Comment Follow-Ups

First, to whoever anonymously provided the link for plangarden.com - me and my community garden plot thank you! Very cool. I'm still messing with the program, but something like this is well overdue. My community plot is a whopping 4' x 18' and I want to make sure it is laid out wisely; this will certainly help.

Second, I was recently contacted by Janet of Amity Roses, who had come across my previous comments here about the difficulties I had with their website, and how I cancelled my order and stated that the reply I subsequently got from Amity wasn't very nice.

Janet wanted to clear the air and I really appreciate it. That to me shows a real dedication to customer service and professionalism; it's no wonder their Gardenwatchdog rating is so high.

If I was more "into" roses, I would certainly be ordering from Amity, who hand-propagates and grows the own-root roses they sell.

My Dutch Gardens roses did arrive earlier this week, and they look pretty good. We'll see.

Please, Please Contact Your Senators...

The Endangered Species Act, as it stands now, is...well, endangered. While many agree it is need of a tune-up, the bill being considered by the Senate is downright disgraceful. One provision contained in the act would remove restrictions on the use of pesticides in biologically sensitive areas for five years, including chemicals that have been linked to the declines of Pacific salmon, sea turtles, and other aquatic species.

Read more about it here.

Please contact your Senators through the NRDC website now.

Welcome Back

For one reason or another, I've been surprised at a few of the plants that have sprung back to life now that temperatures are warming around here a bit. Some plants are popping leaves out at a breakneck pace, while others are sprouting a bit more cautiously.

The latter is probably a wiser approach. We've been known to have one final, cruel freeze during the last two weeks of March in past years; the forecast is hinting at such for next Monday night. We'll see. At the moment, the only thing that would probably bite it is a squash plant that's in a big container by the pool.

Shredded Umbrella Plant


Remember when I reported this Cordyline as dead back in December? Well, lo and be-frigging-hold...


Hosta 'Stained Glass'


Several of the cannas are showing themselves already.


I built this walkway along the back of the Front Yard Garden in about 30 minutes. Turned out pretty well, I think, for being just stone and mulch.


Speaking of the FYG, well...it looks pretty crappy at the moment. I'll show another photo in June and I bet y'all will be amazed. (Notice that I left being "amazed" open to interpretation...)

Wally Goes Organic

Nothing Personal...

Don't you love receiving garden catalogs with a cheezy, personalized message printed on them?

"We've got the perfect plants for TAMARA's garden!"

"TAMARA, we miss you! Take $10 off your next order!"

I got one from Dutch Gardens yesterday with the telltale capital letters screaming at me:

"TAMARA, you ordered DAHLIAS last year for your PLANO, TX garden! See what new DAHLIA offerings we've got this year!"

To which I responded: "Yes, TAMARA was an IDIOT for planting DAHLIAS in her PLANO, TX garden!"

Needless to say, my dahlias didn't do well. It gets ungodly hot here and they just don't like that.

Although...the heat apparently didn't kill them. There are a few shoots already emerging from the tubers that I left in the ground. I wish they would grow and bloom before July gets here...we'll see.

On a related note, I am planning on putting the new roses I ordered where the dahlias are now. It's about a 25' long bed, so I'm hoping there'll be room for everybody.

Lastly, I know I wrote in January that I had ordered roses from Amity Roses, but I ended up cancelling the order within a day of placing it. Amity was already sold out of two of the plants I wanted, and Dutch Gardens had all of them, and had them cheaper. No sense in paying double shipping to order from two places, right?

Well, the lady from Amity who wrote to confirm my cancellation was not very nice about it. I found their website to be really messy, which is why I didn't notice a couple of my choices were sold out, but whatever. No hard feelings.

Here's what I'm getting -- hopefully within a week or so -- from Dutch Gardens:

Distinctive Rose Collection: includes Honey Dijon, Neptune, Sunstruck and Caribia
Ebb Tide

Tiptoe Through My Tulips

Ok, it's time to fire up the ukelele and warble like Tiny Tim...

Could It Be...?

Here's a not-so-bold statement: Spring has arrived here in North Texas.

Our usual last freeze date is around March 15, and the forecast for the next ten days has nighttime lows nowhere near 40°, let alone 32°.

Am I gloating? Yeah, a little.

It's been a weird winter, the strangest one I can remember since coming here in 1989, actually. Every time I am with a bunch of other gardeners, the topic of our unusual winter always surfaces, mostly because we're not sure how our plants will react.

Several plants in my landscape did not go completely dormant, despite the single-digit temperatures we briefly saw in mid-December. I wonder how they'll be when the sweltering summer comes. This is a common comment from others too, regarding their own gardens.

