Lagniappe simply means small gift.
Today's blog will be many small gifts--color coded, too!!
President's Day--this used to be a nice three day weekend separating Winter Christmas Break from Spring Break. Now, it's becoming a dead time. Some places celebrate it, some don't due to Martin Luther King Day in Jan. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Martin Luther King, but I sure wish it wasn't celebrated only two weeks after the kids go back to school!
Seriously warm weather--yesterday, I chopped my roses back. Yes, I know they don't recommend cutting them back until after IRS day (April 16), but we had another warm winter and they were sprouting all over the place. I'm feeling my age, when 2.5 hours worth of work sends me to bed right after The Amazing Race.
And as I was whacking on my roses, I found one dead one--expected--the Rio Samba floribunda was never really happy where I planted it. There are too many trees that have grown up and shade this area. I'll do a little research and find a Floribunda that can handle a little shade.
I also had hubs hatchet a couple of my mini-roses. Yes, hatchet, as in whack their roots in half. Minis are unlike most roses in that they grow on their own root stock and send off shoots. These shoots become new canes. Over time they need to be separated. One--Tropical Twist--had a root knot that was as big as a melon--it had been planted when we put in the pool about 13 years ago. I planted one root in the spot I removed it from and one in a place where I lost a mini in last summer's heat.
Gophers and moles are getting busy again. My roses were 'loose' in the ground. Not all of them, but enough for me to dig around and find their tunnels. I don't like gophers. They eat my rose roots. Traps will be set. Hubs doesn't like moles, because they dig up the yard. Moles eat grubs and not roots, but they definitely 'aerate' the lawn!
First time we cooked on the grill in months. I made one of my favorite 'fall-back' meals--fajitas. I use a seasoning from Pendry's that's wonderful. The family had normal fajitas and I had a salad with fajita meat and a dressing made from salsa with a little bit of Ranch dressing mixed in. Yum!
We tend to spend a lot of time in our yard. While I was cutting roses back, hubs was repairing a bunny-chewed electrical wire for our outdoor lights. This seems to be a yearly occurrence. I guess the bunny likes the low voltage buzz he gets. Together, but not too much togetherness.
That's it for today. It's time to feed the dog and get my walking shoes on. At 7:15 AM, the temperature is a balmy, cloudy and windy 59 degrees F.
Later, Peeps!
Showing posts with label yard work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yard work. Show all posts
2/17/09
Time to Whack off--
those ornamental grasses and roses.
. . . caught you, didn't I? Get your mind out of the gutter, people!
In the part of Oklahoma that I live in we technically reside in zone 6. I say technically because we have been 7 degrees warmer than average for February. The last week of January gave us an ice storm that kept the kiddos out of school for three days, but then by the first weekend of February we were sitting in the 70's!
Tulsa also has a very active bird watching club that takes statistics of wintering birds over the Christmas break--many of the 'normal' populations are now migrating hundreds of miles to the north. Which means we are losing our winter birds, but gaining new ones that used to stay to the south. I haven't decided if this is good or bad yet.
We are warming up quicker this year than ever before. I'm also concerned about the possible tornado season as I've noticed a tendency of their forming to the north of the traditional tornado alley. And yes, Oklahoma did have Feb. tornadoes this year. Be careful and be prepared.
Now is the time to clean up the winter debris in the garden. For my garden, it means tackling the 37 rose bushes that I have. Luckily, most of them are minis. They're small, but tough--I feel an affinity to these little scrappers. My Gourmet Popcorn, normally a very laid back plant with only a few thorns, jabbed a thorn 1/3 of an inch into my finger! OUCH! After removing it with tweezers and letting it bleed profusely, I resorted to wearing gloves.
--I don't like gloves. I like to get my fingers in the dirt. Gloves don't protect you from everything--oh, no, I still managed to get jabbed through the thick leather! And, of course, I was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt, so I have proof of my outside activity in the form of numerous scratches on my arms and legs. Yes, I kept my eyes on the punctures and looked for the tale-tell sign of red lines (sporotrichosis). See, college Mycology is paying off!
