From early May, commentor / photographer Mike in Oly:
These are just random flowers I have seen lately in my garden or in friend’s gardens. The irises are getting started here, and they are my favorites.
And is it past time I find some lilacs to stick my nose in. Happy spring!
(More to come… )
***********
What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
I moved into a new place last weekend. Yesterday I planted some herbs, tomatoes and peppers in containers out back.
What gorgeous shots!
My neighbor got the gardening bug this spring, so I don’t have to do much š
The flowers are beautiful and thank you for sharing the photos. It’s such a pleasant way to start the day.
@ JPL: Laughing at Colbert late at night and seeing these beautiful flowers early in the morning are all thatās saving me at this point.
The second-to-last picture are deviled eggs flowers. Where’s the paprika? YUMM-O!
No idea what has chosen this year to blossom in such abundance that five minutes or more spent in the (not so) great outdoors shunts the settings on sinuses to Niagara mode.
I could never live in the PNW, because it appears that everyone’s garden would be far superior to mine.
@NotMax: If you lived in the Mid-Atlantic I could give you the short (and accurate) answer: Everything.
Very nice Mike, very nice indeed.
Sweet!
There are irises all over the place here, deep purple (Van Gogh ones), light purple, yellow, white, and those avant-garde two-tone ones (I don’t like them so much). Lilacs are over, but I did bury my nose in some.
ETA: I should say, the lilacs are mine but all the irises belong to neighbors. I’m too lazy to garden even if I had two good hips.
Gorgeous! Wish I could capture color like that!
@zhena gogolia
“Iām too lazy to garden even if I had two good” [insert body part here].
Come sit appropriately spaced by me. Just the fleeting thought of repeated bending and squatting enough to bring on the screaming heebie-jeebies.
š
@zhena gogolia
It’s hot outside. And there are bugs.
@NotMax: Yep.
@Baud: Yep.
Anybody here watch Anatomy of a Scandal? We’ve watched 5 out of 6 episodes, and it’s really fun. Totally preposterous, but fun. Great acting. It’s better than the other “Scandal” story with Claire Foy.
@zhena gogolia
As a wiser person than I has opined,
“How do you know you’re getting old? When upon waking everything you have two of, one hurts.”
@NotMax: That, and you also know that someone will call or e-mail you trying to scam you.
@zhena gogolia
Yup. Ludicrously presented but not consequently entirely unenjoyable.
At the moment have “interlude in Prague” on in the background on Prime. What can I say? Am a sucker for period pieces; the costumes and sets can paper over a roster of little flaws.
@zhena gogolia I love gardening, atm most joints still work, but wasps & I have issues. very irritating
@NotMax When you get up in the morning and it sounds like someone playing the castanets
Itās Sumer in Florida. Hurricane season starts Tuesday. It ās been a great spring. Currently the queen Annās lace is still great but going to seed. Coreopsis is beautiful and black eyed Susan has started. Rain lilies and crinums are starting. Cleome are great. But the most spectacular are the salvias, especially purple majesty. I also have a nice edge of blue lobelia. The front garden attracts a lot of compliments.
In the back, thornless blackberries look like giving me a great crop soon. I have several trays of zinnias started to replace the rudbeckia sand queen Ann when they have peaked.
Roses have finished first flush. I need to get some manure to build up for another flush. Also Camillaās are finally planted. It is now time to root more cuttings of everything, kill weeds etc. begonias and gingers are coming up. They always take so long and donāt come out till summer.
In the US we complain about the USPS, so here’s a story: On Friday, May 6, I mailed a small parcel (actually a padded envelope, 5×8) to a friend in Melbourne, Australia, paying $19 for International Priority. Tracking information showed it in Narita, Japan on May 10, and Brisbane, Australia on May 11. I just got an e-mail that it was delivered in Melbourne on Friday, May 27.
My friend tells me this is par for the course.
My building has raised garden beds that residents can claim, and the ones who enjoy gardening do. Luckily, my office window looks down over a dozen or so of those beds, so I get to see them without having to work.
ETA: A month or so ago, I did something to the left side of my back and it finally occurred to me that resting it might be a good idea. So I have skip zumba. Luckily, I had already skipped gardening
Garden of Iron. If you have one bit of gear head in you check out this auction of hundreds of classic vehicles! https://youtu.be/mVBQQ3oDfyI
@Gvg
Back in the days of my misbegotten youth the mark of a tended garden in spring was a border or patch of lily of the valley. A plant which seems to have gone out of fashion.
