Daily Musings _ page 14

Kassia, I love your visitor! What a lumpy fellow!

It's COLD!!!!!
High temp today was 55 with wind and mist. I have a sweater on, lol
Sarah screamed and howled today getting her nails cut. She hates that.

55! get out of here, I was sweating before I went to work. All above 85 this week.

I had the space heater on under my desk today Andy. Shadow hates getting his nails trimmed too. ((shiver)) I don't like doing it.

Speaking of Daily Musings, today I was musing about getting a privet shrub. They're all in bloom around here and I go crazy over the smell. Can anyone recommend a good cultivar?

Harper

Miserable day today. High reached 67 but it certainly did not feel it. Very raw. I don't like getting my nails trimmed either.

Sarah wont let me trim her nails, Only a woman can do it (or the Vet).
Harper, I too, like the Privet flower smell. The shrub has gone out of favor somewhat. They are a snap to propagate. Snip off a bunch of 6 inch clippings and stick them in clean sand. You will have nice plants in a month or 2. Give them a few years and you can sniff your heart out.

Ooo! Andy, you saved me! There's a huge privet hedge in my neighborhood. The people who live there are renting and they don't seem to give too much consideration to the nature around them. I'll go 'prune' it for them. He he he!

Harper

My childhood gardening mentor showed me how easy it was to make cuttings. We landed up with a 40 foot hedge. Until a cold, snowy winter when field mice ate the bark at ground level. One after the other.
6 inch clippings, strip the bottom leaves and stick half way them in sand. Keep moist, out of harsh sun for a week. Re-pot/plant when new growth appears, they will have roots by then.
Andy P

TIME TO GET UP!

I have an Oriental Poppy!

Harper - I was googling for privet and found this http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/pages/invasive-plants.htm . Does anyone have any knowledge of this plant first hand?? If it's not considered invasive for us, I might look into it more.

Carrie - you are outrageous lol Love the poppy - mine hasn't bloomed this year. Maybe it's pouting 'cause they know they are going to be replanted. :-)

Anita,

I never knew kudzu had a flower! That's one scary plant. But is privet like boxwood?

xxx, C

thank you for that link Anita. I knew there was a privet that was invasive. I'll be sure and NOT get the vulgare type.

sure thing - I did more reading and discovered that it is also a common hedging - I actually have it in my front yard and didn't realize what the name was. The hedge is over 50 years old!

Hello everyone! I've been chasing this thread link thru link. My, but I've been gone for so long! By the time I come in at night, clean up and eat, I'm too tired to wait for old dial up to dial up.

It had been in the high 80*'s all week Today it hit 95*. I mowed early and puttered in the shade till 1:00pm. I gave up, showered and am finally here!

My SIL gave me a bunch of ''weedy'' hibiscus that were given to her. Apparently they reseed well. These sticks are either red, pink or white. I mudded them in, way too close to each other. Some have reddish leaves and veins. Does anyone know if those will have red blooms? I think these are just common bushes.

It's actually been clouding up here all afternoon. We have a slight chance of rain, but we could use it!! It is way too hot for June. It's wasting my favorite month!!!

Thistle.

Nice to hear from you again, Billy - wish we could enjoy your company more! How is Hubby enjoying retired life?

Victor

Hi Mrs. Billy Sally - I had noticed you were gone. No doubt it's getting to be that time of the year when you only want easy garden jobs.

***using best Crocodile Dundee voice** You call that a thistle? Na - ow this is a thistle!

I was just telling DH that I was made for retirement. I like the hours :)) He's happy too.

I started making his famous ''Vegetable Medley'' at 8:00 am. He loaded it into a roasting bag and when I was almost done mowing, threw it on the grill. It's delicious!! We ate at 10:30am :)) (The recipe.)

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/630251/

Big City, I see you've lassoed that thistle. Now, that IS a big thistle and I'd like to see a picture of the flowers when it blooms.

I'd be happy to just get ahead of the purslane in the garden. I should try eating it. I might like it. Everything else is staying weeded. Till we get rain. I picked peas and spinich this morn. Zucchini will be next and cukes shortly after. I did pick an Anaheim pepper yesterday. My own home grown plant :))

Part of my garden. The west half.

