Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Republicans don’t trust women.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

No one could have predicted…

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I was promised a recession.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

“woke” is the new caravan.

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Ozark Spring

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Ozark Spring

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Haven’t had a chance to ask Raven to send me some Augusta photos I can use, so here’s more from commentor Ozark Hillbilly. Never too many spring pics, especially this time of year!

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The just-starting-to-blossom daffodils along the back fence, and even more important our budding lilacs, seem to have survived six inches of heavy wet snow earlier this week. And I finally got my annual order in to my favorite plant source, Laurel’s Heirloom Tomatoes, so I’ve got those sturdy seedlings to look forward to while I contemplate many hours of garden cleanup and winter decrufting.

If anybody knows a mail order source for Vintage Wine tomato plants (yes I know real gardeners start their own seeds but that’s beyond my capabilities) I’d be grateful. There’s a dozen or so types that are “must buys” for us — which tomatoes (or other plants) do you consider essential?

What’s going on in your garden (planning) this week?

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    This is what happens when people don’t send in Garden pics: You get stuck with my leftovers. (I knew there was a reason I sent you more pics than you could possibly use in one post, Anne)

  2. 2.

    ruemara

    No gardens for me. Just go back from karaoke. Feels weird to be up when one of these morning posts go up.

  5. 5.

    raven

    @Anne Laurie: I never wrote back that the azalea’s at Augusta had actually passed their peak and I didn’t have any worthy closeups. My bad.

  8. 8.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    In NOLA for phase one my birthday trip.

    After two straight weeks of sanding, spackling, painting and replacing two track lighting systems with modern systems (starting at 5 am, then working, then coming home to work on the project some more), we’re finally away, so that nearly all the flooring and countertops can be replaced while we’re away. That, of course, required cleared closet floors, under bed items, knickknacks and china cabinet).

    Oh, and I lost 50 pounds since February 1. I’m only 20 pounds over “chart weight” now.

  9. 9.

    Currants

    Asparagus! Thanks for that boost, Ozark H! I won’t see mine for a while yet here, though Nourse Farms is shipping the roots for my new bed the 18th, so there’s that to look forward to.

    Do any of you know a source for Green Comet broccoli seeds? Cursory glance at Botanical Interests and Seed Savers Exchange yields nada so far.

  15. 15.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    @Currants:

    One month of HCG daily injections (it’s a hormone that directs the body toward consuming stored fat), along with a very low cal (500-700) daily diet for that month as s kickstart, followed by several weeks of 1200-1400 daily calories of low carb meals. No snacks, alcohol or crackers, haha.

    I stayed really disciplined, and will aim at that second daily amount for general purposes. I am saving a bunch at the grocery, which is good because I had to buy all new clothes. Bought jeans Friday with a 34 waist – haven’t seen that since my 20s.

  19. 19.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @BillinGlendaleCA:
    I like that effect a lot. I thought those early attempts you showed us looked cold, both in temperature and in emotion. Thats not bad I just didn’t think it improved nature. This one though really makes the picture pop, nice work, thanks for sharing!

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    ‘A BEAUTIFUL FLOWER’

    Kinnear learned that Roger Mauzy, a former Warren County coroner, buried her mother’s remains at an undisclosed cemetery in 2004. Mauzy took Kinnear there after the identification. Only a weathered and rusted 12-inch stake remained from a temporary grave marker once labeled, “Faith Hope.”

    Three dandelions, reminiscent of the one on the last pictures Kinnear took of her pregnant mother long ago, sprouted from its base. “I thought, ‘Wow, God already placed flowers on her grave,’” Kinnear said. She looked around the cemetery and couldn’t find another dandelion.

    “To some people, dandelions are just pesky weeds, and to some people that’s all she was,” Kinnear said. “But to some, it’s a beautiful flower. It just depends on how you look at it.”

    A sad story about a little girl who finally learned why her mother never showed up for a school play. Maybe too sad for a Sunday morn.

  23. 23.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): I was getting the detail from the IR and loosing the color. The reason that I’m doing this, other than the obvious geek quest, is that LA is pretty hazy due to the smog but also the marine layer.

