|
Post by Chuckie on May 17, 2018 8:47:37 GMT -5
This site is FAST becoming that--- ZERO posts in over a WEEK!!!! Wassa matta you guys, cat get your tongues? You USED to be a mouthy bunch--present typist included!! No new recipes you've tried, no calamities have befallen anyone, just living in the same ho-hum world as I, or what?!!! Liven up a bit, and get CHATTY!!! CHEERS! Chuckie
|
|
|
Post by karitx on May 17, 2018 16:37:57 GMT -5
We currently have 7 cats, so it is entirely possible that the cat got my tongue! I haven't had a lot of new share-worthy recipes lately and we Chambers people seem to have lost my husband (sporko) to his new obsession, honeybees. For the record, collecting Chambers might be cheaper than getting started in beekeeping. But that first $1000 jar of honey is going to be *awesome*!
|
|
|
Post by chipperhiker on May 17, 2018 19:00:51 GMT -5
I just took up beekeeping last year, too, and it is a big bucks hobby!
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 17, 2018 19:46:31 GMT -5
I wonder which tastes better, that first $1000 jar of honey or the first $1000 egg?
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 17, 2018 19:57:08 GMT -5
Seriously, though. Spring has sprung and I am flat out with the gardening: seedlings and weeding and still dealing with all the peices of the fallen tree, plus baby chicks and a spate of appointments of various kinds.
I did find time to bake two pans of yummy cornbread to go with chili using my double decker thermobaker the other day!
|
|
|
Post by karitx on May 17, 2018 20:29:02 GMT -5
I can't really complain about the bee costs - I've grown plenty of $200 tomatoes in my time!
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on May 18, 2018 12:30:45 GMT -5
This post is hilarious!!! Chambers seems like a very reasonably priced hobby compared to others! I've been dealing with my out of control yard, felling trees and honeysuckle bushes and vines as big as my thighs. I've been working for a couple of years trying to make up for past neglect. I'm also heavily into roses for the past two years.... I see eyes glazing over : ), but it's a consuming Summer passion. Nana, it warms my heart to hear you using the double-decker Tbaker. My PICC had borrowed mine back and I missed it so much as it's MUCH better suited for the B. So thrilled to have it back!
|
|
|
Post by chipperhiker on May 18, 2018 17:32:02 GMT -5
Chambers stoves do seem to be a nice cheap hobby by comparison!!! All of my stoves and thermowell accessories TOGETHER cost less than my first egg!
And then, because that wasn't a silly enough investment, I decided I HAD to have bees!
Speaking of chickens, I have a broody hen, so I drove a few hours yesterday to pick up some fertile hatching eggs (of a rare breed) and put them under her as an experiment. 17 of them!!! She's a big buff orpington, so you can't see a single egg peeping out underneath her. I'm really excited to see if she can hatch and raise a batch of babies.
All I know is that, for myself, if a hobby brings joy, then it's worth every penny.
|
|
|
Post by karitx on May 18, 2018 18:56:36 GMT -5
vaporvac, what kind of roses are you growing? My eyes lit up instead of glazing over! I have had the best luck with some of the antique and found varieties and I've developed a love for the "house eating" rambling roses (one of them is actually named Flores Street House Eater). I need some ramshackle outbuildings to cover with my thorny friends. chipperhiker, I am tempted by chickens, but I haven't succumbed yet. I'm intrigued by the Marans, but I haven't really looked to see what breeds do best in our hot, humid area. I'm hoping my sister will start a new flock so I can mooch off of her for a few more years.
|
|
|
Post by sporko on May 18, 2018 19:08:38 GMT -5
Did someone say bees?
