A few weeks ago, I was reading on Steph's Green Space her love of dollarweed, and I laughed because I have loads of this stuff growing everywhere in my front and side gardens. It's one that's hard to control because it sends out runners of roots that are very fragile and hard to follow back to the source. I tried pulling them out when I first noticed them, but since then, I've given up. As far as weeds go, this one is very polite. It'll stay low to the ground and won't bully other plants.
Then at the native plant sale at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, I noted they were selling hanging baskets of the stuff, and I wondered who in Central Texas would buy it. If they buy it, I want names and addresses so I can market some of the other stuff that grows wildly in my yard, but then again, I've actually purchased purple heart, prickly pear, and other stuff that's growing in abundance and easy to propagate. Who am I to judge? Dollarweed is at least a native of the US.
As far as weeds go, the ones I hate the most are mimosas, bermuda grass, and bamboo - all plants that were imported from Asia or Africa. They are hard to control, especially if you have neighbors growing the stuff, and the nature of the plant is just terrible.
I've noticed that
April 27, 2009
April 26, 2009
Gardening by the Yard - Canceled
Updated Blog Post Here.
------------------
Original Post:
Wow. WOW! By favorite show is being canceled. There are VERY few shows that I record, and 3 are gardening shows: Central Texas Gardener (PBS/KLRU), A Gardener's Diary (HGTV), and Gardening by the Yard (HGTV). My favorite is Gardening by the Yard BY FAR!! Paul James is an icon. He has a great presence, and he knows his shit. The show is entertaining and helpful which is a far cry from most HGTV shows. Still, HGTV, in all its wisdom, has seen fit to cancel the show.
The overwhelming majority of programs on HGTV act more
like infomercials for products (e.g., "I Want That") or could be replaced entirely with a slideshow of before's and after's (e.g., "Curb Appeal") which should NOT constitute television. Many more of the shows are so painfully simplistic or basic that they lack any value (e.g., "The Top Ten Things You Should Know About..." aka "Stuff You Already Know Because You Aren't a Complete Incompetent").
This is frustrating. I LOVE television. Love it! I love my gardening shows and wish there were more of them and more gardening programs in general.
If HGTV really drops Paul James, I hope PBS picks his show up and drops P. Allen Smith. P. Allen Smith is more in the realm of HGTV/Fine Living Network anyway.
Protest Blog: http://hgtvprotestcampaign.blogspot.com/
------------------
Original Post:
Wow. WOW! By favorite show is being canceled. There are VERY few shows that I record, and 3 are gardening shows: Central Texas Gardener (PBS/KLRU), A Gardener's Diary (HGTV), and Gardening by the Yard (HGTV). My favorite is Gardening by the Yard BY FAR!! Paul James is an icon. He has a great presence, and he knows his shit. The show is entertaining and helpful which is a far cry from most HGTV shows. Still, HGTV, in all its wisdom, has seen fit to cancel the show.
The overwhelming majority of programs on HGTV act more
like infomercials for products (e.g., "I Want That") or could be replaced entirely with a slideshow of before's and after's (e.g., "Curb Appeal") which should NOT constitute television. Many more of the shows are so painfully simplistic or basic that they lack any value (e.g., "The Top Ten Things You Should Know About..." aka "Stuff You Already Know Because You Aren't a Complete Incompetent").This is frustrating. I LOVE television. Love it! I love my gardening shows and wish there were more of them and more gardening programs in general.
If HGTV really drops Paul James, I hope PBS picks his show up and drops P. Allen Smith. P. Allen Smith is more in the realm of HGTV/Fine Living Network anyway.
Protest Blog: http://hgtvprotestcampaign.blogspot.com/
April 25, 2009
April 24, 2009
Happy Arrrrbor Day
Arrrrbor Day means pirate trees! And here's a Caribbean pirate tree to tantalize the taste buds:
It's a papaya tree, or rather, it's TWO papaya trees! I scooped this pot up at the auction last night at the Garden Club of Austin meeting along with a few other things. They aren't hardy here, but they should produce fruit before the first frost. From the fruit, we can start again from seed since these plants are FAST growers! They should be about 10' tall by winter.