  25. 25.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    Asparagus looks good!
    We’ve had low temps in Detroit and some flurries over the last week. All of the spring growth is stalled waiting for temperatures to turn up. Lilies are peeking out of the ground and the lilacs have the same small buds they had in late March. I’ve done a little raking in the lawns and bagged yard waste.
    The goldfinches are in their summer colors since last week and the thistle feeder has to be refilled daily. We still have juncos hanging around but they’ll move on when it gets warm for good. Last week I spotted a chipmunk but haven’t seen it since.

  27. 27.

    satby

    So, we got home at midnight last night after a hellish long drive that even included me pulling over to yell at them. We never got to Mammoth Cave, we passed it but the 16 yo had been such a pill at the Hermitage that I just decided to head home. Which made me furious because the tickets for the three of cost $87(!!!). Then I missed the turnoff I needed and ended up taking 65 all the way to 94, which added lots of time. They basically only ate and slept for two days, and I will never take another road trip with teenagers again.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby:

    I will never take another road trip with teenagers again.

    Heh. I inoculated my sons to road trips early on (I took them all over the Ozarks, down to TAG, up to MN etc). So much so that after taking a trip to AZ with my little bro sharing driving duties (straight thru, no overnight stops), he shared his dread at the thought of being cooped up in a p/u for 24 hours with 2 preteen boys, and then his amazement at how well adapted they were to travel on the road.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    Never too many spring pics, especially this time of year!

    Especially this year, when snow and frost have destroyed spring!

    Beautiful pictures, by the way.

  30. 30.

    Mary G

    Beautiful @satby: Beautiful pictures, OH! We got a little bit of rain last night, very welcome here in Southern California.

  31. 31.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: Except for the whining and sniveling at the Hermitage, they were quiet enough. We went 2600 miles round trip through a country they had never seen, and they barely looked out the window. They were told multiple times that we would spend hours on the road, but brought nothing to amuse themselves: no homework, no books to read, not even a sketch pad for the artist one. The point of going to the Hermitage was to try to get a glimpse of a slave plantation to try to understand how that still affects this country today, not because I consider Andrew Jackson a particularly good President, but they “aren’t interested in history and don’t care”. I seriously could have killed them. They even whined about all the walking they had to do at Disney.

  34. 34.

    satby

    @debbie: LOL. I may have been more balanced about it had I not been completely exhausted.

    Edited to add: I will get my revenge though, the younger one has been asking me to bring her to Dearborn, which is 4 or more hours away. I will be delighted to point out that that’s a road trip.

  35. 35.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    @satby:

    Children ruin everything, LOL.

    I remember one time going to Mammoth Cave that we very nearly turned around in the parking lot to come home – the little shits were just awful.

  36. 36.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @satby:

    the younger one has been asking me to bring her to Dearborn

    Dearborn MI or some other Dearborn? If MI, what’s the attraction? Henry Ford Museum or the best Middle Eastern food on the continent?

  38. 38.

    The Golux

    There is nothing better than freshly picked asparagus. Store bought simply cannot compare.

  39. 39.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @satby:

    Other Arabs.

    Roger that. Dearborn’s an interesting town but not *all* of the Arabs live there. Dearborn and Hamtramck are more or less the cultural centers if not the largest population.
    And Henry Ford Museum rocks. Maybe not if you’re a teen, though. Lots of airplanes, walking, locomotives, walking, steam engines, walking, etc.

  40. 40.

    PurpleGirl

    @satby: I’m sorry you missed the Caves and that the girls turned into pests on the ride. Was the trip to Disney World at least good? You deserve a rest now — some food and a long nap.

  41. 41.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    We never had problems once the kids were a bit older. When the youngest were very young they were horrible travelers, as babies they would scream and cry no matter what we did for them. Eventually we figured out to do long hauls at night. We would start about bedtime for them and they would sleep through the night while we drove as far as we could. It helped having a van we could make beds in for them.

