bsmitch's Blog
bsmitch's February 2008 Entries
Last Post 1 day, 18 hours Ago
Feb 29, 2008 | 6:32 PM PST
I just can't resist sharing some of the special moments that happen without any planning. You turn your head and see a photo opportunity that to me is priceless. I hope you get a kick out of Kiki and Morris's together slumber time.
I wish all of you a happy and productive life. Bill Mitchell
Feb 29, 2008 | 5:24 PM PST
What a surprise
Jan 29, 2008 | 5:41 PM PST
I
started reading about growing avocado plants from seed and I was
curious. There was all kinds of advice about starting the seeds to
germinate. I eat avocados frequently for their health
benefits,
but I was throwing the seeds away. So now I have seeds wrapped in wet
paper towels in sealed plastic bags shoved away in the closet, which I
check periodically. Nothing! At the same time, I buried one in my
winter garden under the grow lights in a medium sized container brought
in from outside, that is home to one of my geraniums. I forgot about
it. As I was watering a little while ago, surprise ! There peeking out
of the soil was my baby avocado, standing up all proud of itself. What
a great event.
This was in Jan 29, this is now Feb 29
My one month old avocado tree. I think this is awesome.
Y'all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 27, 2008 | 8:01 AM PST
We received our second snow fall this winter. It is about an inch but melting fast. The temperature is cold enough, but the stored heat in the ground is doing it's job. I just took this picture of Kiki begging to come back in.
He said it's cold out here.
You all have a great day and happy shoveling. Bill Mitchell
Feb 26, 2008 | 8:04 PM PST
This is for you,
trochelwoman
Play some more. Bill Mitchell
Feb 25, 2008 | 10:14 AM PST
Clear your cache again and you will notice that the tabs are back. Open your browser, that is the icon you click to go online. At the top, click tools, then click options you will see in networks a value for your cache. Next to it is a tab that says clear cache. Click that and click ok. Exit the internet and re-enter. Go to www.gardenguides.com and your back with your tabs.
Your friend, Bill Mitchell
Feb 24, 2008 | 5:34 AM PST
I am attempting to put this picture of my great granddaughter on this blog. I couldn't upload it into my album. I did upload it to flickr. Here goes.
Here's Katelin.
You all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 23, 2008 | 3:33 PM PST
Test
Test after clearing my cache.
Bill Mitchell
Feb 22, 2008 | 11:04 AM PST
This is a mystery to me. So many plants froze this winter, other pansies included, but these few here in the rock garden have bloomed all winter. They didn't just start back up, they have had blooms all winter continuously. Some little things like this gives me so much hope in the power of a divine presence.
Mor
ris is helping me also.
You all have a great day and happy blogging. Bill Mitchell
Feb 20, 2008 | 9:57 PM PST
Hi ArchAngel, this is for you.
Your friend. Bill Mitchell
Feb 20, 2008 | 7:11 PM PST
I must be part wolf because of my attraction to the moon. Sandy just wouldn't leave me alone until I came out and looked at the moon with her. The picture of the eclipse was a bust, but this one I took earlier is pretty good. Well I like it.
Where did this come from?
Sunset at the north pole with the moon at it's closed point.
Wooooooohhh. That's me baying at the moon.
You all have a great night. Bill Mitchell
Feb 19, 2008 | 3:41 PM PST
There is a way to do this and it is easy. Upload images to Garden Guides into
your Photos album, click on the thumbnail and the larger image will appear then
right click on the larger image and click on properties. A window will open with
the HTML address ( URL) there, make the window large enough to highlite the whole name
http://cdn-media.gardenguides.
com/media/images/000000/09/66/
MDk~NzY2_large.jpg
Highlite it and Right click on it and click copy. Then when you are writing in
the blog entry window, click the little icon at the top with a mountain and sun.
That will open a window with a slot to paste what you copied from the properties
window. Click on preview and you will see the picture you want in your blog.
Then click OK and your picture is in your blog. That's all there is to it. Test
it out and if it doesn't work, delete it and try again until you get it to work
for you."
Feb 19, 2008 | 2:17 PM PST
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment on this special day, Two of my son's birthday today, Mark is 50 years and Elliot is 44 years. My daughter Valerie and husband Steve celebrate their 31 years of marriage. All today. Anyway back to the pictures.
