BS: Gardening 2010

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 21 Oct 10 - 02:29 PM

over-ripe tomatoes... me? That's my problem... the weather has been so cold (a number of frosts too, but I got tired of covering them) they haven't been ripening.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 08:35 PM

Just about everything here is done... Peppers need to be picked... A few tomatoes... That's about it here... Got arugala and spinich and carrots in but without rain they are just sitting there... Need to get 'um some water...

b~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 08:26 PM

I'm going to make green tomato relish this year, if I have any. A bunch of them are growing now that the heat is passed. They'll go until the first frost, which could be as late as Thanksgiving (late November).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: pdq
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 03:14 PM

Try using the over-ripe tomatoes and excess cherry types for a nice pot of chili. Its perfect weather for simmering things for hours.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 02:58 PM

Another frost struck Moncton last night. Many plants sought shelter against the house foundation under three foot eaves but to no avail. Among the casualties were 29 double impatiens and one each of Cherry, Early Girl and Scotian toms. They are survived by a purple mini-petunia, two fuscias, four begonias and two creeping snapdraggons who managed to find shelter in the garage. A graveside burial service will he held in fifteen minutes at the plot behind the garage presided over and attended by me.

I didn't bother to pick the last hundred Cherry Toms. I have a whack of the others sitting in front of the living room window. I am send the rest to that big compost heap in the ground.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 10 - 01:20 PM

I've been out picking okra today. I have two plants. Picked 28 okra this morning. I give it away to a couple of neighbors. It has been an interesting exercise. I'll grow this again next year. And I'm going to practice cooking it the way the neighbor does, lightly breaded and fried. Very nice!

We had a huge rain a week ago, from the hurricane that hit Mexico and Texas. It wasn't even a tropical storm, just a depression or something, but it rained about 6 inches one day here. I'm only now thinking about watering again. The lawn shot up and is mid-calf in many places. I've been slow to mow because my next door neighbor is out of town. If I mow his will look really wild, and he usually keeps it quite short. He's been robbed several times over the years, so I'm hoping both tall lawns won't call as much attention to either house.

Tomatoes have been a wash this year. Eggplants fizzled for a while but they're setting new fruits and sending out new leaves now. Lots of peppers, like always. The basil bolted early, but I use it anyway, just have to cut off all of the seed stalks.

Lots of weeding to do to get some fall and winter crops in. I'll put in garlic soon, onions, chard, broccoli, etc.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Aug 10 - 10:14 AM

Just posted a video of this - http://youtube.com/walkaboutsverse

Poem 141 of 230: IN A SMALL POT

(TUNE:

D F# F# F#
G F# E E
D E E E
F# E D D)

I like Acers
    But rent a flat,
So mimic one
    In a small pot:

As for starters,
    I made a plat
Of ivy run
    Out from one spot;

To this basis,
    All round the mat,
In a trunk-bun,
    Dirt - soaked a lot;

Without traces
    (Not got down pat),
A moss-lawn spun
    And short-ferns shot;

And, like Acers,
    Branches have sat -
Wirework done -
    Toward the pot;

Trimmed with scissors,
    This foliage-hat
Thrives in the sun
    Of my sill-plot.

(C) David Franks 2003
From http://walkaboutsverse.webs.com (e-scroll)
Or http://blogs.myspace.com/walkaboutsverse (e-book)

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Maryrrf
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 01:57 PM

This wasn't a very good gardening season for me, mostly due to the extreme heat and lack of rain. I watered, but it wasn't enough, and I didn't get near as many squash and cucumbers as usual. Plenty of tomatoes, but the taste was disappointing. This week I cleared all the remnants of the summer garden, put down fertilizer, hoed and cultivated the patch, and now have put in the fall crops: broccoli, bok choi, cabbage, assorted lettuces, kale, swiss chard, and collards. Spring and fall, when I get fresh lettuce for salads just about every night, is one of my favorite garden times. I found two black widow spiders in the tomato plants - which is scary considering I stick my hand into those plants a lot when harvesting tomatoes. I must start using gardening gloves.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: pdq
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 12:00 PM

At about 8:00 AM, I picked 18 lovely yellow crookneck squash, ranging from 4 1/2 to 6 1/4 inches. Put them in the reefer with the 10 more picked yesterday.

Heck, I still haven't finished the last of the ones from Tuesday, and that doesn't include a batch I gave to a old lady accross the street.

Foodhook zucchini and Sunburst "patty pan" types are going full-out also.