In other news, I'm happy to report that my name was one of only 12 drawn in the recent Plano Community Garden plot lottery. (The plan is to eventually get up to 80 plots, but they're starting with a dozen for now.) I would have been terribly disappointed if I hadn't been selected, not so much because I've devoted several volunteer hours to the project already (in pouring rain and mud, at times...that's me in the green Target wellies below), but I just really, really want a plot to grow veggies in. Vegetable gardening is probably my favorite kind of gardening, and our current yard just has no space for such an endeavor.



The food we grow is being donated to a local shelter, which makes it even more rewarding. I am looking forward to spending many an evening tending to my new little rectangle of land.



My gardening engagements are starting to stack on top of one another, however. I'm supposed to be helping out at the Heard Museum Native Plant Sale on April 8, but now the Community Garden is tentatively planning to have the opening ceremony (complete with an appearance by the Mayor) on the same day. So, you know...being only one of a dozen folks to have a plot, I feel I should be there.

Besides, I can probably reschedule my hours for the Plant Sale. In fact, (and yes, this is self-serving and evil...), if I work the members-only pre-sale on Friday, I could get my hands on some yummy plants before the crowd descends...mwahahahaha!

Spend Your Saturday Out in the Mud...

...and you too can be semi-famous!

Dutch Gardens Photo Contest Winners Announced

There are some breathtaking photos of stunning gardens out there. It's amazing what beauty and work people put into their gardens.

If you're looking for garden layout ideas, flower color combos, etc., browsing through the entire gallery of pics is also helpful.

click here to view the winners and other photos

Behold the Power of Poop

CNN.com - Behold the power of poop

Continuing with the poop discussion...

The issue of composting pet poop has long been debated. Ideally, you are not supposed to do it, as most homeowners' compost piles do not reach a temperature high enough to sufficiently destroy the pathogens which might exist in pet feces. I have done it, but made sure to only use the resulting compost on non-food crops.

I also have one of these thingees, but with two big, poop-productive dogs, it filled up too quickly and decomposed poop too slowly.

Now, unfortunately, I just bag it up and put it in the trash each week.

Hopefully, San Fran will come up with something innovative and successful, and will pass it along to other cities.

Forget About Fox Urine...

...tiger poo is apparently going to be the way to go, so to speak, in repelling garden predators.

CNN.com story

February 2006 Bloomers

We're supposed to get down to 22° Saturday night. I sure hope not, although we really had it coming. Lots of my outdoor plants seem to think it's March or April...

Days of Wine and Roses

Just placed this order with Amity Roses, a company with a great selection and an excellent reputation.

Neptune
Ebb Tide
Honey Dijon
Double Delight
Tequila Sunrise

As for the wine part referred to in this post's title, husband and I attended a wine tasting Friday night. My favorite - a cabernet called Poppy Hill - was not just tasty, but also featured a lovely label:

Keep the Drool to a Minimum

I received an email today that Iris City Gardens has updated their online catalog for 2006. The company is introducing several new Louisiana iris varieties on behalf of some growers in Australia, which sounds kind of weird geographically, I guess, but there are breeders of this gorgeous plant all over the world.

While I won't pay $35 for a single plant of anything (but maybe an orchid), some of these new rarities are truly breathtaking.

If you do decide to shop from them, Iris City Gardens has an excellent rating over at Gardenwatchdog. I've not dealt with them directly, but am planning on ordering a few things from them soon.

"Into Each Life...

...a little rain must fall." Is that how the saying goes?

Well, we had a little rain fall yesterday. It sprinkled on and off all day, actually, making for a soggy and dreary day that was perfect for watching football. (Go Steelers!)

My backyard 75-gallon rainbarrel that accidentally leaked all of its contents a couple of weeks ago is now full again. It is amazing to consider the amount of water just coming off of one residential roof.

I started some seeds on Saturday - mostly tomatoes and delphiniums.

In other news, my gardening calendar is already filling up with engagements. This Thursday is the first Dallas Organic Garden Club meeting of the new year. I'd like to become active in this group outside of just the meetings, if time allows.

On Saturday, I'll be helping construct a shed and compost bin with some other folks for the *new* Plano Community Garden. I am SO stoked about this whole project. It will be incredibly fun to have my own little strip of land to grow stuff on! (All the food is donated to the local Food Bank, which makes it doubly cool and feel-goody.) This will be the first of many Saturdays helping with this project, I'm sure.

Saturday February 4, reknowned organic gardener Malcolm Beck will be speaking at a local event. I've volunteered to work the Master Gardener booth at that.

