Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

We still have time to mess this up!

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Thursday Morning Garden Chat: Shade Corner

Thursday Morning Garden Chat: Shade Corner

by | 70 Comments

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Because we deserve a break, here’s the promised second half of commentor Misamericanthrope‘s lovely arrangements:

The shade corner of my garden was the last thing to come together this year. It’s jam-packed and I am hopeful that it will be even more spectacular mid-season. I have included a close-up of the Fuchsia “Autumnale” blooms [top pic]. I generally buy it for its foliage so the hearty blooms were a pleasant surprise.

Across from the shade corner is a pot near the rear entrance to my building. This grouping features Purple Heart, Euphorbia, and Dorotheanthus.

And lastly, here’s a photo of the plantings on a friend’s front porch that I put together. I made her the concrete planters a few years back and now it is a Spring ritual to fill them up.

So lovely — and so restful!

Reader Interactions

70Comments

  11. 11.

    Misamericanthrope

    @Doctor Science: I try to let the Begonias set the watering schedule. If neighboring plants get droopy prior to a good dry-out, i’ll hit them with a localized douse. Doesn’t always work!

  12. 12.

    satby

    @Misamericanthrope: Beautiful arrangements and pictures! I hope you’ll send us more updates, thanks for these.

    @sukabi: @rikyrah: Good morning! I finally went back to the mobile site myself, have to make do without editing and the buttons for the HTML tags, but the endless loading from all the ads was killing me. I’m on a Kindle with their Silk browser, and if memory serves so is rikyrah. At least the nyms are sticking.

  14. 14.

    Misamericanthrope

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks so much! It is great fun trying to work out the combos. I live in a 6-flat apartment building and I am happy to report that the other tenants get quite a bit of enjoyment from it. We are right near the El tracks here in Chicago, so my urban garden brightens up a rather dreary alley.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Misamericanthrope: I have a real hard time putting plants together in a way that works, mostly it is just by whatever whim strikes my ADD fancy, but I can see when other people have the knack and am filled with envy. :-)

    We are right near the El tracks here in Chicago, so my urban garden brightens up a rather dreary alley.

    And this blog.

  19. 19.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Apparently, the twitter Alt-Reich have been pounding the report button over my “whore” comment on an “Ivanka 46” post.

    Upon restoration, I was threatened with permanent suspension if it reoccurs. Given twitter’s behavior with regard to everything Trump and right wing, I’m of the belief that a lot of the calls are coming from inside the house, so to speak.

    The medium needs to die.

  20. 20.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    On a more normal note, does anybody have any advice on cat bullying? We’re cat sitting oldest daughters cat, and she’s terrible to our new female kitten, and even being standoffish to our male cat (who she usually loves).

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Donald Trump repeatedly raised the possibility of invading Venezuela in talks with his top aides at the White House, according to a new report.

    Trump brought up the subject of an invasion in public in August last year, saying: “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary.” But the president’s musings about the possibility of a US invasion were more extensive and persistent than that public declaration, according to the Associated Press.

    The previous day Trump reportedly took his top officials by surprise in an Oval Office meeting, asking why the US could not intervene to remove the government of Nicolas Maduro on the grounds that Venezuela’s political and economic unraveling represented a threat to the region.

    Quoting an unnamed senior administration official, the AP report said the suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, which included the then national security advisor, HR McMaster, and secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Both have since left the administration.

    The administration officials are said to have taken turns in trying to talk him out of the idea, pointing out that any such military action would alienate Latin American allies who had supported the US policy of punitive sanctions on the Maduro regime.

    Their arguments do not seem to have dissuaded the president.

    Like a child playing with matches.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    WTF???? I mean really, forget the stupid dolphin headdress, why would anyone wear any it???

  29. 29.

    MomSense

    Very pretty. I think I have to go get some plants to fill my empty pots. This year has been a total garden fail for me.

  30. 30.

    oldgild

    These plantings are excellent. The old rule of fill, spill and thrill was met.

  31. 31.