Larger "patty pan" called White Bush Scollop put out its first blossom this morning, all be it satminate.

You can let the White Bush Scollop grow to about 6 inches in diameter and use them for stuffed squash. Harvest at 3 to 4 inches and cut into pieces like normal summer squash. These plants have not been as vigorous as the three other summer squash varieties and the seed germination was poor, perhaps 1 in 5, so sow extras when planting next year.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 27 Aug 10 - 10:22 AM

We've had good rain and therefore the grass is doing it's late season thing of seedin'... Make everything look messy... The veggie garden is plunkin' away... Some stuff givin' out... Other stuff comin' in... Our tomatoes have been fickle... Okra going gangbusters... Got both cabbage and brocalli seedlings at the Farm Coop... Just need things to dry out to get them in...

All in all, I'd give this growing season a 6... Outta 10... Either good rain or no rain hasn't been too good on things... Heat, however, has not been a problem...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: pdq
Date: 26 Aug 10 - 10:30 AM

NATIONAL TEMPERATURE EXTREMES

HIGH WED...122 AT DEATH VALLEY CA

LOW WED...28 AT STANLEY ID AND WEST YELLOWSTONE MT

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 11:05 AM

Today I'll consider it an accomplishment if all I do is scoop the dog poop. I have some trimmed plants in a pile on the driveway out front and I'll load the wheelbarrow and tote it to the back and cover the poop on the compost later.

Overcast, high of 88 today. Lovely! I could feel a little sprinkle when I was out in the yard just now. After baking our brains for weeks, this is a wonderful change.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Janie
Date: 25 Aug 10 - 12:22 AM

Well, all hell broke lose around these parts about 3 weeks ago and I haven't been able to weed, water, harvest or fertilize since then. The cherry tomatoes have pretty much stopped producing because they are laden with rotten tomatoes going to seed. The basil is in full bloom for want of snipping, and the Mortgage lifter is failing from lack of water and fertilizer.

However, got a package from a northern friend with roots of two different crested iris, bloodroot and a pulmunaria that I made time to get planted this past weekend. None of them are permanently sited but are well planted where I expect they will grow just fine in the meantime, and it was good to have the brief restorative time digging in compost and getting them planted.

It is always interesting to contemplate the difference in climate zones. The bloodroot still had leaves. In my area bloodroot goes dormant by the end of June or early July.

Had the opportunity for the first time to walk through the yard at the old place. Anything that needed the least bit of coddling or tending is gone but the natives and some other flowering perennials are running riot, out competing both the bermuda grass and the microstegium vimineum (anyone else have battles with this extremely invasive oriental grass?).

The perennial ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum) has formed large, thick colonies and is just beginning to bud. A really tall and invasive goldenrod I transplanted has buds just about ready to bloom, , the tatarian asters have spread, the Physostegia virginiana is being it's customary disobedient "obedient plant", a few echinacea have sent up some more blooms in response to recent rain, in spite of many seed-heads well picked over by goldfinches, and the bronze fennel sports both light green seed heads and blooms on newer plants. The native perennial sunflowers are about 5' tall and will soon be blooming.

Earlier in the year, when I paused out front while waiting for my son, I noticed that ammi majus continues to self-sow, as does the hesperis and rose campion The opium poppies have not been able to compete and are gone. A few larkspur continue to self-sow. Common yarrow - the whites and the deep burgundies, persist, and will, I think, for years to come, as will the rose campion. Montbretia and crocosmia also continue to bloom.

The Goldenseal has spread very nicely, and the aruncus I had found growing in a ditch in the mountains, and which hung on by a thread through many years of extended, severe drought has finally firmly established itself with the more adequate rains of the last 2 years.

None of the roses are blooming, but they were earlier in the year, and I'm betting there will be a few blooms come the cooler weather of fall. They are no longer doing well, and in a year or so will probably stop blooming, but I think they will compete successfully enough to stay alive for a long time. They are all either old garden roses or early 20th century hybrids with staying power and at least survivable resistance to powdery mildew even if completely ignored.

