Projects 16

Do you have a date in June? Hope it's not my niece's wedding weekend!

Same here, and also scheduling a tonsil surgery for DD1.

Maybe we can pick 2 dates & see who can make either?

I'm open in June so far. By mid-March it won't be as clear. When I see pics of Bill's garden, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so...

Anybody know of what public gardens that allow dogs? The bipeds and the four legged critter in our house are developing bellies, so we've got to get out, and I've got to see more gardens in any season. Arnold Arboretum perhaps.

it will be the beginning of June - have to get with Louise and start the planning, she is the garden visit coordinator for me :)

The perfect event planner! Rosemary, check your area for reservoirs.....they often allow leashed dogs.....I'm so lucky to have 3 federal flood control dams in my town......they are all recreation areas for walkers, hunters, fishermen, snowmobiles, & unfortunately, the one nearest my home is open for dirt bikes....I can only walk on top of the dam from May-Oct. The other 2 don't allow them, so I can walk there........all allow leashed dogs.....

Thanks marilyn. We've got to find an interesting destination. The beaches are open to dogs before the season, but I can't think of going there just yet.

Any dog parks?

There is a nice large open park in Brookline Ma where we run our two boarder collies whenever we are in the Boston area. Over 60 acres with some nice open terrain and views. In the winter it is pretty empty and easy parking. It was the site of an old estate so there are nice trees too and garden features to enjoy. Not far off Rt 9.

We also go to Belmont to near Habitat that is another old still existing estate now connected to Audubon that has many wildlife trails where dogs are allowed. We know it as it was part of my DH childhood and was a family property. We have our secret spot there that is a regular stop for us. From Rt 2 exit at Winter Street and Go down to Concord Ave then take a left going toward Belmont center, but when you come to a cemetery on the right side of Concord Ave take a left opposite it onto a small street called Somerset and drive down to a where you will see signs saying parking allowed along the left side. Here you will find a wonderful nature area where you are allowed to walk without going to the actual estate and paying an entry fee. There is a map on a board explaining the area and containers for plastic bags for doggie gifts. But the actual place is worth a visit in the summer. Plus Audubon has more land in the Belmont the area where dogs are allowed also. Patti

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMC6EB_Habitat_Education_Center_and_Wildlife_Sanctuary_Massachusetts_Audubon_Belmont_MA

This message was edited Feb 19, 2014 11:28 AM

Thanks for the suggestions, Patti. I didn't know Larz Anderson allows dogs off leash or that there is a free way to get into Audubon land near Habitat. The map at the Thomas Treat Paine House in Waltham makes it look like there is one, so we had a suspicion. We'll look for those.

The local dog parks aren't much fun anymore and we all have to walk more. Too many rules and unruly experiences.

Even in leashed areas, I still run into dogs unleashed......some folks don't believe the signs are meant for them!

37° & bright sun

I agree with Marilyn about problems in the dog parks. They used to be more fun.

This evening, we had a very happy pooch cavorting in the snow. Wish I could use MY nose as a plow and play at being an above-ground mole. Wish I could harness it.

My project this week is to build some succulent bowls. I found several reasonably priced bowls reduced in price at different stores. By the time Secretary's Day rolls around, I'll be ready. Hard part is finding any store that isn't out of bags of charcoal.

Rosemary, I too am making some pots for cactus and succulents, but throwing them out of clay. But please explain the charcoal?

Today was the start of our annual serious pruning with a chainsaw on some big cedars and scrub oaks and pines that had suffered winter damage or just needed an overhaul. I cleaned up all the downed branches and the last of the leaves in the beds on the west side of the house, so the bulbs will all come up in a pristine space, unless we get another big storm or two.

Tomorrow I will tackle hauling away to the burn pile we started today all the pruning I did in Jan on the east side and do some raking to get that area clean. We won't burn until March, but I would say we have enough to burn for 3 days. Lots of snow drops are up and we have some Narcissus in bud in a couple of spots . It is, as always, Narcissus Rijnveld's Early Sensation. There are several Witch Hazels in bloom now too. Hopeful sign. Patti

OK Patti stop showing off with the spring trimming, cleaning and popping bulbs - i have 3 feet of snow covering the yard right now. there are also some interesting tracks outside with at least 6' between "steps" must be deer jumping through the yard - there are some stomach drag marks - will investigate Saturday when i bring the compost out to the bins.