Looks great Billy. You don't need to shop for produce! I like Dandelions in my salad.

Hi, Billy. Nice to 'see' ya.
I think perslane is my worst weed, it's always there. I have this habit of throwing down marigold seeds in the tomato patch right after planting. I use them for filler as the season wears on. The purslane is so thick, I can't see them any more. I potted up a dozen marigolds 2 days ago while weeding a small section. I must have many dozen others in there. That's my next project. Weed the tomatoes.
I just sat down after mowing the lawn, an hour and a half ~ start to finish. Not counting a shower, lol. It's cool in the low 70s now, not bad. A cool beerverage is nice too, lol.
I should pick strawberries but it can wait until tomorrow.

I put newspaper down around mine this year and had to put dirt on it to hold it down. Newspaper doesn't get wet and stick to the ground like it used to. I meant to ''glue'' a thick mat, but that never got done. At least you saved your marigolds :))

I wish I had a picture, but quite a few years ago I had catapillars on the purslane only. I swear, they were plaid. Reddish if I remember. I've never seen them since.

Plaid Purslane predators, say that 3 times fast.

ROTFL, and I did try it.

ROTFL at myself. Just had the Grandson overnight and now I can't spell caterpillars.

I use SpellCheck, lol

The spellcheck with Firefox - I love it, i'm glad it's there, but someone should teach it some more words. IMHO.

My thimble berry bloomed! Do you think the blooms look just a little like hellaborus flowers? I love the color - kind of raspberry.

Yes it does!

I like it Yankee! Never heard of it. Can you give more info or the source?

It is a raspberry relative, "any of several North American raspberries, especially Rubus parviflorus, R. occidentalis, or R. odoratus of the rose family, having thimble-shaped aggregate fruit." (Answers.com)

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thimbleberry

I picked them growing wild in British Columbia in the early 70's during a summer long road trip in a VW Van and have always remembered at least that part of the trip. I put one in last fall and was surprised that it has a few blooms this year. I don't think that I saw any flowers on my trip, just the fruit - so I was surprised how pretty it is. The best part is - no thorns.

NO THORNS? i want one too!

I am spellcheck :))

I love the thimbleberry!

We have talked about how we like pitcher pumps for a long time. We finally decided to put one in. Right now I drag the hose over to a hook and old washtub to wash the worst of the dirt off vegetables. DH will build a platform, but has decided to let Chown's drive the point. He doesn't want to re-injure his rotor cuff, or he would do all of it himself. He hooked up a hose so I don't have to put a bucket underneath to catch the water anymore. It will hold rainwater now too. Before it just ran into the bucket and it was hard to pull it out. This is basically where it will go. He'll build a low deck and I'll still use the washtub.

That's cool, Billy.

Sad story
I was about to go out to play 'cookie toss' with Sarah when I heard her bark an unfamiliar bark. As I stepped out she pointed to her water bowl.
This was why she was barking.

The bird must have hit the house and got hurt. It was very still.
Sarah did not hurt it and backed off when told to.
The poor thing couldn't fly.

That's a shame Andy. It kills me when they fly into my windows or house and get hurt. I even had one die a few months back.

So I snapped these quick pics, coaxed it onto a shovel and placed it in sheltering brush outside the fence.
Good luck, little guy. You are going to need it.
Andy P

I know what you mean, Victor.
We have a lot of birds here. There are plenty of nesting places, food is abundant and I keep the bird bath clean & full.
Is it a Blackbird?
Andy P

I don't want them eating this-

We have been trying to attract more butterflies and have done well do get a lot of caterpillers.

I think that's a starling. not my favorite bird, but I still hate to see one get hurt like that. a couple of weeks ago I found a female goldfinch sitting on my patio steps. she didn't look sick or injured, so I offered her food & water. she took neither. a few minutes later she flew off. I think she had hit the patio doors and was just stunned.

Al, beautiful Monarch caterpillar. I plant all kinds of host plants, but have yet to see one. But I'll keep on trying. I also encourage birds, so maybe it's counterproductive.

That's neat. I had a juvenile keeping me company the other weekend. I kept telling it to wisen up and not be so friendly to strangers..