. Trying to get creative with flavors to use in mocktails since it doesn't look like my liver will be able to tolerate alcohol for a long time. It isn't the alcohol itself that I miss. I actually don't care for the physical effects of alcohol. It is the flavor and creativity, the beauty of the cocktails in the glasses. I don't care for sweet drinks, and without the sweet or the alcohol you aren't left with much. So I reach for flavors. The simple syrup will be sweet, but I will add a bit of citric acid and perhaps some bitters to counteract the sweet. A bit of flavored vinegar can also help.

Recipe I'm using:
1 c. Sugar
1 c. Water
1 c. Lilac blossoms
5-8 blueberries for color
1 t. Citric acid granules
Simmer sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add blossoms and blueberries, simmer 10 minutes. Add Citric acid and stir, strain into bottle. Store in rrefrigerator.I have to use my imagination to get any lilac flavor from this, but that could be due to my cold. Also, sometimes simple syrup gets better flavor after sitting a day or two.

I'm also dehydrating some blossoms for tea.

I've never really enjoyed alcohol (6 years of university, never developed a taste for beer!) so I'm always interested in options. This one sounds tasty. It will be a month before our lilacs bloom, but I may just try it then :)

I also use flavoured balsamic vinegars with club soda for cool drinks that are refreshing and sweet enough but not too sweet.

Ginger beer is also a go-to, but it's still pop, so more sugar than is good for me. It has an extra sharpness that ginger ale lacks, though.

>60 tardis: I use vinegars also. Did I mention it here? Maybe somewhere else, I found a drink which is very satisfying. I used the leftover vinegar brine from my beets and onions which is a bit of sweet with sour and spices. Poured about 1-2" in bottom of glass, added ice, then sparkling water and gave it a good stir. It was perfect for the couple of hot days we had last week. Refreshing without too much sweet.

>60 tardis: our local source for flavored balsamics has a wide selection, most of which I have tried in cooking or on salads but they tell me to try it in seltzer as you mentioned. Do you have a suggestion for a tasty ratio? I'm not sure how much vinegar to use before it gets too sour?

>61 MrsLee: You mentioned flavoured vinegars above as a possible addition to cut the sweetness of your lilac syrup. It would never have occured to me to use brine from pickles, though! I generally go for the fruit-based infusions.

>62 Darth-Heather: I kind of wing it. Maybe 1 cm in the bottom of the glass, then add the club soda, then taste. The flavoured balsamics do have their own sweetness - you can add quite a bit before it gets sour. It's more about how strong you want the flavour.

I think I will look into some shrub recipes. I know I've seen them in my older cookbooks and they are making a comeback.

https://content.kegworks.com/blog/what-the-heck-is-a-shrub-2#:~:text=What%20Is%2....

>61 MrsLee: oh, that's an idea.

I love pickled/vinegary foods, might be that Germanic heritage? :)

Get mint they said. Nothing likes it they said. So why can't I keep mint alive? It was fine and happy 2 days ago and today I'm not sure it will make it. Part of the problem may be that it got dry, but there is also slug/snail slime all over it.

Yesterday I made a shrub that tasted like a mild root beer!.75 oz. of homemade grenadine,.50 oz. tonic syrup,.75 oz. homemade elderberry vinegar, a t. of spice balsamic vinegar made by a local company. Carbonated water to taste. My husband liked it too.

>66 MrsLee: hmm, your shrub sounds interesting.

I love marigolds, they're my favorite flower, and they generally grow EVERYWHERE.

But someone keeps eating them in certain areas of the yard. I thought it was slugs but I went outside after dark and spied on a couple plants that were being decimated and found pill bugs doing the eating, really? We have a lot of composted leaves in and around the beds, so they do a service.

Maybe if I use some sort of barrier...

>67 fuzzi: Could be pill bugs, also earwigs will eat marigolds I've been told.

I ordered some butterfly pea seeds to plant. It might be a little late, but I want to try it anyway. I really want to play with the blue color in my baked goods and shrub drinks. Also smoothies.

For good measure I also bought a package of butterfly pea powder. I am not a patient woman.

I went to the garden this morning at first light to pick roses for the rose and cucumber shrub I am making. Another mock gin flavor inspiration. We shall see. Pulled a few weeds, sighed at many more.