5 or 6 years ago, a little redbud seedling arose in the middle of a flowerbed. I left it, thinking that by the time I was old and unable to come close to maintaining all those beds, it would be a nice tree to shade the front of the house from morning sun. I planted daffodils and other spring bulbs around it. It is now a significant sapling. I noticed this spring that the bulbs are still blooming. The tall weeds will eventually die out as it gets bigger and creates more shade, but the bulbs will be there to bloom each spring. The dahlias are completely gone, as are most of the lilies

Former neighbors have long been quick to complain to me about the state of the yard/garden since I left. The neglect began before I left, I simply no longer had the time to come close to maintaining it.   In the absence of any tending whatsoever over time, the gardens have transitioned from a clearly neglected cottage garden into a wonderful and wild field of hardy perennials, dissected with grass paths and a driveway, that continue to provide habitat and food for birds, rabbits, mice and voles, butterflies and other insects. I understand why it offends the neighbors with it's wildness and unkempt appearance in the middle of town. I am betting that eventually the town will use a city ordinance to make the ex cut it all down and turn it back into grass lawn.

I think it is still beautiful for those that have the eyes to see.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 12:26 PM

We had rhubarb in the yard in Seattle, but I was never interested in eating it. I haven't tried it down here, though I hear occasionally about people growing it. We do have a real and durable winter here in North Texas, so things that need seasons are okay here. I haven't tried ginger or cardamom. Hadn't occurred to me, though. I remember wild ginger growing in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee (I worked as a park ranger naturalist there one summer). They have more rain, and I think the ginger preferred a forest floor that probably doesn't exist here in Texas. I'll see what I can find, though.

Our little rain storm probably made it a lot more humid, but it was enough to get everything damp. Cooler weather next week will let me get out and put in some of the stuff that I'll use all winter.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bettynh
Date: 24 Aug 10 - 09:03 AM

LOL, SRS, we do live in different worlds! Can you grow rhubarb? I know it has a southern limit, and I've heard folks from California and Florida complain they can't grow it because they haven't the chill time it needs. How about gingers and cardamom? I tried, but until this year we don't have summers warm enough for them, It was sad to see them struggle and die.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: GUEST,Goose Gander
Date: 23 Aug 10 - 10:21 PM

OK, figs - what to do with figs? Our tree is producing like crazy this year.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 10 - 08:42 PM

That deep water sounds marvelous, Bobert! Our summer was very dry and hot, in general, though we had some good rains in June and into July. This month, not so much, and today it reached 108 in Fort Worth. Supposed to cool way down on the weekend, into the low 90s with a chance of rain, but all of the plants are so stressed from the heat it won't help a lot. I'll plant some fall stuff.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 23 Aug 10 - 07:30 PM

Cooled down here on the western slope of the Blue Ridge but still dry, dry, dry... 50% chance of rain tonight and tomorrow... This mornin' the weather service had it at 80%... We've been suckin' water outta that big cavern below us like there's no tomorrow... Forunately, there's alot of water down there 500 feet below us... Running two oscillators almost all day...

Almost be happy to see this season come to an end... Yeah, we put up a lot of food for winter but it has been a brutal summer...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 10 - 07:22 PM

I pull out lemon verbena by the bushel around here. I had a pot of it a few years ago, and it spread. I grow basil by the bushel in a hedge in the kitchen door garden, as well as oregano, that can also be used as a good ground cover, and I have rosemary shrubs the size of small garden sheds. These herbs love growing in Texas!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bettynh
Date: 23 Aug 10 - 02:28 PM

SRS, the basil I'm growing in my flower garden is a houseplant during the rest of the year. The variety is African Blue, and as long as I grow it in a big pot (so the roots never completely dry out) it grows and blooms all winter. Cuttings for summer beds are easy. I've had luck from taking cuttings of supermarket green basil in the spring, but I can't keep it over winter. I usually have a lemon verbena, too, but it's a bit hard to take cuttings from and outgrows any reasonable pot in a few years, so I don't have one at present. You could probably grow it outside, anyway. Like the rosemary, it's almost hardy.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 10 - 02:13 PM

One thing that lots of gardeners know is that growing your own food isn't the most affordable way to get food, but it is the best way to get good food and to get the variety you can manage to grow. And if you can preserve what you grow, then it averages out over time to cost less.

I've been out clipping and trimming and examining the garden. It's not a pretty sight in this heat. 106 predicted for today.

I have been able to rearrange my bay window in my sun room and my African violets are much much happier. There are finally a few plants around the house now that I'm able to have now because I no longer have cats who would munch them (so anything I did have had to be non-toxic). I haven't filled the place up, but I'll add more, at least probably grow some herbs in the house over the winter.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bettynh
Date: 23 Aug 10 - 01:07 PM

Well, we finally got some rain - about as much yesterday as we got in the past 3 months total, which is only a little over an inch. I think of you, Alice, when our news reports brush fires. We've had some, and they've been stubborn, but a big fire around here will eat up 20 acres and have dozens of workers on it. Although there's some history of true forest fires, it's been a long time since New England has seen one.

