Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

Motown is Joe-Town!

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Everybody saw this coming.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

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

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

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

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Ozark Summer

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The rest of talented photog & gardener Ozark Hillbilly‘s pics from last week…

At top: Dem Wascally Wabbits got most of the cosmos, this is one they happily missed. I do like cosmos.
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I like the foliage on the catmint and it really took off. I’m gonna add some more next spring.
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Call Him Art: I found this red cedar stump while mushroom hunting nearby. A lot of character in that face.

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Oz, if your catmint is anything like our local variety, it will spread quite happily without any help from you. Here it’s a “weed” which comes back before almost any of the other annuals every spring, and it would try to take over the entire garden if left unchecked. I don’t give it as much freedom as that, but I always leave enough blooming (as early as February!) so that the first bumblebees have something to work with…
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Apart from crossing fingers for our Floridian correspondents, what’s happening in your garden(s), this week?
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Flutterbys4: Grow it, and they will come.

Reader Interactions

59Comments

  4. 4.

    Cermet

    Well, the damn storm is taking its time; hope this isn’t Harvey like where the storm tries to hangs over the warm Gulf waters pounding Southern Florida. Rather, hope it quickly weakens and rapidly travels North just providing mostly rain, little wind. Also, hope Jose swings out into the deep Atlantic.

    Nature is awesome (as in those pics.) Not so much the human induced global warming that is strengthening these already powerful storms (zero doubt on that score.)

  5. 5.

    Kristine

    I love the stump. Some of the driftwood that washes up on the lakeshore could be his cousins.

    I had a ton of volunteer catmint this year, didn’t manage it well, and learned the hard way that it mildews like a boss when it’s crowded and that mildew spreads to other plants. So I trimmed it way back, and will shift some of it around this week so there’s at least a foot between the individual plants. I like it because it draws all kinds of bees as well as goldfinches and hummingbird moths.

  6. 6.

    cosima

    I love your stump. We have a stump that Little C rescued from the forest that looks like a man, belly button to thigh, wearing boxer shorts, including a bulge. Little C found that so hilarious that she carried it home. Of course I could not break her heart by bringing it back to the forest. Your stump looks like a Frank Bruce sculpture. There is a walk at Feshie here in Scotland that is full of his sculptures — they are beautiful and moving. If you come to the Highlands you must see it (and you will also be quite near me, so drop by): https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/lower-feshie.shtml

    I ordered that very same buddleia plant on Friday! We’ve got a purple one that did not do very well this year (I think Mr C pruned it back too far & at the wrong time), so I’m going to try for better luck with this white one (don’t see them much here in Scotland, whereas the purple variety are everywhere, and considered a weed by many). I also ordered heaps of bulbs that I’ll be planting (I hope they arrive soon!) as we’ll be getting frost overnight before too long, I think.

    I planted wild bergamot in our garden this year, and that and my honesty plants are my favourites. I also planted Vietnamese coriander, which definitely has a bit of a bite to it (first taste is coriander/cilantro, then you get the heat), and it has gone crazy, so I think it’s probably very easy to grow. I can’t wait to use it in my next batch of salsa. I have a few 5+ foot sunflowers in the back, blueberries and eucalyptus doing well. I also made myself a succulent globe that makes me happy — lots of different varieties of succulents, I love those interesting little plants!

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Lapassionara: A little over 2′, 9″ diameter or so at his fattest.

    Pretty sick this morn. Low grade fever, headache (this is my first headache that wasn’t the result of a blow to my head, the first) and shitting like a goose. I think it’s campylobacter I got from my chickens. Heading up to the wkend clinic as soon as they open for some antibiotics.

  10. 10.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Somehow, I thought there would be poppies. Fields and fields of poppies…

  14. 14.

    satby

    Hope you feel better soon, Ozark! Love the pictures, especially the stump. It’s amazing how much beauty we miss just because we’re too busy too look at our surroundings as we go about our days.

  15. 15.

    satby

    I woke up to 45° here in South Bend, we’ve had cool mornings and nice days for a couple of days since we finally got some real rain. Too bad it came too late for most of the garden, but my newer shrubs were happy for the long drink. I should be getting the spring bulbs I ordered in a few weeks, so I need to start planning a new flower bed.

  16. 16.

    Laura

    @OzarkHillbilly: thanks for the lovely pictures. I hope your on the mend soon. No more kissing the chickens!

    This week another milkweed seed pod split, so I’ve got a paper sack twist tied to it and will be making seed balls to give away.
    Since it’s finally cooled down below 100° I’ll plants marigolds coreopsis and the last cosmos for the day of the dead.