The good news is that the mystery trees which started in our compost pile a few years ago are almost certainly peach or nectarines! The bad news is that the way I know this is they have peach leaf curl. It is apparently rampant this year in California due to the wet winter we had. I didn't spray the trees in the winter (not knowing what they were and also never having sprayed for maintenance before), so mine have some. Not bad. I was told to pick off the leaves and throw them away, thin the fruit (not enough to worry about but I picked a few of the more unlikely fruits off), and the tree will put out new leaves for nourishment. It will be interesting to see how they do. I've avoided these types of trees because they seem to be needy and I'm not that gardener, but if they want to give it a go I'm game.

I was going to pick some of the older, fragrant roses that are blooming to use their petals, but then decided I really don't have anything I want to use them for.

Also went down the hill to see if there is any surviving mint. Found three sprigs. How come it's a pest for everyone who doesn't use it, but when I want it, I can barely get it to grow? I know the answer. It's called water.

On my way down the hill I saw some potentially interesting volunteers. One grows tall on a stalk and is about to flower, another is a California native pipevine, which is the host plant for our pipevine swallowtail butterfly. It is mostly black, but with a trim of brilliant blue on its lower wings. I have a mature vine on my fence that has seed pods this year! I'm watching it because I would like to start more plants and put them on the fence. When I examined it closely, I found tiny eggs and caterpillars on it! Yay!

>71 MrsLee: how exciting about the caterpillars and eggs!

I managed some time in the garden. Pulling plants/weeds away from peach trees. I'm leaving some ground cover succulents there. Don't think they will hurt anything. Peach tree has done some self thinning, or maybe the hail we had a couple of days ago helped. I will be surprised if it keeps any fruit to maturity. I plan to finish clearing and give them a good water with fertilizer tomorrow.

We stopped at a couple of thrift stores looking for this and that. I didn't find larger pots to plant the tamarind seeds in, but I found two pots for my orchids. Also 2 coffee mugs, a bowl for raising bread dough and 3 bowls for soup/stew.

I'm keeping my eyes open for some vintage highball glasses for my son to use when he visits, pictures for my international wall in our apartment and something (a frame for a jewelry dragon or a picture) for my bedroom wall to fill the space left from the pictures I gave my niece.

Yesterday I went outside to gather some elderflower blossoms. I save them to make beverages. I knew that my little kitty was dying to get outside (we force her to stay inside from early evening until later morning because she is allergic to mosquito bites and her nose is a bloody mess if we don't do this), but coming in the house, forgot. She bowled under my feet and achieved a strike as I went down. Landed on my side, and thankfully nothing was really hurt except my feelings. A bit bruised feeling today.

>74 MrsLee: glad you are okay. Cats are like bowling balls...

I have a nice tidy list of things to do before we go to see my grandbaby this weekend; then the wind knocked over my ivy plant inside, breaking the pot all to pieces. So we went to Home Depot for the pots I've been putting off getting and came home with the pots and a basil plant. Decided to plant that, and an herb I bought at Farmer's Market last weekend, called Zatar. Now I've replanted the ivy, basil and Zatar, I'm pooped, and I can't cross anything off my list because I didn't have it on there! 😮‍💨

quick, write it down, close your eye, open them, and cross it out.Thats what I do and it makes me feel better!

Retrograde listing is a real thing. You done great!
Do you have Ollie’s in California? That’s where I go now for the best pots at much better prices.

Spent an hour in the garden this morning. Pulling weeds, pruning roses. Thr roses are developing black spot, the Dread pirate curse. I pulled off all the affected leaves I could find. Of course the roses bit back and scratched me worse than my dumb cat did last night. I've had it. I'm going to pull them out and get rid of them. My niece has been saying she wanted them for 3 years, but she has a busy life and never gets around to getting them. I'm thinking I will just buy her a new beautiful rose every year rather than give her these diseased old ones. The roses are sentimental because they were my grandmother's. I get that, but I am tired of caring for them. I don't like roses.

Wild carrots are rampant down the hill. If I get out tomorrow, I'm going to work on that. Their burrs are horrible and get all through my cat's fur. Trying to look up how to spell burr. Very confusing, so I'm spelling it how I like to read it.