|
|
|
Post by Chuckie on May 18, 2018 22:26:44 GMT -5
vaporvac , what kind of roses are you growing? My eyes lit up instead of glazing over! I have had the best luck with some of the antique and found varieties and I've developed a love for the "house eating" rambling roses (one of them is actually named Flores Street House Eater). I need some ramshackle outbuildings to cover with my thorny friends. I bought Monkey a heritage Gertrude Jekyll rose in the mid '90's for like our FIRST anniversary, and OMG, did it smell G-O-O-D!!!!!! You could cut but ONE flower, put it in a vase in the house, and the WHOLE HOUSE would smell like roses!!! It was RIGHT outside our bedroom window, and WHAT a PLEASURE it was to wake up when the house was opened up and it was in bloom!!! (bloomed MORE than ONCE a year----or a few buds did anyway) It succumbed to a disease (name fails me, but mentioned in our local paper last year), and we dug it up and discarded it this year. Main trunk/root was bigger around than my WRIST!! I already miss it!!! *sigh*.... CHEERS! Chuckie
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on May 18, 2018 23:37:50 GMT -5
That sounds like RRV, Chuckie.... a horrible scourge. If you catch it very early one can often save the plant. David Austin roses are wonderful; what a thoughtful gift and such a great rose! You have as good taste in roses as you do in stoves. : )) You should replace it next year as it's not carried in the soil. The scent of roses is so mesmerizing and variable! Some smell like "rose" and others like licorice or tea! : ))
Kari, you live in rose heaven! I get many of my roses from Chamblees, The Antique Rose Emporium and a couple from David Austin Do you live near any of those? I'm a little jealous over here. I'll try to add a pic from my phone here in a sec of some I cut tonight: Summer Romance, Anne Boleyn, Munstead Wood, Darcey Bussell and Zaide. Mine are just coming into bloom. I have a very pretty white little one called Yvonne Rabier. Your rambler sounds amazing!I have New Dawn, Viking Queen and Cl. Clotilde Soupert (and quite a few others still in pots!)! Climbers are my faves. : )) I'd LOVE to hear what roses you grow! Gee, I don't know how to add pics from my phone. It doesn't give me an option to do that can anyone help me out? It's Android. Oh well I figured it out but my files are too large from my phone. My camera had worse resolution :-( I'll try later if I put them in Dropbox.
|
|
|
Post by mach12 on May 19, 2018 8:49:19 GMT -5
We have quite a few roses and if we can keep the deer away they do real well. My father in law always had the most colorful roses and when I asked him why his always looked so nice he said "iron, they like iron". He always saved all of his used, non-galvanized nails and would toss them in the bottom of the hole he was planting the rose in. We've always done that since and have had good results.
I had several bee hives but they all mysteriously died several years ago so I sold everything and now just buy honey from a guy in the bee club. As I get older I find that things take longer and I need to re-prioritize. I do miss having bumper crops of walnuts and fruit. It makes an amazing difference when you have a gazillion busy little bees pollinating everything.
|
|
|
Post by pooka on May 19, 2018 14:21:33 GMT -5
Sounds like everybody is keeping busy. I've been enduring having the aging water main replaced on my street for the last few months. The old one would have a break two or three times every winter. They are doing it all around town. I heard on the news they have a twenty six year plan to replace six hundred miles of water lines here. I still have to clean up where they dug a trench in my front yard where they redid my connection. Last Friday insanity invaded my neighborhood. I guy went on a shooting spree of police which ended in his death. I have no words to describe my disrepair. In the video released, it looks like the guy is casually playing a video game where the cops are the bad guys. This all happened less than a mile from me near an intersection I drive through going to & from work. I wondered why the police had the road blocked as I came home last Friday. I thought perhaps it was a wreck on the railroad underpass they were blocking. Startling video provides new insight into shooting rampage in Evansville targeting police
|
|
|
Post by karitx on May 19, 2018 17:19:57 GMT -5
vaporvac, yes Chamblees is about 15 minutes from my house. And they have a clearance section with $2.50 and $5.00 roses. Danger! Danger! There is also a David Austin nursery here, but you can't browse there like you can at Chamblees. I will try to upload a few photos to share of my favorite roses. Chuckie, that's very sad about your rose. IIRC, that is a David Austin rose. All of his roses are just gorgeous and I like that they are usually fragrant, too. mach12, I have a bunch of old rusty iron pieces that we dug up while playing with the metal detector. Under the roses they will go! pooka, that's terrible about the shooting. Too many people seem to think that's the answer to their problems now.
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 20, 2018 7:52:44 GMT -5
Yes Pooka, insanity is the only way to describe it. It hurts my heart to read in the paper the phrase "the latest mass shooting" as though it is a normal, expected occurrence. We need more kindness, love and understanding in our world, but our leaders seem only willing to give meanness and hatred and division. I hope we all can find our way out of this mess...
I love the smell of roses. I have a rosebush out front that is doing very poorly now because it has been shaded out over the years by a big spruce tree, but it used to bloom so fragrantly and perfume the living room when the windows were open. I'm not sure what kind it is, it has very open, dark pink flowers, kind of like the wild beach roses you see at the shore. Maybe some of you rose growers have some advice for me on the best way and time to transplant it? It is fairly large, but has a lot of dead branches now. I was going to cut it way back and see if I could dig it up and find a sunny spot for it somewhere so it could thrive again, but I am not well versed in rose culture, so I've been hesitant because I don't want to kill it outright!
