Keeping people indoors has been a mistake, as Sassy and I would definitely argue. We are out twice a day, sunshine or light rain. I do some work in the garden, the time spent in inverse proportion to the real feel heat index.
Besides that, Team Jackson enjoys eggs (vitamin D and iron); Mrs. Ichabod drinks Boost. I favor Geezer vitamins, which are good for a panorama of the usual stuff, plus the micro-nutrients.
 |
| A horrid winter killed this Crepe Myrtle down to the roots. Often they die above ground and spring up from the roots. |
Crepe Myrtle
Our fabulous mother-of-all-myrtles died the previous winter. I wondered how that happened. Myrtles also seemed to die this last winter, including all four on the south border of the Rose Garden. I was unhappy and wondered if lawn chemicals were involved.I noticed the myrtles at the home of the morning coffee drinkers ( I nickname them for Mrs. I) were also gone. Then my border myrtles came back with tremendous growth, and the distant neighbors' plants popped out of their lawn.
I concluded that Crepe Myrtle was unusually sensitive to winter temperatures. There is a bug and temperature swing to be noted as people move South. We have more heat and more bugs, both of which increasing southward. I used to hear from Notre Dame religious who went to the New Orleans university for events. They called it the buggiest place of all and always took a can of Raid for their rooms and suitcases.
The least damaged myrtles were the ones sheltered in the back yard. Mrs. Gardener wondered why I moved the roses from our common fence. I pointed out the march of Hostas from her yard to ours, so I now have plants more aggressive than the Hostas on my side. Besides, I found that caring for roses in two areas was a chore, for one will love one and hate the other location.
Plastic Plant Collars, Coffee Didies
I buried most of the coffee didies under some cardboard and mulch in the backyard garden (Chaste Tree, Helianthus, Butterfly Bush, Poke).Yes, I put a collar on Poke Weed and mulched it for fun. Do you have a bird-feeder that grows for free and provides fruit for 63 different species of birds? I thought not.
I have some new roses in the back (ignore the paragraph you read above). They have collars to prevent clumsy gardeners and guests from stepping on them. The collars are great places for the coffee didies. Each didie one has moisture, paper, and nutrition for the plant. Yes, coffee grounds are very good for the soil.
 |
| Poke berries forming. |
 |
| Poke buds |
