All right...my personal New Year's Resolution is to lose weight...nothing new.
BUT....how about those gardening resolutions???
Mine is to PLAN THINGS before I buy assorted plants; no buying on impulse..yep...that's it!
Gardening Resolutions for the New Year??
Mine is to "impulse buy" with abandon! : ))
Why plan that takes all of the fun out of plant shopping!
Okay...since I've been "mini-bombarded" with people (okay....just 2!!) saying what I've been doing is okay (impulse buying of plants)...here's the response! :)
Last year (my first at buying for this new yard!) I would end up with an entire area of "to be planted" that often would remain there for weeks because I could not find the correct place for it. OR, I would later find out I bought something that would not survive this zone--can you imagine nurseries selling bushes that will not survive our 2 or 3 hard freezes?
So....I want to be a BETTER buyer...and believe you me, I have fun shopping, but just want to be a wiser buyer. I've learned todo that with other purchases, so why not with plants?
Okay.....that's my idea and I'm sticking to it! haha
My new year gardening resolution is to concentrate on finding more Texas native plants that are larval food for butterflies. I am starting a native plant butterfly garden and I want to provide for them as much as possible.
Also I resolve to not pot up every single plant that comes up at my place, and be more selective, because sometimes I end up with a lot of plants nobody wants.
Another thing I want is to have less plants to carry over the winter, that can be a problem, so maybe if I don't pot up any plants in late summer things will be easier.
I hope I can stick to my resolutions.
Josephine.
Josephine,
I'm going to add on to mine your idea of not so many potted things. When I took a trip recently, I had to have my son come over and water the potted plants that the sprinklers don't reach. I thought I had maybe 15 pots. When I counted them so he would know what he was in for, I had over 30! They add up!
My resolution is not to buy anything I have to take inside for the winter. half the time I forget them and its too late to do anything about it.
I know how you feel. There is no WAY I'm going to bring anything in for the whole winter. So I cover most things outside if needed (which is also a hassle, but it's a little better). And if a bad freeze is predicted, I might bring just a few things in. I know that I shouldn't have things I need to protect like that...that's one solution.
My garden resolution is to offer up my yard to all of ya'll who have to overwinter plants!!! So feel free to send all your plants this way :o)
Heh! Heh! Glad I live in the south tip where our winters are usually mild...but alas, my poor plants do have to withstand horribly hot summers. So I guess there's a trade off afterall.
I like Josephines idea!!!
I've had some fellow butterfliers who are botantists (from Austin and San Antonio) and a couple of local park naturalists drive out to the ranch with me to see what native larval hosts are growing there. I was not very familiar with our native trees, shrubs and plants but after our drives/walks around the ranch I learned I have a virtual gold mine of larval hosts out there!!!
I've since transplanted damiana (hierba del venado) and green violet (hybanthus verticulatum) to my house here in the city. I get Variegated and Mexican Fritillaries in my yard so I hope they will find those larval hosts and lay eggs on them this year.
Lots of the native trees and shrubs out at the ranch are too big for my yard here but I bought fluorescent flag stakes and have been marking them as I come across them when I drive/walk around the back fields.
I've since bought several really nice native trees/shrubs/plants books (with great color photos for identification) and have labeled the pages of those books with the butterflies that use them as larval hosts. So when I drive out to the ranch I will know where to look for eggs and caterpillars!!! I hope to raise and release lots of butterflies this year and get some good photographs out of it :o)
Now I need to research brood seasons and add that to my books!
* I tried to convince TPWD to revamp their native plant books to include the butterflies that use them as larval hosts. So if ya'll want to jump on the bandwagon...feel free to visit the TPWD website and email them to revamp their books too. Maybe they'll get the hint that they can sell more books if they can attract gardeners and butterfliers. They already have info about the deer, javelina, turkey etc. that eat them...so why not butterflies?!
By the way, these are the books I bought for south Texas:
Field Guide to the Broad-Leaved Herbaceous Plants of South Texas - James H. Everitt, E. Lynn Drawe, Robert I. Lonard
A Field Guide to Common South Texas Shrubs - Richard B. Taylor, Jimmy Rutledge, Joe G. Herrera (this is a good one that was put out by TPWD)
Trees, Shrubs and Cacti of South Texas - James H. Everitt and D. Lynn Drawe
~ Cat
Oh Cat!! You have no idea how much I envy you that ranch. It would be so wonderful to have a place where one could explore as much as one felt inclined to. But I guess I will just have to pack in as much as possible on my 1/4 acre lot.
I am also starting a Butterfly bed in a children's garden located at a local museum, so I will need all the plants I can get.
I just was given a book for Christmas that I think you might enjoy, Butterfly Gardening for the South,
by Geyata Ajilvsgi, it is beautiful and it deals with all the aspects of butterfly gardening, using mainly native plants. I is a little pricey, but really worth it.
I hope you will have a lot of fun with your projects, I am very excited about all the great possibilities.
Let us know how it all works out.
Josephine.
Josephine...