Another hour in the garden today. Got 2 large bucket-fulls of weeds. I was aiming for the wild carrots, but sweet peas and nasty poly grass kept getting in the way so those got pulled as well. I did one and a half beds. Hopefully I can do the same tomorrow and so on until I make a dent in those wild carrots.

After a week of weeding every morning, our yard waste bucket is full, as well as a 30 gallon trash can. I mean pressed down tight full. I might have made a little dent, but there is a good plenty wild carrots left in the yard here and there. I won't be in the garden tomorrow, but on Tuesday I plan to work on deadheading plants on the upper level of the garden around my house.

Made it to the garden again today. I can only go about an hour before the sweat starts dripping and I'm miserable hot. However, I got the last rose pruned, pulled out a ton of what we call Mexican poppies (a very light pink to white). Also pulled/cut various trees trying to come up where they don't belong.

Inside I took the 2 orchids I was given for my birthday (or was it Valentine's?) Out of the tiny pot which had no drainage. Turns out they were in tiny plastic pots in that one. I left them in their tiny pots for now but put them in a larger pot which I could put rocks in the bottom of and add a little water. These orchids are doing amazing. They have put out 2 sets of leaves and a lot of new roots. I read today that new orchids should be reported right away; rinsing the old medium away, examining the roots and base of leaves for pests or rot. Well, I might get to that, I have good intentions.

Watered my herbs, planted another round of cat grass, then started pulling weeds. This time on the top level of the house. When I started, the sun was already on the front of the house, so I worked at the back. I cleaned out around a special lilac, it had bindweed trying to smother it. Also took out a 30 gal. trash can full of sweet pea vines. Trying to get them all before they go to seed. It is an impossible task, but I cheer for myself for everyone I do get.

Then we heard someone in the creek below our house (which has become a settlement camp for the urban campers) hollering, "FIRE." Looked up to see a billowing black smoke column not far from our house. Fortunately the emergency services were fast and had the fire contained within 30 minutes. Many areas around here have not been so fortunate. It is a deep fear I live with daily, knowing those people are camping in the creek, starting fires and the city government has no authority to make them stop.

Ugg. Woke up this morning with a hip issue and a headache. Didn't garden outside, but began my campaign to give attention needed to all my houseplants, trimming, adding soil, repotting if needed, etc. I worked on three of them. Two ferns and a succulent.. I need to look up fern care. Mine are losing lots of fronds, I assume it is because I need to bump up the watering for the summer, but it could be other issues. The maiden hair fern hasn't been repotted in at least ten years. It is one that my maternal grandmother dug up from my paternal grandmother's yard over 50 years ago.

Husband woke me at six this morning to tell me there was an ant invasion. I lay there in bed wondering what he would have done if I wasn't there. Then I got up and killed ants.

All my orchid potting materials are here so I have few excuses not to do the repotting, but I thought of two. My son snd his family are coming for dinner tonight and I want clean floors to greet them, and one orchid is still blooming, so it can wait.

Right or wrong, I got the orchids replanted. Also managed an hour in the garden this morning. Watering, pulling weeds and sweet peas and pruning my sage.

Next adventure is to prune a huge bush that is loaded with berries. Need to do this soon before they drop because I don't want a lot more of this bush. The spent geranium blossoms will have to wait.

Worked a bit outside today, starting at about 5:45 to 8 a.m. got my part of the Bush killing done, now it up to hubby to chop out the base and roots. I tied the climbing rose branches and Virginia Creeper vines that would reach to the trellis. Hoping they will provide the shade that the bush used to; although it will take a few years of training.

I soaked a dracaena houseplant that was suffering. I was so afraid of over-watering that it didn't have enough. Also my cat has been using the leaves as toys. I have put it on the side porch for the summer to see if it comes back.

Also repotted my maidenhair fern. This plant has survived for 50 or more years. My grandmother grew them, and my other grandmother who lived in the house I have, took some. She grew them in the yard, but when some of the taller trees died, there wasn't shade, so I rescued this before it died. I divided it today and am giving the second one to a friend trying to create a fern grotto.

My task tomorrow will be to create a shade barrier on my side porch, Hoping the plants in pots there will survive the next ten days or more of 110°F plus temperature we will be having.

