Gardening 2020

Winchester

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W WillowMarie My aunt gave me horseradish roots decades ago to plant. This is the result. You don't actually eat the leaves (at least I don't think so). Dig up a plant and get the roots. You peel the root then grate or use a food processor to finely chop, and then add vinegar to the roots to make the horseradish. Store in the fridge. If you want sauce, you can add a bit of cream. Excellent on roast beef.

Warning: Do NOT grate the horseradish root inside! This stuff will burn! We've done it once and did it outside on the picnic table with the food processor plugged in to an outside receptacle.

Rohland came from Design Toscano: Extraordinary Statuary & Decor for Home & Garden - Design Toscano I had another one, too, but he fell apart. We have several items from Design Toscano, including a CatGoyle (who lives on the wall above the basement door in the house) and a Double Trouble gargoyle who lives in my she shed. Apex, the Flying Dragon, lives above our arbor going into the pool area. We also have a larger gargoyle (Rupert) who lives in our front yard; he did not come from Design Toscano.

This is Double Trouble in the shed. He used to live on my office door at work. Several people came right out and asked me if they could have it. Um, no.

DoubleTrouble.jpg


And here's the Catgoyle in the living room
Catgoyle.jpg
 
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catapault

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Well, if you like dragons . . .

I was speaking at a plant society annual meeting in Seattle. Lots of vendors. I saw this dragon
Dragon_2020-05_fireplace chimney dragon.jpg
and knew Himself would love him. Fairly heavy gauge sheet metal, 3-dimensional. It was, fortunately, well before TSA check-ins when flying. Can you imagine trying to get something like this on an airplane now?

It was Himself who decided to mount him on the chimney for our wood burning stove. Dragons love heat. But we've not been told his name.
 

Norachan

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This is Double Trouble in the shed. He used to live on my office door at work. Several people came right out and asked me if they could have it. Um, no.
He is pretty awesome. Wouldn't he like to come hang out in a Japanese forest for a while.....?
;)
It was Himself who decided to mount him on the chimney for our wood burning stove. Dragons love heat. But we've not been told his name.
Beautiful!
 

Azazel

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What are people's thoughts on forsythia? I have a 2 year old baby planted in the middle of my perennial garden. I'm deciding between taking it out while it's still young so I don't have to deal with the mess when it's bigger, or trying to keep it contained by pruning it each year. Thoughts?
 

WillowMarie

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Tomato seeds sprouted! Wonder if the slightly cooler temps helped the seeds sprout. 2 our of 4 types of seeds from the last planted have sprouted, the cilantro and tomato. Waiting on the strawberry and catnip. :D

SAM_0296.JPG


Swiss chard is looking very well today! Seems to have recovered from looking flimsy and weak.

SAM_0300.JPG
 

catapault

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If you like the dragon on the stove pipe, what do you think of the praying mantis on the bridge?
Mantis_Bridge.jpg
Found her when I was speaking at the New England Wildflower Society. Now this was a difficult object to get home to New Jersey. I flew home. She eventually arrived in the belly of a tour bus . . . but that's a story for a different time.
 

rubysmama

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Back to tulips, and how cutting off their stems before they yellow prevents the bulb from getting food for the following season ... would there be any benefit to digging the bulbs up, now that they've finished blooming, and repotting them, stem and all, in a pot until they yellow? Or would digging them up and disturbing them, be as harmful as prematurely cutting them back?
 

catapault

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Surely, rubysmama rubysmama there are other things to do in the garden besides digging up and potting up, watering - and then what? Try to remember to replant them in the fall for less than perfect flowering. Tulips are inexpensive. Dig, replant in an out of the way place, and choose annuals for summer, NEW tulips for fall. If any of the transplanted tulips flower next spring consider it a bonus.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I love forsythia. I don’t have one yet but my neighbor’s driveway is lined by them and it’s so pretty in the spring! I wouldn’t want to give it up unless it’s just in a spot that can’t handle it when it’s bigger.
 

rubysmama

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Surely, rubysmama rubysmama there are other things to do in the garden besides digging up and potting up, watering - and then what? Try to remember to replant them in the fall for less than perfect flowering. Tulips are inexpensive. Dig, replant in an out of the way place, and choose annuals for summer, NEW tulips for fall. If any of the transplanted tulips flower next spring consider it a bonus.
You know, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do. Thanks for the suggestion. :)
 

Azazel

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I love forsythia. I don’t have one yet but my neighbor’s driveway is lined by them and it’s so pretty in the spring! I wouldn’t want to give it up unless it’s just in a spot that can’t handle it when it’s bigger.
Well, the spot could handle it if I prune it every year. I guess I’ve just read horror stories online and am scared of it getting out of control. I agree they are beautiful.
 

MoochNNoodles

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My neighbors have space to let it do its thing. A place up the road had it blocking the view for people turning. So I understand what you mean. I find pruning bushes intimidating still at this point.
 

WillowMarie

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The catnip sprouted!
20200607_152823.jpg


Thinned out my indoor tomatoes to two seedlings in the jar kit and transported the rest to a pot and placed outside. There were three, but only two survived the transport.
20200607_152837.jpg


Since I had one more large pot and almost a full huge bag of soil (the last of the 4 bags bought), I made one more pot and planted more seeds. Decided to do a mix pot with 4 lettuce seeds, 2 carrot, and 2 swiss chard. We'll see how that goes!


The rest of my succulent cuttings sprouted the start of tiny roots and were replanted. My one green succulent that had many roots cut off was watered the other day. It felt like it needed it, although it did not plump up and feels a bit softer today. Keeping an eye on him, but he doesn't look to good.
 

LTS3

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Do you grow your catnip outside in a pot or directly in the ground? I used to grow catnip in a large pot outside at my parents house. One year the plant went to seed and a seed somehow wound up in a bag of garden soil. The bag was unopened but I guess there was a hole in the side. The following year a huge catnip plant grew right out the side of the bag. I think I removed the plant from the bag and put it in a large pot.
 

Winchester

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A Azazel If you don't prune forsythia, it will turn into a real mess and it doesn't take long. Years ago, our neighbors had a forsythia hedge between our properties. It was absolutely gorgeous and it was an absolute pain to take care of. We were constantly pruning our side of the hedge because it would grow out of control. We'd have to dig up the suckers. We were so glad when they took that hedge out. I think we gained almost eight feet of our property back!
 
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