Monthly Archives: June 2009

Worth the Wait

Posted by Lesley on June 29, 2009 None comments
Here are the Purple Coneflowers I talked about yesterday; they were well worth the wait!  They bloomed the first year and are twice the size and show this year.  They also attract a lot of bees – almost as many as my sunflowers.  Along with chickens, people keep bees in their backyards.  Every time I think about this, I immediately envision myself frantically running in circles and swatting at my head.  I just have a feeling that’s how my beekeeping would go.  Still, I enjoy their presence in small manageable numbers, and it’s hard not to be sympathetic with the honeybee crisis.  So in return for their hard work pollinating all my flowers and vegetables, I’ll keep planting their favorite flowers.  But that’s about where my sympathy ends; that big suit and smoke sprayer seem way too hot for Florida summers!        

I waited two years for this?

Posted by Lesley on June 28, 2009 1 comments

One Sad Shasta Daisy

One of my first workable squares was dedicated to landscaping plants.  When the squares went in, the path behind the house created a long garden bed that needed to be filled.  I bought a Jiffy mini-greenhouse set and got started with my seedlings.  Have I mentioned that I become obsessed with things and don’t think them out thoroughly?  This particular greenhouse, although mini, held 72 seedlings.  I’ve since downsized because having to plant 72 of anything takes some of the joy away.  I planted Lupine, Shasta Daisies, Purple Coneflowers, Dahlias, and Salvia.  I ran out of room in the square; I was planting them in pots; and some of them didn’t even make it into the ground.  The Dahlias bit it pretty quick.  The Lupine hung around forever but never bloomed.  About half the Salvia survived and most of the Purple Coneflowers, but what really thrived was the Shasta Daisies.  These, of course, take two years to bloom.  The wait is over; they’re everywhere; and this is what they look like.  Booooooo!  Still, the seeding frenzy wasn’t a total bust; I’ll show you my Purple Coneflowers tomorrow.

 

Back to the Scat

Posted by Lesley on June 25, 2009 4 comments

I like the word scat.  Before Ubermommy told me, I had no idea poop was even called scat.  I can’t be alone.  The librarian at Selby pointed out what an odd name it is for our local bus line.  Surely, the person who decided on Sarasota County Area Transit had no idea what scat was either.  What does that acronym say about their service?  I can’t solve every problem, so back to my own – namely, the scat by my pineapple.  My possible suspects are an opossum, raccoon or skunk.  IDing scat is no easy task, especially when you’re not willing to put on gloves – my eyes are good enough!  The most important thing I found out by looking at the scat was that whatever left it loves bugs.  That pretty much rules out a raccoon – it seems unlikely that the fine diner of wild animals would waste time on so many bugs.  We’re living in suburbia; the garbage cans are lined up like restaurant row. Ruling out a raccoon leaves a skunk and an opossum, which both eat bugs.  I’ve seen an opossum once or twice in the yard, but never a skunk.  My scat detecting skills are still very new, but I’m going with an opossum. 

Poop away from the Pineapple!

Posted by Lesley on June 23, 2009 2 comments

I’ve always heard how easy it is to regrow a pineapple – just cut off the top and plant it.  This has never worked for me.  I’ve buried them deep, shallow and in-between, kept them in water and dried them out, all for the same result – a smelly rotting pineapple top sticking out of the ground.  Presumably to spare my misery, my step-son bought me a plant two years ago.  I was thrilled; it had an itty-bitty pineapple starting to form, and I waited patiently as it sloooooooooooowly ripened.  Then one horrible morning, I walked outside to find it gnawed in two.  The top was lopped off and lying on its side, the fruit eaten to a nib.  I was devastated already, but to add insult to injury, whatever grubby little creature it was that ate the top, returned the next night to finish off the bottom. Apparently it was too plump and delicious for just one sitting.  It’s taken two years for a second pineapple to emerge, and I just found poop on the pavers next to it!  I thought I’d spare you that picture, but I did look at it – weird, I know, but there’s a reason.  Ubermommy (AKA my sister) took her kids on a scat tour; scat is another word for poop and she’s ubermommy because only an ubermommy would know about a scat tour.  Anyway, I looked at the scat because I’m going to try to figure out what’s lurking around my pineapple; I can’t wait another two years to taste it.  To be continued…    

Where are my birds at?