I have Geyata's book...matter of fact, for a while there I was going crazy purchasing books online that I ended up ordering duplicates of several books...but have since donated them to the elementary library my sister in law runs as she received a grant last January to put in a butterfly garden at their school.
I got into butterflies in September of 2005 and have been learning by leaps and bounds. Never much paid attention to what was growing at the ranch but now I am always chomping at the bit for the weekends to come around so I can drive out there. I've met most of the authors of butterfly books, lepidopterists, botanists and naturalists at our local butterfly festival. Many teach seminars and lead the tours during the festival. Several also come down to this area a few times a year to go butterflying.
Since our ranch had been left to grow out for the past 25 years (Dad retired and no longer farms or ranches the land)..it is a virtual smorgasboard of goodies. It's just a matter of learning what plants are growing there and what butterflies and moths to look for. I've trekked around a couple hundred acres in the middle of summer chasing butterflies that won't stay put for a photograph :o)
My brother has also transplanted several native plants and trees for my sister in law's school butterfly garden. I've gotten them both hooked!!!
~ Cat
Well, that sounds just wonderful, keep up the good work and have lots of fun.
Josephine.
My gardening resolution is to keep my tools clean -- which of course would be easier if I resolved to build that potting shed...
The potting shed dilemma is that it would make sense to put up one of those very practical and ugly little metal buildings. But I want one of wood and wattles and an old door. I think I'll hold out.
Sounds like a lovely idea brigidlily. I've seen some awesome looking garden sheds decorated with old tools and signs on the garden junk forum. Very creative people!!!
~ Cat
Cat,
I think it's so ironic that your name you sign is "Cat" (which I'm sure stands for Catherine?) and you're into butterflies. When I first started reading threads about butterflies here on DG, I learned that most people call caterpillars "cats"!! They talk about building cages for cats, and at first I was baffled! :)
Here are some pics of butterflies that I have attracted around my house---unknowingly planting lots of yummy things they love!! This summer my yard was SWARMING with them! I think it's because most people in this "retirement" community have yards full of cacti and rocks!! :)
Josephine, I have that book. Oh wait, it actually still belongs to the library, I just check it out every month for a few weeks. LOL! I just potted quite a few cuttings I had rooting in my bathroom. I've got a passionvine for you, and a Coral Honeysuckle and a yellow butterfly bush if you'd like.
Oh Paige, you are such a sweetheart !!! I will take all of them, and thank you very much.
Josephine.
I'm cutting back on plant & flower purchases and only working with what survives through this winter.
I'm moving on to veggie gardening in EBs.
I'm going to concentrate on my Sago Palms and caladiums and probably geraniums and begonias.
I have several bromeliads that did wonderfully well this summer. I hope to divide them and spread their color around the yard.
That's all folks!
I think my resolution should be to get all my seeds out of paper sacks and stored properly. I toss them in sacks and they stay there forever. Another one for me is to pull up a lot of the annuals before they get so big that I'm attached to them. Once they get a bloom I can't do it. I've only got a million Tickseeds coming up now.
Connie, losing weight is such a stressful term. Why not plan to exercise more or not eat as much chocolate? :) I planned to ride my exercise bike (sitting right next to me) every day but I've already blown that. Today I blew the not eating too much chocolate too. Hmmm...seems to be a pattern. lol I do go to the gym twice a week tho!
Planting in new beds makes it so easy to just buy everything you see! This year I bought very little tho because I have a lot of perennials, annuals that reseed freely, and wonderful friends that are so generous with seeds, plants, and cuttings. If you just can't stop then go to Lowe's and get the markdown plants. You can't beat a good perennial for $2!! I've got plenty of seeds from my beds.
Josephine, I think that's a great idea for you! You have shared so much but you really shouldn't take on so much, especially like you said at the end of the season. Give yourself a break from all that potting! You've spread your wealth so much that surely if you ran short of something, someone else will have it too.
Thank you Paige, I should really concentrate on the less common plants. But as you know there are so many wonderful and exciting plants out there, it is all very enticing. I'll just have to try and control myself.
Last year I had too many of some plants and nobody wanted them, or maybe I didn't see the person who needed them.
As far as the natives go, maybe we should bring pictures and info for people who don't know about them. Most people know about maybe a fraction of a percent of them.
You are right Linda, we need try harder and do more to help get people acquainted with our beautiful Texas native plants.
They are such an important resource, but the nursery trade hasn't paid them much attention to them for a long time.
Thank goodness that is changing now.
Josephine.
My new year's resolution is to lose weight too Connie. I really need to stick with it this time. I have a stationary bike I can use. I will also eat healthier and walk. I just have to do it this time. I plan to do this the 'old fashioned' way and not spend money on 'quick fixes' or equipment that I'll never use.
Lin
Well Lin, if the truth be told I need to lose weight too, I relaxed my food choices the last few months and I went up quite a lot, so I have to get serious about it. I gain weight very easily if I eat the wrong kind of carbs, so I need to restrict those. But you know, sometimes we have to allow ourselves to enjoy the foods we love.
I envy those people who can eat whatever they want and not gain an ounce.
Oh well, at least I am thankful that my health is good.
