ROCKS, CORN and CARAVANS...more gypsy chatter

and finally, a double pink Rose of Sharon (Althea) H. syriacus

Aloha kakahiaka! Good morning everybody!

Beautiful flowers Jean!

oh! oh! oh! oh! Just lovely flowers!!!!

Your golden spider lily is so unique. That little orange rose is so delicate looking. A DOUBLE rose of sharon!!! That's a pretty big buckeye, state tree of Ohio where I am originally from. And ORANGES! Oh my!!!

Hi! Dave, are those regular green beans you planted. They look SO good! That is one of my favorite vegetables.

By the way, what type of fruits, nuts, and veggies grow wild there?

Aloha ahiahi, Dave.Thanks, won't be long before things start shutting down for winter, maybe 6 weeks or so. Maybe then I can actually clean out the beds....grin

Thanks Venice, are you in zone 4 or 5? If in z5, I can send you some of the seeds for the Buckeye. It is the smallest of the buckeyes, only reaching maybe 15 ft under perfect conditions...and mine has been in the ground for at least 6 years and is barely 5 ft tall....not a fast grower
Here is a link and if you look toward the bottom, there is another link with growing info.

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=aepa

Hey, Trina! Are you there? You must be on the farm, in the garden, or sleeping. I sure hope that you feel like you have recovered from your gymnastic act! Is that fair thing today? If it is, hope you sell a lot of your seeds!

JJ, you must have a bit of patience and lots of energy to care for your GS. If he is so sick, it is a wonder that he can do anything besides lay in bed. He sure has that spunk!! Glad he is getting better.

I love that spider lily...and double Rose of Sharon...can you show the whole shrub Moon, the ones I see here are pruned into cones...I'd like to see one with a more natural shape.
yeah I may be online late tonight! I'll never sleep!

Tylenol is really a wonder drug, they feel so much better till it wears off then they're down for the count again...

Moon, I am in 5b. Is that a tree that I would need to bring inside during the winter?

Hi Venice, those are Blue Lake, Heirloom Bush Beans.

Not much grows wild here that is useful. Guavas are wild and invasive, as are Rose Apples & Java Plums (Syzygium).

There are a variety of Hawaiian plants that persist from cultivation, such as Ti, Coconut, Breadfruit, Mountain Apple, and Yams.

Venice, it is ground hardy in your area. If you can protect the roots from freezing, you would not have to bring it in. It loses its leaves toward the end of summer, so could be tucked back in a sheltered corner and the pot covered with hay/straw to protect the roots.

Lynnie, I will see if I can fight through the dratted peppervine and Blackberry that invaded the bed. Believe me, it is in its natural form...no pruners near it ever....grin I will be in and out tonight too, Kid is going to player lasertag tonight and Grandma is the chauffeur....grin

I love your golden spider lily Moon.

Lynnie, how old is the birthday girl?

Thanks SmileyJ. It is not very common down here for some reason. I like it a lot....grin

Lynnie, here is the ROS and I will follow with 3 others. The first one was planted Spring 08, the other three Spring of this year...been a constant battle with white flies and too much water....grin

number 2

number 3

number 4

thnaks Moon! Those are really pretty...I was looking at a lavender chiffon one the other day...they're still blooming here, too.
Smiley bday girl is 10....she's my oldest.

Moon, if I brought it inside, I suppose it would still loose its leaves, right?

Yes, Venice, it would. It is the nature of the tree to lose its' leaves after blooming. You could bring it in if you wanted to, but it will still lose its leaves.

Oh Yea Lynnie, 10 year olds are so giggly....you should have a blast......grin I feel really sorry for my little ROSes, they really look rather pitiful, but hopefully the rains will subside so we can get rid of the white flies. It has been a struggle to keep them alive, and I am amazed they had the wherewithall to bloom....

Bob found the weed buried Cat Mint.....I am going to let this thread go to 300....that shouldn't be too hard on dial-up, hopefully. Let me know if it gets too slow.

This message was edited Sep 19, 2009 2:15 PM

Venice you know nobody does it better than grandma. :) He is feeling better today I think. Sweated like crazy last night so fever is down today. I don't think its patience or energy its a mind set that you just don't worry as much if you can see whats going on with them and my son was exhausted and didn't know what to do.