Posted by Lesley on June 18, 2009 None comments

Yesterday I was talking about a seed mix and said that the flowers were just okay.  I changed my mind this morning because the sunflowers deserve some credit.  This one comes in at 6’1″ and the head is bigger than mine!  Big ones like this are great when they dry out – instant bird feeders!  They’re a guaranteed hit at the park.  I tried hanging one in the grapefruit tree to see if the birds would feed from it, but they ignored it just like they’re ignoring my gourd birdhouse.  I think I made the hole too big, which really bugs me because I have a lot of time invested in that birdhouse.  It took an enormous vine that molested every other plant in its vicinity to grow one measly gourd.  Then it took about a year to dry out – I can’t tell you how many times I shook it waiting to hear the seeds rattle.  This is after rubbing it down with alcohol and turning it periodically so it wouldn’t get moldy.  When it finally dried, it took two coats of sealer to protect it from the weather…and then I made the hole too big! 

Cheap & Easy Butterfly Gardening

Posted by Lesley on June 17, 2009 1 comments

I’m always trying to attract butterflies to my garden.  I keep a water source and have plenty of butterfly-attracting plants – Pentas, Hibiscus, and then some.  I don’t have a tally, but I’ve spent some bucks on the butterflies.  No more – I found a Ferry-Morse Butterfly & Hummingbird Wildflower Mix – the best $10 ever spent at Home Depot!  I filled in one of my 6′ x 6′ squares plus this dead corner space that was looking really drab, and I still have seeds left.  The flowers are okay, but the results are outstanding!  I see a butterfly at least once a day, and they stick around!  In the past, they were transients passing by just to taunt me, and for some reason they all seemed to be Swallowtails.  Now there’s a variety; I think this one is a Gulf Fritillary.    

Farm Fresh Eggs…and a story about my dog

Posted by Lesley on June 13, 2009 None comments

Luke

Luke

Since I’ve been on a poultry kick lately, it seems fitting to announce that you can now buy farm fresh eggs at the Downtown Sarasota Farmer’s Market.  I’m very excited about this; it means I never have to keep chickens in my yard!  But I can still enjoy the benefits of farm fresh eggs – less fat and cholesterol and more vitamins and omega-3s.  The eggs were the sunny side of my trip after finding a gluten-free pizza stand where Worden’s normally is – they’re closed for the summer. Then my dog, who also loves the farmer’s market and is normally very well-behaved, tried to pee on a table leg when I wasn’t looking.  Since I embarrass easily, I started walking really fast to get away from anyone who could have seen even the slightest lift of his leg.  We got to the corner in record time and there stood a red-faced man with an air-humping golden retriever that even the other dogs were avoiding!  My embarrassement turned to laughter as I was reminded once more how much I love the farmer’s market – you never know what you’ll find there! 

Out with the Ibis, In with the Chickens?

Posted by Lesley on June 12, 2009 None comments

Shortly after I posted my shout out to the white ibis, I went to a meeting to discuss chickens – no really, I did. I free lance for the local newspaper, and my editor asked me to attend.  It’s an issue around here because it’s currently illegal to keep them in your backyard, and for reasons which I was completely oblivious to, people actually want them in their yards.  I make special trips to the farmer’s market for fresh produce and to Whole Foods for grass-fed beef, but never thought to keep chickens in my yard.  Apparently chickens are another all natural way to control pests and fertilize your lawn.  And of course there are the fresh eggs, but here’s something that didn’t come up during the meeting – what kind of cock fight do you have to get into to get those eggs? I don’t care how nice you are to your chickens; they’re not giving up their eggs voluntarily.  I’d like to see the ordinance pass so my neighbors can have chickens, but it’s definitely not for me.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090610/ARTICLE/906101048

All Natural Pesticides

Posted by Lesley on June 6, 2009 1 comments

This is a shout-out to the white ibis – thanks for picking up the slack around here.  When we put in the garden, we stopped spraying the yard.  It’s become a 24-hour crudités of creepy crawlers, and the ibis are feasting!