For the most part I'm only trying to keep the plants on the porch alive. It is 80 degrees by 8 o'clock and I can't bring myself to garden. Yesterday I repotted the tamarind plants that grew from seed. Threw most of them out, kept the stronger looking ones and put them in a big clay pot with the plan that they will be house plants in the winter.

I also planted some cuttings from a kalucha plant. Still have cuttings from an arrowhead
vine houseplant.

I gave all my house plants a good shower and soak in the tub. They seem happier now.

Porch plants still alive. I've been using the herbs, or cutting and drying them. I love having an assortment of fresh herbs.

I noticed that one of the ginger roots in my kitchen and birthed a sprout/bulb, so I planted it in a pot on the porch also. Reading up on the cultivation of ginger in the home garden, they sound fussy. Not sure it will survive my casual care, but fun to try.

I planted a couple of stalks of a succulent which had broken off. I don't know the names of my succulents, but this one grows on tall stalks and has a purple-black rose-like formation on the ends. I love it. It was burning in the 110 plus heat we were having, so I moved it to the porch where it could get some afternoon shade. It seems happier except for the parts that broke off. The first time I tried to start the broken one, the stem rotted, so I cut it to a firm spot and let it dry for a couple of days before planting again. Will try not to over-water it!

The other starts I planted a couple of weeks ago seem to be doing well. I also planted some caraway seeds from my cupboard that I haven't used in years. Someone said they might grow, so thought I would give it a try. I'm not going to replace it in my spice cupboard. Too many similar spices like anise and fennel and I don't use anise very often, either.

I shared this in the Green Dragon, but since it has to do with gardening, I will share it here as well.

I made a joke today without knowing it.

Had been picking figs down in my yard and got covered in burrs, so at the back door I took off my shoes, socks and shorts* before I came in the house. Later, Mark said, "Were you outside in only your underwear earlier?"

I answered, "For a brief moment."

There was a medium bucket full of figs, not a gallon, but maybe half? The only ones I could reach were on the small side. I guess the birds and insects and opossums, racoons, squirrels, etc. will get the big juicy ones at the top of the tree. As it is though, we have plenty for snacking, some to share, enough to make a shrub and a fig cake with.

I checked the four peaches still hanging on the tree, they might be getting some color now. I'm thinking they will probably ripen when I'm gone to my son's house next week and either my husband will forget them and afore mentioned critters will get them, or he will have to eat them before I get home. They are being crowded by lantana, but I hate to cut the lantana back since it is about the only thing blooming and fruiting for the birds, bees and butterflies in my yard at the moment.

I was excited to spot a couple of pineapple guavas, not near ripe, but if I saw two, there are bound to be a few more, right?

*My backyard faces the wilderness and a city park. The park is rarely used because there are so many homeless people camped on the edges, so I wasn't really afraid of being seen. The homeless folks often wear less than I was, and truth be told, my undies are more modest than most bathing suits today. :D

It's still fair hot here, though supposed to be in the low 90s next week.

I am going away for a week, leaving my plants in the care of my husband. We shall see what survives. He tends to overwater my plants on the porch outside. Hoping he will realize the difference between succulents and herbs and their water needs. Bless him for doing anything at all though.

The inside plants may have to tough it out. I spray my orchids each day, along with the ferns. Also make sure there is a reservoir of water underneath them for humidity. On a lark I planted some caraway seed from my cupboard which was at least ten years old. They sprouted! Tender new sprouts in my husband's care. Oh boy.

The only reason I talk like this is that always before when I go away on trips leaving explicit instructions, etc. He has chosen to either misunderstand or forget. He has many other fine qualities, but caring for plants is not one of them. Love the man though.

I do plan to give all the houseplants a good soak, so they should make it fine without him having to water them.

Caraway seeds sprouts from the spice cupboard are growing and alive. This makes me happy, although I'm not sure what to do with them when they are ready to be planted in pots.

I harvested 5 peaches off of my volunteer trees today! First harvest from them. Turns out they are white peaches, and delicious! Although I wasn't thrilled with the texture of the one we ate this morning. A bit mushy. Does that mean it's overripe? I don't know.

Also harvested at least a gallon of grapes, the golden/green ones. They have seeds, but I don't mind crunching seeds since they are so good for us. I planted these to make wine from, but I'm kind of over the homemade wine thing. Will probably just eat them or use in smoothies. First harvest for these as well. I have a vine of red grapes, but they are tiny and not ready yet.