And YAR! LOOK AT THEM LEAVES!
Gorgeous.
This should be an interesting journey into the realm of annual tropical fruit trees which is a very odd thing to consider - trees as annuals...
It's a papaya tree, or rather, it's TWO papaya trees! I scooped this pot up at the auction last night at the Garden Club of Austin meeting along with a few other things. They aren't hardy here, but they should produce fruit before the first frost. From the fruit, we can start again from seed since these plants are FAST growers! They should be about 10' tall by winter.
And YAR! LOOK AT THEM LEAVES!
Gorgeous.
This should be an interesting journey into the realm of annual tropical fruit trees which is a very odd thing to consider - trees as annuals...
April 22, 2009
Tour through a Domestic Violence Shelter
Today I went on a tour through a domestic violence shelter, and I noticed so many fake plants. For some reason, that made me sad. The shelter itself wasn't sad. There was lots of life and hope despite the obvious pain. It's a great shelter and community, but I felt ridiculous for being so sad about the fake plants. I was a case worker recently for victims and survivors of natural disasters and worked with Hurricane evacuees from Katrina and Ike. From that experience, I learned to not dwell on the past and to push for things in the now, RIGHT now because it was always urgent. Shelters are a blessing because they offer assistance and hope for the right now. They're a result of something terrible, but why the plastic fake plants? Maybe they represent that awful past and aren't in the here-now solution. They were made in a factory far away, most probably by underpaid women, and they're just depressing. They don't even make me angry, and I much prefer to get angry over these things than sad. I'm thinking about calling up my local Lowe's and asking for some of the plants they'd normally throw away. It'd be nice to surprise the families on Mother's Day with plants, but that seems like it might be silly. Still, plastic plants are an abomination and even more silly. A dead, artificial dust collector. They were so out of place.
April 21, 2009
What would you add to a "wedding registry"?
I'm racking my brain about what to add to a "wedding registry". One of my sisters didn't register anywhere and wound up with 5 toasters, no joke, so I feel compelled to register. I have a few things on my registry (e.g., rowenta iron, milwaukee cordless drill, and luggage), but I don't know what else to register for.
So what would you ask for?
So what would you ask for?
April 20, 2009
Awkward Social Procrastination
I am so guilty of not getting back to people in a timely fashion.
Do you ever get a message from a friend/relative and think "Ha! YES! I have blahblahblah...." and don't actually respond and then that lack of response makes you feel all terrible so you avoid and then it comes to a point where you've avoided responding for so long that you can't respond and then you finally respond with a billion apologies trying to explain and you know the other person doesn't believe you?
That's me. With everything.
Do you ever get a message from a friend/relative and think "Ha! YES! I have blahblahblah...." and don't actually respond and then that lack of response makes you feel all terrible so you avoid and then it comes to a point where you've avoided responding for so long that you can't respond and then you finally respond with a billion apologies trying to explain and you know the other person doesn't believe you?
That's me. With everything.
Killing Trees
When I was little, I thought every single tree in the world was great, and if you cut down a tree, you were killing the world. I still have that inclination, but I know it's not true. There are trees that just don't live that long, and it's fine to cut them down when they start to decline. There are trees that were planted horribly and compete with one another for limited light and room. There are trees that are just plain terrible for environment and use up limited resources. I have all three of those problems in my small 1/2 acre.
On one side of the property line, there is a very pretty tree with
spikes of purple flowers in the spring, but it's declining quickly. I suspect it's a short-lived tree, but I also suspect that it hasn't been cared for properly. It's sending off suckers. There are broken branches. There are vertical growths. Basically, this tree needs to be removed and make way for one of the babies or replaced entirely.
In the back, there are a row of trees that were planted WAY too close together. We've cut down 2 already and cut down a third this past weekend. The trees want to create a fountain with a huge canopy, but because of limited space, they're growing in crooked awkward ways and will doubtfully live for long. Additionally, they don't add much to the landscape, and they will compete with the oak tree that is far more valuable as the oak will live much longer and would cost a whole lot more to remove and the
removal could potentially damage the house. The backyard had an obscene number of trees and still has too many. There were 3 cedars, 6 unknowns, 1 pecan, and 1 oak. We're down to 1 cedar, 1 oak, 3 unknowns, 1 pecan, and 1 Eve's Lecklace (a short understory tree) after a lot of work. There are some potted fruit trees, but those are movable and don't count.