  42. 42.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor):
    I have 5 brothers and sisters, all close in age (5 of us within 7 years). On long car trips we would get ‘car sickness’ (barfing and dizziness). Mind you, we were all fine on small boats and never got nauseous. I figured out years later that it was likely due to being bundled into heavy clothes, the heat cranked up high with the windows up, and 2 or 3 adults chain smoking that caused our distress.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby:

    but brought nothing to amuse themselves: no homework, no books to read, not even a sketch pad for the artist one.

    Yep. Long experience taught my sons not only to amuse themselves, but how to amuse themselves. Both are devout bookworms ( a disease I passed down to them), the younger is a gamer and an artist while the older could stare out the window for hours, and neither ever complained about my stopping at various historical sights and markers, even if they weren’t interested at all in that particular one.

    They even whined about all the walking they had to do at Disney.

    I took a geology class at the local CC because I wanted to know more than what I was learning from cavers. I think I was the oldest in the class (one challenger with a bum knee) with most of the others 18-19. We took a field trip to the St Francis Mtns (actually an ancient caldera) with 3 stops. At the 3rd stop I was the only one who even bothered to leave the picnic area, which was nice because I was tired of all the whining. :-)

    My own sons never had much choice in the matter as I was taking them on hikes at the age of 2 and as they grew older they went ridge walking and caving with me too. It was what we did on my wkends with them: Floating, hiking, camping, caving, fishing, etc. Spring thru Fall with even some winter trips thrown in. Their growing up was a little different from most.

  45. 45.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:
    I have 5 brothers & sisters too! My dad bought a used caddy from a funeral home, it had a roll up window between the back seat & front seat. I think dad may have rolled it up a couple of times.

    We were never too hot & stuffy but I have had that experience while riding with other people when I was a kid. I don’t think it was the case with our babies because they were no problem once they were about 3

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): @Ultraviolet Thunder:
    My parents dragged all 6 of their kids on truly epic road trips, 3 and 4 week odysseys all over the west, the north, and the east with a pop up camper dragged behind. I still laugh at peeing in a coffee can that both boys and girls did in the back of the station wagon.

    I figured out years later that it was likely due to being bundled into heavy clothes, the heat cranked up high with the windows up, and 2 or 3 adults chain smoking that caused our distress.

    For me as a kid, it was the cigarette smoke and diesel fumes. Diesels still make me feel a little pukey.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    What are the two photos at the top? I feel like I should know what they are, but I don’t. :-(

    Lovely flowers (and photos!) whatever they are.

  48. 48.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Another family thing – dad bought a used school bus & converted it into a camper. It was probably the only way a factory worker with 6 kids could take us on vacations. We went to Rushmore, Canada, DC and were headed to California when the thing broke down and we spent 4 days (and all of dads vacation savings) at a Pontiac dealership garage in Grand Junction CO.

  49. 49.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: The fist time I went to Jamaica I took a bus through the mountains from Mo Bay to Negril. I felt really uneasy driving the dirt roads but realized it was the diesel smell. It took me back to driving convoys.

  50. 50.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: As a kid, I would feel queasy in all busses and in some cars but not others. Over time I figured out that it was the car manufacturer. I had a problem in Chevys but not some of the others.

    Still not great on busses and I almost gag when I walk into a tire shop – smells like a combination of smoke and rubber, or something like that.

  51. 51.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor):
    We always traveled in station wagons. Because the ’70s. The rear facing seat was prime territory because there was a little privacy. But you had to earn the right to sit out of slapping range.
    22 years ago my paternal grandfather died and I had to get all of us ‘kids’ to the funeral. I borrowed dad’s ‘wagon, we lashed our suitcases to the top and I drove siblings and spouses across the state. That was a passing of the torch in several ways.

  52. 52.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @satby: My dept chair drove from Iowa to Alaska, camping along the way, with his three teenagers. If that had been us, the Mounties would have found us dead on the side of the road with our hands clutched around one another’s throats.

  53. 53.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @raven:
    I was a firefighter for about 8 years, when I smell diesel i think fire engine. Its interesting how quickly a smell can bring us to a mental place we have not been to in years.

