ROCKS, CORN and CARAVANS...more gypsy chatter

Nighters JJ and Grandson

The pink flowering vine is a tropical that needs a large amount of room. It would not survive too long as a houseplant.

Malpighia glabra, the Acerola Cherry, is a shrub that gets similar flowers, may do well indoors with good conditions (tropical), and can be trained into a nicely shaped bush.
The fruit is excellent as well!

Following the afternoon sun through the backyard forest.

It sure was a nice day over here!

Even the Beans liked the weather!

Geckos are eating the bugs!

Not much to complain about.

Incidentally, the Yam is learning new skills and is ready for band practice.

Here, Kea helps weed the Taro.

It's been a great day!

that yam got huge lol
Kea still looks grumpy

Good Morning All. Well, that was interesting, sorry I missed the fun. But then, I usually do at night.

Trina, didn't know yucca's could withstand the northern temps. Someday I'm gonna take all DH's indoor plants and stick them outside. He babies them so much, they've never felt a summer breeze across their little leaves... so sad. His yucca is taller than I am. His hibiscus doesn't bloom because there's not enough sun...

He asked if I wanted to take over the indoor plants. Ii think he'd croak a big cluck if I did, they'd all go outside for the summer.

Here's my contribution to the rock brigade...

Dave, how about Rock of Ages??

mornin' Smiley!
we can grow Adam's needle here....but if an evergreen is smaller than 2 feet we don't see it all winter anyway....we really need those tall accents in winter lol
gotta get to the gym, I hate for JJ to lose her beautiful blond looks *grin*

wonder how she survived the night ....

This message was edited Sep 19, 2009 7:58 AM

Morning Smiley, lynnie and Dave.

GS only got up once, wish I could say the same. Kid flops like a fish.
Still has fever this morning but not as high.

GS JJ learns fast said if Dillon is going to follow him around he wants paid for babysitting.

Dave great pictures as usual makes my little yard look pretty boring.
Guess if I get to bored I could go to the back 40 with kassy and find the bear..

Lynnie make sure I am in shape to run!!!

I see pumpkins for sale already.
Anyone know how to tell when to pick them. The stems are still green on mine, pumpkin is orange.
Seemed little early to me.

Can she work out for me too?? My little yard looks boring, too, JJs. And I've found that I didn't know as much about flora as I thought!!

Sorry I can't help you. I'm a city girl, don't do veggies, not enough room... except those chocolate peppers I did in a pot this year!

Smiley I'm sure she can handle it.
Well pretty soon the snow will fly and we will really be envious of his pictures.

I've neer planted pumpkins before but GS had been saving seeds for last couple years. Decided it was time to let him plant them

We now know why ya don't plant pumpkins by the taters though.
Can't find the tater plants. :)

I wish I had the room to plant a veggie garden. We bought for location (2 blocks from grandma, next door to huge park with public pools, 4 blocks from school...)

I wanted my kids to grow up with the "neighborhood feel". Having their friends be within walking distance, etc... but the yards are small and the houses are thisclose. I really love this little village, the only time I don't is when talking about big gardens!

I would have grown watermelon. My daughter is a watermelon freak. Pumpkins would be nice, too. We end up cutting fancy jack-o-lanterns and putting them all over the yard for Halloween. (family of artists here)

I do fancy jack-o-lanterns but buy the patterns.( can't draw a straight line). One year I didn't do them and everyone complained, cause they came by just to see the pumpkins.

I like the small towns. But sometimes when everyone is in everybody elses business they can be a pain.

I learned alot about growing pumpkins this year. I think mine had everything possible. Mildew , bugs, ect.

I can't draw a straight line either, but the rest of them can. Sometimes I wonder... my parents met in art school, bro's & their kids are artists & musicians, DH is an artist, both of my kids are...

When we do the jack-o-lanterns, they say "that's nice, Mom". Like you would to a kid. Maybe I passed my talent on to my kids. Which is OK. I can do beading, though. And sculpey...

We only have 1 neighbor who gets in everyone else's business. It can be a pain, but at least I know she's looking out for us. We mostly keep to ourselves lately, but are pleasant when we see anyone.

Well JJs, it's time to get on with the day. Here it is 10:00 and I'm still in my robe and the sun is shining!

Everyone have a good day!

Me too smiley. But its only 9:00.

Too quite here so I better go investigate.

Have a great day

Good Morning All.
Dave, Yammy is a vine of many talents....grin. Great pictures as always.

