Wednesday, March 11, 2009

A Bit of Garden Talk

I once foolishly stated that you can't kill a hosta. Never ever say things like that. Not while there are voles on earth...
Today I decided to see if the hosta from last year's planting still had any roots left. If I can reach into the soil and feel emptiness under the plant I know those nasty voles have eaten them away. The tops remain so I moved them to a different bed, hoping against hope they will survive and send out new roots.

It is way too early to begin garden talk and yet I am. My peonies are up, up, up, the sedum has quadrupled its flowerettes and the compost pile is growing daylilies! Good thing, as I will need them to fill in some spaces I never got finished last year. It would be great to have all named varieties of plants in the yard, but realistically, I've got a battle to keep anything growing in some spots. I feel sure I lost several plants I was depending on to flourish and they didn't even take. So I am fighting fire with fire and putting in the mints that I was careful to keep potted all last year. If nothing else will grow in those vole bistros, I know the mints will.

We have daffodils everywhere, and today I planted the spent forced ones I recently bought, along with 10 hyacinths. I am sure they will be a critter's lunch, but I had to put them somewhere.
The good thing about a blog is that you can look back a year or two and see what you planted where and what got eaten when and when the frosts and snows appeared after you were sure it was Summer already. I am much more conservative this time around. I will wait. I mean it. Really.

My jury duty turned out to be just a preliminary call out. We were handed a list of dates to be 'available' to come in. We must call after 4pm the day before and see if we will be needed. O great. Like I have to arrange my life around this for months to come? Yes. That's the system here. Good thing I am retired.

13 comments:

  1. I am going thru critter gardening frustration too. The deer have wiped out my crocus and have been chomping on the daylillies that are just starting. I had to search thru the house for anything that I could alter and make a temporary cover for the daylillies and sedum. In Ohio we had deep snow for a long time this winter and the deer are hungry!

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  2. Anonymous8:55 AM

    I had jury duty last fall and I was all nervous about it. I called every night after 4 and after a few days, we were done. I never had to go in, maybe that will happen to you! Good luck!

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  3. I miss having a garden I tried container plants this last year and they were all doing wonderfully on the window ledges outside. They even did well for quite awhile after I moved them inside for the winter. They all died though, every last one of them EXCEPT the mint. I think if I killed that I would officially proclaim myself a black thumb!

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  4. Anonymous11:30 AM

    MY hostas last year all developed a nasty, nasty odor. When I examined them, the leaves fell off in my hand, and the base was a pool of slime. I couldn't figure out what kind of a bug or critter I was dealing with until I saw my dog PEEING on them. Grrrross!

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  5. What a pain! We get a letter and then have to call. They actually made you go to a meeting?

    I'm jealous... just nubs in my garden.

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  6. Anonymous11:49 AM

    melody, you must be desperate, if you're considering planting MINT in the actual EARTH.

    yikes! step away from the shovel. then count to a gazillion first, please. it'll spread rootrunners halfway to arizona by summer's end.

    although on second thought, a cool mint julep or mojito might be quite refreshing right around then...

    good luck with your garden pests!

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  7. Good luck with your hostas. I grow mine in pots year round and they have survived so far. You are a bit warmer in the winter than I am here in Oregon. After reading your earlier posts (haven't visited for awhile) and seen all your luscious fabrics, I am hauling out my bolt of cheap muslin and my old dyes and will have my little private dye workshop next week. My muslin was so cheap, with a coupon at Joanns, and dyes up so beautifully and has that sueded look. At twenty five cents a yard I am so glad I bought 2 bolts of it.

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  8. Between deers and voles, I think the hostas may be toasta. ;-)

    Two more months until gardening season here. Le sigh.

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  9. Welcome to East Tennessee where the courts are very...interesting.

    Hey, I'm going to try and come to your workshop in May!

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  10. Anonymous4:58 PM

    Thanks for sharing the link, but unfortunately it seems to be down... Does anybody have a mirror or another source? Please reply to my post if you do!

    I would appreciate if a staff member here at fibermania.blogspot.com could post it.

    Thanks,
    Jules

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  11. Anonymous5:15 AM

    Hey,

    I have a message for the webmaster/admin here at fibermania.blogspot.com.

    May I use some of the information from this blog post right above if I provide a link back to your website?

    Thanks,
    Peter

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous6:29 AM

    Hi there,

    Thanks for sharing the link - but unfortunately it seems to be not working? Does anybody here at fibermania.blogspot.com have a mirror or another source?


    Thanks,
    Thomas

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous2:27 AM

    Hey,

    Thanks for sharing the link - but unfortunately it seems to be down? Does anybody here at fibermania.blogspot.com have a mirror or another source?


    Cheers,
    Jack

    ReplyDelete

Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com