gardening

Kilz may work - Janet:#TeamMonique from FFHound!

The sheets are a great alternative. I use all the tubs for garage storage. I print a large typed list of what is in each box and place that in a protective cover. A few I use to store seasonal clothing. I miss that my litter brand went to 42 pound bags instead. - Janet:#TeamMonique

It's my only one of this variety, so I'm glad I might get to try the tomatoes after all. - Katy S

One of my favorite tomato varieties. - Spidra Webster

I loaded up on Black Krims this year. And, by loaded up, I mean that I have 3 plants. I also have two Hillbilly plants. - Katy S

"Sapucaia. Ylang-ylang. Belimbing. Clove lilly pilly. I'm not talking in tongues, those are all the names of actual fruits found around the world. These delicious, exotic fruits and the people who study, grow and often obsess over them are the subject of the new documentary, "Fruit Hunters."" - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

The film (and presumably the book) are about a lot more than just Bill Pullman, but I'm sure that's the linkbait. - Spidra Webster

"Invasive plants — like kudzu, ragweed, and Himalayan blackberry — are a growing threat to our home landscapes, affecting native plants and wildlife. And they don't go away on their own. Luckily, How to Eradicate Invasive Plants offers clear, easy-to-use solutions to these problem plants. It shows you how to recognize the invasive plant and offers eradication options — from simple, organic approaches to the safest and most responsible ways to use chemicals. This comprehensive guide includes all types of invasive plants: water and bog plants; annuals, biennials, and tropical perennials; herbaceous perennials; grasses and bamboos; and vines, shrubs, and trees." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

This didn't work on the damn triffids or the ents - Mo Kargas

I guess BURN IT WITH FIRE isn't a responsible solution. - John (bird whisperer)

"Panellist Chris Beardshaw reveals that a diet of Black Sabbath worked wonders on a greenhouse full of plants. But he tells the Gardeners' Question Time audience that exposure to Sir Cliff Richard proved a disaster and killed every plant in the experiment." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

I thought you'd like that, Joe. - Spidra Webster

It's turning into a monster, the blooms aren't as fragrant as stated, but as you know fragrance can be affected by many weather factors, that aside, it's in the wrong place and I need to transplant it, but I fear I may end up killing it in the process. It's really big, it's a fast grower, beautiful plant, don't get me wrong leaves/flowers are pretty, but in the wrong spot. I guess I could hard prune it each year to keep it contained, but then I'll eventually end up with a tree trunk with leaves growing out of it! Help and advice please... - Halil from Bookmarklet

I could out of desperation, dig it up and buy a new baby one, it's an inexpensive shrub when very small and as stated, a fast grower. - Halil

"Consider the avocado: a large fruit, delicious, full of nutrition that is easily accessible with the merest pressure of the thumb against the ripe skin. A hard, round seed at the center poses little in the way of an obstacle to your enjoyment. Add a little cumin, lime juice, salt, and a finely diced tomato, and the compact, creamy flesh becomes a delicious, satisfying dip. It tastes so good, it should probably be bad for you, but it's packed with healthy fats, potassium and B vitamins. Close your eyes. Can you taste it? That is the scrumptious, irresistible flavor of megafaunal dispersal syndrome. Pretty good, huh? The next time you eat guacamole, remember the poor gomphothere. Photo courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons. Plants, it turns out, must make trade-offs when it comes to reproduction (as with everything else), which means that a number of different strategies have evolved to make sure that enough seeds are dispersed to the appropriate locations and are able to make more plants,... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Welcome to our Lawn-to-Garden (L2G) website. We’ve created this site to help you, our valued customer, replace a water-guzzling grass lawn with a beautiful water-smart landscape that is in harmony with our region’s semi-arid climate.  Conserving the vast amounts of water normally applied to grass lawns is more important than ever, now that our region’s imported water supplies have been permanently reduced." - Anika from Bookmarklet

cool thanks for posting - SteVe C

"Rain gardens are low water use, benefit the local environment by using only California-friendly plants, prevent polluted water from draining to the oceans, and recharge local groundwater. Click here to read more about rain gardens and their benefits. The LA Rain Gardens program is offering two choices for the homeowner: a Do It Yourself option, (DIY) as well as the option of having the rain garden installed by a team of Generation Water employees. (Let us Do It!) Both options cost the same for the homeowner: nothing. For the Do It Yourselfers, the homeowner will be required to purchase all necessary materials, but will be reimbursed up to $500 per rain garden (maximum of two rain gardens per household) by the LADWP upon completion of the rain garden. For those who choose to have the rain garden installed, the Generation Water team will take care of all aspects of the installation, free of charge." - Anika from Bookmarklet

