'Descendents' Is Stunning!!

This animated short, called Descendents, with the Whoopi Goldberg as the voice of the older, wiser flower, is simply stunning!

Description from Binary Alchemy:"Descendants" is a 14 minute animated short about the wish of attaining the unattainable and about the fact that something good can evolve from something evil.

The two main characters are flowers (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg and Christy Scott Cashman) who grow on the edge of a clearing next to one another.
One is old and jaded by a mysterious history - the other one still young, vivid and curious. Destiny has brought these two together and it seems as if they would exist without possibility for change, until one day a visitor to the clearing brings something unexpected to their lives.

Descendants from Goro Fujita on Vimeo.

When Your Plants Start Conversing Amongst Themselves

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I hit this point every single stinking year.
Ya know, where you glance out the window at some gawdawful wet, hot, muggy air that is-so-humid-laden-you-should-be-frosting-a-cake-with-it point and get so deflated, overwhelmed and disgusted that you just want to throw your hands up and say, "Well, fuck it!" (Hey, I never pronounced this blog to be G-rated.)

Today is that day this year. Yup, there's no hiding from it. Ok, unless I tape black tissue paper over every window and door in my house and hide under the thick, oversized comforter in the muggy, hot bedroom so I don't have to look at one single drooping, pissed-off-at-me plant. Unless this is a good day to die of heat stroke, that is sooo not gonna happen.

So, I end up watching my plants out the window watching me watch them.
And they are obviously talking shit about me. I can tell.
And they don't even have the decency to do it behind my back.
I see their happy little buds, flowers, fronds and leaves nodding at each other, don't think I don't!
I know what they're saying -

Phlox: "Geeez! We're just getting started and she's slacking already."

The daisies drooping with raindrops grumbling from across the walkway: "Pfffttt! where's our stake? Where the hell is our stake? We give up."

The columbines: "I wish she'd get out here long enough to collect all this seed we're wasting on the mulch. We thought she loved us!"

The bee balm nodding in agreement: "She's useless. Invasion, it's the only way!"

The irises, with a Cheshire cat grin: "If you were all just smart enough to do the spring thing..."

The peppers: "Where the hell are our epsom salts? We know she dosed last year, we can feel residue in the soil!"

The pole beans, tendrils waiving free in the breeze: "Awww, quit your whimpering! She couldn't even be bothered to give us a big enough pole. She's pathetic."

The whiney cucumbers: "Look! Just look at all these cucumber beetles. She only smooshed a hundred and fifty or so. What about the other thousand? We're gonna die, we're just gonna wilt and die, and then she'll complain about no pickles!"

The diva heucheras: "Ewww! Look at all those nasty weeds in the walkway. They're gonna touch us. She's going to let their unclean roots creep into the flowerbed and touch us!"

The snooty tomatoes: "She'll see. She'll just see what happens when we're ignored!

The Guaras: "Well, just see if we bother coming back next year. We'll just leave a pitiful empty spot in the flowerbed so everyone knows she doesn't take care of anything. That'll fix her wagon good!"

And then I glance at the lush, green, rain-laden and uncomplaining Boston ferns, grab the pruners and head out the door and into the rain amongst the overwhelming din of "Me first!"
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I'm On Gina's 'Virtual Garden Tours'

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Squeee!
I'm a little (ok, a lot) excited.
Gina, over at My Skinny Garden, came up with the awesome idea of hosting what she calls "Virtual Garden Tours" so she and her blog readers could get to know their fellow bloggers and their gardens a little better through a survey and pictures.

And she asked me to participate! :)

It was hard to pick out any pictures that would even get close to showing the scale we garden on, but I think I did ok. Maybe? I wish I'd had some better ones to send (it's hard to keep the pot ghetto and weeds out of the frame and the garden wasn't looking so hot after the mini-drought), but I did my best, and it was quite fun!

So, if you're even a little bit curious or interested, head on over and read (and drool over some fab pics) about a few of your fellow bloggers (including moi!) and their gardens. If you'd like to be part of it, Gina has an email at the bottom of each gardener's tour to contact her.

Thanks again for the invite, Gina. The Tours was a fab idea!
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I'm Being Very Bad To The Earth

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This article, Politically Incorrect Gardening by Bart Ziegler, got me thinking about how bad I'm being. And, apparently, not only to my small piece of the environment, but to the entire earth.

But, you see, I can't help it!

I want to grow exactly what I want to grow, native or not. Alright, I do have to admit that this does not include invasives. Aegopodium anyone? ~shudder~

Every single vegetable I grow is not a native. So, should I stop growing and eating these things? That ain't gonna happen. Ever.

This is one part of the article that really put it in a nutshell:

"Yet some of these native-plant Nazis will go on about the heirloom tomatoes and rare purple-skinned potatoes they coddle in their vegetable gardens. But if you start applying the no-imports restriction to edible plants most of the kitchen garden would disappear."

