Raquel's Inbox

Aaah, if only we knew.
I call him my 'Battersea Special' because we found him at Battersea Dogs' Home. He is a mixture and seems to have characteristics ranging from those of a lurcher to terrier, but he most closely fits the characteristics of a Patterdale.
He is probably a one off, and I love him dearly.

Everyone joined in the banter at the checkout when I bought mine, and some even though it a good enough idea to consider copying :-)

Sometimes Impatiens can suddenly fail. I've had the same problem in the past.What type of plant food did you use? Sometimes they get 'indigestion' through over - feeding as well and just flop and die.

Earlier this year I read a post on here about using disposable nappies in hanging baskets, so I tried it out and it has worked well. Both compost and water are retained but roots are not subject to rotting.

Have patience with organic methods it takes time for nature to strike a balance. Composting, manuring will improve the soil structure and provide nutrients for strong plants.
Garlic liquidised and sprayed on the plants does deter blackfly and greenfly
companion planting helps deter pests too.
If you have a nettle patch near you soak till leaves are liquid in a big bucket and hey presto - free fertiliser.
grow comfrey and it can be used in the same way, be careful not to get the invasive type.

I used to grow strawberries, herbs and flowers in containers like yours, and always lined them with black plastic, mainly to keep the compost in when watering - it would wash out through the planting holes otherwise, coz the holes are pretty big. I just thought that the plastic was a necessity. I used the empty bags from bought compost and turned them inside out to reveal the black side, so I suppose I was recycling/re-using? Your plants seem to be coming on nicely, too.

Raquel I am glad you've found a good way to control your nasties in the garden. Perhaps the whole neighbourhood is outof balance so you get things from there blown and crawling over. I also hated sprays in my garden, both kind. I did not want to disturb the harmony as I knew there is a place for everything in nature. Since my cat died ( and I am not saying cats should go, I love them dearly ) I never got another one. Finally the birds came back, tiny ones and big ones. I had lady birds eating aphids, I had little birds eating aphids, catterpillars, moths etc. I suddenly discovered I had no more plagues, which was wonderful. My roses were disease free for years, I just fertilised them when I did the lawn. I had earth worms, which I found as soon as I dug somewhere. But then....I had no neighbours at all, not for 3 kms and nothing really would come that far. I've also heard bugs don't like garlic. What was in your organic spray? Are you not afraid to kill off the good bugs too? We need the bees for instance and the ladybirds eat aphids. If you spray aphids these ladybirds have nothing to eat.....I just wonder what your situation is.

Well, I would have thought: what happens when you water them??? Will the water just sit there in the bottom on top of the plastic rotting the roots? Don't you just put a good potting mix in the pot and stick the plants in? Then perhaps some mulch on top to keep evaporation to a minimum. Out here people use wetting agent which holds the soil wetter. I am not a fan of plastic, not for the environment, but for plants. I will be interested to hear and see in a photo perhaps how these plants are developing and if you'll get nice berries on them. Good luck.

i agree with spritz, least now there is another use for plastic. the strawberry plants certainly look like they are doing well.
we have a tax on our plastic bags over here, you now have to pay for them. have to say its worked great, gone are all the horrible plastic bags tangled up in bushes and along the roadways, people now dont tend to throw them away anymore because they have paid for them. place is a lot cleaner now.

Good for you, Raquel - I don't think that you have stopped being organic, you are just helping things along a bit. :-)

Lovely rose

Is this on the floor or mounted on a wall? I like it on the board like that. Does she have to dunk it in water or spray it everyday? I'd love to this with some of mine, but I'm afraid that I would let it dry out. It's so dry and hot here!

Do you know what this orchid is called? It looks a lot like an iris. It's very pretty.

Did you grow these from seed? They're so tiny.

True about store-bought roses, no smell! I'll stick to the ones in my garden, they last longer and smell fabulous!

I like how you've captured her reflection as well :)

What's up with the paper? Are you trying to keep the soil in?

Lovely Pic :)

rule of thumb - if you dont know - change it !!

Hi Raquel. Your geranium and ferns look great. I was just thinking, you like to have this balcony walkway as green as possible, why don't you have a creeper in a pot and it soon will trellis and twine along those bars of the fence and it will look even better I think. It's only a thought, but it's what I would be doing in your place. Good luck with your garden.

Sounds as if the Yucca had used up the nutrients in the soil - was it soil or compost by the way? It is always necessary to replace the compost when a large plant has been in a pot before replanting. Try some tomato feed on the Impatiens weekly to give them a boost - you never know, they might revive and flower. When they've finished, replace the compost before you plant anything else.

What a great store to have close to you! By the way, you do need to use fresh compost in the second pot. Each year, it's wise to scrape off the top 2" of the old compost in each pot and replace with new. Also if you repot, add some new compost around the plant. Looks as if your collection is growing - number of pots AND the plants in them!

Boy this sure does take me back, I haven't lived in Texas since graduating from high school in 1975, but I do remember the Horse culture of some of those folk. Have not been back since my mother moved away in 1998, I'm sure it has changed a lot but not all that much after all I guess!

ice cold lemonade sounds lovely raquel. like you said the store must have a loyal customer base who keep going back , also its nice that they have those wee touches like free lemonade

aye even just to walk around these places can be fun

a good place for rummaging around Raquel?

I think I come and live in El Salvador! I just love thunderstorms. We had them in the build up in Darwin and sometimes during summer too. They really hit the ground and sometimes the lightning blasted powerboxes and even one tree in my garden got blown to bits ( the top half ! ) The dogs hate it and always hide in the pantry or under the bed. Here in Cairns we don't get half as many storms, a shame really. It always clears the air afterwards.
I'd be working in the garden and hear the rumbling; it was always a race against yourself, see if I can stay longer outside than last time. I bought a UPS system for my computer ( Uninterrupted Power Supply ), which also catches the blast. When a storm is hovering over, you can keep at it, even if the power goes off, as it has a battery which lasts abt 30 mins. You can close off any program and have no worries. Also the phoneline goes through that. I love 36C and hot nights. At the moment it is terrible here, too cold! Like reading your blogs too.

Very interesting about the clay pots. Where I am pots would dry out too quickly so all my plants are in the ground. But if you have a potted garden yes, you'll have to try out things for when you're not there. I don't know how many plants there are, but you could put them together and have a trickle system running off a tap with a timer on it. You could set it for once a day for 10 or 15 minutes. It's just an idea and it might not be suitable to your situation.

Nice you can still enjoy them when looking at the picture. Such fantastic roses. Did they smell too? I always find that cultivated roses for flowershops lack any scent. Nice picture.

Wonderful, very pretty view. I like the palm, because having something in the foreground gives the picture depth. But then again,I love palms.