Pretty surprised the animals and birds let me harvest any fruit; I didn't do anything to keep them away. Maybe they haven't discovered it yet.

Planted a pink Yarrow which I brought home from son's house. It was a weed in his yard, and I only have white Yarrow at the moment. Also planted some lavender from his house, again, weeds there. They don't look so good so probably won't survive, but had to try.

The ginger and caraway I planted are still growing! However, I found a bag of caraway in my overflow spice cupboard, so guess I shall keep using it. At least it is fresher than what I planted.

My cat directed my attention out the window this morning. There I saw about 7 Western Tanagers in and around my little birdbath. Such lovely birds! When I looked in my identification book to confirm, I see that this is the third time I've seen them. One of the other times was in April, and the second in August of 2021, on the 20th. They are migratory and I am very thankful to my cat for bringing them to my notice.

Puttered outside this morning. I transplanted the caraway seedlings into bigger pots, planted some kalanchoe I had started in water, repotted a spiderplant, and started a new pot with baby spiderplants. I cut off the dry stems and leaves of a plant, then stuck the stems and roots in some soil to see if the plant would come back. Somehow I doubt it will, but I have a hard time giving up on things.

Husband found a very interesting fungus in the garden today. We have identified it as a shaggy parasol. A species which can cause intestinal distress. We left it in the garden.

Happily, I have some perfectly edible fungus from Farmer's Market for us to eat.

Went to Home Depot with a coupon which said if I spent $100 I would get $15 off. The register rang up to $99.97. So of course I had to buy another plant. This brought my total to $87 something. Made me happy.

Today I planted what I bought. Red, orange and white chrysanthemums and red and white impatience. I planted those in my two wagons out front. The bonus chrysanthemum I planted in the pot which had the hydrangea which has died twice. That pot also has a volunteer spider plant, and I added some yarrow from the yard for the lacy foliage. Hydrangea now has its own pot. Did some straightening and rearranging on the porch and I'm happy with the way it looks right now.

The best part is that it is raining now! Not a lot, but much needed and appreciated.

We are starting to prune and cut back trees we don't want but which have grown too large to dig. This is why I don't love gardening. I like to plant a plant and watch it bloom or fruit, not fight to keep the territory from being overrun by mannerless trees, bushes and weeds. Bah. Plus we have smoke from a fire on the coast now. Another Bah.

Today I will pick the persimmons. The birds have been at them, so not sure how many are left. I already picked some last week, so at least I will get a couple batches of cookies.

Looking at my hill today, I see the volunteer trees I need to cut down. I plan to leave one, hopefully to provide shade in the summer. I thought it would be the mimosa, because I love the flowers which attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Today I looked out and see that another type of volunteer (an upstart from a tree I planted years ago whose name I have forgotten; Chinese something or other) has gorgeous red and orange leaves. This is why I bought the parent tree, whose leaves never turn color, they go from green to brown overnight, then fall off. I didn't know when I bought it that it would send starts up from its roots all over my yard.

So now I must choose between the two. Both are invasive and a nuisance, but also both have their attributes. I suppose the other choice is to try to kill them all and plant a less invasive species, but I probably won't do that.

Our persimmon tree outdid itself this year. In addition to eating them, I am freezing the pulp in 2 c. measurements after I blend it. That way it will be ready to use when I'm ready to cook with it. For years I froze the persimmons whole, which is convenient because they don't have to fully ripen to do that, but when it comes time to cooking it's a mess to defrost and get the pulp out. Left plenty in the top of the tree for the birds.

Managed to harvest about 8 pineapple guavas this year! First harvest since I planted them about 7 years ago.

Thought about starting a new thread for the year, but decided my goals remain the same, I'm not much into gardening at the moment, so I will leave this here.

Very excited that each of my four orchids have a bloom stalk. Will be awhile before they bloom, but the anticipation is lovely.

Nothing like a three year old to get you out in the garden. While he was making a mud track for his Hot Wheels, I did a little pulling weeds, pruning and trying to clear the undergrowth around the grapevines so I can prune them. It was a lovely day here in California.

Grapevines are pruned, for better or worse. I think I changed my growing plan for them from the original plan. Hope they can handle it. The fence I have them on is woefully inadequate. What to do, what to do.