  54. 54.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl: The 1st one is Spring Beauties, one of the first wild flowers to bloom around here, the 2nd is peach blossoms from one of 3 trees I planted our 2nd or 3rd spring here.

  55. 55.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:
    I only ever sat in that back-facing seat one time, going with some friends to their cabin ‘up north’. It did make me feel sick. I assumed it was facing backwards but I wonder if exhaust was also part of the problem.

    I laughed hard at “out of slapping range”! I can see my old man, steering with one hand & swinging wildly around the back seat with the other!

  57. 57.

    debbie

    I was forced to sit between my two always fighting brothers, so I got picked on by both. I still hate sitting in the middle of anything.

  58. 58.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor):

    I laughed hard at “out of slapping range”! I can see my old man, steering with one hand & swinging wildly around the back seat with the other!

    “I am going to PULL THIS CAR OVER and NOBODY is going to Sleeping Bear Dunes”
    As if we wanted to climb the tallest pile of sand in North America in the first place.

  66. 66.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): My trip from Hell involved a 5′ nothing red head, a 2 year old, and an infant, driving from Clearmont WY to STL. I was awakened at 2 am, app 29 miles west of Murdo, SD by the redhead screaming “It blew up! It blew up!” When I crawled under my truck I found a smoking hole the size of my thumb and about a quart of heavy gear oil underneath my rear differential.

    I still remember the immortal words of the truck stop attendant to my query of what my chances were of finding a used rear end for a ’72 International: “Well, you might find one in Rapid, or you might find one in Pierre, but you ain’t gonna find one around here!”

    The trip went downhill from there.

    @raven: That sounds just like riding the chicken buses in Mexico. Always wondering if you were going to become part of another roadside memorial.

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    The rear facing seat was prime territory because there was a little privacy.

    I always liked getting to sit back there but everyone else acted like it was purgatory.

  68. 68.

    satby

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: @debbie: I actually did pull the car over and slam on the brakes to yell at them, and really wanted to tell them that they’d have to walk home. That was in Kentucky.
    Funny how the tapes in our heads want to rewind.

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    I live in Illinois, and both my parents are from Deep South states. I was the youngest stuck on the hump in the middle between my two sisters for years. The longest part of the trip was getting out of Illinois. Took forever. But those regular trips Down South while growing up soured me on car trips.

  73. 73.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @rikyrah: My sons love their addict, ex-con mother to death even if neither can stand being in her company for more than a few hours. They have forgiven her all her sins. I can’t. Not for the things she did to me (which were legion) but for the things she did to my sons, the ways she used them.

    But it doesn’t really matter how I feel, does it? She might be my ex, but she is their mother.

  74. 74.

    WereBear

    As an adult, I love road trips; my mother and youngest brother and I made an epic journey from NY to IN to bury my grandmother, who had passed on mentally years before. This wasn’t mourning, it was more like an archeological dig. We all had a fantastic time, but really really missed NY; surprised me how much.

    Now, I choose fun companions, make frequent stops, and stay open to possibilities. None of which applies to non-adults :)

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: Wow, those peach blossoms would be worth it even if you never got any peaches! And I say that as someone whose favorite fruits are peaches and cherries and raspberries.

    I thought those might be spring beauties! I just bought 3 of them yesterday from the wildflower guy. He works at a prairie research institute affiliated with the university and he’s lived in his house since forever. Every spring they dig up some of their wildflowers and hold a sale.

    I bought spring beauties, shooting star, mayapple, celandine poppies, white bleeding hearts and bluebells. It was way below freezing last night so I had to leave them all in the car, but I will pull them out when it starts to rain in an hour or two. i have to bring them in on monday and tuesday night (more freezes) but he says I can plant them after that because it’s smooth sailing freeze-wise.

    The spring beauties are small but they have tiny little pink buds that aren’t open yet. His stuff is trickier to transplant because they have just been dug up out of the ground instead of being grown in a pot and pampered at a nursery.

    Some of my wildflowers from him last year didn’t make it, but my jacob’s ladder and geraniums are going strong. Crossing my fingers for this year, hopeful because I now know they need extra TLC at first.

