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Showing posts from August, 2014

The Winds of Change

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Fall is just around the corner, the kids are back in school, it is almost time to yank the sweatshirts from the closet.   As fall approaches the air turns crisp, the scent of leaves hangs heavy in the air, and we pull the last of this year’s harvest from the vine. We close up the pool, put away our gardening tools, and maybe pick up a book or two to read when the weather is damp and gloomy. So much like everything else, my blog will change slightly too, beginning September 1 st .   Since gardening topics peter out over the course of the winter, I will only cover gardening on Mondays.   I’ll talk about winterizing your garden, what an avid gardener does during the cold months, and how to get a head start on your garden for spring 2015. On Wednesdays, I’ll post garden ideas and topics de jour. On Fridays, I will post a chapter a week from my story Romancing Summer.   I hope you enjoy the changes and come next spring I’ll start back to my two-time a week garden schedule.

My war with Rodents, Rabbits and Nevada Wildlife (Part 2)

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On Monday, I wrote about the rodent determined to get into my garden. I am still not sure what it was, but I have an idea--the Golden Mantle Ground Squirrel (shown above).   Unlike its counterpart, the chipmunk, it doesn’t have any facial stripes.   It is an industrious critter, capable of digging burrows up to 98 feet in length.   Which is probably why the rodent under my deck had the ability to go around everything I put in its path! Not only did it dig, but the squirrel also disseminated my bed of onions.   They dug every single one out of the ground.   The crop was gone, almost as if one of my neighbors came over and pulled them from their moorings! One day they were there, the next they were gone and the few remaining plants the animals didn’t get the first time, they stole the next!   The second problem has been ongoing. This year I installed irrigation in my garden which proved to be a great investment for the high-desert plain I live in.   Surrounding my garden, I ha

My war with Rodents, Rabbits, and Nevada Wildlife (Part 1)

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We have a deck that runs off the front of our house.   To the south side of the deck I have a fenced in garden.   The fence, about 4 foot high, has proven to be more than enough to keep the wildlife population of Nevada at bay. Until lately. Perhaps the approach of fall is stepping up the animal’s need to store up body fat to survive their long winter nap, or they have just recently stumbled upon my smorgasbord of a garden.   Either way, they have become a nuisance. One night (and several nights thereafter), the sound of something digging under the deck woke me from a dead sleep.   When we built the deck, we enclosed it to the ground, plus buried chicken wire deep into the soil to keep anything from digging under it. Until now. Night after night, the sound of scratching and digging woke me. I “assumed” my garden was safe because after all we’d “protected” it from rodent invasion.   Boy was I wrong! When I lifted the small step we have on the garden side of the deck, I

Romancing Summer

  If a man breaks your heart, do you give him the chance to break it again? Mason Alexander, paramedic and father, made one mistake too many and it cost him the love of his childhood sweetheart—Summer Madison. After his wife tires of his do-good ways and files for a divorce, Mason returns to his home town to start over and provide a solid home for his six-year-old son, Justin. Then when Summer Madison walks back into his life, he wants to believe God is offering him a second chance at love.           Summer Madison left her teaching job in Chicago and is back in her memory-infested home town for one reason only—to take care of her grandfather. She expects to see Mason Alexander occasionally, but within her first twenty-four hours of returning to Shady Meadow?   Life couldn’t be so cruel.           They had grown up together, been best of friends, and planned to marry until Mason's indiscretion drove him into a loveless marria