A day of sunshine here and I went outside! Sprayed my peach trees with fungicide, pruned the roses drastically, then I sprayed them. That's all folks.

>105 MrsLee: Glad you are getting your sunny dose of vitamin D!

>77 cindydavid4: hahaha, I do that.

>94 MrsLee: I saw a Western tanager once, in CONNECTICUT! Talk about a stray.

Very blustery and wet March here. I'm not complaining. This is how March is supposed to be, but I'm not going out in it.

The other morning I was thrilled looking out my front window to see a bluebird in our driveway, 2 Nuttall's woodpeckers in the big Ash tree and 2 titmice in the Golden Rain tree. I haven't seen those birds in several years since the stray cats (and two of my own) took over our backyard. This morning I saw either a golden-crowned or ruby-crowned kinglet. I think. It was teeny-tiny, with a short beak. The bushtit is greyer in the photo than the kinglet, but the bird was too far away and too small for me to be sure. Very cute though.

This week I saw the first hummingbird of the season. Not sure about type, too far away to see if there was iridescence. I think it may have been a black chinned hummer. Also see that the pipevine swallowtail butterflies are back. My vine had blooms a week or so ago.

>110 MrsLee: we only have one type of hummingbird here, the Ruby-throated, so it makes identification easy.

It's not really warm enough for butterflies, though I did see a Silver-spotted skipper yesterday.

I was watching a titmouse gather up cat hair for its nest (having found a nest in the past lined with cat hair, I now put the combings of my Siberian cat, which are very soft, yet weavable, on the tree for the birds in the spring). It picked and picked at it until it had a beak full. Looked hilarious, like a tiny bird with a big golden moustache. A blue jay was also watching. When the tit flew away, the jay flew to the tree, gave the hair a once over, then flew off scolding, as if to say, "What on earth do you want that for?"

Went into the yard yesterday. I actually did some work there. :) My children want to bring the grandsons here to do an Easter egg hunt, so I thought I should make a bit of an effort out there. Our weather is perfect right now. Also, the goose-grass is growing like crazy and must be eliminated before it goes to seed.

The corner bed by the side porch needed cleaning. I cut back a geranium that seems to have plans to take over the yard. I wouldn't mind so much if it ever bloomed, but it doesn't. Also trimmed my lemongrass. I took a chance and left it out over the winter. Usually I bring a start of it into the house in case of hard freezes, but I lucked out this year and there were none. I want to dig out a rose that is only from below the graft, but right now it is planning to bloom its one time bloom and should be lovely at Easter, so it gets a reprieve until then. Moved some pots around to take advantage of the sun. That's about it.

If I don't tire myself out too much today by cooking, I plan to work on the bed in the front of the house under the porch. The azalea and freesias are starting to bloom, along with the violets and woodland hyacinths. Not sure whether those will keep until the holiday, but they are lovely at the moment. There are also several trees/bushes volunteering in that bed which don't belong, as well as weeds. More geraniums to cut back. If I can confine myself to about an hour a day, I might not get so exhausted that I never want to go back out.

Did a bit in the front bed. Planted some calla lilies my husband dug up in an area he is re-doing a rock border. Pulled all the weeds and bushed I could, and cut off those bushes I couldn't pull out. Trimmed back some geraniums.

There is a cart a couple of blocks over that is offering a "Take one, leave one" deal for plants. I wonder if they want any geranium starts? I hate to leave things they will just throw away. May have to meet them and find out more about it. Perhaps they will show me their garden and I can invite them to tour mine. :)

I wish I had your success with geraniums! I love them and their peppery smell, and planted them all over my border gardens because deer don't like them and I got tired of deer eating all of my flowers.

Turns out that slugs DO like geraniums; it seemed like overnight they ate every leaf off every plant. Sigh...
This year I've got to try something different.

>115 Darth-Heather: Have you tried Geranium maculatum? Perhaps not the colors you’d like, but extremely hardy. I brought starts from the ridgetop and now I’ve got sizable patches on my slopes. I have slugs, but I’m not sure what they eat. They don’t bother this plant.

>115 Darth-Heather: Stupid slugs. I got rid of a lot of my slugs when I had ducks, but the ducks ate all my succulents. I have not noticed the slugs and snails eating these geraniums. They are very cheerful when they bloom.

