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From commentor WereBear:
Here are my two “rose gardens.” Since I’m in an apartment now, I need to keep it small and simple; miniature roses and a variety of pansies. Both are cold hardy enough to put out in the spring, here in the frozen North, and survive a sudden snowfall.
I used to have a big yard and eighty different rosebushes. And yes; I knew all their names. I hope to enjoy such bounty once again, but for now, I am very happy to come down of a morning and see buds and blooms surrounded by cheerful pansy faces.
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What’s going on in your gardens, this week?
freelancer
RIP, my friend Angelique DeWaele, who took her own life a year ago today. I knew her for just a short time and we became buddies over the course of a summer. She was older, gay, and had a beaming smile that could light up any room she entered. But she was also hurting, sensitive, and unbeknownst to the rest of us in her life, felt overwhelmed by everything and couldn’t cope anymore. I miss my friend and the world is a lesser place without her in it.
If you are hurting or feeling a similar way, and have had thoughts or even concocted plans because you are in despair, please let someone you care about know, because the hole you will rip in their life if you follow through has no bottom.
Happy Sunday to all my Juicer friends, and may you each feel and know the impact you have on each other.
/emo
Love,
freelancer
PS for reals: /emo
:)
Valdivia
@freelancer:
[hugs]
freelancer
@Valdivia:
Thanks. Hugs to you as well.
Raven
It’s very dry and very hot here. Our water bill was insane after my lawn expansion but we may have to shell out even more!
freelancer
@Raven:
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but you’re in Georgia, right? Has it ever been dry in Georgia in recorded history?
Raven
@freelancer: We’ve been in a severe drought pattern here for years.
http://www.lawrencevilleweather.com/georgia-drought.html
freelancer
@Raven:
So God Damn
America!Newt Gingrich?!freelancer
@freelancer:
I missed an edit earlier. I meant, “…before one of my ancestors helped burn it to the ground?“. I’m sure you won’t fault me for that.
WereBear
@freelancer: I’m so sorry for your loss. Remembering her fondly is, I hope, a part of missing her.
freelancer
@WereBear:
It is. I knew her for a short time, and I know that her family misses her even more deeply than I, but she’s worth remembering, if even in anguish, and that I still miss her. They leave a mark, and it’s human and decent thing to be honest and honor those that we hold dear.
Maude
@WereBear:
Did you have a Mr. Lincoln?
WereBear
@Maude: I sure did! And I loved it. A real champ.
Ellen
I’m afraid of my gardens right about now. Rain, rain and more rain courtesy of Debby means as soon as the sun pops out my plants (and grass) will grow 5 feet! There will be much work to do next weekend I’m sure.
WereBear
As a side note, roses are heavy feeders, but I have sworn to boycott Scott/Miracle Gro because they deliberately poisoned birds with their birdseed. (H/T to Southern Beale for bringing this to Juicer attention.)
Yet I don’t have the facilities for a traditional compost pile, the best way to feed. However, I can “compost in place” with the same tactics I use to grow kitty grass; which is dumping coffee grounds or tea leaves onto the soil and watering it in. These are small enough to decompose without smell or attracting animals.
Maude
@WereBear:
The food I used was Scotts starter fertilizer. It’s rocket juice.
WereBear
@Maude: For roses, I like slow-release; Gardens Alive! had a nice one. And I made my own compost for soil improvement.
One organic rosarian trick is to bury a banana peel between two bushes; all summer, I had kids appear, ready to turn over their banana peels. And every bush had a patch of chives or clove of garlic, because sulfur in the soil helps prevent blackspot.
Normally, I would use Miracle Gro for containers. But now I don’t trust them.
Maude
@WereBear:
Miracle grow is weak. I didn’t use it for anything.
I worked at a place where about a 100 container roses had a very rough summer during a drought. I pruned for health, not shape and used the starter fert. We sold all of them at the end of September. The blooms were so beautiful.
jnfr
I don’t use the Miracle Gro stuff at all, myself. I like a bit more control over my fertilizers and generally use organics (compost by the bag, alfalfa pellets sold cheap for horse feed, rock phosphate, kelp).
Anyway, all my veggies are finally in. Late this year because we were very busy refinishing our deck. Deck looks great, at least.
WereBear
@Maude: That does sound like potent stuff!
Terry
Last spring we dug bits (one shovel blade square, each bit) from some large day lily clumps and started another 50–60 or so, along fairways on our disc golf course. They’re all in bloom right now and it is awesome.
Kristine
Far NE Illinois reporting. Last weekend’s lovely rain got sucked right back up into the sky thanks to a week of dry 90s. It’s cooler this weekend with some promise of rain this afternoon, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ve been watering the veggies/flowers about twice a week. Luckily the yard is surrounded by tall, leafy ash and oak, which has saved the lawn from taking too much of a beating. Still have some brown patches, but much of it remains green.
All the tomatoes have flowers. The basil are flowering, even though they’re only a foot high. Seems soon to me. I blame the heat.
Received an email from the ranch in east-central Illinois from which I’ve bought my beef and chickens for the last few years–they’re canceling all 2012 orders because of the drought. They usually get 10 inches of rain in May/June. So far this year? Less than an inch. They’ll resume filling orders this year if the weather improves, but they think 2013 is more likely. I hope they can survive this and remain in business. They’re good people.
stinger
@Terry: Pix or it didn’t happen!
stinger
@Kristine: We finally got some good rain late last night and this morning, here in eastern Iowa. It’s moving east slowly, so fingers crossed for you!
Kristine
@stinger: Thanks! So far, it looks as though the rain is sliding way south. Hope things build over the course of the afternoon.
feebog
Damn Early Girls are definitely late this year. We started a month late anyway, and I’m still waiting for my first ripe tomato. We are getting eggplant and all kinds of squash. Also winter onions are still going strong. we planted a dozen starter romaine, and will be picking some for tonights salad. Also, arugala, which I now know is just a tasty weed, because it will grow anywhere. That’s it from SoCal, going out to take a picture of my flowering artichoke.