I am itching to get going this spring!!

I agree with Bill. ☺ You might add, ice on the driveway & sidewalk. Ice at the Olympics is more fun.

You go, Girl! We're only jealous of Patti because with the snow and ice, and many of us working our jobs to exhaustion, outdoors isn't that much fun right now. The trimming will wait for weekend if it can be done safely.

I put an inch of charcoal in the bottom of my pots for drainage and to keep the soil sweet. This time I may have to skip it. Stones go there too if it's a big pot. I don't remember if it was my mother or the old Klehm's nursery before they moved farther north that taught me this. The reactions to wanting charcoal were funny. Some young people in the stores couldn't grasp the idea of why I was looking in the gardening section, others were surprised that they didn't have any, and one said he uses his own hardwoods to make his own for potting plants by removing partially burned firewood. Our fireplace is sealed and we burn woods hot until they are complete cinders.

JoAnn, or GE, has made several of the succulent pots.....I saw them at her place last August.....she checks in only periodically, but you could probably find her posts in the older threads....the succulent bowls were just lovely! Good luck with yours, Rosemary & Patti.....Yes, very jealous of Patti's posts.....3' of snow cover here also....Bill, check to see if the tracks are hooves or paws....you might have a hunting bobcat on your land.......

Guilty pleasure as all our snow is gone, as we got a lot more rain last night that eliminated the few patches left. Today it is foggy and damp, so haven't ventured out yet, but will soon. I know more winter is coming so just trying to get a jump on the spring work.

My soon to be 99 year old Mom and brother are coming to Boston in April to go to my next pottery show then to Nantucket for Daffodil Weekend and to see our garden in bloom. She was here last summer, but hasn't seen our spring show in years when it was much more demure as we had no deer fence, thus no tulips. I am going to sneak back to Tulsa to be there in March when she actually has her 99th. But I don't want anything left messy in the April garden as she has eyes like a hawk and though not a gardener, she will query me about everything. our

Sorry about all your piles of snow, but hopefully the warming weather will help until the next dump.

Thanks for the charcoal information, will do. Do you use your wood ash on your roses as my Dh does religiously from our wood stove? Patti

piles of snow - I just ventured out to the compost bins down back - snow was over my knees - tough to walk in - should have broke out the snow shoes

snow is turning to mush here as well.

I just groan in sympathy for all of you still having so much snow! Bill's RU will be more fun than ever for everyone, after being imprisoned by the elements! I think we are all looking forward to seeing his stone creations as well as his world class arboretum! I can do any weekend in June except the weekend of the 15th and 16th. Hank has a 55th reunion that weekend and we will have to be in CT all weekend for that.

The camellias are in bloom here on the NC coast. There is a beauty in the yard in the house we are renting, and even though we had one day of ice on the shrubs, the camellias didn't even lose their flowers.

This morning we were walking the dogs and happened into a white dog convention. I know my ipad photos will be distorted or upside down, but here are a couple anyway.

Wow! It looks like DG solved the distortion problem! Awesome!

How exciting for your mom's big celebration!

We had thunder today and some ominous looking clouds pass by. My yard is just slush,

Awesome!! A white dog convention. Pretty camellia, Louise!!

Hi Jan! How are things with you? Frozen? Yes, I wish I had camellias in our yard!

Patti, i hope your time with your Mom, and the celebration for her birthday are unforgettable!

Things are great!!! How's the genealogy research coming?

We have not been up there yet. We'll be spending March in my ancestral area. I 'm looking forward to it. For the rest of our time this month we are looking after an old friend, actually the person who arranged getting me and Hank together 26 years ago, as she recuperates from heart & aneurism surgery. She is a trooper, but she is still quite weak and we are happy to be spending this time with her.