Smiley J, I am with you, if it requires a straight line then I need two rulers....grin

JJs, sleeping with a little one is an oxymoron, cuz there just ain't no sleeping...grin. Glad he seems to be on the mend. Maybe you can get him down for a nice long nap....yeah, I know, dream on....grin. Here is a link on pumpkin harvest info for you...pretty interesting site.
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-know-when-to-harvest-pumpkins-and-squashes-239986/

Lynnie, I know JJs appreciates the work out, but think she got a pretty good one last night trying to sleep with a wiggle worm...grin

Hope you all have a great day, catch up with ya later. Moon

my kids are the same way, like having a rabid squirrel in the bed....
work out is finished....tonight is kid's birthday party sleepover...eek! coffeeing-up now
*grin*

Boy, rabid squirrel is right on the money....grin. i know you are just too excited over a slumber party....half dozen or so squealing, giggling little girls that think everything that happens deserves a high pitched scream of delight...guess your DH has a "game" to watch and earplugs ready? Boys don't have slumber parties, they have camp-outs....just as loud, but in tents in the backyard...and the older they are, the more ya have to keep them corraled....(neighbors are not into late night games of hide and seek...grin

I finally repotted my avocado trees.

The poor babies were so root bound! especially the one I cut off the top. In the spring I had repotted them from an 8" pot to a 10" pot. Since I had already repotted them this year I really didn't think they needed repotting again. So now they went from a 10" pot to a 14.5" pot. I really thought that pot size was going to be too big. However, a 12" pot would have been too small so thank goodness I got that large of size. And I can lift them enough to bring them inside. I am going to leave them outside for a little while, spray them for bugs, and then bring them inside just depending on the weather.

Now I have to figure out a way to make the stems more sturdy. I have a rod along side them stuck in the soil but they still have a tendency to lean.

Very enjoyable reading.

From Rock a My Soul, to fancy and old rocks, fungus and fossils, flowers and forests, a scientist and Squidward, big and small animals, to a puppy and pumpkins!

Be sure to take photos of all your pumpkin artwork!

This message was edited Sep 19, 2009 11:06 AM

They said pumpkins would be more expensive this year because of the weather. I don't know if that is only in the Midwest. When I went to Lowe's yesterday, the pumpkins were about $7.50. And this is the first year that they had white pumpkins. They were only half the price. I am wondering where the orange and white ones came from.

Very alliterative post Venice...proving what an eclectic bunch of folk we are. grin

You will find that trees like lots of space to root out, but yours' should be fine in 14 in pots. From here, you can do root pruning to keep them in check.

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenprimer/g/RootPruning.htm

http://home.hiwaay.net/~fjw/rootpruning_repotting.htm

Moon, after reading that first link, I thought maybe I should have pruned the roots when I repotted today. After reading the second one, I think my trees are just fine. From what I understand, root pruning should be done only in a growth phase. And repotting is best then also unless it is an emergency. They didn't say that the tree being root bound was an emergency but I think it was in this case. The poor things would never have made it if I left them in those small pots even during slow growth.

I let the trees dry out before repotting. The roots weren't coming out the drainage hole. But I could pick up the tree by its stem (it doesn't seem like a trunk!) and no dirt fell out. The roots were all compacted! It sure was a lot less mess that way but I really should have repotted sooner. However, in the spring when I repotted, I had no clue that it may be getting root bound so soon.

Thanks for those links and my trees especially thank you!

This message was edited Sep 19, 2009 11:56 AM

Thanks for the link moon. Think I'll leave mine alone for awhile longer.

Little guy finally sleeping so going to try to sneak outside and get something done.

Lynnie good luck on the slumber party, I'm sure you're fixing lots of goodies.

Venice I'm going to have to make a list of things you need from the dollar store and send them next year when DH goes to Brickyard. I picked up a little wooden stand on wheels to put my one and only houseplant on so I could move it. On clearance for a whole $2.50.

Ssshh sneaking out

You are so welcome Guys. You are gonna reach a point with your avos where they become sort of giant bonsai. That is when the root pruning info will be of the most value.

JJs, hope you get a lot accomplished while little guy sleeps. Maybe when he wakens he will be "all better". Hope so.

Thought I would show off a little of what is blooming right now...grin This is Lycoris aurea, golden spider lily

I love this miniature rose...pink and orange on the same plant.

This is the fruit of the red buckeye tree, Aesculus, hardy to zone 5

This is one of the hardiest begonias...comes back year after year

I love this little orange rose...it is either Easy Living or Pat Austin....tags went away during Gustav...and you know how that goes...grin

This is the nearly black daylily...still in bloom since May.

And this is Rosa Gemini...another favorite...

Not a great shot, but my favorite Brug....it has huge blooms

LA Native sweet orange....not too much longer til they are ripe.