"Now imagine a yard or flower bed with no imports. You can't grow tulips, daffodils or dianthus. Plow under your daylilies and dahlias and hostas. Chop down the lilacs, the willows, the peach and pear trees and the flowering cherries. All of them and scores more garden favorites came from other parts of the world, though many date as far back as colonial homesteaders.

And once you go down this path, how far should you travel?"

Exactly how far is too far?
Are you a Native Plant Purist? If you grow tomatoes, I'm guessing not.

I just can't bring myself to paying much attention to someone who says I'm hurting the butterflies and humming birds by growing snap dragons, basil and foxglove in my yard.

Dear Mother Earth,
I apologize!
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One Man's Trash

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About this time every year, around here, something cool happens.
Ok, well it's cool to me anyways.
It's something we affectionately call 'junk days'.

Junk days is when people do their spring cleaning and get to throw out everything from their backyards, attics and garages that the town or regular garbage crew won't normally pick up.
Lots of people love junk days, not just those that get to get rid of "all that useless stuff and clutter".

Mostly it ends up being remodeling debris, like replaced sinks and toilets, or broken tvs, stereos, and furniture, but occasionally there are good things.
The majority of 'junkers' or 'pickers' are people that grab the metals and take them to the recyclers for cash, but some of us that 'go junkin' are after the good stuff.

Though most of them are embarrassed to admit they wander up and down the streets looking through people's throw-aways, some will wear it like a badge of honor (me!). It's simply 'dumpster diving' on a huge scale. We often get the look down the nose or the wrinkled nostrils when we admit that we do it. What is so wrong with recycling what someone else is sending to the dump? This is all stuff that could have a second use with someone who couldn't afford to buy it new.
And - you wouldn't believe what people throw away! Yup, finding that little gem is an exciting feeling, just like finding real treasure. Honestly, this is the only time of year I ever wish I owned a truck!

Here are just a few examples of what treasures I've gotten over the last couple of weeks from "goin' on a junkin' run" that I never could have afforded to have otherwise:

How cute is this?


Brand new.


Not even a crack in this one.


Or this one. Twins!


I love terracotta pots and think plants do so much better in them, but they're expensive, so I don't have many. Now I do! These, and many more, got added to the collection this week (yes, I 'junk picked' the huge white pot for my elephant ears a few years ago)


I got this a few years ago too. I love this pedestal! (ignore the dirt on the siding - we had a downpour)


These two pots looked so lonely in that pile by the road, so they came home with me! And so did that cute little candle plate.


My sister-in-law decided she didn't need a large patio set for just her and the hubs, so she bought a smaller one and gave us this one. By that time, the cushions were pretty well done for and we've been cushion-less for two years because I could never afford to buy new ones. They're ridiculously expensive! My daughter's boyfriend described sitting in them without cushions as "When you sit, it's like you're getting shanked in the back!" lol. Hey, you have to make-do with what you have, or in this case, don't have.

But, I found six on a junk run that only had small rips in them and sewed new covers. Unfortunately, the only fabric I had enough of that would last outside in the elements was this swimsuit fabric I'd bought for the girls years ago but never found swimsuit elastic for. Needless to say, the suits never got sewn for them, but the fabric got a new purpose.
They are way, way too bright, but I kind of like them! And everyone says they're comfy, so it's all good :)


We also found this table umbrella (that we needed) and I had just enough fabric left to edge it with so it would at least sorta match the chairs.


I also got four small shepherd's hooks, some small baskets to plant in, some very cool flower vases and some stick-in-the-ground swirly wire candle holders that fit the cute citronella candles (that I got three for 25 cents at the end of summer clearance last year) perfectly.

So, that's just a few things I've found goin' junkin'.
You know the old saying - "One man's trash is another man's treasure". Well, I'm not a man, but it's still treasure to me! :)

Happy (junkin') Growing!

I Won!

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Colleen, over at In The Garden Online, is doing a fourth blogiversary celebration giveaway this week.
I figured there was no way I'd win with all those comments, but I couldn't keep my big mouth shut when Colleen asked "which edible plant is a “must” in your own garden"? I had to add my two cents.
Wow, my big mouth actually forgot to get me in trouble this time, because I won!
Woot!!
What'd I win?
Gayla Trail's book 'Grow Great Grub' and a collection of Botanical Garden's most popular veg seeds.
How fab is that? A book and seeds - does it get any better?
So excited!
Thanks for having this giveaway, Colleen!
And thanks to Gayla's publisher and Botanical Interest Seeds for donating stuff for me to win.
:)
Hop on over to In The Garden Online for the next blogiversary giveaway!
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Mr Bean's Lost Rhodie - Found

Coolio!