Finally, one of my favorite events of the year on a personal level, the Heard Museum Spring Native Plant Sale, is just around the corner. I've signed up for morning helper duty on Saturday April 8 for that too...being sure to leave a little time to shop for plants first, of course! Hopefully I won't have to break up any fights; although I've never witnessed it myself, I hear some shoppers can get ugly at these things due to the limited availability of some plants, as well as the carts they provide for hauling.

R.I.P. Kenny

I received some sad news this morning. One of my Master Gardener intern classmates died of a heart attack yesterday.

While I never asked Kenny directly what condition he was ill with, it was obvious he was a sick man. I would guess he had skin cancer; he did tell me that steroid treatments were what had turned the skin on his arms purple. It appeared that he had had at least one skin graft on the top of his head.

Anyway, Kenny had contracted pneumonia around Christmas and was in the hospital. He had just returned home the other day, apparently, and wrote his MG mentor that he was looking forward to being well enough to join the rest of us in the upcoming Spring projects. Friday morning, he had a heart attack.

I'm glad I sat next to Kenny for a few of our classes. We had a lot of fun talking about our enthusiasm for spiders, especially. He was a sweet, gentle man.

Meeting the Gardener Guy

Well, I'm thinking seriously about heading down to Arlington for the House & Organic Gardening Show this weekend. Not only do I feel it's sort of my "duty" to keep up with what's going on in the industry, but...I like Paul James, The Gardener Guy. He's sort of a guilty pleasure, and I'll be the first to admit he's a total goofball. Most of his methods are spot-on, however, and I'm glad he's promoting organic methods (although he doesn't like to use the "o" word, apparently).

Anyway, it's sort of a long way to drive (about 40 miles), and I hate navigating around Dallas without knowing where I'm going, but I really need to get out more.

Stoned on Bluestone

I looove Bluestone Perennials. They are easily the nicest, most professional people to deal with as far as online and mail order nurseries go. Just read their Garden Watchdog reviews if ya don't believe me.

That being said, here's what my latest order from them included:

CLEMATIS Crystal Fountain
DAPHNE burk. CAROL MACKIE
EUPHORBIA Tasmanian Tiger
HEUCHERA RASPBERRY ICE
HEUCHERA Snow Angel
RUDBECKIA hirta Prairie Sun
ECHINOPS ruthenicus PLATINUM BLUE
EUPHORBIA dulcis Chameleon

Notes on the above:
I wasn't a clematis fan. But...when we moved into our new house, there were three different ones on the back fence. Slowly, they've convinced me that I love them and should have more. The 'Crystal Foundation' cultivar is being touted EVERYWHERE this season but you probably won't find it cheaper anywhere than at Bluestone. Take my word for it...

I have the 'opposite' Daphne from Carol Mackie, the Briggs Moonlight. Something has chewed the leaves off, but I think it'll be ok. I like the Carol Mackie too, though it's not as spectacularly colored. Again, don't pay Wayside or White Flower Farms prices for this cultivar. Wayside wants $50 for a gallon-size Carol Mackie; I paid $7 at Bluestone for what will probably be a smaller plant, but gosh...

My heucheras currently look awful, but I insist on ordering more...

I think the rabbits are dining on what little growth is showing on my Echinops, so I'm ordering more of those too...

Is Euphorbia dulcis Chameleon the same as what Big Dipper Farm is selling as Euphorbia x martinii 'Rudolph'? They look sort of the same...

Speaking of euphorbia as well as much-advertised newish cultivars, everybody seems to have the lovely variegated euphorbia 'Tasmanian Tiger' this year. Again, Bluestone has it on sale now for around $11, while it's somewhat more expensive elsewhere.

Eat Bread & Get a Free OG Sub

Time to start making some "sammitches", as my friend's little boy likes to say.

Roman Meal will give you a free 1-year subscription to either Organic Gardening, Organic Style, or Prevention magazine with six proofs of purchase from any of their bread products. The promotion runs through all of 2006. Click here for more details.

At Least the Aliens Were Organic...

By far, my favorite blockbuster movie from last summer was "War of the Worlds".

I've always loved sci-fi, and the cheezy 1953 version was one of my faves. This year's Steven Spielberg interpretation was absolutely terrifying, especially the tripod machines with their slow, giraffe-like gait and cold, whirring noises.

Unlike the old 50s film, the infamous Red Weed was revived from the original H.G. Wells story for the new movie. As the admittedly gorey story goes, the aliens use human blood to fertilize their native weed, which grows voraciously across the land and chokes out everything in its path. The aliens do this in an apparent effort to make Earth mimic their own planet that has since been stripped its resources. However, the triumphant ending comes when the weed and the aliens both eventually succumb to our planet's bacteria and viruses, as neither has adequate internal defense mechanisms to fight them.

My theory? They just over-fertilized. Heck, you know how too much nitrogen can burn things...