And did you know that cedar trees are partially responsible for the drought and water shortage on the Rio Grande? They were
planted to help control erosion and because of their drought tolerance. The thing is that cedars are drought tolerant because they can reach their roots down DEEP and suck up loads of water. They use up so much water than very little vegetation can compete and ultimately have caused a lot of problems. The Texas State Parks and Wildlife Department have been selectively spraying the cedars to kill them along the Rio Grande. Two years ago, I had a total of 6 cedars. In the past year, we've chopped down two, and we've cleared it with on of my neighbors to cut down 2 more that are right on the property line. This past weekend we started the process of cutting down these 2. A bonus to this is that my neighbors are allergic to cedar pollen, and having 2 huge ones probably isn't working out too well. I'm personally not allergic, but there are loads of people who are.
There are only two trees on the property that I intend to keep out of the original 16+. I have to say 16+ because I've cut down so many young trees that I can't remember how many there were originally. I am planning on planting more trees, but they'll be trees that are well-adapted without destroying the environment or are completely native. They'll also fit the space, either naturally or through pruning such as with fruit trees.
When we bought the house, we didn't know just how much work the yard was going to be. We knew about the millions of mimosas and all the bamboo. We knew the landscaping hadn't been cared for in a long time, but we didn't know how much labor and expense there would be.
Also, my boyfriend dropped a cedar branch right on top of my wavy prickly pear cactus and Swartburg Beauty iceplant. Fired.
On one side of the property line, there is a very pretty tree with
spikes of purple flowers in the spring, but it's declining quickly. I suspect it's a short-lived tree, but I also suspect that it hasn't been cared for properly. It's sending off suckers. There are broken branches. There are vertical growths. Basically, this tree needs to be removed and make way for one of the babies or replaced entirely.In the back, there are a row of trees that were planted WAY too close together. We've cut down 2 already and cut down a third this past weekend. The trees want to create a fountain with a huge canopy, but because of limited space, they're growing in crooked awkward ways and will doubtfully live for long. Additionally, they don't add much to the landscape, and they will compete with the oak tree that is far more valuable as the oak will live much longer and would cost a whole lot more to remove and the
removal could potentially damage the house. The backyard had an obscene number of trees and still has too many. There were 3 cedars, 6 unknowns, 1 pecan, and 1 oak. We're down to 1 cedar, 1 oak, 3 unknowns, 1 pecan, and 1 Eve's Lecklace (a short understory tree) after a lot of work. There are some potted fruit trees, but those are movable and don't count.And did you know that cedar trees are partially responsible for the drought and water shortage on the Rio Grande? They were
planted to help control erosion and because of their drought tolerance. The thing is that cedars are drought tolerant because they can reach their roots down DEEP and suck up loads of water. They use up so much water than very little vegetation can compete and ultimately have caused a lot of problems. The Texas State Parks and Wildlife Department have been selectively spraying the cedars to kill them along the Rio Grande. Two years ago, I had a total of 6 cedars. In the past year, we've chopped down two, and we've cleared it with on of my neighbors to cut down 2 more that are right on the property line. This past weekend we started the process of cutting down these 2. A bonus to this is that my neighbors are allergic to cedar pollen, and having 2 huge ones probably isn't working out too well. I'm personally not allergic, but there are loads of people who are.There are only two trees on the property that I intend to keep out of the original 16+. I have to say 16+ because I've cut down so many young trees that I can't remember how many there were originally. I am planning on planting more trees, but they'll be trees that are well-adapted without destroying the environment or are completely native. They'll also fit the space, either naturally or through pruning such as with fruit trees.
When we bought the house, we didn't know just how much work the yard was going to be. We knew about the millions of mimosas and all the bamboo. We knew the landscaping hadn't been cared for in a long time, but we didn't know how much labor and expense there would be.Also, my boyfriend dropped a cedar branch right on top of my wavy prickly pear cactus and Swartburg Beauty iceplant. Fired.
