Lori's Outbox

Lincslass and Seaburngirl... so glad to have cheered you up a little Ll, and explained hubby's reluctance to prune, Sg...lol... never know what answers you'll find in a goY blog, aye? lol...
I've always envied your February blossoms, Spritz... sorry to hear that things are delayed... hope you haven't lost too much. (I'm thinking of your geraniums here) I featured the g. macrorhizum in this blog because it is just a super resilient plant...just all 'round wonderful. Saw the pic of your iris reticulata (?) the nice deep purple one... not sure I'll get any of mine up this year... kind of lost them when I dug some of the bulbs up last fall... I'm sure I left some for this spring, so I hope they come to light soon!
LOL...Labdancer51! If someone had been watching the debacle with that rosebush they could have won money of a "Funniest videos" contest...but I can say that being on the receiving end of those spines is anything but funny! It's also a challenge disposing of the canes... I finally cut them down into small pieces and double bagged them and let the garbage men take the risks! You can tell how special the flowers must be if such sacrifice is required!

Thanks Dottydaisy2!..... time will tell, aye? I'm hoping it will be an enjoyable experience... thanks for the well wishes.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and support... Yes, Slugsandsna..etc..lol... I understand where you are coming from... we are enjoying some very unseasonable March weather at present and later to day I am going to go out into my back garden and try raking...lol. just can't stay out of the garden!

just a google away... north magnetic pole.... tundra mummies... baby mammoth found.... as with all info on the inet you decide for yourself on it's credibility by the bibliography .http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/sep/HQ_07215_Timeline_of_Oxygen_on_Earth.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091224-north-pole-magnetic-russia-earth-core.html
and Wikipedia has lots of links on geomagnetic reversal...you're right it is fascinating!

YES!

the evidence that a carbondioxide/oxygen reversal has taken place is found in the high arctic...this may be an urban legend but I have seen reports of mammoth remains found frozen in the tundra with unswallowed greenery still in their mouths!... There is evidence that the high latitudes where once quite warm... and the north magnetic pole at present sits just off of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian arctic... and is moving toward Siberia at an accellerating rate due to several factors... it's fascinating reading ...the physics of magnets and the solar wind's effect on them, it makes a person realize that our earth is a mutable creature...and we are but hitchhikers!

I love the complementary blitz of the blue agapanthus and the orange red oriental lilies! also nice to see that you are still on goY. Garden looks fantastic.

Habenaria medusa! Wow...I can see why you'd be ga-ga over that one! it is very exotic. and almost frothy looking! Check out Masdevallia leucantha...I'd love to find one of those!
I prefer my coffee roasted and brewed...but I've never had the opportunity to try the berries... would they be high in cafeine, D1?

If she's fed she wouldn't be interested because of hunger...but she bears watching as instincts seem to rule at times...

D1 and Meanie:
I took a quick look at Wikipedia... and was surprised at the number of plants in the vanilla genus. (over 100) Due to cultivation they exist in a band around the equator...China, India, New Guinea,Sri Lanka, Sumatra, back to their place of origin in Mexico, Honduras, South Florida, and the Caribbean...as well as Brazil, Argentina, Suriname and Peru~ ...the most cultivated is V. planifolia and pompona...as well as inodora (Mexico) Vanilloidae are a subfamily of the Orchidacae...the genus is vanilla... and you're right D1 as we call them vanilla beans in error...they are not a bean...just an elogated seed pod. I was surprised to find V.phalaenopsis (found in the Seychelles)... Orchids are just fascinating. And the true vanilla scent and flavour is my absolute favourite... interesting that both Chocolate and Vanilla originated in the Americas...!

Awww... so sorry.

I was just doing some reading on vanilla orchid culture! Yikes! there is a special bee that pollenates the flowers... and a special mycorhyza that enables germination... It's an interesting story how the three different common vars. that produce "vanillin" spread over the globe! and $80. for a cutting isn't surprising, really... no wonder vanilla beans go for crazy prices per lb.... I'm orchid obsessed!

sounds like a course in oceanography! but it's a frightening possibility. For about ten years, I lived in one of the most northerly settlements in Ontario (eastern Canada) on James Bay...the smaller bay due south of Hudsons Bay.(I mention this because it is on the same latitude as London) with the first El Nino in the 1990's their winter climate changed drastically...and has continued to moderate..with increasingly hostile tendencies! swings of temperature from above zero to minus 40 degrees below! and very dry hot August temperatures...(August is autumn there..and prior to that time winter usually started in October) Take a google of "super cell storms", the most worrysome feature is the instablility...rapid changes that are so radical that they resemble a carbondioxide/oxygen reversal...
wonder if there is the technology about to anchor that huge floating continent of ice? I'm going to google "an iceberg the size of Luxembourg"~~ Having taken a quick look at the i'net...there is a real cult of "doom" on there aye? My husband was telling me today that he was looking at space.com and there was a report that the recent earthquake in Chile alterned the tilt of the planet!! Mother Earth is really getting grumpy!

