Just Some Photos

Haven't had much time to write this week but I do want to share a photo of part of my backyard with you. The tall yellow trees are hickory and the red ones are dogwood. Enjoy!

I've Created a Monster!

It took me years to convince Miss Patsy that she needed to garden - not only for the beauty of a garden and cut flowers for her home, but for the health benefits. Her negative comebacks were the usual 'I'll get dirty', 'I'll get sweaty', 'It's too hot', 'I don't have a green thumb', and on and on and on! She came up with all the usual reasons not to garden but I really expected her to eventually come up with a unique reason why she couldn't garden . .but she never got creative - she stuck with the usual negatives! LOL! Of course I always came back with positive reasons as to why she should garden!

First, playing in dirt is GOOD for your outlook on life - Since the soil contains the basic chemicals that pharmaceuticals use in anti-depressants, it either relieves or abates depression. Ever seen a depressed gardener?

Second, sweating is GOOD for you . .it cleanses the body of toxins that accumulate in and harm your body. These toxins will eventually make you sick. Have you noticed that most gardeners look healthy?

Third, getting hot is GOOD for you . . .we make most of our much needed Vitamin D from the sunshine. Recently science has proven how a good balance of Vitamin D aids the body in fighting off everything from the common cold to cancers! Since Vitamin D levels are good indicators of overall health, primary care physicians and specialists are now checking the Vitamin D levels in their patients! Dr. Michael Holick explains amounts of Vitamin D required for different ethnic groups, the length of exposure in different hemispheres to reach these requirements as well as the best times of the day for exposure to the sun in his book, "The UV Advantage". *

Finally, let me say that a 'green thumb' is an old wives tale. A green thumb is not an inherited gene. Knowledge of a plant's needs and the discipline required to provide those needs is what makes a particular plant happy. Without this discipline and knowledge, eventual failure is guaranteed.

Now, let's get on to the Monster I created! When I finally got Patsy to experimenting with gardening, she was calling or texting me several times a day (I loved it). She eventually became my 'star' student! But as she learned more, the questions became fewer and fewer.

Each time she'd buy a plant, she'd call and offer me some of it. Of course, most of what she offered, I already had. Then one day she saw an article in Southern Living about a 'new' chrysanthemum named Ryan's Pink. She was absolutely enthralled with the plant. She bought some and promised me that 'she now had a plant that she knew I didn't have'. She talked about and bragged on this plant like it was a new born baby - and I couldn't wait to get some! Then she sent me a photo of the plant and my heart dropped.

Not only did I have plenty of this mum, in the spring I tossed many into the compost pile (after breaking off and discarding the roots)!! What to do??? What to do??? I really didn't want to discourage Patsy's enthusiasm, but by the same token, I didn't want to insult her intelligence by inferring that 'she'd done good'. Not to mention that she and Ron were coming for a visit and were bringing the plants to me and mine were in bloom!

Of course, during her 'training' period I had told her not to believe everything she reads in magazines or catalogs . . .both have a tendency to embellish the truth. Not to mention that the plants are grown under pristine conditions, the photos are made by professionals, and the descriptions are written by professional writers. It was my gut feeling that Ryan had found this plant in his gramma's garden, cultivated and propagated it, then introduced it to the market. I say this because you see it in most every garden in SW Georgia.

To further support my gut feeling, our paper and mail boxes are about a quarter mile from the house and I usually stroll over, looking at nature as I progress.

And look what I found last Sunday. Now folks I can assure you that I've never planted any Ryan's near this spot; therefore, I'm thinking that a seed was dropped by either a bird or the wind. And since a seed is never true to it's hybridized parents, the plant MUST be indigenous.

If I'm wrong, I apologize profusely to Ryan and beg his forgiveness!

All that said, the Ryan's Pink mum is one of the most beautiful, carefree mums you'll ever have. It requires little care other than thinning it in the spring and pinching the remaining plants to make them branch. In the spring when the plants reach about four inches high, I use plain, sterilized kitchen scissors to cut them to two inches. When these reach about eight inches, I cut them to four. I do this progressively until the first of July; when I discontinue cutting totally. If you fail to do this, the plants will be long and leggy and will tumble over long before they begin blooming.

I have pulled a few stink bugs off the foliage, but that's the only insect I've ever seen on it . .and NO disease!