I've been surprised at how well the cabbages I planted in my front garden have done in this drought. They've lost their bottom leaves, but are beginning to head up nicely, and they're really pretty. I had to water the basil, but it survived the numerous wilting episodes. Parsley and one chard plant are ok. The rosemary probably has deep roots now, but it hasn't grown a lot. I've hopes for that, and flowers, too, before I cut it down, since I know it won't survive the winter here.

I've made some houseplant cuttings and it's time to cut them back for the move back indoors. I've a nice collection for cool rooms with no lights at night, since this monster of a house has several unused bedrooms that face south. I'm planning to sell off a couple of the biggest ones at a yardsale next month, but I really don't see the interest in plants and gardens I expected from the recent turn in the economy. Why aren't folks growing their own flowers and food if they're lacking funds?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 22 Aug 10 - 07:32 PM

I donno why you, or anyone, stays there, Alice... Imean, if it ain't one bad thing it's another... Tough to be a gardener there, that much is fir sure...

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Alice
Date: 22 Aug 10 - 07:22 PM

It feels like winter is coming, even though we've had some hot and dry afternoons.

I gave up on my vine plants in the veg garden. Cut them out today and they are the start of a new compost pile in the bin.

Smoke around the area from a fire that started yesterday between us and Billings. It is burning in grass, sage, and timber, and right now is at 4,500 acres.
CLICK



Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 10 - 06:20 PM

My yard is crisp today. I drove home after a week away, and while it was watered, it is just so hot out there that stuff still suffers. I see the neighbors picked the okra (and I agree - you need to go out twice a day. And my plants were covered with flowers this afternoon, so tomorrow there will be a sh*tload of them.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 21 Aug 10 - 01:15 PM

After watering the annuals, including 5 hanging pots, I had various "itchies". Two of three hanging pots of mini petunias have aphids and I had a buch crawling on me.

I sprayed the plants vigorously with the water hose, let them dry a while and sprayed them with Safer's Soap. Problem is, these are so thick and long, I could only hit a million or so of the little buggers.

Any advice?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 21 Aug 10 - 09:22 AM

Well, the P-Vine made 7 quarts of marinera sauce yesterday... She likes to put the date on the lid when she does her canning and she had one jar left from last year and it was canned exactly one year ago today... Guess we are creatures of habit...

Cuttin' okra like there's no tomorrow... Almost have to cut 'um twice a day 'cause they can be 2 1/2 inches this mornin' and 6 inches tomorrow which is a tad to long to be much good...

Gettin' one acorn squash just about every day... They keep a real long time so we'll be eatin' them into the winter... Yummy... Cut in half... Put one TBS of butter, one TS of brown sugar and a little sherry or bourbon in the middle and bake at 375 for half an hour... Yummy....

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Aug 10 - 09:26 PM

Plus, it got us off "666"...

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Aug 10 - 09:25 PM

Yer welcome...

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 19 Aug 10 - 08:34 PM

Thanks Bobert.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Aug 10 - 06:39 PM

Well, gnz... After the beans have thawed then you can put 'um in a sautee pan with just enough water to steam 'um... That will take about 12-15 minutes... Then you pour out the remaining water and put a little olive oil in the bottom of the pan and sautee them with chopped garlic, onion, pepper flakes and a little salt fir about 5 to 7 minutes and call it table ready... Yummy...

Chef boy-r Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 19 Aug 10 - 04:06 PM

Bobert... when you take the beans out of the freezer, how do you cook em? How long on a boil?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Aug 10 - 01:14 AM

Alice, it sounds like you need to keep a supply of corrugated cardboard boxes that you can take out and drop over the top of produce if a storm threatens. If you can dry them out to use a few times, it might be worth the trouble.

I picked a half-dozen rosy cherry tomatoes today, and the 2 okra plants are up to a dozen pieces a day now.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 10 Aug 10 - 06:55 PM

Unfortunate, Alice. I hope there isn't too much damage.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Alice
Date: 10 Aug 10 - 04:25 PM

We used to have maybe one storm of very small hail hit town each summer. Now we have had more severe storms than ever before on record. According to a retired meteorologist from the university here, it is climate change. The change in wind patterns are bringing more tornadoes and micro-bursts into Montana and more severe summer and winter storms.