My golf cart / garden wagon
The temperature inside the cold frame
Kiki guarding the cold frame
Tulips
starting and pansy blooming all winter
Kiki inspecting the tulips
Baby sedum starting
Yuc
ca,daffodils, iris
Left front garden starting
Bee
balm and other in containers
T
emperature on the back porch
Feb 18, 2008 | 7:55 PM PST
Not quite full yet, but it is yelling out, goodbye to February, almost. Hello spring, almost. Heck, you can't blame a guy for dreamin on a glorious night like tonight.
>
You can count a billion stars in the clear night sky down here in the country. Some times, we just don't look up to the Heavens enough.
You all get a good night sleep and I'll see you again tomorrow. Bill Mitchell
Feb 18, 2008 | 2:51 PM PST
I have the pleasure of showing my amaryllis all blooming at the same time. I did go out this afternoon and plant annual seeds in my new (repaired) cold frame. Just as I sit here at my computer resting, I am drawn to take a picture of the beauty that makes it all worthwhile.
For your enjoyment.
You all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 16, 2008 | 12:46 PM PST
I mention my cats all the time, Kiki and Morris. But one of the most important part of my life, besides Sandy, my wife and my extended family (humans) is April, my dog. She is going on eleven years old. She was my cancer present, I got her just after my diagnosis. Our other dogs had passed away and Sandy didn't want any more dogs in the house. Then she meet April and the rest is history. From the day I brought April home, she wanted to play ball, run and fetch, but never ever give the ball up. It is a big tease for her to make you capture or steal the ball back. She does this from morning to night. No matter how old she gets, she will always be a puppy and I love her.
This is my tribute to her.
You all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 16, 2008 | 8:27 AM PST
A fact of life is always a fact of death. We all see this around us in the news, on TV, up the road, and in our private lives. I don't intend to be morbid, what I really want to do is to celebrate the beauty of the total picture, because I have faith in God's great design. Here is a picture of that design, one plant done as two others beginning. My inside winter garden update.
p>
I did add a couple of yellow primroses that I got from Lowes yesterday. My beautiful but weighty Kiki (16 pounds) jumped on my new cold frame on broke the glass. So I replaced it with Plexiglas. I just couldn't resist shearing this picture with all of you.
You all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 14, 2008 | 3:35 PM PST
This is for you Rachel, Happy Valentine.
p>
You have a good day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 13, 2008 | 4:03 PM PST
I just received this e-mail and I found it very interesting and it might be to the other members here also.
Tim Wood - The Plant HunterANLA New Plant Pavilion
Posted: 12 Feb 2008 11:23 AM CST
I just got back from the ANLA Management Clinic in Louisville. Each year at the clinic, NMpro Magazine hosts their New Plant Pavilion where growers and breeders showcase their newest offerings. This year the pavilion featured 42 new plants. That's right - 42 new plants! There seems to be no shortage of new varieties.
While at the conference I heard someone say that we have way too many new plants. I agree - there are too many new plants. The problem is that there is no way that people, let alone nursery professionals, can digest so many new introductions, let alone grow them.
I see the same thing when I travel overseas. New plants are a dime-a-dozen. As I've said before the difficulty is not finding new plants, it's finding new plants that are better and superior, and that people will want to put in their yard.
To make matters worse, in one of the clinic lectures, one retail expert said that garden centers need to cut back on the number of plant varieties they offer. His point was that by offering so many choices, we are overwhelming the consumer. Again, I agree.
So what’s the Answer? In my opinion the free market will solve the problem. The best plants will rise to the top as growers, retailers and consumers vote with their pocket books. With this in mind, it’s very important for growers to be careful in introducing new plants or they’ll soon discover that they’ve wasted a lot of time and money.
To help me avoid making these kinds of costly mistakes, I’ve developed a check list that reflects the plants attributes I feel are needed to be successful. Here’s my simplified check list that I use when considering a new plant:
1. More Color. The trend in gardening or more correctly - yard decorating is color. Plants with a longer bloom season, multiples seasons of color (flowers, fruit, fall color), colorful foliage that lasts beyond the flowers, etc. are all high on my list.
2. Easy to grow. The majority of people do not know much about gardening. They want to plant it and enjoy it, so I look for shrubs that are dwarf or compact that requires little or no pruning. I look for plants (particularly roses) that do not have to be sprayed. And I look for plants that do not require special fuss.