  77. 77.

    scav

    to be unexpectedly on topic, I am so ready to be out in my borrowed garden ( next week, depending on this snow stopping), that a few days of windfall stick cleanup, general tidying, grass seeding, sucker management and possibly edging construction sounds thrilling. Hoping for peeks at the new bleeding heart types, squill, trout lilies, forsythia if I’m lucky. Need to cheer on my beloved cranesbill, and my hellebore issues have already been alluded to. Ahhhhh it is time!

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: Oh my gosh, I had forgotten about the hump! (not totally a happy memory because I was the youngest and that’s where I had to sit.)

  79. 79.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Anne Laurie: I have some lovely photos of a friend’s (actually my mother’s friend) garden when I was in India two summers ago. Her yard was the size of a postage stamp but she (and her gardener) had worked miracles in it. Several varieties of hibiscus, mango and a bunch of other fruit trees which I could not identify. Would that be something of interest to you and the Tunchblog?

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    But it doesn’t really matter how I feel, does it? She might be my ex, but she is their mother.

    Sound an alert! We have a grown-up at Balloon Juice!

  84. 84.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    “I am going to PULL THIS CAR OVER and NOBODY is going to Sleeping Bear Dunes”
    As if we wanted to climb the tallest pile of sand in North America in the first place.

    This might have been an appropriate threat if you were a family of cats

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: Never heard that one before! I laughed out loud.

    Clearly, you guys needed to refine your excuses! You seem perfectly clever and bright now, but maybe not so much then? :-)

  86. 86.

    bemused

    For this garden season, I need to get serious about having tall and strong tomato cages whether I purchase them or make some easy and cheap DIY ones. I’m fed up with too short, leaning tomato towers. Recommendations are welcome.

    I have plenty of time to decide as tomato and other veggie plants don’t go in the garden until June in far north MN. Weather has been a roller coaster here for a month, temperatures bouncing from 40’s to 50’s during the day to a morning low of zero one day this week.

  87. 87.

    WaterGirl

    @satby: Welcome back! Sorry to hear that it was so tough with the girls; the trip was going to be brutal even without that because of your mom. :: sigh ::

    Take care of yourself, and don’t forget to forgive the girls. They are not just teenagers, but teenagers in a foreign world.

  89. 89.

    scav

    @satby: My aunt, the really kindest and most patient of the lot, actually did stop, make her (2, mixed set) kids get out of the car and drove off ( a very sneaky round the block manouver was pulled I believe). But she lurked a impressive while.

    Dad’s constant cry was “kids, look out the window!”, especially hard on my sister who simply has to be in a moving car to fall asleep.

  90. 90.

    bemused

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    When our three boys were in grade school all in the back seat, two managed to give each other bloody noses just a half mile down the road after leaving our driveway. That was fun.

  94. 94.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    Well, it is back to the airport & purgatory in that city of Norther charm and Southern efficiency.

    See you all later

  96. 96.

    tybee

    @bemused:

    I need to get serious about having tall and strong tomato cages

    i use the cheap wallyworld type but drive a 4 foot piece of rebar down inside of it, going on one side of the upper ring and on the other side of an inner ring. that won’t ever lean.
    i have also learned to put three cages right next to each other in a triangle and drive the rebar in the overlap so one rebar supports 3 cages.

    or you can use hog wire to make a “barrel” shape and drive rebar down in that to make a larger and/or taller cage if needed. run the rebar in and out of a couple of the interstices of the fencing. makes a very strong support for plants.

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    Well, it was 24 here last night the record for the date was 22 back in 1997, which was a very cold winter just ending by April.

    Still just 34 at 10:40… the snow is all gone, melted yesterday afternoon, which was sunny but chilly. I can’t tell yet if it did the redbud and blue bells and violets in or not.

    Brrrr.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    Not a huge road trip person. Growing up we (me, younger brothers and sister) would do a lot of local stuff, but I loved to read but could never read in a moving car without getting sick. But every now and then there would be a long train trip, which was great, no problems reading and more room to relax.

