What's happening in your garden?

[Gothichome]

Willa, don’t be tempted to taste those mushrooms, remember the grief Alice went through.

[Gothichome]

Our large hostas are going strong once again this year.

[Willa]

My morning glories are about 1/10 of what came up last year. Last fall was wet and early, so I wasn't able to save as many viable seeds, either.

I planted some fancy morning glory ("Sunrise Serenade" and "Scarlet Ohara") from marked down seeds at the ReStore. I have some different looking morning glories coming up in a couple of places, but no blooms on those ones, yet.

Continuing my gas-station-vapours-paranoia, I noticed this mutated morning glory leaf formation today. The leaves at the bottom are normal while they get progressively odder as they climb:

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[matchbookhouse]

Wow, Gothic, your hostas are gorgeous! I'd love to grow some but I don't have enough shade. I can't believe I once again found a house that has almost all sun in the yard. I tore out the few shrubs that were here when I moved in (euonymous and privet) and have planted four new garden beds so far with two others tilled up in the front yard ready for planting. One will have three crape myrtles, along with two clethra alnifolia 'Einstein', and the other bed will have perennials and spring and summer bulbs. I have a real love for native coneflowers and the front yard is hot and dry, so they will look bright and cheery there and I can see them from my picture window.

[Manalto]

Wow, Gothic, your hostas are gorgeous!

Although they are not widely advertised for this characteristic, some hosta are fragrant. Plants with Hosta plantaginea parentage display this characteristic. 'Honeybells' and 'Royal Standard' are old, well-known cultivars. Lately, many new varieties have appeared on the scene. It should be mentioned that deer are particularly attracted to the fragrant hostas, so be warned.

[phil]

I grew a couple of pot plants about as tall as me and about as wide as my reach. a third was a clone of one of them and it got about 3' or so. I put them inside under a halide light to finish blooming as our weather turned rainy. the little one had a lot of little white wormy things. they evolve into little white flying insects. I put that one back outside but under an umbrella to keep most of the rain off. it had these pests and sprayed them with water with a little dish soap. I'm not sure if that's a good cure for it. I thought maybe they were aphids but maybe they are white-flies. anyway separating out the little girl out seems to ave limited their numbers. I could try "safer soap" but I prefer not to spray any sort of insecticide. often spider mites are a problem but I dont see any and I'm not finding a lot of eggs under the leaves. there are two varieties and they look different. they all have funny names and I think they are blueberry kush and pineapple express.. or some similar names.
One had a lot of the older leaves yellow and I pulled them off but the other isnt' loosing many. its a natural progression that the bigger leaves die off and make room for the flowers, its main purpose in life. they wont actually seed because there is no male pollen but sometimes they can morph and have some male flowers and self pollinate. no signs of that happening.
commercially there are a lot of government approved grow ops openingup and in planning stages. . these are sites that cover acres, with giant power requirements and highly monitored conditions. There is some controversy because some would rather see craft growers than Giant corporations profit from it all.

we can mail order it from the government sources now or grow up to 4 legally. the laws vary by province but its legal in Canada Now so I guess its ok to talk about since I'm not breaking any laws. I just hate buying it and its more fun. our government wants to cash in but many prefer not to buy into that. in days gone we used to have to sneak around so its nicer to not have those old laws in place now. They never did make a lot of sense.

[Gothichome]

Interesting Phill, you can still be denied entry on to the US if you admit to ever taking a puff, even (for you) crossing the boarder into Washington State were it’s legal you can be denied. May be if you mentioned you never inhaled, it worked for Obama.

[phil]

Interesting Phill, you can still be denied entry on to the US if you admit to ever taking a puff, even (for you) crossing the boarder into Washington State were it’s legal you can be denied. May be if you mentioned you never inhaled, it worked for Obama.

A lot of that old reefer madness misinformation still exists today. Its funny when people start talking about it at work and they still aren't sure if they can admit to smoking it at home or if that would cause some concern about how they are respected. People are so used to it being hushed that it's almost weird to hear people even openly admitting they smoke it here. It's changing though. Sooner or later the federal and state policies will be brought into alignment.
younger people dont care at all, but some older people are really against it even still because it was really beat into them that it was wrong.

In Washington state it's legal but federally it is not so its causing a lot of confusion. what happens when you cross a state line from a state where it's legal to one where it is not? I can imagine some working in a place where it is legal and then living a few blocks from work and across a state line where it is illegal.. It must be causing some weird circumstances. We recently had an issue where a lady crossed into the US with CBD oil which doesn't even contain THC so it is not a product she could even try to get high on. She was initially banned but I think it got cleared up , probably partly because the issue became so newsworthy.

I have no records of any sort and have never been in any sort of trouble so I dont think I'd have an issue crossing the line but I seldom do, even though its only 20 minutes away. Its just not worth the chance of being hassled to go buy cheaper gas, cheese milk etc. Those border agents can get downright nasty if they want to. They can seize your phone and take your car all apart and hold you and question you for hours so I avoid that.

I bought an old radio in Seattle on ebay. I drove to pick it up partly just to go for a drive but also because they are often damaged in shipping. the border agents made it sound like I had a big commercial enterprise going. they called me into the office. It was a 100 dollar radio and they asked all sorts of questions. It wasn't even taxable. They made it all pretty silly so I avoid crossing unless I have to go on a flight for training or some such thing. I would never cross with it bu they have detectors that can detect microscopic amounts.

[Manalto]

Wherever camellias are found, late fall through early spring is their bloom season. My neighbors tell me that, years ago, the man next door was an avid camellia hobbyist and his property was a camellia showplace. The people who took over his property removed all the shrubs but the house next door (mine!) still has plenty. Herewith, a few that are blooming in late December:









Camellias are beautiful but have no discernible fragrance. When I worked at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, the guy in charge of camellias planted osmanthus (AKA Sweet Olive), which blooms at the same time, as a backdrop. Osmanthus, a holly relative, has glossy evergreen foliage and small, inconspicuous, cream-colored flowers. I say inconspicuous because the flowers are tiny, but its intoxicating fragrance carries through the air for a good distance. Visitors to the garden often remarked on how wonderful the camellias smelled!

No southern garden is complete without Sweet Olive, and I'm fortunate that mine is cooperating!

[awomanwithahammer]

Oh, what a lovely winter treat! I always thought camellias had a scent. Interesting to know they're dubbed!