Another beauty of this plant is that the more flowers you cut, the more blooms you have. Plus, they make a most beautiful bouquet of flowers for your fall decorations.

This brass coal bucket was given to me by another special sister, Helen. It's what I use to display only my favorite flowers. And because Patsy gave me these mums, they're very special.

Undaunted by my haranguing and her failures, Patsy has become a Magnificent Gardening Monster! She's taken it a step further than me and grows most of her own vegetables! I'm really proud of her considering her most humble and frightful beginnings.

Now most of The Monster's phone calls are to introduce me to a new plant or growth and care information for a particular plant.

WAY TO GROW, Patsy!

*After writing this post, I settled down to read the Sunday paper. Inside the USA Weekend magazine, on Page 6, there is a detailed article on Vitamin D and its value to our health.

Cold Coffee and Plants

STOP!!!!

Don't pour that cold coffee down the drain!!! There's a much, much better use for it! You have so many acid loving plants sitting around your warm and cozy home .. now make them warm and cozy, too.

Coffee acidifies the soil and well as allowing the nutrients in the soil to be released evenly and slowly. African Violets particularly loves the coffee; but there are other plants that love it as well:

• Christmas Cactus
• Philodendron
• Jade
• Cyclamen
• Minature Roses

I'm sure there are more acid loving house plants that would benefit from the coffee as well. Just remember - no sugar or substitutes or milk. Only black coffee . .

The Scoop for Soil

Several years ago, when Miss Patsy and another sister were visiting, Patsy brought me this neat little tool! It's one of the finest, most usable, and most indestructible tool I've ever owned! But, this past spring when I began changing the soil in my potted plants, it was not where it was supposed to be! Not only was it not where it was supposed to be, it was NO WHERE to be found. I looked every place I could possibly imagine and finally gave up figured the Poltergeist had taken it!

Then last week I was cutting some scrub brush out back and saw sun reflecting off metal. hmmmmmmmmmm . .wonder what that could be? I gently sneaked over and carefully flipped it out of the leaves with my toe . .WOW! The Poltergeist hadn't taken it! He had only moved it!

Keep in mind that I had lived in fear all summer that Patsy would ask me if I was still enjoying my soil scoop . .  .. and those of you who know Patsy know that you don't ever want to give her a negative answer! Luckily she never asked me!

When I lifted it out of the leaves that covered all but a small portion of the metal, I almost cried. The handle (ergonomically correct and rubber) was totally black!!! My first thought was that the Poltergiest had let it get in a fire. But on close examination, it was revealed that the handle was only mildewed! Mildew???!!!

 How am I gonna handle that? I knew that bleach would kill the mildew, but I was afraid it would disintegrate the rubber in the process! Then I remembered a chemical I had bought from the hardware store to clean the mildew off my back steps. Since I have some very special hydrangeas beside the back steps, I made the salesclerk write in blood that the chemical wouldn't hurt the hydrangeas (he was right).

Anyway, I got the chemical out - poured some in a tall glass and stuck the handle down into it. It took many soakings and scrubbings but I finally got it as clean as I think it will ever be - and it's definitely usable!!

The blade is stainless steel (no rust) and it's serrated so the soil scoops up quickly and easily! As you can see, there's not a bit of rust on the blade after at least a year in the woods. The point where the handle attaches to the scoop is still firm and secure. This scoop is absolutely a must for getting soil from the bag to the pot.

This particular one was built by "My Garden Works" in Belleville, WA. They were so sure it would serve gardeners good and they would come back for more for their other gardening friends, they had their design patented (5765648).

Maybe Patsy will tell us where she bought hers . .If not, I found a web site that distributes them should you want one. Happy Scooping!

http://www.titanicimports.com/store/am-leonard-ssca-soil-scoop.htm

Useful Hand Tools

There are tools and supplies that dedicated gardeners must have to maintain good growth in their plants. Today, I'll share three of the tools that assist me in growing beautiful, healthy plants and shrubs.

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Many beginning gardeners have lost plants that they knew they had planted, watered and fertilized according to label directions. This is discouraging and has caused many potentially good gardeners to give up because they think 'I don't have a green thumb' or 'plants just won't grow for me'!

But it's quite possible that the reason for the demise was that it was that beautiful plant was placed in a soil with the wrong pH (potential Hydrogen ions)for that plant!