On the advice of another goY friend, the last two summers, I've had a "shade porch" (just a lattice covered deck in a shady spot) where I've put my epi's, and the Phals... they love it and do well thro the winter as a result. it's the cooler night temps...they look so robust and full of health...then I have to bring the poor things indoors to this dry centrally heated house for about eight months... I was pondering the possibility of getting a vanilla orchid plant... have you seen any of those on offer anywhere, D1 or Meanie?

thanks for the link, Meanie! This is a little beauty! I've been thinking about getting into some of the other var. of orchid but never seem to be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of cash! I want to find the Masdevallia orchid in a light blue! as I recall it's a high altitude rainforest orchid, terrestrial, and used to cooler temps...might work, you think?

oh no! Heron's can eat every goldfish or koi you've got in no time at all~...did he leave before he had cleaned you out? lol...pays to read first... they are wading birds. My neice lost some very expensive fish to such as he! ...she bought a fake alligator (also expensive) and that kept the herons out of her pond.

No doubt he'll have a good home before you know it... he's a cutie!

Everyone is complaining about what a crazy winter we're having! just about everywhere in NA it's been a story of extremes...we had rain in January! and there's more snow in Europe this year!

Wow! the family that sculpts together, aye? brilliant job...and I'm a leftie too... that means that you are right brained!! it's the seat of creativity...and don't you show it!? Your family is very artistic...I remember your creative brother with the welder and machine parts creating some excellent sculpture!
It seems that mirror writing, ambidextrousness (or should that be ambidextrousity).?? lol... is very common among us. I play golf right handed though... and tennis... funny. might explain the complete mediocrity of my performance! but for most other pursuits,( eating, writing, drawing) either hand will do!

LoL...yes she is the apply of my eye. love her to bits. I know this space is garden related but couldn't resist showing her off... she's a senior dog now going on 13 yrs. and you have the right of it Freesiaperson...she attracts lots of admirers, and she's sweet and gentle.

I am glad that you are getting the moisture you need so badly...but the effects of an El Nino year here on the other side of NA is that we have see-saw temps, and lots of moisture..and early springs...! so how are we supposed to feel about this...it seems like a blessing...but is it?

the peat moss/perlite/vermiculite is a soilless mix...that's why I use it for seedlings...no damping off.. and when mixed into the soil it opens and lightens the mix... the biocontent is added with the compost from kitchen scraps etc...but I don't use that for seedlings.

ah...terminal envy! and only 13$....

will be sure to post pics...if I'm successful!

plants like solidago come to mind... they are weedy and colonizers, very hardy and resist controls... some plantsmen finally decided to work on them and now they are in the catalogues... for years it was blamed for "hay fever" as it bloomed at the same time as the less visible ragweed...(the real culprit) and has been used for centuries as a dye producing plant. It is an organic source of many shades and tints of yellow and green depending on the mordant used. So perhaps we will find uses for some of those weeds? or perhaps we can accentuate their decorative properties? meanwhile... we slog it out with them! I have a large bed that has been colonized by solidago...I don't intend to get rid of it completely but find controlling it a bit of a challenge!

thank you D1. I would like to try some other varieties of orchids ...but that's in the future. (when I get my solarium!)

No, D1... it is a complete anomaly! this picture was taken on January 25th...usually Jan and Feb. the mercury never climes above zero! It rained steadily and heavily for hours... close to a whole day... and the level of the snow blanket decreased markedly... the mist was a combination of warm air and warm rain coming in contact with the frozen snow and ice... I suppose this is the response to the warm water and currents in the equatorial Pacific ocean off of Central America, right? Climatic instability is scarey~. it is affecting ocean currents that usually are cold...and increasing ocean temps...which effects ocean fauna and flora... could be a real mess...because these El Nino seem to be coming more frequently. Are you getting any moisture in your part of California?

Looks like another lovely story to follow!

Can see why!

congrats to you for looking for "green" ways to do things...there are pots made with coir...which I don't like as much as the peat pots..but the problem with peat is that it is a non-renewable resource...I know there plenty of peat bogs here in Canada and the U.S.... but in some parts of the world peat isn't used any more. Heron's idea with the wall paper paste sounds like a possiblity too. but organic wallpaper paste is food and housing for some moulds and mildews.
...but you can make pots from folded newspaper... they work ok but you have to have them in a flat that is full...as they will degrade when the seedlings are watered and fall to pieces when you try to pick them up... and then there is the concern about the ink.
I've used a plastic flat that I fill with my own mix...it's not hard to do... peat, perlite and vermiculite works well, granted you still have to be careful when transplanting the seedlings. The coir pots are made of tough stuff from coconut fibre...they don't degrade quickly but they support and protect the young plants very well...might be a tad more expensive too...