April 16, 2009
Racing to catch up
Over the past 3 weeks, there have been 3 major plant sales from local organizations. First there was the Zilker Botanical Garden Festival. Then there was the Cactus and Succulent Society plant swap/sale. Last weekend was the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Sale. As a result, we're loaded with plants, and the rain is coming in this weekend.
I managed to get the cacti and succulents potted from the Cactus and Succulent Society sale, and that took an amazingly long time! First, I didn't have enough small pots so I had to purchase some. Then there was mixing up potting soils for the plants. Add to that the fact that a lot of them are little beasties that want to tear up your flesh and consume it. Bastards. My boyfriend went to that one, and he bought up! He won 5 plants too, and 3 of those plants could be split up into multiple plants. Pretty good in general.
This past weekend, we both went to the native plant sale which had plants from all over Texas. I got a Beauty Berry, a TINY mountain laurel, a lace cactus, and bunches of others. On Monday, I bought up 15 Easter lilies that were marked down to $1, and on that same day, my order of Wyoming Cannas and Abyssinian gladiolas came in from Old House Gardens, which, by the way, I highly recommend - the bulbs and roots were GORGEOUS and a fab price.
Ooof.
So I had roots, bulbs, and loads of plants with rain on the way this weekend.
Naturally, I decided it was time to kick the front yard up a notch and start the irritating process of converting turf to garden. Yesterday, from 10 AM to 5 PM, I did nothing but dig and plant. No lunch, no breaks, just work. It had to get done.
Well, it's done, but it looks absolutely ridiculous:
You can see the Easter lilies losing the last of their blooms, some tiny cacti and native perrenials, and some bamboo skewers. The thing is that the Easter lilies were forced and are blooming unnaturally early. Lilies that have gone through the winter are just now forming blossoms and are about the same height as my gladiolas that were already planted. The cannas are slowly coming up. The bamboo skewers mark where the cannas and gladiolas are, and between the three types of bulbs planted in the plot, I will have successive blooming. First the lilies (though not this early), then the glads, and finally the cannas. And that's just the bulbs. I'm not sure when the natives will bloom, but there's quite a variety and will hopefully vary and continue the length of bloom time to cover more of the year.
Whitlow Wort
Twist Leaf Yucca
Spice Lily
Spanish Dagger
Siler's Tuberose
Maximillian Sunflower
Little Nipple Cacti
Horse Crippler Cactus (SCARY!)
Harvard Agave (3x3 when mature)
Guapilla (5 plants from 2 pots)
Echinocactus Grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus)
Barbed-wire Cactus
To make things just a little more hectic, my hosta order arrived right when I was digging up the lawn. By "finally", I mean I placed my original order in January, and they were ready for shipment just now. I got them from Direct Source Hostas, and I am very impressed with their selection, care, and price. The plants look great and very healthy. I ordered 9 varieties, and we'll see how many survive here in Central Texas. I got Fried Bananas, Guacamole, Lunar Orbit, Pineapple Juice, Stained Glass, Zounds, Lakeside Kaleidoscope, Patriot, and Wolverine.
I'm also very pleased with how the side plot is coming together. I wasn't sure how the colors would all look together, but I'm impressed the purple and orange look nice. The purple heart and bulbine are continuous bloomers as well, so that's a nice bonus. The one lamb's ear plant isn't looking so hot. I'm not sure what's up with it.
I also found a spot for my gargoyle. It's guarding an aloe that's finally turning green.
Here are a couple cacti from the sale. This first one looks like someone playing the tambourine:
And randomly, here's a neon planter. Pink and white petunias in a lime green pot which is sitting on a wrought iron standing planter filled with green sweet potato vine and a couple purple hearts which you can't see in the picture:
I still want a cig.
I managed to get the cacti and succulents potted from the Cactus and Succulent Society sale, and that took an amazingly long time! First, I didn't have enough small pots so I had to purchase some. Then there was mixing up potting soils for the plants. Add to that the fact that a lot of them are little beasties that want to tear up your flesh and consume it. Bastards. My boyfriend went to that one, and he bought up! He won 5 plants too, and 3 of those plants could be split up into multiple plants. Pretty good in general.
