 |
| Barbra Streisand |
Anticipating a long rain, I did everything except roll up the window in our Town Car, the very spot I parked my computer case (minus the laptop). The case is now drying out in a secure, undisclosed location.
My first pre-storm job was placing milk spore disease powder in the front and back yards. The second part of prevention will involve removing the adults from the rose blooms (and gene pool) during their graduation-from-soil parties next summer, when they mate and lay eggs. That openly destructive period lasts about two weeks. The disease, which only affects white grubs, will slowly build up in the soil. Relax gardeners, it is a bacterium naturally found in the soil.
I am collaring the roses and adding Peat Humus (stinky peat) to the collars, to increase the insulation and feed the root growth all winter. Many plants work all winter in establishing their spring growth plans. Autumn - or hardy - bulbs do most of their growth during the winter, only to pop out and bloom at the right time in the spring, often decorating the snowy lawn with their colors. Crocus are good for that, but squirrels dig up and replant them, making people wonder if the gardener is drinking on the job. They also eat a few of the crocus, so I am planting only grape hyacinth now.
The storm was just what we needed when it arrived. I had some Butterfly Weed and Yarrow planted and soaked with stored rainwater. I can look over the new areas and see how everything is sprouting and fill in low spots.
I have had the most success with using young plants and almost no success with seeds - 5,000 yarrow, carrot, and feverfew seeds. That is not a total - but 5,000 each - but they are very inexpensive at that level. However, I also planted hundreds of sunflowers, and of all these seeds, nothing grew to maturity. So - forget seeds - since squirrels and rabbits are more effective than Agent Orange.
 |
| Bride's Dream |
Plants Where They Can Be Seen and Nurtured
I used the fence where I once grew roses to plant some Crepe Myrtles, with Yarrow and Butterfly Weed in-between them. A few Hollyhock plants came in the mail, so they will also grow along the fence.
The area is sunny and easily watered. I initially planned to put them in the Butterfly Garden, but that area is the least seen, so I decided to leave that with tall-growing plants. Everyone wants to know about my Wild Ginger Hidden Lily plants that are already thriving there.
That garden is also good for Joe Pye Weed. They will thrive there in the sun and be the reserve food for the Butterfly Bushes in front of our bedroom window, where we view so much of Creation. All summer we had birds, squirrels, hummingbirds, and butterflies to watch. Joe Pye Weed will attract more species of butterflies and not require much attention.
 |
| Edith's Darling, Named from Downtown Abbey |
Raining on the Hostas
The Hostas were moved to the front yard when I realized how much they like the same growing conditions as roses - morning sun, afternoon shade.
I expected very little growth in the Hostas, but they took off at once, arriving a short time ago. My favorite supplier is Hostas Direct. They ship plants like each one is an individual crystal glass - wrapped, secured, labeled with a solid plastic marker for each plant to go in the garden. Once I dug up a living rose plant and found its tag - "Great, now I know what it is when not blooming." The rose tag was bleached white from the sun. Hosta Direct tags are solid and good for poking into the soil.
 |
| Hosta - Liberty |
The Hostas leaves already tell me what they will be like. Mrs. Ichabod is a big fan of Hostas. Norma Boeckler grows them too.
So this long, stretched-out, five inch rain was ideal for the Hostas. Their roots will reach down for more water - no stress - and the soil creatures will be more active in the short-term. Soil temperatures will be above freezing for a long time - with a few nights that are 20 degrees. That is the forecast, at least. That means the warmer, sunny days will foster a lot of root activity even while the plants are becoming dormant.
 |
| Empress Wu - Hosta |
Pine Needles
I have contracted with two neighbor teens to haul pine needles for underneath the Mother of All Crepe Myrtles. I insist on paying them, over their mother's objections. They can put a massive amount around the CM, which will suppress grassy weeds all summer and feed the plant all winter.
The neighbors dislike their build-up of needles, and I covet their windfall. If they have too many, we can put the extras in the former Hosta garden behind the house. I am still growing Hostas there and will keep rows of them growing. We want Hostas up front for viewing, backyard for the Hummingbirds.
 |
| Mr. Lincoln |
Not Enough Creation Thinkers
The biggest problems today come from the lack of understanding about Creation.
I said to one family, "Do you want almost free food? Plant these seeds." They were never planted, but I did see the family at Walmart, buying food. They had an enormous yard with no trees - but no plants until they started a few for decoration.
Long ago I gave two boys paper bags to pick all the edible pod peas they wanted for their family. They acted like I was sending them out to be tortured. Once was enough. But two people from Hong Kong were thrilled with the chance to have a lot of pea tendrils, because soil is so precious there. They wanted to pay me for something that made the peas grow even more.
Gardening and farming, even on a small scale, are exercises in observation, trial, failure, and success. "I heard that..." has to be tested again and again. The desire for success leads to reading and observation.
Many books repeat old slogans without any analysis about why the slogans are correct, wrong, or dangerous. A classic rare book changed my ideas about weeds - Weeds Guardians of the Soil. Much later, I finally learned about how much roots contribute to soil humus levels. I should have known, but a farmer in North Dakota revealed what he learned from successive crop failures.
Creation or organic gardeners love to dump organic matter on the soil - and that is a worthwhile project. But the second part is even better - letting living roots grow as long as possible. I could give a statistic on how many miles of root hairs grow on a plant - no metric can be grasped by us mortals. The root hairs are growing and dropping off, but they are also making a deal with the fungus to give them carbon in exchange for needed water and nutrition. That also defies the imagination.
"Man is the measure of all things." Really?
"The proper study of man is man." No wonder Jesus had to admonish Nicodemus about the basics of Creation.
 |
| White collar crime. Actually, these are useful and easy to assemble. |