Things are doing well here at the Hillbilly Haven. The rains finally stopped on Friday. Even so, as I commented to my wife, this is the first time in years that I don’t feel like I am way behind on things. Part of it is that I’ve cut back on what all I’m planting. Another part is that all that rain forced me to focus on what I can do even if it is only weeding the one or 2 flower beds that I can reach into from the edge.
Even the veggie garden isn’t too far behind. Maters, peppers and eggplant are all growing well (finally got them mulched last week in between rains). Cabbage and broccoli too. The beans I planted a week ago didn’t rot with all the rain, and most of them came up just fine. Today I will get my pickling cukes started and if the near 90 temps don’t cook my brains too much, the melons too.
I’ve got a bumper crop of ticks too. Damn, are they bad this year.
My irises are gearing up to open. One mini rose has buds. Bees (and flies) have been buzzing around the teeny holly flowers for a week and the Solomonās seal patch in the shady side yard has exploded. Next up, day lilies, ninebark. Wild hydrangeas, astilbes, and spirea come later. Somehow I managed to set things up so somethingās always in bloom.
@NotMax: Interlude in Prague added to watchlist!
Raven May 29, 2022 at 8:57 AM Garden of Iron.
I worked with a guy for over 6 years who’s “hobby” was restoring tractors. “Hobby” is in quotes because it was more Rich’s obsession than a hobby. He traveled all over to get old tractors and had 2 pole barns filled to overflowing with bit’s and pieces of them that he bought and sold. He even had a few rebuilds he kept for himself, his pride and joy was a… I forget what he called it but is was a highboy built for working in the cane fields, iirc the body was 7′ or 8′ above the ground. A lot of fun driving it around, a very different pov.
At any rate, I know where Rich will be on June 1st.
Lovely flowers! Iām happy to report that the peach and apple saplings we planted and subsequently savaged by the deer last summer seem to have mostly recovered
I went out this morning to get rid of the leaves that collected around my deck before the lawn fertilizer guy comes to treat for fleas and ticks next week. Then I threw all my clothes in the wash in case they collected some of said fleas and ticks….and forgot the “smart key” for my car was in the pocket of my jeans. I remembered before it went through the complete wash cycle but it did get wet so right now it’s in a bowl of instant rice. No good comes from gardening.
@NeenerNeener: I’m curious as to what your lawn people will spray for the fleas and ticks. I had my first experience in this area yesterday, spraying an organic tick suppressant on a customer’s lawn. The concentrate was called “Wondercide,” mixed 4 oz. to a gallon, and was 40% cedar oil. It might not be as effective as a chemical spray, but it sure smelled nice! I’ll do a second application next week.
@Geminid: I’ll have to ask them when they come.
I’ve read that spreading lime on your lawn isn’t just good for the lawn, it kills fleas and ticks too. I may try that towards the end of the summer just for good measure.
OzarkHillbilly I specially put that up for you!
The deer in the backyard has pretty much cleaned out everything. I would rather give her the job of trimming blackberries than me. And no arguments with husband over what he can mow down, because the deer already ate it.
The pitbull is outraged, but the deer is much larger.
ETA Cheaper than goats.
Are we guessing what these flowers are? #1 is an iris. # 4 is trillium. #7 is rhododendron. Is three a camellia? Is #5 cotoneaster?
raven May 29, 2022 at 10:48 AM
Well, thank you very much!
Amongst the trucks I saw my old Beast, a ’72 Chevy p/u in 2 tone paint, the dingy yellow with white side panels. It wouldn’t surprise my in the least if it was in fact the same truck. It was in very good shape when I finally sold it 15 yrs ago because I thought the price of gas was only going to get higher and higher and higher.
Boy, was I wrong about that, sigh….
I got all my veggies into the ground at last. The peppers have recovered from the sudden snow last week. The only flowers currently blooming are on a large Salvia “May Night” and the bees are all over it. Which is exactly why I planted it, so I am happy.
My garden — is still coming along. I need to till and plant, but otherwise I’m good! If I get it in before June, I’ll be fine.