Exotic Victorian flower lost 50 years ago is unearthed in English country garden.

"A rare 'lost' species of the plant, thought to have died out 50 years ago, is causing a buzz after being unearthed at a country house in Dorset.

Ray Abraham, discovered the 100-year-old Rhododendron beanianum just two months after taking up his role as head gardener at Minterne House. It is thought to be the only one in existence in the country."

See, gardeners really will save the world.
:)

Happy (lost and found) Growing!
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4th Bloom Cycle For My TC!

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Wow, this is unreal!
As I posted about my Thanksgiving Cactus going through her third bloom cycle back in February, I mused that it would be something to have her bloom for a fourth time. In reality, I wasn't really expecting her to.
Well, she proved me wrong!
This is today, with more buds yet to open:



Four bloom cycles?
Holy cow, she's going to kill herself.
I've never seen anything like it. Two bloom cycles, yes. But, four?
I certainly hope she doesn't bloom herself to death.
Hmmm, I wonder if her seedlings will end up doing something like this. (They're coming along just dandy, by the way. And so cute!)
A continually blooming Thanksgiving cactus would be pretty cool, don't you think?

Happy (re-blooming!) Growing
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2010 Mouse & Trowel Awards

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Nominations are now open for the 2010 Mouse & Trowel Awards!
I hope you've all been thinking hard!

Here are this years categories (in case you're still thinking):

Best Writing

Best Photography

Best Blog Design

Post of the Year

Garden Blog of the Year

Best New Garden Blog (blog in which the first post was published on or after 1/1/09)

Best Gardenblogger to Follow on Twitter

Best Urban Gardening Blog

Best Rural Gardening/Farming Blog

Best Indoor Gardening Blog

Best Garden Design Blog

Best Container Gardening Blog

Best Blog About Growing Food

Best Blog by a Company


And here are Colleen's instructions:
Nominate up to five blogs in each category. Please include the URL of the blog or post you are nominating. One nomination form per person, please!

Nominations are open until midnight, 4/30/10.

Easy enough, eh? So, get em all lined up and get on over there to nominate your favorites!
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Dominique Browning - Losing It

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An excellent article by Dominique Browning, the former editor of House & Garden magazine:
Losing It
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Gardening Videos Motherload

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Holy cow! A ton of garden videos globed together all in one place . . .

Garden Videos

If you click the arrow on the upper right, where it says 'change movies', you'll get a nice long list of garden topics to choose from. You'll get the same list by clicking on the bottom left 'open popular searches', so use whichever suits your fancy.

I had another site bookmarked that was sort of like it, but when lightning zapped my old comp last year, I lost it, so I was more than happy to have Stumbled (literally) across this one.

Happy (video) Growing!
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Color Of The Year

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Pantone's color of the year pick: Turquoise.
Ok, ick.
Accent color, yes - all over your house, yard and body?
Like I said, ick.
I would have been happier if they'd picked Oyster Gray.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the color itself. I actually adore turquoise. A pot or chair here and there in the garden to perk things up. Cool. New 'Caribbean' cookware for the kitchen. Cool. A nice delicate piece of jewelry. Also cool.
But, you know what ends up happening with this 'color of the year' thing. We'll be staring at it every time we turn a head - or a corner.
~Sigh~
Ick.

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Plant A-Head!

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I was doing my daily Stumble through (Oh, how I love that site!) of garden sites, and came across something very, very cool:

Check this pic out - (Linky cause I didn't want to be accused of stealing the pic, especially since it comes from a TV channel that I absolutely loath): Planted Heads

I know it's not a new idea, but I still find them totally cool.
I need to find some heads . . .

Happy (new garden hairdo) Growing!
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February Bloom

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Besides the Thanksgiving Cactus that just won't quit, I have a pansy bloom in February.
This is from one of the many plants I'm overwintering.



I know it's a disposable annual, but I can't help myself - if there's a chance to keep something going, I'll try it.
Besides, who doesn't love seeing beautiful blooms in winter that you really shouldn't be seeing?

Happy (overwintering) Growing!
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Mouse & Trowel Awards Returning in 2010

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Colleen Vanderlinden, founder of the Mouse and Trowel Awards, will be bringing them back for another year of great blogger awards starting in April. This year's M&T's are being sponsored by Botanical Interests Seed Packets.

The official Mouse and Trowel Awards site is here: Mouse and Trowel Awards 2010.

If you're already a member of Facebook, you can go here to learn more (You should still be able to view the page without being on FB):

Mouse and Trowel Facebook Page

What you will find on the M&T FB page in the future-

"News about nomination and voting deadlines, announcements about categories, sponsors, and other news."

