The Historic District

Lily left the valley wrote: ↑Wed May 19, 2021 12:08 pm James, are you planning to eat the calamondin fruit? I loved the Anole/palm picture. I heard they sometimes manage to get indoors, but your neighbors might have already told you.

Lily, I somehow missed this post of yours, so my response is more leisurely than usual. I love the flavors of Thai cuisine; in fact, I stocked up on Thai curry paste before leaving Connecticut. The calamondin will be put to use in the traditional way as a wedge on the plate to squeeze for brightening flavor. I look forward to trying it in drinks and with other dishes, too. I have a kumquat ('Fukushu') and mandarin ('Satsuma'), both still young but happily growing. We are at the fringe of the citrus-growing climate here and only the hardiest among them will tolerate our winters.

I probably gave the impression that spotting an anole lizard is an unusual sight at Thornewood. Not at all. The place is crawling with them. They're wary but not particularly timid. I enjoy watching their antics. None have entered the house yet as far as I know, although they come and go at will through the gap in the roofline of the shed. I hope I'm encouraging their presence here because they're nice to have around.

Manalto wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 6:28 pmLily, I somehow missed this post of yours, so my response is more leisurely than usual. I love the flavors of Thai cuisine; in fact, I stocked up on Thai curry paste before leaving Connecticut. The calamondin will be put to use in the traditional way as a wedge on the plate to squeeze for brightening flavor. I look forward to trying it in drinks and with other dishes, too. I have a kumquat ('Fukushu') and mandarin ('Satsuma'), both still young but happily growing. We are at the fringe of the citrus-growing climate here and only the hardiest among them will tolerate our winters.

I probably gave the impression that spotting an anole lizard is an unusual sight at Thornewood. Not at all. The place is crawling with them. They're wary but not particularly timid. I enjoy watching their antics. None have entered the house yet as far as I know, although they come and go at will through the gap in the roofline of the shed. I hope I'm encouraging their presence here because they're nice to have around.

No worries--I'm notorious for meaning to reply to something and then...whoosh...many moons later...

I think your enjoyment of Thai cuisine has come up before, but had slipped to the area of my gray matter that needs dusting. Speaking of, the funny thing about the anole is I skimmed this thread after that post trying to find something I'd forgotten. While doing so, I realized you had mentioned them before.

Lily left the valley wrote:...you had mentioned them before.

Let's don't keep track. Repeating "stories" is something I catch myself doing all the time and still barely manage to save face (or so I imagine). Any more awareness of the habit could render it unforgivable.

Gothichome wrote: ↑Sat May 22, 2021 2:34 pm Here we go, as requested

All my yellow irises had fallen over and were on the ground when I got home from work today I think we have had one too many extremely hot days for them. Staked them up and watered heavy, hopefully they will once again stand on their own. We had the best blossoms ever this year.

Gothichome wrote: ↑Tue May 25, 2021 10:03 pm We had the best blossoms ever this year.

I hope you were able to enjoy them.

Years ago, a friend, while describing Levens Hall (Cumbria), remarked, "Nature as it should be - beaten into submission." He was an inscrutable chap at times, so I couldn't say for sure if he was being sarcastic, but he had a point.

My feeling is that the unpredictable and fleeting nature of nature is part of the reason it's precious to us. Family, friends and pets leave us, a late freeze turns a tree full of buds to mush. Maybe our best strategy is to increase our odds, to plant so that something is always happening (in more than one place if there's room for that) and if disaster strikes, it's more likely to be minor.

Gardening philosophy at its best James, you must be a horticulturist at hart.
Unfortunately my irises are not rejuvenating as hoped. The flowers a starting to look a bit ruff around the edges. Oh well I do have others (not Yellow) and they are thriving. The tree lilies I planted are into their second year in the ground and have established well, they are as tall now as they got last year, a few bulbs have shot up two plants. I am a bit worried about my Dalia experiment though, it has been in the ground for a full month and still have not breached the surface.

I love dahlias but, unfortunately, so did the voles.

the ball of roots that my neighbor gave me sprouted. I did what he said and put them away for the winter. I think i planted them downside up.. I should have a flower soon to take a picture of

I tried blasting a bunch of weeds with pickling vinegar. it seemed to be working but then they took a turn for the better so I did it again and then it rained. some of the recipies say to add salt ..

I got ambitious and pulled a couple of garbage cans full of weeds from the lawn and pulled a lot of the buttercups. It appears I'm quite good at growing buttercups but they seem to be attacking my blueberries and a lot of other plants.

last year I had this fork thing to pull dandelions. I think I threw it out accidentally. now I try to buy one and the stuff in the building store looks like junk. maybe I can make my own.

phil wrote: ↑Thu May 27, 2021 7:55 pmLast year I had this fork thing to pull dandelions. I think I threw it out accidentally. now I try to buy one and the stuff in the building store looks like junk. maybe I can make my own.

Here's something you can do until you find yours or find a decent one to get. When I was a kid, my grandfather used the longest flat screwdriver he had (8" shaft or so?), and what he would do is plunge it into the ground a few times just outside the center stem, circling around it. That would help loosen the soil. If it had just rained, it would make it even easier to pull up. Yes, the tap roots don't always go straight down. But even if the plant isn't young, still makes it a lot easier to getting out. I used to do that until I found a decent tool that's probably similar to the one you can't find.

Just wanted to post this pic I luckily snapped just in time before the critter scurried and hid further inside the columbine. Thanks again, James! I'm so glad it's doing well. The Iris you gave us is budding, but no flowers yet. The one in the back is very unhappy and isn't even leaving much, and I blame forgetting where it was when we put the cloche there. (The edge is right over the root.) The day temperature is plunging, may hit low 40°F tonight. So glad I've been too busy to plant out the tomatoes! Esp. because the Little Napoli is starting to flower again. Have been seed starting, one eggcarton of snowpeas is under one of our quick and dirty cold frames (water germinated first, then potted.) More pics later. Just got 2nd Moderna shot early this morn, and I'm already sleepy.