General Discussion & Chat: ۞ Sweet Interruptions ۞143, 1 by bonjon

bonjon wrote:
hey y'all. Randall and I had the leftovers from dinner last night - there was still enough for us for dinner tonight even though Ruth jean ate all my leftover steak last night and all the rolls!

that earlier hosta photo was from May1st. here's same scene 30minutes ago...the azalea, astilbe, Elegans hosta, and Nikko Blue hydrangea are blooming. that high dark shadow is the camellia

LOL - BJ I don't have that one iris to send you! it was at Comanche Acres, in the St. Jo area MO, from my trips. it's a real oldie and cutie. and one horse is good enough to make a LOT of manure! LOL

Have heard many great gardener "pundits" on manures, horse vs. cow. some say it can never ever be cow on irises, as cow's have many stomaches and lots more iffy bacterias. others say never ever horse, because weed seed can get through whole. either way, straight fresh manure will burn the devil out of any plant.

I say - what I get is free. that's the key. got a few stables here abouts that give it to me. they always say it's aged....but it varies to much for my comfort. they don't keep track. I have place to put it that's nearly invisible and easy to get to from the street. - bare dirt in the front yard - where it can't be seen from the street. we pile about 18"-24" deep, start at one end, always add to the same end. Six months later start using it from the start end. Any that looks at least partially aged when I get it, I put some into the composters, too.

composted, I use it at about six months old. straight, I like for it to be around a year old, nine months at least. with my new pickup, I'm able to get it more often.

my irises really like the horse manure. I use commercial bagged cow manures in the rose beds, where I need a consistant pH. according to Witherspoons Rose Gardens (in this area, the top pundits on roses), roses like our red clay soil, and there's no such thing as adding too much bagged aged cow manure to it.