3. Lastly, I look for plants that connect with our emotions. In other words, plants that make us feel good. Everyone likes to feel good. Who can resist the sweet fragrance of a Lilac or the joy evoked by a flock of brightly colored butterflies darting about a Butterfly Bush? Not me, and I suspect most people feel the say way. Certainly a rose connects with our emotions, but the need to spray it can negate those feelings - so even plants that connect with out emotions must be easy to grow.
The days of breeding plants strictly for bigger flowers are long gone. Sure big flowers are great. A Dahlia has a remarkable flower, but only the rare enthusiast is willing to overlook its ugly habit and excessive need for care. Times have changed, and so must the nursery industry.
Feb 13, 2008 | 10:16 AM PST
Well we finally received our share of snowfall for winter 2008. Most of the state got a lot more then we did. You have to remember that Jabez is God's country. That's special, and we know it.
Hope you enjoy these from inside your warm, cozy home.
You all have a great day and keep warm. Bill Mitchell
Feb 11, 2008 | 8:31 PM PST
This gardening forum of friends that makes up GardenGuides has given me some of the most fun I've had for some time. I've jumped in here and uploaded pictures, given advise, made jokes, and just enjoyed myself immensely. I could not have done these things without all of you. I thought it was time to tell every one of you, THANK YOU.
You all have a great day and happy gardening and God bless you.
Bill Mitchell
Feb 10, 2008 | 6:25 PM PST
I talked about my Amaryllis story a few weeks. You remember, the online order verses the amaryllis kit bought at Lowes . These babies took off growing with a vengeance, the stalk with the bloom bud had just opened into two closed flowers this morning. Sandy, "DW' and I went to Somerset to buy dirt, excuse me, soil and handles for the cold frame. We did some necessary household shopping and then dinner at "DW"'s favorite Chinese restaurant. We were gone about 4 hours. When we got home, I came in here to get on the PC and glanced over to the inside winter garden and to my surprise, there it was, a baby bloom waiting to shine in all it's glory and be admired by all. Picture included.
Isn't that beautiful.
You all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 9, 2008 | 4:33 PM PST
I took this picture from my front porch this afternoon. It's one of the barometers to track the coming of spring. The migration of different species of birds visiting my feeders, tell me how close warm weather is to us. I know there are ups and downs, but the median temperature is rising. This particular species stays year round.
You have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
White Breasted Nuthatch
Feb 8, 2008 | 1:29 PM PST
I mentioned before about building a cold frame, to day I painted it. Here is a picture of it.
While I was out there, I spotted a fungus growing on the edge off the old cat house. The cats don't use it because they come in every evening. Here is that picture.
And I wanted you to see my very friendly neighbor, Daisey, she loves Kiki and vise versa.
All in all, we all had a great day and we hope you all have a great day too.
Bill Mitchell
Feb 6, 2008 | 9:05 AM PST
As I sit here at my computer, blogging with my friends, I look over to see Kiki and Morris waiting for me to let them out, or in, or out. This goes on from early light to just before evening dark. I love them , but they control me. You can see my inside winter garden on the right and a spider plant on the left. It is a great view for me to sit here and watch the birds outside and check the weather.
All of you have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 5, 2008 | 2:29 PM PST
This is to everyone who has been to New Orleans and those who haven't.
Lessez le bon ton roulles.
Have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
Feb 3, 2008 | 12:19 PM PST
I bought an amaryllis growing kit at Lowes back in October/November. I hadn't grown any for twenty years, so when the leaves started shooting up, I searched for the start of the flower stalks beginning. I was looking into the center of the leaf stalks, that had gotten to be two feet tall, nothing. I went online the first of January and ordered three from amaryllis.com . They came in four days in a box with instructions, no kit. no artificial soil pill, no pot, just three bulbs wrapped in paper. I followed the planting instructions, using my own stuff. In a week, green started pocking out of the top. A little later some more green was pocking up on the sides of the center green start. These were the flower starts. Now I know that my first " KIT" was impotent, no I didn't store it in the fridge with apples, which will render amaryllis impotent. Maybe they where stored in a warehouse next to an apple shipment, who knows. This lesson will be remembered. If you want top quality, go directly to the grower.
You have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell
