All chopped up

Well, there it is. Right there with the tomatoes. The leaves look as though it could be a melon of some sort, doesn't it? Thank goodness for the search engine online, just punch in little white flower and you find it eventually. This thing is only an inch across and it's part of the Hibiscus family? Hibiscus Trionum to be exact. The common name is Flower an Hour, because the flowers only last that long, lol. Here's some better pics of it; http://www.missouriplants.com/Others/Hibiscus_trionum_page.html. Some say (on other blogs) that it's very invasive. Still other people like it and you can buy seed at online nurseries and on EBay. I don't know what to do about it. I'll save some of the seed for prosperity and pull it.

I love Swiss Chard, easy to grow, beautiful and nutritious. Tastes different than greens in the Brassica family (kale, collard greens), and no Cabbage worms. I think it grows and matures quicker too.  I started using it last week, for here in Indiana, that's pretty early.

I like Fennel, do you? This guy has it all over his front yard here in Lafayette, near Colombian Park, lol. Just had to show you, I wish more people were like that, but I imagine city ordinance would have something to say about that. That's what happens when you don't post often, the post gets all chopped up. By the way, don't you just love the hydrangeas this year? We've had some good rain so far this year, but here is a wild Hydrangea I found in my favorite woods.

Dirt Cheap

Growing orchids for some years made me aware of so called growing mediums. The trial and error and reading and research has all been an education. And knowing what plants need and why they need it makes having a green thumb a bit easier.  This has become obvious to me with the most basic growing media there is, dirt. Dirt is dirt isn't it? Yep! No argument there. It's that easy, or it could be a thesis for a degree at a university. I think most serious gardeners know where I'm going with this, but still it can be confusing for the most experienced. Of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium), nitrogen has been a concern to me, and I had my misconceptions about it. Like what source of nitrogen to use, Urea? Ammonium? Synthetic? Organic? Oh good! There's lightning, that puts nitrogen in the air, and it does, but the atmosphere is already 78% nitrogen. It would be nice if it rained. Rain brings nitrogen to the soil. But that don't help much if the soil doesn't have the bacteria to convert it so it can be used by the plants. Dry, liquid, and organic fertilizers are all good. Certain plants are nitrogen fixing. Hence, the ornamental clover picture above are nitrogen fixing as well as alfalfa and legumes like beans and peas. So  why not? With the vegetables and every place else. Then there's the loam, and the PH, and the acidity. Did you know that clay is a good source of potassium? Truly, you can do no wrong by adding organic material to the soil, but that can get awfully expensive if your not careful. My pitch here is to get you to do a little research and educate yourself so to know how it works. Got mushrooms growing in your soil? Sounds Bad, but look up something called Bio remediation, or Mycoreremediation. To pass on some of my research for nitrogen , this is a good place;
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/AY/AY-204.html
Basic soil knowledge you might try this link;  http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/soilfert/npk.htm
Then there is a neat infomercial for a book about a secret about tomatoes that I won't issue unless requested via comment, I got from Off The Grid Website. It's OK! I'm a Ham, and I'm immune to propaganda. Hi Hi.

Got this picture from Wikipedia.

The Petunia I didn't buy

Ahh! The black petunia. Black Velvet to be exact. I like it, but you'd think black being a neutral color, it would go anywhere and with anything. But I really don't have a place to put it, so I'm not buying it--- this year. I am curious to see if it would come true from its own seed, but F1 hybrids rarely do. Petunias used to be reliably cheap until the hybrids like "The Wave " petunia arrived. Heirloom petunias will reseed and come back year after year if a happy place is found, although, not as spectacular, still elegant.

Emily

When I first read this poem it went "I felt a Cleavage in my Mind". It was some time ago, but I remember because it led me to think-- Why Emily! Just where is your mind at? And it's no wonder there's some variation given her handwriting. But "cleft" is a word not heard much these days, and  I doubt that the Rock of Ages was split for me, cleft, being the past tense for cleave. I would be cleaving to that Rock, but cleavage would indicate a crevasse or a split. But these sort of discussions are what brings all the social/political discourse we have today. Besides I tend to start thinking in prose and people get short. Fortunately, a prosaic mind easily flips to flowers.

Some slob has let these awful Chicory weeds grow, quick! chop them down, stomp on them! Some people are simply untidy!

This day's appreciation

I took time today to appreciate this sculpture here in Lafayette's Riehle Plaza.

Then I went out to play.

Nothing like doing a little amateur radio in the middle of nowhere. With a fishing pole a friend was able to get a wire up in the trees about 70 ft. for an antenna. Ya! They were big trees. Found a gooseberry bush but the gooseberries weren't ripe yet.

Garden Bloopers

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhubarb_Flower.jpg

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

A dear friend and I are driving down the road and my eyes pop out of my head and I say Wow! whats that! It had huge leaves and tall flower stalk and a big plume of white flowers on it. You'd think I would know because I think I know everything, but  I wasn't familiar with it. Her friend has one in her back yard and said it was Rhubarb. I'll be darned! You'd think I'd know that! I guess your suppose to cut the spike off to keep the plants vitality.  I'm probably the only one who sees beauty in it. I went over to a ladies house to see if I could do some landscaping for her, and she complained of a vine she couldn't get rid of, and I didn't recognise it. It turned out to be kudzu --- Kudzu! Here in Indiana! I must be getting old, lol.

Well, those may not be bloopers, but you got to laugh. Is it just me? Or are a lot of things getting mislabeled. I think the funniest one last year was a gal planted a couple of cantaloupe plants, but they turned out to be pumpkins. We thought they mislabeled melons till they turned orange, lol. People decide that they don't want something and put it back in the wrong space, that happens in the plumbing dept. all the time. Sometimes bloopers can go right, like a clematis that has flowers bigger than my hand. Yum! So! Got any garden bloopers you care to share?

Blue Orchid

According to my horoscope my favorite color is suppose to be yellow, but it's blue. I've had Phalaenopsis before and they're suppose to be one of the easiest orchids to grow, but they don't last very long for me. The big sign for these Phalaenopsis was a new breakthrough in orchids. It's true that there are no true blue Phalaenopsis, and they do catch your eye. So I visited the website on the tag and read their faq they answer one question "will my orchid re bloom blue?" not with a yes or no, but but an explanation that they were white orchids grown in a special medium that took tears to develop (food coloring? lol) and the color may fade. Well, that's what they look like, they don't look natural. Now, there are blue orchids, they're just not Phalaenopsis. Take a Vanda coerulea is naturally blue, Vanda's are more difficult to grow if you don't have the conditions for them. Anyway, this Phalaenopsis is called Blue Mystique from Silver Vase Nursery. They are wholesale only, and they don't sell the special medium. I guess they're alright if you plan to throw away the plant after its done flowering, but it's not for me.