This past weekend, we both went to the native plant sale which had plants from all over Texas. I got a Beauty Berry, a TINY mountain laurel, a lace cactus, and bunches of others. On Monday, I bought up 15 Easter lilies that were marked down to $1, and on that same day, my order of Wyoming Cannas and Abyssinian gladiolas came in from Old House Gardens, which, by the way, I highly recommend - the bulbs and roots were GORGEOUS and a fab price.
Ooof.
So I had roots, bulbs, and loads of plants with rain on the way this weekend.
Naturally, I decided it was time to kick the front yard up a notch and start the irritating process of converting turf to garden. Yesterday, from 10 AM to 5 PM, I did nothing but dig and plant. No lunch, no breaks, just work. It had to get done.
Well, it's done, but it looks absolutely ridiculous:
You can see the Easter lilies losing the last of their blooms, some tiny cacti and native perrenials, and some bamboo skewers. The thing is that the Easter lilies were forced and are blooming unnaturally early. Lilies that have gone through the winter are just now forming blossoms and are about the same height as my gladiolas that were already planted. The cannas are slowly coming up. The bamboo skewers mark where the cannas and gladiolas are, and between the three types of bulbs planted in the plot, I will have successive blooming. First the lilies (though not this early), then the glads, and finally the cannas. And that's just the bulbs. I'm not sure when the natives will bloom, but there's quite a variety and will hopefully vary and continue the length of bloom time to cover more of the year.
Here are the rest of the plants in the plot (in no particular order):
Whitlow Wort
Twist Leaf Yucca
Spice Lily
Spanish Dagger
Siler's Tuberose
Maximillian Sunflower
Little Nipple Cacti
Horse Crippler Cactus (SCARY!)
Harvard Agave (3x3 when mature)
Guapilla (5 plants from 2 pots)
Echinocactus Grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus)
Barbed-wire Cactus
I'm also very pleased with how the side plot is coming together. I wasn't sure how the colors would all look together, but I'm impressed the purple and orange look nice. The purple heart and bulbine are continuous bloomers as well, so that's a nice bonus. The one lamb's ear plant isn't looking so hot. I'm not sure what's up with it.
I also found a spot for my gargoyle. It's guarding an aloe that's finally turning green.
Here are a couple cacti from the sale. This first one looks like someone playing the tambourine:
And randomly, here's a neon planter. Pink and white petunias in a lime green pot which is sitting on a wrought iron standing planter filled with green sweet potato vine and a couple purple hearts which you can't see in the picture:
I still want a cig.
April 14, 2009
I want a cig... REAL BAD!
I'm attempting to quit smoking, and I'm really wanting a cig. Lately, I've been feeling really, really, really tired, and I suspect it's because of lack of nicotine (a stimulant). I'm using patches and have had 3 cigs in the past 4 days. Apparently patches can cause vivid dreams if you wear one at night, and last night I wore one to bed accidentally.
Thankfully I haven't felt any depression or anxiety (both side effects from smoking cessation), but with the lethargy and weird dreams, this shit sucks. To make it worse, caffeine and alcohol both make you want to smoke more which is why you see a lot of smokers puffing away at bars and cafes. Consequently, trying to perk myself up with some caffeine makes me want to smoke more, so I'm keeping the caffeine to normal levels and dealing with the lethargy.
In other news, I bought up at the after-Easter sale at Target and Lowe's yesterday. I bought 15 lilies at Lowe's for $1 each (marked down from nearly $7), and at Target, I bought loads of Reese's eggs, Cadbury cream eggs, and a cake stand. I also bought some copper plant markers, but they weren't part of the Easter sale. Still $1 for short copper plant markers seems like a good deal to me. I ALMOST bought a bunch of fiberglass pots but decided against them.
