Charlie wrote:
On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:02:28 -0700, Billy Rose
wrote:

Hey, Opa,
Mazel tov and welcome back to bare knuckle gardening. Missed you you ol'
coot.wonderful responses snipped and pruned but saved never the less

Thanks for.......and I'll leave us with a bit of wisdom from Nelson
Mandela that has been running around in my mind the last few days.

Care
Opa Charlie......again and yet to be



Thanks to both of you, Billy and Charlie for writing a wonderful
rambling and informative garden fence chat. I've missed those! Not
knowing either of you doesn't matter........I can see and hear the
goings on with the two of you. Reminded me of why I write and question
why I haven't written lately despite the bad luck and personal problems
and health issues.........soooooo, if you don't mind me leaning over the
fence and chatting with the two of youse, I'd be honored.

Garden note from Southeastern Tennessee and Faerie Holler is we're in a
dangerous drought and sparse spits of rain are just teasers. My raised
beds are hunkered down and miserable and I only water the container
gardens as they dry out horribly and plead for me to tip them out and
sink them into the ground so that the tightening soils would give the
parched overgrown roots relief. I put my "Aunt Ruby's Green" tomato
plants out too late.........I'll be lucky to get ANYTHING....I tucked
them into the front flower bed as it's the only place to plant things
that need full sunshine around Faerie Holler.

On an ornamental note, though.......the beautiful hosta's I purchased
last year in the wake of a bit of money and some serious sticky pot
syndrome are holding their own underneath the black cherry tree in the
before mentioned bed. Go figure. With the issue with my cataracts and
then the horrible close up vision, I'm kinda three way blind. But
yesterday I noticed that not only were the Japanese beetles not as
heavy, but the Blister Beetles WERE awake and voracious and eating the
Japanese anemone not only in the eastern Wall bed at the edge of the Not
So Secret Garden to bones, but moving into the larger portion of the
NSSG......I couldn't see clearly enough to do much good as they were
hatched and munched the leaves to bones during the nighttime, and I went
immediately to the Western bed and they were hatched and eating the
anemone's in THAT bed as well.......the pyrethrum that works is made up,
no spray bottle works around this house to kill the survivors, and funds
are beyond tight here. (even looked for an old Windex spray
bottle...where are these things when one needs them????)

Potted up ALL the daylily rhizomes from weeks past adventure to Mr.
Savage's incredible place he named "Dancing Winds" and boy it was about
time, too. Cut the leaves back and made up beautiful soils in the large
nursery containers I just can't throw away and then icy cold well water
afterwards when I placed them around the crowded deck off the kitchen.

Only a couple of frogs in Frog Holler in the BBQ pit fountain/gardens
this year due to squire rinsing out the trough completely trying to get
all the pumps for the brook and Greek woman with jar fountain piece to
work properly. He rinsed out all the eggs that were stuck to the cover
of the pump......sigh........only one magnificent ugly brown frog has
been spotted and I hope the clawed frog killer, "Piquito" the fuzzy one
who should be made into a set of slippers leaves him or her alone so
they can make children. I set out the ugliest goldfish this year and
kept the beautiful ones inside. They fill my heart with a smile, as do
the fornicating guppies of varieties now that amazed me. I'd forgotten
the joys of raising guppies......easy to see despite the cataracts, too.

Flowers are cranking out despite the droughts and lack of me helping,
but lordy, the vinca cares not a spit about lack of water or too much.
It just invades more and more and I fear if I don't get out into the
blasting heat and yank, I'll lose more than I realize.

thanks for allowing me a lean over the hedge. Sweet iced tea for those
who would like it. I also have a bottle of Michigan Sweet cherry wine
that could be chilled for someone wanting a bit more than sweet iced tea
gbseg

madgardener up on the ridge, back in a parched Faerie Holler,
overlooking a Hazy English Mountain where they've never raised Douglas
Lake at all, zone 7, Sunset zone 36 (we DO have figs again despite the
freeze that destroyed so much)