Meanwhile, my PS groundhog/ woodchuck/ land beaver/ whistle pig has moved on from under my shed. I am quickly filling the entrances with rocks and trying to stave off the damage underneath. I’ll miss the little ones that have appeared for five years, but I’ll be a happier gardener.
@Immanentize
How is little Immp? I don’t recall the last update since he was in the hospital.
Immanentize May 29, 2022 at 11:16 AM Good to hear from you. Hope all is progressing as you would like regarding the Immp.
I’ve got a groundhog hiding underneath our storm shelter again. I’ve tried filling the holes with rock and/or concrete but they are industrious little bastards and just dig around, under, or thru any obstruction in their way. The last one we had got a fatal case of lead poisoning and this one will too I suppose.
It turns out JD Vance’s dream is to become Anita Bryant.
“May 29, 2022 at 11:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance (R) told Crisis magazine that pornography should be banned because itās stopping Americans from getting married and starting families.
Said Vance: āI think the combination of porn, abortion have basically created a lonely, isolated generation that isnāt getting married, theyāre not having families, and theyāre actually not even totally sure how to interact with each other,ā
Can anybody advise what decade I woke in? I seem to have slipped several backward.
OzarkHillbilly We’ve got one digging next to the block foundation and my trap is going nowhere.
@trollhattan
>>āI think the combination of porn, abortion have basically created a lonely, isolated generation that isnāt getting married, theyāre not having families, and theyāre actually not even totally sure how to interact with each other,ā
___________________
I knew my situation was someone else’s fault.
No gardening stuff to talk about, but I got out on my bike this morning, just a short loop, maybe 9-10 miles, with a bit of uphill and downhill, and a decent bit of level road along the Chesapeake. (Spanky, if you’re still reading this thread, it was a loop involving 260, 261, and Boyds Turn Road.)
First real ride of the season, and boy howdy did I need it, after prostate surgery having knocked a big hole in my cycling last year. Came back feeling like a part of me that had been missing had gotten restored.
Raven — how I wish I could be at that auction. Looked like maybe some old Defenders? And even an AMC v-8? Maybe the last of the V-8 Interceptors?
NotMax — I have a nice bed of Lily of the Valley in my yard. After I cut down some white pines that had crested and were getting tippy, a bunch burnt up, but I have a nice grouping now.
Baud -+ thanks for asking. My son is recovering. We are really happy to be back in the Boston area with his ‘real’ Docs. He got his J-Tube out a week or so ago which was such a huge relief. He lost maybe 15 pounds which he did not have to lose, so I am working hard to fatten him up. This of course impacts my own waistline as well.
I feel like I aged five years in as many weeks and I don’t have many years to throw away. I’m not sure I can do this again. But, of course, if he got sick again I would gladly pick up and throw away everything and beat a path to his door to help. Then I will maybe walk into the waves to hear the mermaids’ song.
@ trollhattan @ baud:
Here’s Tim Ryan’s response to that bullshit (starts at about 0:47).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od86hojlVqk
Ozark and Raven. Do not forget the value of bubble gum or gum balls. I mean, if you get desperate.
PS I know this is a family-oriented blog (ha!) But what I think finally worked to encourage my woodchuck to move was liberal application and reapplication of my own personal supply of piss at the entries and where the critter liked to go under the fence line. Vintage shit,that!
@Immanentize
š
@ Immanentize: So HAPPY to hear Immp’s recovering. Hope you both have a very restful, quiet summer.
Trimming the pitbull’s toenails. Not short. Just normal. You’d think I was chopping off toes. Five cats circling to console her. Four down. Sixteen to go.
To Debbie etc al.
Oh yes, someone previously asked about Immp’s school. He will be right back in Goddamm Texas by mid-July. He missed the last month of classes, but Rice has a sort of automatic incomplete rule for such emergency disabilities. Three of his four class profs have been great — but one is being a real ass. So much so that after my son handles his own business, I might write a letter to general counsel asking for nothing, but suggesting that allowing professors to make bespoke disability rules for their own classes is, well, liability inviting.
Immanentize, thank you much for the update on the Immp. It must be a huge relief to be back with his regular doctors!