    Despite the lack of road trip background, my sister and her husband love to road trip, and have taken my niece and nephew all over the country. They all love it. And apparently SUVs rule.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @bemused: The square tomato cages and pepper cages from Gardener’s Supply are very sturdy. I have used both for several years and they look like new. But they are not cheap!

    The square tomato cages are are good for determinate tomatoes. For indeterminate, I am looking at some of their taller cages this year. More expensive than the others, but I am tired of fighting the tomatoes, so I will buy two and see if they are worth it.

  101. 101.

    bemused

    @tybee:

    Probably about the simplest way. We plan to take out our grape vine and then I will use that support for tomato plants but I also plant 3 to 4 cheery tomato plants amongst the tall flowers in the bed on south, sunny side of the house. I will buy some taller, heavier cages and then brace them as you suggested.

  103. 103.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    It’s snowing again here in Detroit.
    Screw it. We’re going to brunch anyway.

  105. 105.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @satby: :-)

    Glad you’re home. I’m sorry the trip was stressful. I’m sure they’ll look back at it with great fondness and appreciation for all you’ve done for them, even if they can’t see it now.

    Their eyes might be opened a bit more by that Dearborn trip, with the large Muslim community there. Make sure they’re willing to make it worth your while if you agree to go! :-) A friend and I took a brief vacation in Dearborn seeing the Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, etc. in the ’80s. It was a beautiful summer, perfect for camping at a KOA on a small lake.

    Have a good Sunday.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  107. 107.

    satby

    @WereBear: Yes! This honestly was the first road trip in years I didn’t enjoy, both because of the need to stick to a tight schedule and because of my teens. But I normally love a wander around to explore.
    They were a great help when I was cleaning out my mom’s condo, so I’m sure it’s just exhaustion and stress speaking. We’ll be fine.
    But no more road trips with them ;)

  108. 108.

    scav

    @bemused: My aunt just gave up and went full-on solid garden architecture for her two tomato cages. Even a bit pricier than the squate ones, but they look good and they are TANKS, Getting better than a decade’s use out of them is the general excuse.

  109. 109.

    J R in WV

    @tybee:

    Yes, this. Using a strong woven wire fencing, cutting it so you can curl it into either a perfect cylinder or a cone narrowing a little bit towards the top. Then using fence posts or rebar or a piece of pipe, something to make it a little more rigid and stiffer.

    If you use a small enough weave, or add chicken wire to it, you can even keep the deer out of the cylinder, and grow tomatoes etc inside the wire. A friend who is paraplegic uses very small raised beds with woven wire fencing around them, so she can open the wire and lean into her beds from her wheelchair. Works quite well, she grows a ton of vegetables, and is a vegetarian to boot, so good for her lifestyle.

    WE have so many damm deer that gardening requires either a stalag-high fence, electric fencing, or more wit than most of us have. I guess we could just build a regular fence and keep a dog in there while there’s anything to lure deer. Mean to the dog, tho…

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    @Shell: I hardly got any of my SunGold’s last year – my pups stole everything they could reach! They are SO good, I will try again this year and will try to outwit my pups. Or maybe sacrifice one plant to them – scratching to go out and harvest tomatoes all day long was their favorite pastime!

  117. 117.

    Anne Laurie

    @WaterGirl: I have had excellent results with the Gardeners Supply tomato towers, even in rootpouches! They are not cheap, but I’ve been using them for a number of years, adding another few to my collection whenever they’re on sale.

    (Another factor which may or may not matter to you: the towers look good, both bristling empty out of the newly-transplanted beds in May and smothered under the vines in September. My Virgo Spousal Unit is a devout cheapskate, but the towers are so much nicer than every previous alternative he actually encouraged me to buy them. Of course our ‘tomato garden’ is in front of our house, on a strip of asphalt abutting his parking space, so he can hardly ignore them.)

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    @Anne Laurie: Anne Laurie, you will surely never see this, but I even use the pepper cages for my zucchini plants – helps keep the leaves off the ground and makes the zucchini easier to find!

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