Patti, hoping your Mom has a wonderful time with you on her birthday.....my Mom was 99 on the 11th of this month, but since she has dementia, hard to tell if she knew what the celebration was about.....Louise, love that camellia....hoping mine survived....if it did, it will grow in your CT garden! Best wishes for your friend.....Loved the dogs....notice the terrier looking tough!

What a great birthday plan Patti has. I save my fireplace ashes for the peony beds.

Of course I love the camellia and the cute white dogs.

One of the sites that inspires me for succulent planting is at Avant Gardens. When their order comes in spring, I plan to insert some of their succulents into the pots to liven things up. My DH doesn't know a secret--I'm propagating succulents because I want to make a succulent wall sometime and I think the biggest expense would otherwise be the plants.

What a great idea. I once saw a tin roof over a firewood pile at the Boston Flower show that was covered with them. It is on my bucket list for our wood pile. Dry wood and beautiful. There is a restaurant recently opened by one of the chefs that my son worked under a couple of years ago that has a plant wall inside which is stunning. I will hunt up some photos of them. I will try to remember to bring up some for you when I bring up the Euphorbia trigona that I promised you in the spring. Can't wait to see your secret project.

So now I will redirect my DH to put wood ash on the peonies. Our are all inter-planted in the mixed beds so it is tough in the winter, but is it ok to spread around the Peonies when they are leafed out and in the summer?

52 outside so heading out to do what I had planned on doing yesterday buty game we had too much rain. Hockey be damned. I've got spring cleanup to continue. Love that word "spring" Patti

patti's out spring cleaning and I'm heading out to xcountry ski...............

And I am doing neither!!! Hahaha. Spring cleaning does have a nice ring to it.

The plans for the succulents sound great!!!

Best wishes for your dear friend, Louise. Thankful you can be there for her.

I'm looking forward to the Euphorbia tricona.

My current succulent collection is pretty mundane.
Although we are thinking about how to cover our firewood and I've visited a home in town that has plants on their entire roof (!!) (I can find a local distributor of the plant mats once you're ready), My current collection is a meager assortment of crassulas, burros tails, mother in law tongues, that sort of stuff, which ought to be OK indoors and exposed over the summer. Firesticks here don't look like they've been lit so draceneas are only a few bucks to make up the tall portion of a pot.

I'm pretty rough on my peonies and do anything to them anytime,and shrug when they sulk, but our ashes tend to go out in the spring at clean-up time, pretty much as a soil amendment. I don't know about cape soil, but with all the sand here, a bit of potash is only good. My to do list includes picking up a 50 pound bag of Azomite at a hydroponics distributor next time I'm in central mass near the state labs in Westborough, because I am certain that stuff does make a difference with the peonies, and vegetables too for that matter. I'd certainly buy a spare bag for anyone (since I wouldn't be lifting it anyway :) There's no point getting it in any smaller amounts, but for small lab experiment sizes, Amazon makes it easy.

well patti had me jealous so after I got back from skiing and cracking the ice from in front of the garage I wondered into the great white back yard and started breaking off the small dead branches in the jm's and pulling whatever leaves where still hanging one. The dissectum's (weeping) always have a batch of dead branches inside the tree from no sun light.

Sounds like everyone has great plans.....I'm off to the farm to celebrate HayHay's 9th birthday.....

Enjoy the cake!!!

I did do a slog about the yard. Brought in a few forsythia branches. Things are pushing up here and there. Will start the cleanup after next weekend's COLD temps.

yea yea for HayHay!!

I think we should all concentrate on getting the snow to melt. Melting thoughts should help?

Daffodils are blooming here, as well as cherry trees! Seems early for that! Nice to see spring though. I think we will all have an early spring. Large flocks of robins and about a thousand blackbirds ( not yet baked in a pie) swooped down into the lot across the street from us yesterday while we were having lunch on the sun porch. The noise was something! I tried to go get a shot of them all and they lifted in unison....quite a nice experience. They are migrating north, so be on the lookout for them.

My tomboys got groomed phoo phoo style today. The feather baubles lasted about ten minutes and then they wrestled them off. 😀