>116 2wonderY: That's a good point, I should look for slug-resistant flowers. Now to find something that is not appealing to deer, woodchucks, caterpillars, and slugs. I might have to just go with rock gardens :)

>117 MrsLee: I did try the thing with a dish of beer, and it attracted slugs but also the neighbor's dog...

>118 Darth-Heather: You can see two patches of the native geranium blooming on this reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6q4FnNOylx/?igsh=MThnYndkcjZkb2c2bw==

We have been having backyard drama the last few days. There was a dead opossum on our lawn Tuesday. I called the city because I wasn't sure whether they pick them up or if I was supposed to deal with it. I was afraid of rabies, but apparently opossums don't get rabies. Anyway, they said put it in the garbage can (our garbage is picked up on Mondays). My husband was out, and that is his duty as he loves me, so it waited until he got home. Only, before he got home, something eviscerated it. By the time he got home, there were about seven vultures having a wake with the carcass. I learned that when vultures are gathered, it is a committee, but when they are eating together, it is a wake. At that point I told hubby, why make a big stink all week in our garbage can when we can be having a feed for the other critters around?

The next morning, the vultures had to wait their turn while a red shouldered hawk had its fill. By the afternoon, most of the carcass (the soft bits) were gone. I showed my grandson and there were flies all over it. We talked about the various animals that would eat it. He told me he thought it was kind of "icky." I agreed, but said, "To us it is icky, but to these animals it's what's for dinner!"

I haven't checked it today. Other matters to deal with in the house.

>120 MrsLee: it's fascinating that opossums do not get rabies. Apparently their body temperature is too low for the virus to reproduce.

I like how you used the carcass as a teachable moment.

Goose grass, Galium aparine, Cleavers, Catchweed, Bedstraw, Stickywilly. A plant by any other name, it has to go. My yard is overrun and I will be working this weekend to bring it back under control. Also clearing paths. All of this because my two grandsons are planning to come hunt eggs on Easter weekend. A good motivation for me.

Weeded another patch today. Cleared on of the rock paths down to the second level. Three more to go.

I'm afraid the house must take precedence over the yard now. Kids are conning to visit so I have to tackle the major dust bunnies.

Cleared another path this morning, pulling a much wild carrot and bad grass as I could along the way. Cut down various trees which are trying to grow where they shouldn't.

I found a pyrocantha (sp?) volunteer. Although this is a plant I have banished from my life since I was a child (every summer found at least two thorns in my foot), I decided to let this one grow. It is on the hill where no children should be walking, they are great food for the birds, and can be pretty. Also, on that same hill is a load of prickly aloe and a prickly date palm, so it matches the theme.

I had to avert my eyes from the surrounding flower beds. So many weeds to pull. If I don't focus I get lost in the yard. Now I have to get my butt up and clean the livingroom.

One more path cleared, and some weeds pulled around my lilac. Also masses of sweet peas pulled because they weren't where they belong. I should say snapped off. I have given up on ever getting the roots out of even the small ones; so now I just yank the vines out when they overreach.

Finished clearing the last path down the hill. No more gardening until Monday, then it will be a war on unwelcome grasses/grains/weeds.

Got back in the garden today in spite of the fact that I said I wouldn't. We had two cool and cloudy days, but the sun came out this morning and I couldn't resist.

Pruned one lavender plant, cut down some saplings which are growing in the wrong place, tried to free my roses from the sweet pea vines and ivy that are trying to choke them. This was about a 10' long garden bed, 3' deep. I'm pooped.

We night some plants at the Farmer's Market yesterday. Today I planted all but the flowers for my wagon. One "snacking" cucumber, one black tomato, 2 basils, one purple and one green. Also added under the orange tree and managed to fill a 50 gallon trash can. The flowers are a fuzzy flame/brush flower. Can't remember the name.

Love it. There's a sense of satisfaction when the weeds are removed and the gardens can shine.

Today I learned something. There is a real trend called "Chaos Gardening." My husband and I were doing it before it was cool. :D

2 more hours this morning and 1 and a half 50 lb. cans of yard waste. Pruned some of my roses and lavender. Plus a few other things that were trying to encroach on our walkways around the house.

>130 MrsLee: bwahaha!