Moon, never seen a double rose of sharon and liked your spider lily but love the orange rose.


Lynnie you better take a nap today. :)

Moon my ROS don't want to bloom this year.
Full of buds but JB get to them before they open

My luna hibiscus is blooming

My other hibiscus is trying to but the JB are getting it to

and then the new look for the year Swiss cheese Hosta's

This is the least damaged one, they look pitiful

JJ, so so sorry!!!! That is so sad that the JB munched on your plants because they look so healthy. There isn't anything that makes me more angry than those JB. I hate the white flies and the powdery mildrew. But the JB make me so angry.

I will never get caught up here so I am just going to say...... Wow......sure have enjoyed viewing everyone's picture's on this thread! Hope all are having a great weekend and keep those pic's coming everyone;-)

Hi Rachel!
35 minutes tic tic tic....I have coffee on...no way is a nap in the works! Kids were so overexcited I made them clean.
JJ the grasshoppers & beetles love my harry lauder walking stick...but I don't care so do I lol they like my eastern redbud a little bit too. why don't you spray that ROS JJ?

I have sprayed it and the hostas. It would last a day or two and they were right back.
It rained so much that I finally gave up. The JB ae finally starting to dissappear so maybe tje ROS will bloom yet.

The dog eats the grass so often I was afraid she would get sick if I spayed to much. I'm going to try this pyola spray my DH brought home see if it works better. I think they like the Bayer stuff I was using.

Good luck with all those girls. I'll take one sick one over that anytime. :)

hey Rachel. Good to see ya. JJs, at least your ROS has leaves....mine have had such a weird summer i am surprised they bloomed at all. I used the Bayer liquid mix and the 3 in 1 spray on the roses and FP RedBud and it did help, but time to do it again and that stuff is Higher than a cat's back....oh well, what ya gonna do....so much invested in plants ya gotta take care of them or lose them.

Lynnie, did the younger daughter get to invite a sleep over friend, or will the older let her play too?

Got one bed finished for winter....weeded, slow release 8-8-8, amaze pre-emergent, compost and mulch. One down, 24 to go....never said I was bright....grin

This message was edited Sep 19, 2009 4:34 PM

Hi Lynnie, jjsgramma and Jean.........25 flower bed's. That's alot of bed's Lady;-) Got to love flower bed's though make's for less mowing.

Eventually I am hoping to get it down to one huge bed and almost no grass....lol

Double-digits!! Have fun with that Lynnie.

Barbie came to my friends' daughters' 10th birthday. My daughter was about 6. They were playing hot potato with this pretty pink frilly purse and whoever was last got to keep what was in the purse. Don'tcha know, it was Angela. She didn't want what was in the purse, she wanted the purse, of course.

Not too bright on Barbie's part, i didn't think. They did hair doodlies and nails. It was fun. (( except for that purse thing ))

That's my goal, too Moon. Our yard is only about 20x35, DH says. Shouldn't take too long.

Moon, my garden is probably 1/2 just one of your beds. But it is much colder up here and I have only a few plants left to save. I can't use any granular stuff because Kitty digs in the dirt. What kind of compost and mulch do you use? Is there anything else I should do, non-granular?

I have a bug problem!!!

They are like a gnat but much smaller and I don't see them fly. I thought it was just dirt I got on the plants. But no! One of my hostas grew a stalk with buds on it. It looks like black pepper spaced evenly all over the stalk. I can't see a bug there. But I saw them on a tomato plant. Those little black things on branches and leaves. And they are on other plants.

By the way, there were bugs in my compost a couple of days ago. Today there were several types of bugs, something small flying and a tiny like fly.

Please help me!!!

1. Do you know what those tiny black bugs are?
2. What should I do about the bugs in the compost?

Nothing wrong with bugs in the compost, they will help it decompose.

If the bugs aren't bothering you or destroying your plants, let them be.

Would it help to mix up my compost and add more coffee grounds?

Yes, compost should be turned (mixed up) once in a while to help it break down faster. A handful of calcium carbonate or Dolomite tossed in once in a while will increase the metabolism as well.

Venice if they are tiny black bugs and jump when you touch them they may be flea beetles. I had them this year.

Moon I couldn't imagine 25 flower beds. Know I couldn't keep track of that many flower names. :)

Hi Smiley, Dave and Lynnie