I'm really glad she's decided to host these again this year.
Let's all let her know we appreciate it and show her our support!
If you're already on FB, go click the 'fan' button. If not, this might be a good excuse to sign up.

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Happy (Mouse and Trowel) Growing!

Blotanical Down

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Yup, Blotanical is down for some.
Message from Stuart:

Hi blotanists.Blotanical may be down for a few days as we sort out some issues and migrate to a new server. Please pass this message on.



Meanwhile, to keep those blog browsing blues away, click over to either Garden Power Guides, Top 100 Gardening Sites or Blog Catalog.

Happy (new-to-you blog reading) Growing!
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Hydrangea "First Red" ... Help?

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When the clearance sale rolled around last year, I bought hydrangea that were tagged 'First Red'.
Ok, let me make something clear here - hydrangeas and I don't get along all that well. We just don't see things eye to eye. I think, if there was a plant that was my polar opposite, hydrangea is it.

Around here, everyone has them in their yards. They grow like weeds.
Yup, they're another of those, "Any idiot can grow it," plants that I can't get to grow!

But, hey, they were 50 cents a piece. 50 cents! I know, don't say it. I'm a sucker. I bought the six they had left.

So, anyway, I'm giving myself another shot at growing them because, well, did I mention they were only 50 cents?
Here's the tag:

To save you the eye strain:

Hydrangea
First Red
Red flowers bloom in spring.
Part sun to part shade
Rich, porous soil.
Regular water use
Zone 6, -10 to 0F (-23 to -17C)

I've searched everywhere for some info on this one, and there isn't much.
I did find this from Richie seed & feed garden news, November 10, 2009:

New Plants for 2010!!!

First Red Hydrangea. Yet
another hydrangea for
new hydrangea lovers.
The “First Red” blooms
on old and new wood.
The blooms are an amazing
deep red and flower
from July to September.
This compact variety stays
under 20” tall. An amazing
dwarf variety.

Besides care instructions (that part I get) this is about all I've found, and bloom time doesn't even match! The stupid tag doesn't even list height, so is it really a dwarf or not?

Is it macrophylla, normalis, serrata, paniculata, (which is zoned to 3-4, so I wouldn't assume), quercifolia, arborescens?

Right now they're in two quart pots overwintering in a box by my back door with frozen soil. (I told you my house was cold!) Since they're zoned to 6, I'll have to drag them in every fall. <---pet peeve alert. Stop selling plants in areas they aren't zoned for!

I'll transplant them to three gallon pots in spring.
Obviously, pruning, besides shaping, is pretty much out of the question since it's suppose to bloom on both new and old wood.

Ugh! Why can't they just put more info on the freaking plant tags? This is one of my biggest pet peeves EVER. Give us more info, dang it!

So, does anyone know anything about 'First Red'?
Do you grow it?
I would be ever so grateful for some help on this one, please.

Happy (never enough tag info) Growing!
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$500K in seed funding

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No, not for me. I wish!!
Go ahead, imagine what you could do with a seed budget that big - I'll wait.
Dum...dum...dum...dum..
Dum...dum...dum...
Ok, you back with me now? I know, it's terrible to have to leave that dream.
Sorry.

ITHACA - Aero Farm Systems, LLC (AeroFarms) of Ithaca has secured $500,000 in seed financing

What the heck kind of seed are they buying with $500,000?
Holy cripes!

"Aeroponic technology grows produce without soil and without sun, year-round and in any location."

People have been experimenting with that for a long time - it works.

"Ed Harwood, Ph.D., is founder and CEO of AeroFarms. He founded the company in 2004 as GreatVeggies LLC, based on his own design of an aeroponic growing system. Harwood previously served as associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension for Agriculture and CEO of Topline Waikato, Inc.

Aero Farms' university partners include Cornell, North Carolina State, Alfred State SUNY College of Technology, and Rensselaer."

Umm, ok, I guess that's good?
Obviously, the possibilities are endless, but what will the final cost be to produce enough to make it worthwhile? And you still need space. Ooooo, huge abandoned high-rise opportunity here! Or, just abandoned buildings, period. It will be interesting to see what eventually comes of this.

Happy ( $500,000 worth of seed) growing!

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Murder in the Garden

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Horticultural lecturer found murdered in the woods.

The 54-year-old had disappeared after meeting gardener Peter Ling for a drink.

Mrs. Casey had met Ling in 2000 when he was a student in her classes at Sutton College.

Whole story here: Horticultural lecturer murdered.

This boggles the mind - plant people are always such sweet people!

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Mommy Sells . . .

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The Tuesday Chuckle-

Some children were asked to draw pictures of their parents at work . . .


No, she's not a pole dancer.
This was a picture drawn of Mom working at the local Home Depot selling shovels.
;)

Happy (shovel acquiring) growing!

Psstttt - have you answered the seed poll yet?
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