Josephine.
Dancey,
I weighed the cost/effectiveness/personal testimonies of Jenny Craig, Nutri-Systems, and Weight Watchers. Bottom line is I am too lazy to weigh / figure out "points" or buy certain things for a diet. SO....I'm doing low carb / South Beach. I lost 40 pounds of it 2 years ago, and I'm up to my high weight again, BUT I know I can do it with NO TROUBLE at all, once you know what carbs are and which thing have the most. I would recommend it. Tonight I went to my local restaurant and had a chichen breast (flattened...so not a lot of meat!!) with capers on top, and double sauted spinach..no bread, nothing else.
I have that every Monday.
And Josephine...I"m with you! Sometimes we just HAVE to have that special thing we're craving. I too am blessed with good health...take no meds at 55, so I'm happy! But must lose 35 pounds before summer!!!
I need to figure out how to get my stationary bike over here in front of the computer! If my husband didn't use the computer too, I would just move the bike in place of the chair and figure some way to tie the keyboard onto the handles. LOL I wonder if I put those coaster things (that make moving heavy furniture easier) under it, if it would slide?
Ha....that would be wonderful!! You have me thinking now, konkrete......I'm the only one who uses my 'puter here in the kitchen, so I wonder if I could rig up some sort of exercise machine that would fit under the knee-hole space!! Didn't someone invent an "exercise chair"???
LOL...I think I'd like to exercise in a chair! A treadmill with a laptop would be perfect but I'm going to have to rig up my own contraption. Aha! You know those magnifying glasses that you wear around your neck to sew with? That's how I need to hang the keyboard! lol
Well, yes, all treadmills and exercise machines should come with a monitor. Then hook it up to the computer, you surf the internet or maybe watch DVDs also. Can't apply to my place, however...too small, too crammed with stuff already. All I can do while on the net is watch TV. Multitasking...wasn't that once applied to WORK?
But exercise IS work for me!
Connie I'm trying to watch the cabs too. I know that can make a big difference.
Josephine I gain weight real easy too. Plus I'm 5'2 with very short legs. I have battled my weight every since I had my first child. After the last child I did get my weight down to where it should be and kept it there for many years. Now that I'm over 50 (ha!) it's real hard to keep the weight off. My dh can eat anything and as much as he wants and does not gain a pound. He wonders why I don't prepare more sweets and dessert foods. Duh! If sweets are sitting around it's too much of a temptation for me.
KKB I like your idea of the bike in front of the computer! LOL It's so boring to try and do this by myself. Wish I had someone to walk with.
Lin
Lin, I wish you lived close to us, we walk 2 miles everyday except Sunday, and it is nice to have someone to talk to while you walk, it goes by a lot faster.
Anybody got a Precor 586 Eliptical machine (with or without handles) for sale?
Oh Josephine I wish that too. ;) When I was still working my best friend and I would go out to the mall after work and walk. No telling how far we walked because we were talking the whole time. ;) We would lose track of how many rounds we had made. lol
I grocery shopped today and I'm going to try some of the Wt. Watcher's frozen dinners to help get me started. I also bought some 97% fat free pop corn. I have a hard time trying not to nibble at night while reading or watching tv. Dh goes to bed so early since he has to get up for work so early.
I've had trouble with my left ankle. As soon as it is better I am going to start my walking program.
Lin
Any other snack ideas? I too bought diet grocery store dinners--tonight--but I got South Beach. I do berries for a snack with the SB diet as they are the fruits with the least carbs. And the strawberries I got at Randall's tonight were soooo sweet. Itsn't it amazing that sometime they are flavorless, and at others great. I hope they aren't putting some kind of chemical on them to make them taste better!!!
I am so bad at night. I could go all day and not eat but I'm suddenly starving at 9pm. I'm the worst at snacking too. I couldn't find anything to eat yesterday that wasn't just junk or sugar. If it were warmer out I could eat fruit all day but I just don't have any desire for it when it's winter. I've always referred to this problem as my putting on my "winter coat". I think my body and mood are extremely effected by sunlight, and the lack of it makes me hungry. Anyways, I bought apples yesterday and will try to eat much less peanut butter with them.
btw, I've read that strawberries are one of the top fruits that you should buy organic because they soak up a lot of pesticides. Not that I always buy organic, but do wash them.
Thanks for the info...I run water over them for about a minute...think that does it?
Honestly, not really. Here's a link to some good info. (I just love this company & their emails) I use a spray called Veggie Wash to wash mine.
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/making_difference/newsletter_article.php?issue=11&article=283
Went to the web site....I buy 7th Gen products occasionally....have from Whole Foods for about 15 years! I also buy organic when I can...also from WF or Central Market here....fancy HEB. Thanks for reminding me of pesticides.
The main "health" tip I have is that aluminum in deoderant is very possibly ONE cause of Altzheimer's. My dad died of it...and his docs said al. is very suspect. That was about 10 years ago, but I use very little....only in the hot summers, as I don't really sweat much! People automatically use it. year round...my daughter used it for years until I told her to try going without one day in the winter...and she was amazed!