Attractive to butterflies and bees. Excellent for cutting and/or drying. - Halil from Bookmarklet

Attractive doesn't mean beneficial, right? As I've never seen pollinators get excited about hydrangeas before. - Halil

"A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I would be taking a look at the leachate that comes from vermicompost. Here is the worm house, owned by Master Gardener Meleah Maynard, from which this leachate came. This is a picture from when the house was new -- it now has multiple floors. It has been running for a few years now, and the “ingredients” that she puts in, mostly table scraps, are pretty typical of what anyone would put into compost. She reports that it produces about a gallon of leachate every 2-3 weeks. The leachate from this house has the following properties: pH – 8.5: That’s a high pH for soil, but for a fertilizer added every week or two it’s fine. Nitrogen – 1120 ppm: That’s high for a fertilizer. About twice the concentration I’d use if I were applying a liquid fertilizer to my plants at home. The nitrogen is present mostly as nitrate, which is a good thing. If the nitrogen were present primarily as ammonium, that might cause problems. Phosphorus – 22 ppm: That’s a... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

This was probably bred for its flowers, but I wonder how the fruit tastes. - Spidra Webster

Not a huge harvest, but better than nothing. - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

I think it was a smaller harvest because (a) the two cherry trees were slightly offset in their blooming and (b) it rained a bit during their bloom time, depressing bee turnout. - Spidra Webster

That can definitely make a difference; I've had the rain play havoc with my prune tree when it bloomed right before several weeks of rain. - Jennifer Dittrich

This makes me wish I knew what sort of tree was in my yard. It seems like it is pretty young (and this is the first year of good, healthy blossoms.) I guess I'll find out if it ever starts fruiting. - Jennifer Dittrich

Well, you'll be able to narrow it down to suspects. The fact that it's young helps because apple choice has narrowed so much that you'll have a short list to choose from. Trees 75 years or older are harder to identify because there were a lot more popular varieties sold by nurseries then. - Spidra Webster

I might see if I can have someone come and take a look if it doesn't fruit this year. It looks to be at least 10 years old, but it was pretty sickly the first year I was in this house. - Jennifer Dittrich

Dr. Parmar is a member of CA Rare Fruit Growers and a tireless advocate for his site Fruitipedia. If you know about a fruit that isn't mentioned on his site, I'm sure he'd love you to write an entry for it. - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Wet springs, warm but not too hot summers and an abundance of wild blackberries have led to an infestation of the spotted wing drosophila locally. Damage caused by the fly, which can ruin berry and cherry crops, "has gotten worse every year and certainly is not going to get better, said Rick Hilton, an entomologist with the Oregon State University Extension Service in Jackson County. The fly came from Asia four years ago and has infested the entire United States, preferring to lay its larvae on cherries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, making them unfit to eat or market, Hilton said. "They're still increasing in numbers and they have no problem living in the Rogue Valley," says Hilton, noting the wet springs of 2010 and 2011 aided in the spread. "A lot of small growers are having to spray (insecticides) a lot more than they used to." Vaughn Walton, an entomologist with the OSU Extension Service in Corvallis, said it appears this season will be similar to, or worse than... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Honestly, this kind of thing is becoming more common everywhere. So much shipping and flying freight everywhere, people traveling everywhere... Even if we had the governmental budget to keep inspection staffing at the levels they should be, people are still smuggling. And sometimes things get missed in commercial stuff, too. The more humans travel, the more their freight travels, the more hitchhikers travel. It's distressing but it's here and it's not going away. - Spidra Webster

don't judge them until you see one in real life, they are absolutely beautiful and sumptuous flowers. - Halil from Bookmarklet

http://ff.im/1feuuT :-) - Halil

great for bees - Halil from Bookmarklet

He was a royal head gardener and a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. A genus of flowering plants, Forsythia, is named in his honor. Forsyth was born at Oldmeldrum, in Aberdeenshire, and trained as a gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden where he became a mentor to John Fraser. In 1779 he was appointed as chief superintendent of the royal gardens at Kensington and St James’s. His great grandson was the gardener and landscape architect Joseph Forsyth Johnson (1840–1906). He in turn was the great grandfather of the entertainer Bruce Forsyth.[1] - Halil from Bookmarklet