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on May 21, 2018 17:48:25 GMT -5
I bet you have a rugosa, nana. They do very well in your neck of the woods and are hardy, as well. Does it have big hips? The best time to transplant is early spring as soon as the soil can be worked, or better yet prep the hole in Fall and fill with leaves and compost until spring. Fall is OK, but do it early enough so it can recuperate and grow new feeder roots before the ground freezes. Be sure to water well afterwards. Actually, you can transplant anytime, it's just less stressful to do it at those times. Kari, that Flores St. rose is a rare one as I'm sure you know. Where did you get it? Do you ever take cuttings of things? I can't believe you live near Chamblees. Geez! Tx not only has great Chambers, but great conditions for roses. It's not fair! At least CA. doesn't have many Chambers. : ))
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 21, 2018 19:49:03 GMT -5
I bet you have a rugosa, nana. They do very well in your neck of the woods and are hardy, as well. Does it have big hips? Gee Lion, Now you're getting personal!! All joking aside, its hips are I wouldn't say big, but not small either. It has dark, kind of crinkly looking leaves, too.
|
|
|
Post by karitx on May 22, 2018 11:25:34 GMT -5
Kari, that Flores St. rose is a rare one as I'm sure you know. Where did you get it? Do you ever take cuttings of things? I can't believe you live near Chamblees. Geez! Tx not only has great Chambers, but great conditions for roses. It's not fair! At least CA. doesn't have many Chambers. : )) The Stephen F. Austin horticulture program has two huge sales every year and they usually have a few oddball roses for sale. That's where I found the Flores St. rose, as well as a Bourbon rose that I can't remember the name of, but which smells divine when it blooms. And I do take cuttings, but I haven't had a lot of luck with roses after my early successes. I do have a Lady Banks rose that I grew from a cutting from my mother-in-law, but after some frustrating attempts at rooting other roses, I decided it was a lot less stressful to just buy them from Chamblees.
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on May 22, 2018 12:27:54 GMT -5
That's what I would do, kari, especially at their prices. I wonder if you have Maggie? I think she's a Bourbon and is the only one that I have as most are too tender. She's still in a pot blooming like crazy with her fuschia red blossoms. I try to root things, but it's hit or miss. Nana, that definitely sounds like one of the Rugosas. I find their crinkly leaves so pretty and they're usually very healthy without any help.
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 22, 2018 19:15:53 GMT -5
Thanks for the info! So how far back could I cut it? All the way to the ground? And do you know what kind of root system it has, a tap root or shallow surface roots? I'm maybe worrying too much, after all, my peonies that went through hell last year are looking great and I think they will even give me a nice show this year, and they lost taproots that went down about three feet or more. I'm sure it's too late this spring, it's already leafed out. But I could prepare a spot for it and maybe move it this fall. I'd rather do it in the fall because there are a lot of daffodil bulbs around it, and if I dig around there in spring I would lose those blooms, too.
I really want to bring it back to its old glory, it provided all the rose petals for the flower girls at both my daughter's and her best friend's weddings!
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on May 22, 2018 22:59:27 GMT -5
Let me do a bit of research on moving rugosas. I wonder which variety you have. You could do it now if it's not too hot and you're expecting rain and can keep them shaded for a while. I haven't really cut mine back when I've moved them; they'll tell you what they want to lose after planting! : ) Do you know if it is grafted or own root? Wow! I didn't realize peonies had tap roots. I really want to divide my ancient ones, but don't know if that's a bad idea. They are an old variety original to my house.
|
|
|
Post by karitx on May 23, 2018 15:02:40 GMT -5
That's what I would do, kari, especially at their prices. I wonder if you have Maggie? I think she's a Bourbon and is the only one that I have as most are too tender. She's still in a pot blooming like crazy with her fuschia red blossoms. I try to root things, but it's hit or miss. Nana, that definitely sounds like one of the Rugosas. I find their crinkly leaves so pretty and they're usually very healthy without any help. Charles Lawson! That's the name of that particular Bourbon rose. It's supposed to be a very vigorous grower, but a pocket gopher ate the roots off of it last year. ($%^&!@# underground rats!) I found it on the ground with one thin root still attached, so I trimmed it back and put it in a pot over the winter. I just recently replanted it, so it's not much to look at just yet. We have a few Bourbons that do well here: Souvenir de la Malmaison, Zephirine Drouhin, Louise Odier. Unfortunately I lost Louise Odier to the pocket gophers, too. The roots must be as tasty as the blooms are smelly!
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on May 23, 2018 22:28:36 GMT -5
OMGQ I've read about people planting things in gopher cages. here I thought the chipmunks and possums were bad! I'm sorry about that. I'll have to look up CL. I've never heard of him!