More fun with town names

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I love studying maps, which in turn, leads me to finding some very unique town names. So for fun today, I thought I’d post a few more I found.   (I posted on this subject once before on October 10, 2013). ** Old Weiss and French Place, MT - Couldn't they make up their mind when naming the town? ** Truth Or Consequences, NM - Is that the home of Bob Barker? ** Truthville, NY - No one lies here. ** Lower Pig Pen, NC           ** Upper Pig Pen, NC - Was the place so bad, they needed to divide it in half? ** Hicksville, OH – Is this truth in advertising? ** Nowhere, OK - Everyone has to be somewhere. ** Poop Creek, OR - Don't drink the water. ** Toxaway, SC - Is this a toxic waste site? ** Red Shirt, SD - Don't wear a blue shirt there. ** Friendsville, TN - Everyone is friendly there. ** Turkey, TX - I bet this place does a booming business at Thanksgiving. ** Starbuck, WA - There's one on every corner. ** Scrabble, WV - They do

Some Gardening Terms You should Know

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Here are a few gardening terms.   Annual: A plant that completes its entire life cycle (growth, reproduction, death) in one season. Bare root: These plants (such as Roses) have been field-grown and are supplied in a dormant state with the soil removed. Biennial: A plant that completes its entire life cycle in two years, growing in the first year and reproducing and dying in the second. Bulb:   An underground storage organ with fleshy scale leaves from which the plant flowers and grows before becoming dormant. Such as tulips or daffodils. Cold Frame:   Unheated frame for starting plants outdoors. It can also protect tender crops during times of frost. Crown:   The growing point of a plant from which new shoots emerge, at or just below the soil surface. Dead-head:   To remove the spent blooms on a plant to encourage further flowering or to prevent self-seeding. Deciduous:   A plant that sheds its leaves each year. Germination:   Refers to the point at which a seed undergoes

Weeds - the bad guys

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On July 28, I shared information on Bindweeds and Ragweed, two real nasty weeds that encroach in our gardens.  Today I'll day a look at a few other "bad guys" in the weed family. Purple loosestrife: Is a beautiful purple flower often used in summer bouquets. But they can overtake an area easily, crowding out natural habitat.   If not pulled from the soil when young, they form a dense, impenetrable stand of bushes.   One plant can produce up to three million seeds per year.   Yikes!   Some states have even gone so far as to outlaw the sale of these plants.   I can understand why.     Curly dock: Is another wind-pollinated weed, creating a taproot that is near impossible to dig out completely.   You can try if the soil is moist to use a garden fork to pull it from its moorings.   Or cut off the flowers.           Japanese knotweed: Is a large plant native to Eastern Asia, but in North America it has become quite invasive. It is spread by see

Caring for your annuals

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For the most part annuals are easy to grow.   They’ll grow in containers or in the ground.   They come in a range of sizes and colors, enough to brighten up any yard or patio.   But as the summer heat increases, even the most heat tolerant annuals may become stressed and slow their blooming. But here are some items to consider: **Water frequently.   Annuals will die faster than perennials from lack of water.   Regular, deep soakings supply the roots with water, reducing the stress on the plant and assuring more foliage and flowers. **Use fertilizer regularly or apply a time released product into the soil at planting.   It provides the plant with the food it needs for robust flowers. As important as repeated watering is needed, it washes away the nitrogen in the soil, so regular application of fertilizer is important to continued growth. **Deadheading your annuals accomplishes two things.   It keeps the plant neat, but it also keeps the plant from spending its energy o

Plant of the Month - Monarda (Bee-balm)

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Plant of the Month – Monarda (Bee-balm) Monarda, most commonly called Bee-balm is a unique flower on long stems.   Their height is often determined by the amount of sunlight they receive. But the most pleasurable thing about this perennial is its scent. Just pick up a leaf and rub it between your fingers, it will reward you with its spicy scent. These plants grow tall so don’t plant them at the front of your bed.   Cut back the stems to the ground in winter and divide them about every three years or so to keep them from becoming over crowded.   Light:   Partial Shade/Full Sun Zones:   4 – 9 Plant Type:   Perennial Plant Height:   24 - 36" (Depending on variety) Plant Width:   15 - 18" Flower Color:   Pink, Red, White, or Purple. Bloom Time:   Early to mid-summer Special Features:   Foliage and the flowers have a spicy scent that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to these plants.