Hehroe!

[stoney321]

I had a garden party yesterday so I was busy busy pulling weeds, pruning, rushing to the nursery and spending ridiculous amount of money on much needed plants to impress my friends, who ended up drinking themselves silly and proclaiming everything beautiful. But... now my flowerbeds are purdy!

Mojitos are delicious and make you have yummy drunk breath. All of this means I wasn't on-line yesterday which means I missed:

• paynbow's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVELY!!


• crazydiamondsue and uberaeryn drunk and spamming our flists


• itsabigrock's slumber party where I could have braided dovil's hair

But. I got drunk with friends, sat in the warm sunshine and came away with new plants. Whee!!

Today I am hiding from my husband who is playing "construction worker," and not in that fun, sex-game way. He has decided to climb onto the roof of our 2-story house and replace A SHINGLE that blew off. He had me rig an elaborate system of knots around a pair of shingles to hoist up there. I love my husband, but he's, um... a bit soft when it comes to DIY type things outdoors. I'm sitting in my office (under him) and waiting for the inevitable *thumpthumpGAH!* of his slipping off the roof into my flower beds. I will hurt him further if he smashes my David Austin rose. (Why do you need hiking boots on the roof? Um, maybe a flexible sole would be better for gripping? No? Fine. Make your own damn splint when you need one.)

I'm off for my sunshiney 7 mile walk. He's climbing down now... *whew*

Comments

[anelith.livejournal.com]

It terrifies me when my husband gets on the roof -- which he does to clean the gutters at least twice a year. Sometimes he makes me hold the ladder, which I'm not sure why. Could I really save him if he took a header? I think not. And once he gets up there on the roof, there's not a thing I could do. Except listen for that sound which you so aptly describe, and look for the body as it goes hurtling past the window.

On a more pleasant topic -- yay for the new flowers! I can't buy anything except pansies until late May... *sigh*

At least the snow is almost all gone!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I'll take pictures later today of my plants - they are so vivid in my shade bed... Ooh! New plant for you to look into: Jacob's ladder. Try and find a variegated version: the light green brightens up dark shade beds. Pretty, ferny foliage with interesting clumping forms. I picked up two yesterday in my quest to impress the ladies...

[anelith.livejournal.com]

I had one Jacob's ladder a couple of years ago but it did not do well -- I think it was situated in a bad spot. I'll try it again in a better place!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*ahem* 90% of plant death is caused by overwatering... The other 10% is generally from shade plants in full sun, or vice versa.

What happened? Burn up? Wilt to death? Get walked over by running children? :-)

[anelith.livejournal.com]

It probably *was* overwatering! It was planted right next to a new holly bush, which I was worried about not getting enough water -- so that sounds like an accurate diagnosis.

When I bought these bushes, the nursery put the fear of God into me about making sure they got enough water, so I really did try my best to be there with the hose every few days. Unfortunately that particular bush got a fungus, so maybe I overdid it?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*shakes fist at stupid nursey men*

No offense, but they generally know NOTHING about the biology of plants. Wanna know how many times I ran my sprinklers on my lawn and flower beds last year? In the blazing hot Texas heat? 5 times. And it was probably 4 times too many.

Water plants in well at planting, then LEAVE THEM ALONE. Unless you have an unusual drought period, if they sell it in your region, it should take what Mother Nature gives it. And save your receipt. If it dies, they are obligated to replace it within one year.

Fungus? Yeah, too much water. If you have to water, water in the early AM (like, 4!!) so the plants are dry in the cool evening, which is when most bacteria, fungus, etc, go nutso.

I'm here for you!! I'll hold your hand through this gardening year!!

[anelith.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD, you don't know how much effort and water this knowledge would have saved me. Well, you probably do know. I was Mrs. Old Faithful, out there with my hose, sure that I was doing the Right Thing for my plants, especially my bushes, since they were SURE TO DIE (according to the hand-out from the nursery) if I didn't do my duty.

OK, this year, will give the hoses (and me) a rest. It will be a lot more peaceful that way.