Now, I didn't have to cut back some of my minis. I'll have to replace at least 4-5 of them since Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail have grazed on my babies. I have no idea why the wild rabbits like eating my roses, but they do. They are also chow-lining my crocuses, iris, phlox, and anything else that is currently greening up. Little bastards.
I'd love to take my BB gun and shoot them, but my gun looks like a real handgun and I live behind a school. Someday I'll tell you my Great Blue Heron story. But until the rabbits go bother someone else's garden, I'll just send the dog out to pester them.
No, she doesn't hurt them. Katie is an Old English Sheepdog and can't see squat--even with her bangs trimmed! And she definitely can't corner as well as the rabbits! So she just scares them back under the porch and I feel a little vindicated.
So, with the exception of putting down fertilizer and fluffing and adding to the mulch, I think we are ready for spring. Though hubster is planning a new gardening project--he thinks I'm going to help. *snort* After 16 years of marriage you would think he'd learn that I DON'T DIG. I find the plants, take care of the plants, get him gatorade/beer/Mike's hard lemonade, offer support by watching him work, but digging is out!
. . . caught you, didn't I? Get your mind out of the gutter, people!
In the part of Oklahoma that I live in we technically reside in zone 6. I say technically because we have been 7 degrees warmer than average for February. The last week of January gave us an ice storm that kept the kiddos out of school for three days, but then by the first weekend of February we were sitting in the 70's!
Tulsa also has a very active bird watching club that takes statistics of wintering birds over the Christmas break--many of the 'normal' populations are now migrating hundreds of miles to the north. Which means we are losing our winter birds, but gaining new ones that used to stay to the south. I haven't decided if this is good or bad yet.
We are warming up quicker this year than ever before. I'm also concerned about the possible tornado season as I've noticed a tendency of their forming to the north of the traditional tornado alley. And yes, Oklahoma did have Feb. tornadoes this year. Be careful and be prepared.
Now is the time to clean up the winter debris in the garden. For my garden, it means tackling the 37 rose bushes that I have. Luckily, most of them are minis. They're small, but tough--I feel an affinity to these little scrappers. My Gourmet Popcorn, normally a very laid back plant with only a few thorns, jabbed a thorn 1/3 of an inch into my finger! OUCH! After removing it with tweezers and letting it bleed profusely, I resorted to wearing gloves.
--I don't like gloves. I like to get my fingers in the dirt. Gloves don't protect you from everything--oh, no, I still managed to get jabbed through the thick leather! And, of course, I was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt, so I have proof of my outside activity in the form of numerous scratches on my arms and legs. Yes, I kept my eyes on the punctures and looked for the tale-tell sign of red lines (sporotrichosis). See, college Mycology is paying off!
Now, I didn't have to cut back some of my minis. I'll have to replace at least 4-5 of them since Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail have grazed on my babies. I have no idea why the wild rabbits like eating my roses, but they do. They are also chow-lining my crocuses, iris, phlox, and anything else that is currently greening up. Little bastards.
I'd love to take my BB gun and shoot them, but my gun looks like a real handgun and I live behind a school. Someday I'll tell you my Great Blue Heron story. But until the rabbits go bother someone else's garden, I'll just send the dog out to pester them.
No, she doesn't hurt them. Katie is an Old English Sheepdog and can't see squat--even with her bangs trimmed! And she definitely can't corner as well as the rabbits! So she just scares them back under the porch and I feel a little vindicated.
So, with the exception of putting down fertilizer and fluffing and adding to the mulch, I think we are ready for spring. Though hubster is planning a new gardening project--he thinks I'm going to help. *snort* After 16 years of marriage you would think he'd learn that I DON'T DIG. I find the plants, take care of the plants, get him gatorade/beer/Mike's hard lemonade, offer support by watching him work, but digging is out!
When I'm at my writing desk, I look out on a fairly barren yard. In less than a month, everything will be greening up and some of my early flowers will be going to town, but I know how gorgeous it will look in a month or so. Do you like to garden, or just appreciate other people's gardens?
Write on!
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