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 24, 2018 5:22:36 GMT -5
Let me do a bit of research on moving rugosas. I wonder which variety you have. You could do it now if it's not too hot and you're expecting rain and can keep them shaded for a while. I haven't really cut mine back when I've moved them; they'll tell you what they want to lose after planting! : ) Do you know if it is grafted or own root? Wow! I didn't realize peonies had tap roots. I really want to divide my ancient ones, but don't know if that's a bad idea. They are an old variety original to my house. I wish I could give you those details, but the rose was a gift from a teacher many years ago, and I just took it out of the pot and stuck it into the ground and that was that. So I have no idea. I would definitely have to cut it back at least some because in its heyday it was quite a large bush--taller than me and about half as wide as it is tall. I'd say about a third to half of its branches are dead, now, and the rest of it looks peaked. It just doesn't get enough sun now, and every year the evergreen gets bigger and it gets even less.
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 24, 2018 5:23:35 GMT -5
I'll post about peonies later--gotta go to work!
|
|
|
Post by mach12 on May 24, 2018 16:18:40 GMT -5
There you go with that four-letter word again!
|
|
|
Post by karitx on May 24, 2018 16:33:13 GMT -5
There you go with that four-letter word again! Hahahaha! We call it the "w" word!
|
|
|
Post by nana on May 25, 2018 20:41:29 GMT -5
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rub it in, why don'tcha. Just to prove what a busy woman I am, here I am a day and a half later with finally a moment to spare!
Anyway, I didn't even know peonies had a taproot either till we had that old retaining wall taken out and I saw them with my own eyes. Maybe not an official taproot as in one big single root, but there were definitely thick (1 to 1 1/2 inch diameter) roots going down at least 3-4 feet. They lost most of that in the move, as I'm sure yours would too, Vaporvac. But apparently, given enough compost and keeping the water to them when needed, they recover. I expected my peonies would sulk for a few years after their ordeal, but they have quite a few buds on them, and I've got my fingers crossed for decent blooms this year. They are very long lived, and I guess it takes some doing to kill them, so go ahead and move yours. Just try to get as much root as possible, and dig plenty of compost into the hole before they go in.
I guess I shouldn't be too hesitant about the rosebush. It will probably die eventually if I do nothing, so I might as well try something, right?
|
|
|
Post by Chuckie on May 25, 2018 22:41:43 GMT -5
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rub it in, why don'tcha. Just to prove what a busy woman I am, here I am a day and a half later with finally a moment to spare! Anyway, I didn't even know peonies had a taproot either till we had that old retaining wall taken out and I saw them with my own eyes. Maybe not an official taproot as in one big single root, but there were definitely thick (1 to 1 1/2 inch diameter) roots going down at least 3-4 feet. They lost most of that in the move, as I'm sure yours would too, Vaporvac. But apparently, given enough compost and keeping the water to them when needed, they recover. I expected my peonies would sulk for a few years after their ordeal, but they have quite a few buds on them, and I've got my fingers crossed for decent blooms this year. They are very long lived, and I guess it takes some doing to kill them, so go ahead and move yours. Just try to get as much root as possible, and dig plenty of compost into the hole before they go in. I guess I shouldn't be too hesitant about the rosebush. It will probably die eventually if I do nothing, so I might as well try something, right? Monkey's Mam moved peonies from her folks place to theirs LB4C--- Long Before Chuckie--and it was basically a totally shaded area. I told them when I entered the family (circa 1994) that they would NEVER survive in that environment, and needed to be MOVED. Well, that 'suggestion' fell on the same deaf ears that I CONTINUE to live with, and there they sulked, awaiting sunnier pastures. Well, said MIL died, and Monkey's bro bought the place, and is having CONSIDERABLE landscaping done to prevent FURTHER H20 damage to the foundation, and they HAD to remove all the peonies--or see them buried!! Monkey planted A LOT around the fence here, but they were so emaciated, they don't LOOK a lot BETTER!!! I told her to give them time. Cursory google search says: Peonies perform best in full sun and well-drained soils. When selecting a planting site, choose an area that receives full sun. Avoid shady areas near large trees and shrubs. Poorly drained soils can often be improved by working in large amounts of compost or peat.
When planting peonies, dig a hole large enough for the entire root system. Place the peony plant in the hole so the buds are 1 to 2 inches below the soil surface. (Peonies often fail to bloom satisfactorily if the buds are more than 2 inches deep.) Fill the hole with soil, firming the soil around the plant as you backfill. Then water thoroughly. Again, Monkey's Mam's look like HELL, but hoping for a FULL recovery!! CHEERS! Chuckie
|
|