    Be safe Floridians and other Southeastern jackals and those of you with loved ones in the path, fingers crossed and praying for mercy.

  17. 17.

    henqiguai

    Anne Laurie –

    Here it’s a “weed” which comes back before almost any of the other annuals every spring

    Only because I’m trying to re-educate myself on things botanical; I believe that would make the plant a “perennial”. Of course, I could just be reacting to garden center marketing term misuse, but I believe plants tagged “annuals” have to be replanted, well, annually.

  20. 20.

    Mobile

    My 200-plus year old lawn in Virginia is about a quarter small leaf, low growing, mint. Mowing it is a treat.

  21. 21.

    japa21

    @OzarkHillbilly: Great pictures. I never got to comment on last week’s crop of photos. Sorry to hear you are feeling so poorly. Get better soon. And I also hope the Florida folks are making sure they are safe.

  24. 24.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Please rest well and get better. And send more photos! That stump man is a true find.

    Today I have invited some friends over to help me get my yard, which I have let run amok, spruced up a bit. Next Saturday is the memorial/celebration for my wife’s life. Starting in a dreary funeral home, then moving to our home. Where I live there are two types of funeral homes — Italian or Irish. I chose the latter for no particular reason — sadly no German or eastern European options.

    My Lime Hydrangea is still very pretty as the huge flowers are now slowly turning from greenish white to include shades of pink. My tomatoes are still producing and I have given away plenty but have started making sauce. I have the neatest tool that is a hand crank mech that strips out seeds and skins leaving puro tomato.

    And my tomatillos are producing like crazy! Free salsa verde at my house!

  25. 25.

    debbie

    Feel better soon, OH. Beautiful pics! There’s a tree with a very convincing face on it a few blocks away. I’ll have to get a picture of it and send it in.

    Hope all Floridians are safe. My nephew (at UM) arrived yesterday with a few buddies, so that chaos, combined with OSU’s loss, will hopefully have my brother rethinking his support of Trump. Or not.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    @Immanentize:

    Hydrangeas have gone nuts here this summer. They’re my new favorite flower.

    I’m sure your yard will be beautiful for next week. Fitting for a celebration of a beautiful soul.

  32. 32.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah:
    I will send him a pic — I’ll take one today as it looks to be a beautiful cool Sunday here near Boston

    I am fretting about friends in Miami where I used to work as well as all the BF family. But I will stubbornly enjoy this day here and now.

  34. 34.

    eclare

    @rikyrah: Haven’t seen anything, I also follow her on Twitter, and nothing there either. Hopefully the Crackers, including the chickens and dogs, are on their way inland.

  35. 35.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh dear, I hope the clinic gives you what you need and your recovery is quick. Darn chickens! I hope at least the eggs are good. (Garden pix are lovely, by the way.)

    Ms. O and I are headed to the New Mexico State Fair this morning – our first visit to that event. I anticipate fried food! (with chile red and green, and without); crafts exhibits! show animals! tacky games! and more fried food! It’s nice and cool here this morning, with a high of 88 expected in Albuquerque. Toodleoo!

  37. 37.

    japa21

    @rikyrah: @rikyrah: She was planning on heading out this morning so I doubt she is currently available. She was waiting for the most recent predictions and they are definitely not pretty for the Tampa area.

  38. 38.

    bemused

    Spouse picked up takeout last night from local bar/burger place and has a beer while waiting. Everyone at the bar were talking about people they know in Florida and where they are now. A neighbor couple moved to Florida, Cape Coral iirc, a couple of years ago and heheard they are in a shelter. This conversation has to be going on everywhere in the country. We all know people living or vacationing in Florida.

  39. 39.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize: Dropping back in to send {{{hugs}}} to you and young Immp (hope he’s enjoying the new school year)! I’m glad for your garden, good friends, and handy tomato press.

  40. 40.

    pat

    I just got here so I haven’t read the thread, so probably someone has pointed out the difference between catMINT (Nepeta) and catNIP. It’s the NIP you will never be rid of.
    Speaking from experience.

    ETA: my nepeta does sometimes move around, but not at all like the nip.

  41. 41.

    JMG

    @bemused: Here on Cape Cod, there are innumerable senior citizens (I am one, too) who have winter places in Florida and spend spring, summer and fall here (this I don’t have). The last 10 days all one heard was about the hurricane and if their homes would be damaged/destroyed. Judging from locations, some of those places will be goners. But at least the people are up here safe and sound.

  43. 43.