My mom and I were at Lowe's looking for cement, but Lowe's was also half of a salvage yard and reptile store. We were walking back to the reptile section when I noticed a gator had gotten out. I started to run and yelled for my mom to run too. She looked at me and asked why she should run. I told her that gators can run 30 mph on dry land. The gator started going after her and we were both booking it. On the way out of the Lowe's part, I considered buying the cement but figured I didn't have enough time to buy it and get away from the gator. Then I was suddenly on a space shuttle or something trying to get to the moon, but the shuttle crashed on the side of a mountain and I spent the rest of the dream walking through fields and meadows on a mountain side while avoiding gangsters trying to catch me.Looking up how fast alligators can run, I was actually pretty darn close in my dream. The mountains were also quite Alpine. No telling how the shuttle crashed there. Basically it was a whole lot of weird and very vivid. I woke up and tried going back to sleep after removing the patch. After half an hour or so, I got up and went to watch TV in the living room. I managed to fall asleep out there after a while.
Thankfully I haven't felt any depression or anxiety (both side effects from smoking cessation), but with the lethargy and weird dreams, this shit sucks. To make it worse, caffeine and alcohol both make you want to smoke more which is why you see a lot of smokers puffing away at bars and cafes. Consequently, trying to perk myself up with some caffeine makes me want to smoke more, so I'm keeping the caffeine to normal levels and dealing with the lethargy.
In other news, I bought up at the after-Easter sale at Target and Lowe's yesterday. I bought 15 lilies at Lowe's for $1 each (marked down from nearly $7), and at Target, I bought loads of Reese's eggs, Cadbury cream eggs, and a cake stand. I also bought some copper plant markers, but they weren't part of the Easter sale. Still $1 for short copper plant markers seems like a good deal to me. I ALMOST bought a bunch of fiberglass pots but decided against them.
April 9, 2009
New Pads for the Wavy Prickly Pear
On March 19, I posted about buds on the wavy prickly pear living in the hell strip. It turns out that we'll be getting some exciting new growth... and fast! These new pads are growing much faster than I would have thought. They must be very happy!
In other news, here's a bloom on another cactus and it isn't one of those godawful plastic ones that Lowe's and Home Depot glue on:
In other news, here's a bloom on another cactus and it isn't one of those godawful plastic ones that Lowe's and Home Depot glue on:
April 8, 2009
April 7, 2009
April 6, 2009
The Poblano Phoenix Rises from the Ashes
We had a mild winter here in Central Texas, and early in the winter season, I decided to leave the jalapeno and poblano plants to see what would happen. The jalapeno still has leaves and a green stem even though it looks kinda straggly. The poblano I thought for sure was a goner. It dropped all its leaves and the stem turned brown/gray. But BEHOLD! IT RISES AGAIN!
April 5, 2009
Compost is full of surprises...
Near my compost pile, I've been finding all sorts of random plants sprouting up.
Here's a random melon plant of some sort:
Here's a random tomato:
The tomatoes are probably the easiest to identify because of their leaves, fuzzy stems, and distinctive scent. Here's one I found and potted up:
I've actually given about 8 of these random tomato plants to my neighbor, and I have another one potted up in addition to the above. How odd.
Here's a random melon plant of some sort:
Here's a random tomato:
The tomatoes are probably the easiest to identify because of their leaves, fuzzy stems, and distinctive scent. Here's one I found and potted up:
I've actually given about 8 of these random tomato plants to my neighbor, and I have another one potted up in addition to the above. How odd.
April 4, 2009
Kangaroo Fern Propagation
At the Zilker Botanical Garden Festival a few days ago, I got some cuttings of Kangaroo Fern and potted them up.
I bent coated paperclips into a U-shape to hold the rhizomes down and make soil contact. The soil is about 1 part sphagnum moss to 1 part potting soil.
I gave one pot to a neighbor so hopefully if mine dies, hers will live.
I bent coated paperclips into a U-shape to hold the rhizomes down and make soil contact. The soil is about 1 part sphagnum moss to 1 part potting soil.
I gave one pot to a neighbor so hopefully if mine dies, hers will live.
April 3, 2009
April 2, 2009
Happy Woodland Violets
The woodland violets are blossoming and looking very innocent, but I'm keepin' an eye on these two:
They might be up to no good.
They might be up to no good.
April 1, 2009
Is this an April Fool's joke?
I really don't know much about iceplants, but my Swartburg Beauty iceplant has finished flowering and the old buds now look like this:
Is it playing a joke on me? Or is it going to produce seeds?
Is it playing a joke on me? Or is it going to produce seeds?
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