A cool pic of Forsythia http://ff.im/1f8taU - Halil

Clan Forsyth: The name Forsyth (sometimes spelled Forsythe, with an "e") derives from the Gaelic 'man of peace'. Members of the clan can now be found all over the United Kingdom, in Canada, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, U.S.A, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in fact there are now more Forsyths living in the Scottish Diaspora than those remaining in Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Halil

For many years the elusive yellow geranium has been the holy grail of the plant world. There are plenty of dark cream varieties but few have captured that true yellow colour. Pelargonium enthusiasts will love Geranium ‘Custard Cream’ for its buttery yellow blooms and fabulous vigour. Created by the world's leading geranium breeder, this superb zonal pelargonium deserves a prominent place in your patio containers and borders this summer. Height: 30cm (12"). Spread: 25cm (10"). - Halil from Bookmarklet

I want a yellow or true orange fuchsia, I can dream. There is an "apparent" orange cultivar, but it's more salmon pink, than orange. --> Fuchsia 'Orange Lanterns' http://www.tesco.com/direct... - Halil

By Catherine Lenton 19-08-2012 Easy to grow from seeds, but all eaten when planted out in frist season. Will pot on next time for an extra year --- http://ff.im/11h9Ug - Halil from Bookmarklet

I think I'll hunt around some nurseries and see if I can get a better bargain, haven't been to Crews Hill for a while now, but that place aint so cheap anymore. - Halil

My hollyhocks have been eaten by slugs/snails and I never even got to see them bloom and they even survived the winter colds/snow but were defenselessness against the gastropods :'( - Halil

wonderful - Katiapassionaria☭

grazie - Bren

The cherry tree didn't blossom last year, but it has done this year :) - Bren from iPhone

"URGENT CALL FOR ACTION - NEW EU SEED LAW to ban all traditional vegetable varieties unless registered and licenced! Hello everyone who cares about our seeds and our freedom to use, exchange and sell them. There is urgent action needed against the upcoming EU seed marketing law. The new regulation will de facto ban old and rare varieties and farmers varieties and stop the exchange and selling of traditional seeds. DG SANCO (the Directorate General of the EU for Sanitary and Consumer affairs) has been working on a proposal for a new regulation for years, driven by lobbying of the globalised agricultural seed industry .The seed industry is pushing the legislation hard, they've spent a lot of money on it. However, two other EU directorates, DG AGRI (agricultural affairs) and DG ENVI (environmental affairs) both opposed the last draft of the proposal because it was so bad for agriculture and biodiversity! So DG SANCO is pushing ahead with the new law anyways by putting it directly to the... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"You are invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide whether or not to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully. Those that take part and wish to leave their contact details will be entered in a draw to win one of two pairs of tickets to Hampton Court or Tatton Park flower shows. Take the Survey Dr Claudia Bernardini at the RHS Wisley In 2002 the Royal Horticultural Society published a report ‘Gardening in a Global Greenhouse’, which discussed potential challenges that gardens and gardeners in the UK were likely to face based upon climate change predictions. Ten years later, new climate projections indicate that climate change might affect gardens and gardening in a way which is different from what previously predicted. In order to support UK gardens, gardeners and the horticulture industry, the RHS and the UoR are assessing the consequences of... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Scientists have developed a smart phone App that can be used to determine if trees and plants in the field have been infected with the deadly pathogen known as sudden oak death. The App, known as SODMAP mobile, connects the viewer to a comprehensive map detailing the spread of the tree-killing microbe. The app, which uses global positioning technology, will calculate for users the threat to oaks in the area and display on the screen whether trees are at high risk, moderate risk, low risk or if there is insufficient data to determine the rate of infection in the vicinity, said UC Berkeley forest pathologist Matteo Garbelotto. “This is the first time an App gets developed with such a purpose, not just mapping but risk assessment, for an environmental issue,” said Garbelotto, whose Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory has spent the past few years plotting test results taken by volunteers participating in so-called SOD-Blitzes. The California Native Plant Society is helping organize... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Aw, misleading headline. I thought they'd use smartphone sensors to detect symptoms, not just use GPS position. - Andrew C (✓) from Android

Nope. it's just crowdsourcing data on sightings. - Spidra Webster