All plants require a specific range of soil pH to perform optimally. The correct soil pH for a particular plant is of the utmost importance. The tag on the plant will tell you if it needs an acid, neutral, or alkaline soil. If you've lost your tag, there's always Google.

Forunate for us, most plants grow in a 'neutral' pH soil. But there are exceptions to every rule!

The range of soil pH runs from 0 through 14 with:  

• 0 through 6 being considered acid
• 6.5 through 7 being considered neutral (where most plants thrive)
• 7.5 through 14 being considered alkaline

 Lime is used to increase the pH and aluminum sulfate is used to decrease the pH. Should your soil require 'adjusting' follow the manufacturers' recommendations for applying either lime or aluminum sulfate. This application (if required) should be accomplished in the fall to allow it to work over the winter and be available for the next planting season. There's tons of information on the web to tell you how to change the pH of your soil and there are different techniques for checking the pH levels; therefore, I'm only going to discuss the technique I use to check my pH levels.

This digital tool (above), from Rapidtest is the easiest and most reliable technique I've found to check pH. It's battery operated and all you do is select the type of plant you want to grow (it has a built in list of plants and you just scroll to it until you find the one you're considering); stick the probe in some soil from the area where you want to grow it . .a digital readout reflects the pH levels of the soil. From this reading you'll know if you need to change the pH or leave it alone. I know this sounds complicated, but it's really quite simple. Best of all, it's reliable!

The second tool I use for ultimate gardening results is a fertilizer testing kit that can be purchased at most garden centers and all big box stores. It analyzes the soil for nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus content.

This kit allows you to check the fertilizer content of any soil. It's easy to use: Following the unstructions on the package, collect soil from the area you want to test. Place it in the appropriate vial. Add water and the contents of the appropirate capsule. Each vial and capsule are color coded so there's no danger of putting the wrong capsule in the wrong vial. After waitng the required time, compare the color of the water to the color scale. This will tell you exactly what fertilizer (if any) your soil needs.

There is also a digital probe that will check the nutrient content of the soil. I've tried this, but reverted to the kit. For me, the digital fertilizer content probe was more trouble than it's worth.

The third hand tool I use as needed is a plain, kitchen basting tube.

We've all had weeds and vines to germinate in our flower beds and shrubs. Usually in areas where we can't or don't want to dig; not to mention that when vines like poison ivy, sumac or smilax get into our shrubs, digging them out is virtually impossible.

When I see this happening, I put a little Roundup in the tube, get a paper towel and small piece of cardboard and hit these invaders  independently. I use the cardboard to protect the desired plant or shrub from possible over 'squirts' and the paper towel to clean the end of the tube prior to pulling it away (to prevent Roundup from possibly dripping onto the desirables).

You usually need three hands to accomplish this task and that's one of the places hubbies come in handy. With only two hands, it's difficult to handle the cardboard (possibly with Roundup on it) - and clean the tube simultanously. If you should have an accident and get Roundup on your desirable, just pull off the leaf or stem and stick it in your pocket or something. Don't let the plant absorb the Roundup and don't toss it on the ground.

I've always wished the Good Lord had given us a third hand. This hand should fit on or around our breastbone and extend when we need it - retract when we don't. . .(smiley face). But since He knows so much better than me as to what I need, I'm happy with His original design. There are many folks that would be estatic with two hands . .and some that would be grateful for only one . ..

Mexican Petunia - Ruellia

Well, folks, I'll bet you thought you'd never hear me say this, but I do NOT recommend anyone planting the Mexican Petunia in their gardens. Conversely, they do great in large pots - really large!

While they are beautiful, easy to grow, hardy, and undaunted by pests and diseases, drought tolerant, they are the most invasive plant I've ever dealt with. This plant is so invasive I put Roundup on them this year . . and I'm STILL finding them in my gardens!!! Looks like getting rid of these babies is gonna be a long, drawn-out process.

They prolifically put out new plants from underground runners and these runners go EVERYWHERE. Not to mention that they'll eventually choke out desirable plants!

Since I didn't realize how invasive these plants are, I apologize profusely to anyone I've sent these plants to!!

When you see these gorgeous plants at your local nursery next year, just walk on by - or if you can't resist them, plan on simultaneously buying a LARGE pot and plenty of potting soil!