A.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 10 Aug 10 - 02:52 PM

Bad lucjk with the hail, Alice. Do you get hail on a usual basis?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Alice
Date: 10 Aug 10 - 02:43 PM

Storm of small hail came through yesterday and another hail storm predicted today. Green beans are starting to come in, but not sure if the set backs from hail will eliminate all zucchini this year. It may not recover enough before frost arrives.


A.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 09 Aug 10 - 03:07 PM

Bobert... when you take the beans out of the freezer, how do you cook em? How long on a boil?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: GUEST,Rev. Goose 'Goof' Gander (re-hired)
Date: 09 Aug 10 - 02:06 PM

No, I'm in SoCal and plumerias do pretty well around here, as long as they have adequate drainage and sunlight.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 09 Aug 10 - 01:08 PM

Magz,

We have, ahhhhhhh, lets see... One, two, three regrigerators and 2 full sized freezers... That's part of the deal... One of the refrigerators and one freezer are in what we call the "Potato House" which is only about 8 X 8... We keep the refrigeratotr in there at 45 degress and store potatoes and acorn squash in it... They will last well into the winter... The freezer is the veggie freezer that holds the excess... Then we have another freezer and another refrigerator on the porch... The porch freezer is for meats and a couple packs of each veggie and the Refrigerator is for fresh veggies that are waiting processing or distribtion...

And then there's canning... Lots of jars of stuff every year that go thru the canning process... It's almost a full time job keepin' up with this farm...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Alice
Date: 09 Aug 10 - 12:46 PM

Plumeria!!

Where are you located, Hawaii?



Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: GUEST,Rev. Goose 'Goof' Gander (ret.)
Date: 09 Aug 10 - 12:36 PM

Front: 'howard mcminn' manzanita; bearberry; monkeyflowers; autumn sage; lemonade berry; laurel sumac.

Back: black sage, manzanita 'refugio'; peach tree; nectarine tree; more blackberries; plumeria

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Aug 10 - 12:25 AM

Is this with the digital camera, Alice?

Bobert, I love the idea of all of that produce. I need to be more organized next year and get things in on time, then I can report on beans and potatoes. The tomatoes haven't done well so far, but we have a fall season coming and have fingers crossed.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Alice
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 09:28 PM

It is more of a light peach color than that photo shows (less yellow).

I love the wide variety of lilies you have in your garden, Maryanne.

A.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 09:26 PM

No, gn-zer... Just wash 'um real good, cut 'um into 2 inch long pieces and vaccuum pack 'um in either 1 pound packs 'er 1 1/2 pound packs... Think we have about 30 packs in the freezer... If that don't last us then nuthin' will...

Sick of these beans... BTW they are the flat romas so they do take quite a bit of work...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: maire-aine
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 09:19 PM

That's a beauty, Alice.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Alice
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 08:44 PM

My Teahouse Geisha daylily is blooming.

PHOTO HERE

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: gnu
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 06:14 PM

Bobert... "We have frozen enough to last us a couple years..."

How do you freeze them? Blanch first?... or what?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 05:46 PM

This is the time of year when we are both so worn down from gardening that it isn't fun... Throw in the 90+ degree days and we're lookin' forward to late October... Allready makin' plans to get away...

Picked about 5 pounds of beans this morning and then went down the row and cut the stems... Enough is enough... We have frozen enough to last us a couple years, have given away another 20 or so pounds so it was time... The two picking cukes are next to get the pruner... But...

...our tomatoes are finally comin' in... The Celebritys, whcih we can, are about 3 days away from being perfect... Then it will be 30 pounds of them every day... BTW, wide mouth lids have gone up to $2.50 a box!!! They used to be a buck... Ain't been that long either...

All the ornimentals are doing great 'cause we have been weedin' and muclchin' like crazy... Mulched our azalea beds down in our pond fiield t5he last 2 days... Took about 15 buckets (1/2 yard) of mulch to finish it... One would never believe that it wasn't even there 4 months ago... Lotta natives in there where it is sunny...

Well, I'm takin' a break from the grill and reckon it's time to go check the chicken...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Gardening 2010
From: Bettynh
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 05:24 PM

I miss lilies. We've recently been invaded by red lily beetles that completely consumed a big bed of tiger lilies. Contrary to the writeup, they didn't touch the fritillaries. I tried a bt spray, and it slowed them some, but the lilies are gone.

SRS, I still plant my yard with a nod toward passing foragers. But kids are tightly controlled now. Their parents are uncomfortable at the thought that they might pick something and injest it without an adult beside them. They could just reach in from the road and have cherries, currants, cornelian cherries, or grapes, but they don't. It's just sad.