    Another Scott

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Twitter’s loss.

    You could send a pre-emptive flame to Jack (like the one posted here a week or few ago), but why bother.

    There are alternatives to Twitter, of course. I cannot recommend any of them – I don’t use T or anything else like that myself.

    Hang in there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  34. 34.

    MomSense

    The Takeaway is reporting that USCIS is starting a denaturalization task force. This is a really bad development and concerning since they do not seem concerned about public opposition to their policies.

    And we just have to hope states are securing voting systems on their own. We have to run up yuuge margins in November because these fuckers are acting like the fix is in.

  36. 36.

    MomSense

    @Denali:

    I’m assuming the hostess are planted in a shady spot so I would place astilbes with the host as. They look wonderful together and deer hate astilbe. Astilbe is a great way to add some texture and color to a shade garden.

  39. 39.

    Elizabelle

    Shade Corner: Thought it would mean some serious shade was being thrown.

    But misamericanthrope’s container plantings: even better. Beautiful, and imaginative combinations.

    Also, thanks upthread for the tip about not overwatering begonias. Mine looks shabby this morning, and that is what I did.

    Is it OK to water geraniums as much as it takes to keep them perky?

  40. 40.

    Quantumman

    Off-topic. Has anyone seen confirmation that Putin stood up the republicans senators in Russia? Saw a comment to this effect on Daily Kos.

  41. 41.

    MomSense

    @Elizabelle:

    They don’t like to have soggy feet. Make sure the pot drains well and don’t water if the soil still feels damp or wet. They need to be deadheaded or they will stop producing flowers.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    @MomSense: Thank you. The geraniums are so beautiful, but direct sun in afternoons and 100+ heat index have taken a toll.

    Plus, am overwatering. Will stop doing so.

  44. 44.

    MomSense

    @Elizabelle:

    They may need a little respite from the sun or maybe put the pots up on something so you can keep watering but it doesn’t pool. Intense heat is such a challenge.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    @MomSense: Yeah. Remembering that the geraniums in the last apartment I had, in this heat, had a shaded porch. Bought some sunsails a while back; will put them up today.

    Previous geraniums were still blooming happily outdoors into November (!) that year, when an ice storm took them out. Regret forgetting to bring them in.

  49. 49.

    germy

    We’ve been using the “soda bottle technique” for keeping critters away from our vegetable plants.

    Take a big empty plastic soda bottle, cut off the bottom, then place it over the vegetable plant. It forms a mini green house, keeps the critters away, but allows watering and rain.

    The rabbits and squirrels are frustrated, but our lettuce and basil are flourishing.

  50. 50.

    germy

    @MomSense:

    We have to run up yuuge margins in November because these fuckers are acting like the fix is in.

    Yes, we need not only to win, but to win by a wide enough margin to overcome any ratf*cking they attempt.

  51. 51.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    Exactly. He trump admin is all in on ethnic cleansing. When he calls immigrants animals we need to believe him.

  55. 55.

    germy

    @rikyrah: I saw this comment at LawyersGunsMoneyBlog:

    ssdd
    “OR within 48 hours of looking like a dunce during his interrogation of Rosenstein, the Deep State managed to round up dozens of former wrestlers and enlist the cooperation of all of them, and of the administration at OSU, and manage to have the doctor have a separate verifiable track record and . . .”

    It’s even more incredible than that! According to the NBC report, the investigation began in April. This can only mean one thing, of course: The Deep State has access to Obama’s time machine!

  57. 57.

    germy

    Michael Miselis, seen pushing and beating black protester in Charlottesville last year, is a UCLA doctoral student with a government security clearance to work for Northrop Grumman t.co/ZMXwEqS2hl— Emma Roller (@emmaroller) July 5, 2018

  59. 59.

    germy

    Rita Moreno, EGOT winner and national treasure, delivered a stirring reading of Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus” during the Boston Pops’s July Fourth fireworks spectacular last night. For anyone struggling to reconcile current events with the potential of what the country could be, there’s something especially moving in Moreno’s reading of the lines that adorn the Statue of Liberty, which call for America to welcome all.

    vulture.com/2018/07/rita-moreno-delivers-a-moving-reading-of-the-new-colossus.html

  60. 60.