    Sab

    I neglected the lemon balm in the herb garden this year, and now I am afraid to go back there. I think there are foxes roaming around in it.

  44. 44.

    CarolPW

    @henqiguai: A lot of annuals reseed themselves, so there is no need for you to plant them each year. That’s what makes them weedy in the right climates because the in the spring new plants can show up almost anywhere.

  45. 45.

    bystander

    @Immanentize:

    And my tomatillos are producing like crazy! Free salsa verde at my house.

    I use Rick Bayless’s salsa verde recipe. Roast 8 tomatillos, 2 cloves of garlic, one jalapeño, then whir them up with cilantro and a little water in a blender. Dice a small onion and rince in cold water. Pour blender contents in a bowl, stir in onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Get cracking, Imm.

  46. 46.

    Immanentize

    @bystander: I have Rick’s cookbook. It’s a gem — recipes are simple and so tasty. Also, he thinks Americans use too little salt in their “healthy” cooking. I love that guy!

  47. 47.

    bemused

    @JMG:

    Irma has been so huge and threatening affecting those in FL and their family/friends across the country that majority of Americans paying close attention. I just hope Americans pay as close attention to those legislators who are actively working to fund disaster relief and future prevention measures and those evil shits who are not. Of course, I’ve had that hope on so many issues since the election…..

  49. 49.

    Catherine D.

    @bystander:

    I’ll have to try that, except I’ll soak the raw onion in lime juice first. That tames it for those who can’t eat raw onion like me.

  50. 50.

    Spanky

    @JMG:

    But at least the people are up here safe and sound.

    It would be prudent to go to windy.com and run the animation to see what Jose does over the next 10 days. Potential bad news for the New England/Nova Scotia coasts.

  51. 51.

    Gelfling 545

    Lovely garden pics.
    Sigh. I wish I could grow buddleia. I know they’re next thing to a weed but I can’t grow them. Had one that lasted 2 years. Others never came back after the first year, if they even made it that far. Other things I can’t grow include russian sage and liatris which seem to grow exuberantly for everyone else. I can and do however grow rampant catmint, mostly around the feet of my roses. They seem to thrive together. I move bits of it occasionally to the areas I stealth garden so the neighborhood cats are well supplied.

  52. 52.

    cosima

    @Ruviana: Thank you, that’s kind of you. I’ve been very unwell for quite a while, continue to be unwell, peaks & valleys. It’s one day at a time right now, focusing on the little stuff, and being present with Little C and her big sister, who is visiting from Vermont. I am not really engaging much with the outside world. But I am taking pleasure in my garden successes, because they are so few (I’m really a rubbish gardener), and very strange that OH has posted a photo of the plant that I bought for our garden just a couple of days ago.

    Big C’s partner/boyfriend/whatever has come to visit while she’s with us, which has introduced a whole level of drama & fuss that was not really welcome or wanted or needed. Weird stuff. And now I must go do ‘work.’

  53. 53.

    danielx

    Sixty degrees and a beautiful morning…..almost makes me feel guilty when so many people (including family) are waiting for the worst, weather-wise.

    Almost.

  55. 55.

    5x5

    @bystander: Thank you! I decided to try and make chicken tamales today. I’ve been looking around for ideas. I bought masa harina to make tortillas. (It was a nightmare. I couldn’t roll them out to save my life.)

  56. 56.

    FlyingToaster

    @5×5: Tamales traditionally require lard as glue; we’ve had some luck with crisco (any solid heavy vegetable shortening should do). You don’t roll them as much as pat them into a rectangle, dollop on your filling, and roll it into a tube, which you then wrap in corn husks. Be sure that the corn husk is wrapped thoroughly; don’t stint.

    Corn flour (masa hariña) doesn’t form gluten or any binding of any sort. You have to provide some form of glue in the way of fat, or fat plus a glue — like albumen. I haven’t tried any of my egg-substitute, which is primarily tapioca flour, but that might also work.

  57. 57.

    FlyingToaster

    @JMG: Actually, the 10-day at WeatherUnderground, coupled with Windy, has let me book picnic venues* 10 days in advance without having to cancel for rain.

    I just made the call on Friday that next Sunday wouldn’t work for WarriorGirl’s birthday at the park, because we’ll be getting drizzle from Friday to Monday and then José offshore on Tuesday.

    * We need to book the tables for large groups (~25 kids plus parents) and get a permit. For a party a couple weeks ago, some squatters tried to tell me that they could use it despite our permit, and I called Parks and let the office tell them to clear out before we all called the cops.

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