Re gardening and plants: my veggies and berries out on the deck are doing fine, but I think I accomplished something impossible with my indoor philodendron: killed it. I have no idea how, but it seems to have pulled itself out of its pot, which I didn’t notice (itso pot hangs above head height) and kept watering as if it was still rooted in there. Finally wondered why it wasn’t sprouting any new leaves, got up to look down into the pot, and realized the vines that had been climbing up the bathroom windowcase were all that was there of the plant. I pulled them off the wall and stuck them back down into the pit, added water, and have my fingers crossed that something reroots itself.
That plant was a housewarming gift when I first bought this place nearly 25 years ago, so I will be incredibly sad if it’s really totally dead.
@immanentize
Glad to hear Immp is doing better. I can see how the ongoing nature of this must wear you both out.
That prof needs someone to put the fear of god in him. Sadly hard to do once you have tenure
Dorothy —
True, but his Chair certainly has powers to make his life difficult. Also — lots of mandatory training and counseling often is a great pressure point for tenured profs.
Casey — good luck, but it is hard to kill those things. Even if it want on the soil, I bet your watering was enough to keep it going. Also, when it revives, make two plants. You know, an heir and a spare!
@ Immanentize: That letter sounds like just the ticket! š
I completed the entire backyard rebuild this week, except for bringing in path material. That meant 18 Outback loads of basalt block to build raised beds, a few purchases of flagstone to make paths inside the beds, 5 cubic yards of soil, about 120 new plants, and then 3 cubic yards of compost mulch. We’ve been having an oddly cool and wet spring, so the plants have all had an easy transplant process and are doing well. The blueberries and pie cherry tree that hadn’t been cared for for many years are blooming like crazy thanks to generous applications of worm castings, fertilizer, and steady watering last year. The cherry tree branches looked like a bottle brush, there were so many blooms.
I’m thinking of doing a before and after post for OTR, when we get the original blog back. From lots of dead to nearly dead grass with failing wooden berms, to no grass, huge areas of flowers, and rock walls, well, it’s been a lot of work. I suddenly realized that my endless list of things to get done has now shrunk to the point that this summer I can play instead of labor in the yard. It was almost disorienting to realize that.
No gardening news from me, but a little promising bud of hopefulness – CNN reporting that the FBI has been interviewing fake electors in Michigan and Georgia.
@immanentize
True. My assistant dept chair once threatened people with crappy schedules if they didn’t “volunteer” for something
@Imm: Glad to hear good news for a change! And I agree, more mandatory training for assholes with tenure is just the ticket.
@LTC: Good for you! And you remind me that I need to get to Sneade’s. Just not, you know, Memorial Day Sunday.
@Imm – Glad things are improving for the Immp. Couple of trips to the North End should fatten him up pretty quickly.
@Spanky: Or any other Sunday! Back at the beginning of the pandemic, they reduced store hours and closed altogether on Sundays. I think they went back to their pre-pandemic hours for Monday thru Saturday, but they apparently decided they liked being closed on Sundays, because they still are. (I biked right by their empty parking lot at ~11am today.)
Needless to say, it’s always Sunday that I remember this or that that I need from them.
“assholes with tenure”? Oh, there is no such thing! š
Apartment dweller stopping by to recommend the book Serpents in Eden: Countryside Crimes. Itās a short story collection from the British Library Crime Classics series. Stories by the usual well known writers, but also good ones from people Iād never heard of before.
Thereās a very fun story āA Proper Mysteryā by Margery Allingham, The crime is not murder, but something far worse ā the trampling of a community garden plot.
Sample:
āThe disaster itself was not complicated. Rather, it was one of those occurrences which possess all the simple awfulness of Greek Tragedy.
Briefly, Mr Light, acting against all advice, as was his nature (but also his undeniable right in a free England), *SPOILER*
Imm, Thanks for the update and continue wishes that immp continues to heal.
On a selfish note, I hope that you will be able to comment a lot during the hearings.
From the Texas Observer: “Greg Abbott Is Full of Shit.”
https://www.texasobserver.org/greg-abbott-uvalde-shooting/
People in Uvalde do not like Greg Abbott.
Here is a video of a large crowd booing him. Vigorously.
https://twitter.com/fifthhousesun/status/1530970436841897984?s=21&t=5jV8ByrAGgOkJ9Wv718DGA
Been weeding the rose garden. Nut sedge is awful, can’t kill it with roundup has to be pulled up by hand
@ Maze Dancer:
Good. Have you heard anything about the reaction to Biden’s appearance? Overnight, the BBC interviewed some guy who said Biden wouldn’t be welcome because the area had voted for Trump. Kept me from falling back asleep for a bit.
