any gardeners?

“Wow, that's a very nice blue flowered hosta. I've only seen white flowered ones around here.”

“tree, thats what I was thinking, it's an unusual color. All my hostas that i've bought have very plain flowers on them. These flowers are also scented nicely.”

“I just saw a blue flowered variety with a strong fragrance advertised in a wayside gardens catalog.”

“The leaves are very plain however:



I have 9 more seedlings from this batch, only one other is sending up a flower spike. One seems to be a dwarf, as it has just as many leaves as the others but is tiny growning compared to the others in this lot.
last edited: 9/26/07 1:40:06 PM”

“I've got about eleventeen different varieties of hostas. Several have blue flowers.

You sure take purty pictures, Miss Spirit Coyote.”

“This Just In ----

You fertilized with what?
Janet Raloff

Talk about your all-natural fertilizer with a high yuck factor. Researchers in Finland have just published results of a study showing that farmers can substitute human urine for conventional fertilizer and get a notable increase in cabbage yields. Moreover, the crop's taste was at least as acceptable as that of the greens fertilized conventionally.

Surendra K. Pradhan of the University of Kuopio and his colleagues grew cabbages using a conventional fertilizer, human urine that had been stored for 6 months, or no soil amendments at all. In an upcoming issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the researchers report that urine treatment yielded cabbages that were bigger and carried fewer germs than either other approach yielded.

Although the nutrient content of urine depends on what someone has eaten, analyses of the urine used in these experiments showed that its nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content was comparable to that of commercial fertilizer.

Sauerkraut made from cabbages cultivated in the three ways had slightly different flavors, according to taste panelists, but were equally well liked.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And for an extra laugh, you can name your monkey after the researcher.

”

“I have people pee in my compost. Roses love urine too :)”

“Nice hosta! I have blue flowered ones too but they aren't varigated. Mine are all pale lavender.

Here's a before picture of the wall at Abby's school:



The layout for one half:


And the smaller side:


And planted:




I'm waiting on the perennial donations from the community, then will plant them, lay newspapers, top soil, and mulch. It might be done by next summer. Looks kinda small and measly right now but it's a huge space and the plants will grow and fill in.”

“That's cool, Sass. It's best to give plants lots of space.”

“You did that all yourself? You go girl!

Looks great! Congrats!”

“Naw, Birch rototilled and a lady named Sue planted one tree and shrub.”

“Oh, We dug up the potatoes from the tires of death last night. 5. Not pounds, potatoes. lol, I'm taking those stupid tires back to where I got them!”

“Spirit - what's the name of the white flower in the pic with your foot? I saw those and purple versions all over the AT last weekend while we were hiking.


Hey gardeners - I'm thinking of putting a trellis up the one side of my house that gets full afternoon sun. I want to plant a vine of some kind that will grow up at least one story, and maybe 2. Preferably flowering, all or at least part of the summer (I love flowering plants). Any suggestions?”

“tech, that is an aster called 'snowdrift' it only gets about 4" tall but spreads out about a foot and a half.”

“"Oh, We dug up the potatoes from the tires of death last night. 5. Not pounds, potatoes. lol, I'm taking those stupid tires back to where I got them!"

Told ya so......”

“spirit - no, the little teeny white flowers in the pic with your foot.”

“No, you never said the yield would be low, you said they'd kill us. So far we're still fine and the potatoes were delicious.”

“I only got a few very small potatoes this year too, but I didn't exactly try. I also need to put them in a sandier mix that doesn't hold as much moisture.

We've been in stage 3 drought restrictions since Wednesday 12 am, and things aren't looking good. Many experts think we'll have a very dry winter (la nina effect)so the reservoirs and ground water levels won't be replenished. Scary stuff.”

“The ones in the tire did better for me then the ones in the ground.....but even so, the yeilds sucked this year.”

“Yeah, that sucks. We watched lake levels go down, down, down for years here. It doesn't sound that scarey but these are the GREAT lake levels. When beaches increase by acres, and marinas are all the sudden high and dry, it makes one a little nervous.

Sandy soil might help us out too. Ours is pretty rich and dark. Some water might have done something for them too. Everything got neglected during the house redo.”

“Ours got plenty of water, but were in rich gardening compost. I guess a bag of play sand will get incorporated next time around.”