Did some more wedding and deadheading today. Cleaning up beds as I go. So much to do, so little energy.

My plan was to do fertilizing, snail poisoning and ant deterrent (diatomaceous earth), then plant the new things I bought yesterday. What happened was that my eyes were caught by the tons of burr clover in my sad little used-to-be-lawn area. When that happens, my body bends and I start pulling. Ended up spending most of my time doing that, making not much headway at all.

Managed to put Chelated Iron on the azaleas, gardenias and rhododendron. Also did the diatomaceous earth, and I planted 6 of the 12 creeping thyme plants I bought in the lawn where the burr clover is growing. Hope to plant the rest there tomorrow. That lawn has stepping stones in it and I want the thyme to creep around them.

I also bought a sedum from Farmer's Market. Used to have a lot, but it had died out. We needed something to grow beside a lavender in a little spot we have by the house. At Home Depot (where I bought the creeping thyme), I bought four tiny creeping petunias to go in the edge of my two wagons out front. A vivid blue/purple. I was only going to get two, at $5 each, but our total at checkout was $93 and I had a 15% coupon off if you bought $100 worth, so I got two more petunias, one a pink and white striped one, and our total at checkout was about $85.

I purchased two bags of California wildflower seeds, but those can't be sown until November.

Planted the rest of the plants. The creeping petunia-like ones are called Holy Cow.

Also fertilized the citrus, tomato, cucumber, azaleas, camellias and gardenias. Sprinkled a little snail bait in areas they have caused trouble before, although I haven't seen too much damage yet this year.

Found a new crop of wild carrot weeds under my peach trees. Sigh.

Pushed myself into the garden today. A seek and destroy mission. Result; a bin full of weeds and deadhead material. Also put fertilizer on the fruit trees and our one tomato plant and one cucumber plant.

Something is wrong with the cucumber. The one fruit I saw shriveled up and turned brown. Not sure if it's a pest or if it isn't getting pollinated.

Sprinkled diatomaceous earth around to hopefully cut down on the any hoards.

I have Creeping Jenny around my pond area, and surrounding my stepping stones. It looks like a yellow carpet, very pretty. Wish I could share my sedum, it grows everywhere!

>137 fuzzi: We got rid of our pond. Couldn't do the maintenance required. It is now full of soil, covered with a thick layer of tiny black lava. A birdbath rests in it and a few plants continue to grow whether I want them or not. The coreopsis has decided it likes it there. Also, we never took out the pond iris or the reeds (they aren't really reeds, but they grow in wild ponds here). The lawn beside this "pond" (I use the term lawn loosely, mostly weeds, but usually greenish) is very dry. There is a camphor tree which sucks up the moisture.

My sedum plant still lives! I remember what happened to the sedum I used to have; ducks. They ate it all.

>138 MrsLee: is the pond liner still underneath the earth fill? It could be holding some moisture. My coreopsis loves the pond area, as does sedum and crinum lilies.

It was cement lined and although we took the plug out, we didn't break up the cement.

>140 MrsLee: it's probably holding in some moisture, then. No wonder the coreopsis likes it.

I have an abundance of pond plants, like pickerel rush. I planted some of them next to the rainwater ditch in front of the house, and they love it there.

One of the aloes on my front porch had burst its bonds and broken its pot, so I bought some others and a new pot to replace it. The others do not have poky bits on them, so I'm hoping my grandson will approve. My sister advised buying a potted collection of succulents because even though it was more expensive, per plant, it was less money. So I did that. Used three in the pot out front, but I still have to figure out where I want the rest of them. Probably in my little red wagons out front. I am transitioning them to succulents which require very little maintenance and less water.

Harvested two huge Tupperware bowls full of green grapes this morning. I didn't think they were ready, but noticed some drying on the vine so tasted them. They are about the sweetest grapes I've ever tasted, but they have seeds which I don't love. I chew them up and swallow though because they are very good for me. Juicing in my Vitamix gives me all the goodness and means drinks are super sweet. Still have the pink grapes to harvest, but they aren't quite ready.

Originally, I planted the to make wine, but I don't do that anymore.

My peach trees are almost ready to harvest. Had to pick 4 because they had split open. Picked a few others because they are bug/animal damaged.

The wild turkeys are back! We had at least a dozen today. Three adults and the rest youngsters, but not tiny.