@Imm
So glad to hear that your son is back, doing better and under the care of his regular doctors. Hoping for some peace and calm for both you and him. And re your proposed letter to his professor- one good thing about being a lawyer is being able to write nastygrams to miscreants on behalf of family and friends.
@MazeDancer
My friend in San Antonio didn’t think Beto had a chance, but after Uvalde she thinks he does. So many people are shocked and incensed.
Could we have a mid-day open thread? I’d love to discuss the Uvalde police response, and its implications. DOJ is now reviewing their actions.
@ Immanetize: great to hear the Immp continues to recover. I have, um, mixed feelings about his returning to Texas, although am sure he’s getting a great education at Rice. And agree with others: send that letter! What an asshat of a prof. Especially when the country is still in a 2-year pandemic (not Immp’s particular issue, but come on).
@surfk9: I’ve got 45% acidity white vinegar on order from Amazon. My brother managed to score some 30% vinegar from his local garden center and he said you could almost hear the weeds scream when he sprayed them. I’m hoping the 45% will take out all the nasties in my garden, including the horsetail and maybe the honeysuckle too.
@Imm Yeah, āacademic freedomā and the ADA do not mix well together, and some assholes make it a lot harder. I worked as faculty support staff and the gap between students feeling that anything that supported their ability to succeed should be offered and paid for, versus what the ADA requires is enormous. Leaves a lot of students, especially marginalized ones realizing that an advanced degree could be the path to a job with benefits that would support an independent life, having to drop out of their program, facing heartbreaking loans.
Having worked for two decades in higher ed, including for a prof on the academic review committee, I think your plan to write to the General Counsel is wise. Take a look at whatever the academic performance review process is at Rice as well. Where I worked who is on the committee is secret, for good reasons, but they had an office and were usually willing to help with how to handle various consequences and procedures. Donāt know if they could help you in advance, but it might be something to try.
@ Elizabelle: I think they’re all very busy reconstructing the original site.
@ debbie. Ah. That’s good news.
@ Elizabelle: There’s a thread from yesterday about the site update (and class action lawsuit) if you want to know more.
Beans need to go in today, camassia are blooming, as are the nootka roses and the first of the yarrow. Behind on getting the onions in and the rest of the weeds still keep coming. But huzzah for PCIs! Our white and gold Oregon ones had a good year. (So of course it’s time to divide them. I will never catch up.)
@surfk9. Unfortunately, pulling up nut sedge just increases the problem. Check out but sedge remedies on the web, but do not āweedā by hand. Trust me, I learned the hard way.
@NeenerNeener: Thanks, I will give that a try.
@Lapassionare: I have had relatively good luck plucking them. You just have to get the roots as well. Although the process is a pain in the ass. And stooping is Kryptonite for my back
@NotMax, @ zhena gogolia: Iām in Prague right now. Goulash and pork dumplings for everyone!
Certainly no replacement for our Adam, but this thread on Russia’s current strategy seemed interesting.
https://twitter.com/ThreshedThought/status/1530930446304935936?s=20&t=-JxfPTcMCFtFc02SJWCEAA
@debbie
No video, yet, but reports are Mr. & Dr. Biden greeted with cheers.
And upon leaving the church after mass, someone shouted out “Do something!” and POTUS shouted back, “We will!”.
@ MazeDancer: I am SO glad to read this! Thanks!
@SteveintheATL: Nazdar!
I love veprove pecene
@Steve (usually) in the ATL: Many people think they’re in Prague when they’re not. You should Czech to be sure.
@immanentize
Good news on the home front is uplifting.
@lowtechcyclist – If it’s filled with rowdy drunken Brits, then it’s Prague.
@Immanetize-Iām so glad your son is recovering. I hope you two can have a relaxing summer break.
FTFNYT spilled some tea today:
https://twitter.com/HeidiStevens13/status/1530885923013001222?s=20&t=TzZVpdMSWgTFu2p2o4rX-Q
@ Yutsano: They didnāt use the same headline at the time of each shooting, did they?