I’ve had a problem in my garden for awhile that’s been hard to eradicate. The worst part is that I purposely introduced some of these into my yard years ago. Thought they were cute…. The old adage “A year of seeds means decades of weeds” also applies to this invasive species. In fact, they are so entrenched in my yard, they are now inviting more of their kind in.
Fortunately, Utah State University Extension has produced a great video about the problem and how to deal with it.
I am not much of a math person, but the first time I learned about Fibonacci numbers, it opened up a whole new perspective on numbers and how it is all connected to nature. This video is a beautiful demonstration of Nature in Numbers. Happy Easter!
This year’s San Diego Master Gardener’s Fall Seminar (October 6) was held at St Madeleine’s Sophie Center. In addition to their classrooms, St Madeleine’s has an organic garden, and in that garden is this plant. Everyone was excited to see this, with cotton balls all over it. I’ve always thought cotton grew on bushes, but this plant is a tree, probably 7 feet tall and almost as wide. I have tried to find more information about this plant, but with little success. I think it’s Red Foliated Cotton. Any thoughts?
A few interesting facts that I read in Urban Farm magazine about cotton:
Cotton is an annual, and is related to hibiscus and okra. It thrives on sun and prefers dryer conditions and is pretty resistant to bug damage.
Commercially grown cotton uses about 1/5 of all pesticides. Cotton plant scraps typically contain too much pesticide to be safe for livestock feed, but a lot of the waste is used for cotton swabs, cotton balls, and tampons. Ugh.
Are you confused? Me, too. Who can remember all this stuff?! This should help.
I’m a 10 (in my dreams!) and a 24. More specifically, I live in Zone 10 in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones and Zone 24 in the Sunset Garden Climate Zones. The difference is that the U.S.D.A. maps tell you only where a plant may survive the winter; Sunset climate zones show where that plant will thrive year-round. Sunset also takes other factors into account: latitude, elevation, ocean influence, mountains, hills, and valleys.
I don’t have much luck growing pumpkins in my zone. Boo!
It’s September 3rd already?!!! It’s been a fun summer and I’m loving my garden now, but fall is just around the corner and I’m feeling ready to start clearing out and cleaning up. Check out the September list of garden jobs if you haven’t already.
I’m not having problems with ants – yet – but I’m hearing from a lot of people who are so here’s some info from Grangetto’s that might help: Ants Be Gone!
I just found a bunch of pots at a garage sale that don’t have holes in them, but that is easily tackled. Here’s a great demo video for you if you want to know about Drilling Holes in Pots.
A hazard of walking the garden in the morning with my mug in hand. I put my coffee down to do a quick garden project (but, of course, there is no such thing!) and next thing I know I’m on the hunt for my mug.
Aha! There you are, you little devil. Right where I left you!
I was reading about butterflies and moths the other day, and I learned a few things. Their wings are transparent, but covered with thousands of scales which give color to the wings. As butterflies and moths get older the colors on their scales fade. Butterflies taste with their feet. Moths and butterflies use their antenna for smelling. Their legs are weak and can only walk very short distances. Moths and butterflies suck nectar from flowers with a proboscis which rolls up when not in use.
Butterflies and moths are different in a number of ways, but none of the rules is true in all cases. So here goes:
Butterflies rest with their wings folded up so the undersides show while moths fold back so the topsides are visible.
Butterflies fly during the day and moths tend to fly at night.
Butterflies typically have knobs on the ends of their antennae while moths have plain or feathery antenna, or none at all.
Butterflies tend to have thin, hairless bodies and moths typically have thick, hairy bodies.
Butterfly caterpillars form a chrysalis from a sticky fluid that hardens while moths wrap up in silk cocoons or bury themselves in dirt.
I’m sure you’ve seen the Butterfly Alphabet, but I’m going to show you again. This site tells the story of how the Butterfly Alphabet was compiled. It took 24 years!
I saw this little beauty at Walter Andersen Nursery this week.
The Coronado Flower Show is this Saturday and Sunday at Spreckels Park. The theme of this year’s show is “A FLORAL OLYMPIAD.” I have signed up to do a floral design in Section B. The theme of the section is Olympic Traditions and the class I’ve entered is The Olympic Rings. Having said that, it’s time for a design review! [...]
Last week was Coronado’s famous Home Front Judging. The objective is to get the community into a collective effort to spruce up the town. Residents take this event very seriously, and yard work goes into overdrive to get gardens get spruced up. Volunteer judges fan out all over town, judging with a set criteria, but it’s a volunteer squad [...]
Easter is almost here and I haven’t done much to decorate this year. I am buried under a lot of projects and haven’t been brave enough to go out and unearth all my decorations. Is this what happens when the kids lose interest? I would like to decorate some eggs this year and natural dyes [...]
Italian makes everything sound very chic and more interesting than if I’d titled this “The Secret of Life.” In this short movie, Mauro is a 78-year-old Italian farmer who picks olives, grapes, cherries. He wonders why anybody would want to do anything else. Frankly, me, too! La vita è bella!