    Kay

    Those are lovely.

    I never paid any attention to coleus but I saw this one in a community garden in Chicago so I bought some for pots on the shady side of a terrace. They look amazing in the shade. I pinched them back early so they’d branch and they did- one plant fills the whole pot.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    I can’t remember if Chicago gets any hummingbirds in the summer, but if you do, that fuschia will attract them. Even if you don’t get hummingbirds, you should get some interest from butterflies and honeybees.

  62. 62.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    “…why would anyone wear any it???”

    Well, the guy in the picture is being well paid, right? Now, why would anyone PAY to wear it? There you got me!!

  63. 63.

    Kay

    ‏@JohnJHarwood
    51m51 minutes ago
    More John Harwood Retweeted John Harwood
    now Jordan is linking allegations that he ignored sexual abuse as an Ohio State wrestling coach years ago to his questioning of Deputy AG Rosenstein about Trump/Russia probe at House hearing last month

    Yes, because everyone wants to silence his idiotic questions- that’s what the victims are focused on- Donald Trump and the Russia probe. That’s why they contacted him in April- they were anticipating his embarrassing performance at that hearing.

    The EGOS are just incredible. It’s mental illness- everything is about the MAGA’S. Everything.

  64. 64.

    Kay

    “Trump was the focus of an incredible 41 percent of all American news coverage during his first 100 days in office — three times the coverage given to previous presidents”

    This is a huge challenge for Democrats. Their strongest issue in polling is health care and they aren’t gonna get any national media coverage. Health care doesn’t really lend itself to demonization and zany tweets. The best thing about Medicare For All is no one has to explain it. I mean, they DO, it would be complicated to put in, but they don’t explain it and that’s a plus.

    Public education is an issue that is working for Democrats state-level. DeVos is loathed so she’s the perfect figurehead to play off of- national media pay zero attention to education but it doesn’t matter because it’s 95% state issue anyway.

  65. 65.

    J R in WV

    @rikyrah:

    US Border Patrol is boarding Canadian lobster fishing boats, in disputed waters claimed by Canada, and asking about illegal immigrants.

    It’s like they are totally ignorant of how the War of 1812 came to be: Arrogant British officers boarding US ships and taking US citizens impressed into their navy, which was so famously vile that no one joined voluntarily…

    Now our Border Patrol is totally arrogant, ask me how I know.

  66. 66.

    Calouste

    @germy: “The New Colossus” was written a year after the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed, which was only the first of a string of racist anti-immigrant laws over the next 60 years.

    It’s the same as the “All men are created equal” phrase in the declaration of Independence, a lie propagated by American mythology.

  67. 67.

    opiejeanne

    Very lovely. You say you made those nice concrete planters? I am very impressed.

  68. 68.

    Aleta

    These arrangements are so restful/stimulating and mind cooling. Radically perfect place for a begonia, next to the tall grass.
    How do you grow tall grass in a shaded pot?
    And those concrete planters.

  69. 69.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: Yes! Liberals tend to come from academic and ‘well educated’ backgrounds. Dispassionate ideas and avalanches of words are tge currency of the domain. The big goal is winning the argument. The right comes from or is comfortable with a business approach. Success requires winning hearts and minds, winning the marketing and branding battles. Neither approach is inherently moral but using the dark arts of persuasion is fine from a business perspective. Thus we run into Trumpsters who sprout an armor of talking points that have been carefully tested by hundreds of interlinked ‘think’ tanks.

  70. 70.

    Misamericanthrope

    @Aleta: it’s Miscanthus ‘Strictus’. I read that it can handle Part Shade. That spot gets no direct sun at this point, but gets plenty of reflected light from surrounding light-colored brick walls. So far, so good! I will move it to one of the beds once the season is complete.

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