“Oh, Tech, If I had a trelis in a sunny place I'd plant honeysuckle.
last edited: 9/28/07 6:14:41 AM”

“My tire yield was low as well. Next year I'll move the tires up near the main garden where the soil is more sandy and I'm more likely to remember to water.”

“Why honeysuckle? I know its relativley pretty and smells nice, but isn't it a bit unruly?”

“Don't get Japanese (white) honeysuckle, it'll take over. THere's domestic varieties (usually coral to red) that are considerably smaller and better-behaved.”

“Hummingbirds like it.”

“Ah, that's a good reason. I wonder how high they would grow in a trellis.

Height is important because the main reason I want to do this is to create summertime shade on the west side of my house. Most of it is single-story, but part of it is 2-stories (plus attic). In the winter I want it to die back and allow at least some sun.”

“Wisteria or trumpet vine.”

“Trumpet vine! Humming birds love em.”

“Wisteria can take over and get away too. If you opt for that, just make sure the variety you get doesn't get that big. Now trumpet vine is a native species, so that's cool. It tends to bloom in late summer, too.”

“Trumpet flower was I meant, not honeysuckle. For some reason I always get those two confused.”

“I checked up on it and it sounds like it meets my needs, but many online have reservations about it...

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/644/”

“Trumpet vines come in several colors now too. There's the original orange, plus cream, yellow, pink and red.”

“I have a yellow one, the native ones around here are orange. They sure are pretty :)”

“The mumms I bought like 2 weeks ago are dead. Crap. I paid like $10 each for them too. I think I'm gonna put down boat carpeting for my lawn, and pull up everything buy the one soft maple in the back yard, because one day it will be large enough to fall and crush most of the house.”

“Did you forget to water them mean?”

“I didn't water them every day, but in like one week they dried up and turned crunchy. WTF? I don't even care. What ever. Next time I get the bright idea to buy some flowers I'll just put some money in the "gear fund jar" instead.
last edited: 9/30/07 2:15:56 PM”

“The trumpets are pretty, I've seen them before, but after reading up it sounds like they can turn on their owners fairly quickly. Death by vine and flower. Might not be a bad way to go...”

“Okay, so I am landscaping the entire front of my house and need ideas.

First off, is it better to plant stuff now, or should I wait until spring?”

“Trees and shrubs now, many perennials too. Give them some phosphate to develop their roots. Not much, just a little. Many other things can wait until spring. Fall is also the best time to seed a lawn, if you aren't in effing stage 3 water restrictions from the worst drought on record like we are now. :P”

“bulbs also can be planted now”

“Many nurseries sell trees and shrubs in the fall for a fraction of what they'll be in the spring. I always plant them in the fall (cheap bastard).”

“Oh yeah, I need to get some bulbs, too.”

“My roses have been beyond incredible for the last few months. One bush (Julia CHild variety) has over 100 flowers on ti right now! I planted it back in May, I think. THat's one happy plant, with little fertilizer other than fish water and the cleaned-out contents of the fish filtration system!”

“I finally planted those iris bulbs. Not looking forward to cleaning out all the plants for the fall, it still hurts to bend over that much!

I need to dig up my dahlia bulbs, right? Liatris can stay, right? Cut the peonies down to the ground? And the perenial herbs too?”

“Dig them dahlias!

Don't bend over at the waist, get down on your knees and learn to use only your legs and shoulders for leverage and digging, especially when standing back up. It takes time to learn to do this the right way, but it makes a big difference.

I just came back in from flailing around the pond pit with a pickaxe again. Phew. Its amazing how winded you can get from one hour of digging.”

“"bulbs also can be planted now"

Thanks, I just got some day lillies (bulbs) from a coworker and was about to ask that very question.”

““Many nurseries sell trees and shrubs in the fall for a fraction of what they'll be in the spring. I always plant them in the fall (cheap bastard).”
Reverend Truth V Wicked
4:29:33 AM

Me too! Lowes had some nice dwarf trees marked down to $5.75 from the original price of $55.00.”

“Extra Protien Anyone?


Sometimes the joys of being organic......

Is that you MIGHT be eatting a little extra protien ;)

My spiniach crop is infested with catapillers of all sorts :(

Dang it all!
The critters are going to be getting a lot of extra fresh veggies 9and cattapillers) today LOL”

“Save the caterpillars and put them in a ziploc in the freezer. Then during winter, put them out in or near your bird feeder. Birds love them!”