Elder Sister

I’m so sorry. My sincere condolences to her family and friends.

Will it be visible, always? Or will the planting cover it? If it's going to visible always, there are some expensive options if you don't want to build it yourself. I love some of what Gardener's Supply offers...they're not eyesores, and they're sturdy. I use their tomato cages that are made of steel rod, and I've used them for nearly 15 years. I still have all 12 cages and they work great. But if you're planting something like melons that is going to grow quickly and have lots of greenery, I'd do something cheaper. I ordered a bunch of seeds Tuesday and it made me so happy. I just love Sow True Seed out of North Carolina. Their stuff never fails to grow well.

@george jar jar martin, thanks so much for the rec of Vincent Neil Emerson. I hadn't heard him before, and I'm loving his music. Listening right now, actually!! Here's one of my all time fave artists/songs -

Pre-Bebe, I was great with seedlings. I'll still do some on the front porch, because it's a Bebe-free zone, but it will have to be early summer stuff because the early spring seedlings will not make it on the back porch. She will destroy them. Right now, she's racing back and forth through the house and I have an interview with a prospective employee for our dept. in 10 min. And I'm supposed to pretend to be professional. If I shut the door, she will sit outside and wail like a banshee.

I love The War on Drugs, along with Lord Huron. Both bands are constantly in rotation - great music! I adore Kurt Vile because a lot of his songs sound like he's making them up on the spot...like he's just free-thinking aloud or something.

double post

So, season 3 finished up on C&R - I learned way more than I ever needed to know about Jones, Tammy Wynette, all her husbands...it was a lot. But so, so good. This week I have been listening to Waxahatchee nonstop, along with Kurt Vile. And for some odd reason, a lot of Louvin Brothers and Buck Owens. I've got the "Dwight sings Buck" album, but haven't listened yet. I know it's going to be wonderful.

I just haven't been bit by the gardening bug yet. I'm going to go Saturday and look at plants and seeds...I'm sure that will start it up. I'm trying to figure out how to plant seeds since I now have a kitten living in my sun room, which is where I normally have seedlings coming up. She's an absolute terror; I don't see that setup working out this year.

What are you looking to do with it? I've used different things through the years, including chicken wire, but we usually use that for peas/green beans, etc. Gardener's Supply sells some environmentally friendly versions, but they're pricey. I usually just reuse the chicken wire every year. I'm cheap and it's not the prettiest in the world, but once the beans and peas take over, you can't see it.

At one point, I had so many orchids - and multiple types. My favorites are the slipper orchids and the cattleyas. I have a big phalaenopsis on top of the refrigerator because darling (demon) cat kept knocking it over when it was on the kitchen table. So it's just as well that I'm not super into orchids right now.

There’s a podcast I adore that does a deep dive into 20th century country music; it’s called Cocaine & Rhinestones and it is amazing. This season is all about George Jones and as a consequence I’ve been listening to George as well as a ton of other artists during the same time period, particularly Billy Sherrill-era stuff. Somehow, in that mix, I’ve managed to add some Tina Turner (old school with Ike) as well as some Prince and Howling Wolf.

My grey hair is even more insane/uncontrollable than the rest of my hairs. I will eventually look like Ursula from Little Mermaid if it keeps it up, but I kind of dig her, so it's fine. I do retinol from Kiehl's and I like the effect, but I have to be careful with it. I get a similar result using an AHA/BHA cleanser by One Love called Botanical A - I love love love it. And I love this line...they make good stuff.

So I've tried this stuff called Surya Brasil Henna cream in the Silver Fox color, because I'm a ginger with a lot of grey coming in, and thought it would make me look like the silver fox IG model who was shilling it. Epic fail. I couldn't tell it had done anything on my hair. It did smell nice, though. I felt very cheated because you're supposed to leave it on for at least an hour and that's an hour of my life I won't get back.

I use a leave-in conditioner by Aveda that I really like. I'll look it up and add it here. I have yours and X-Ray's type of hair...it was perfect in the 80s. It's coarse, curly, and will reach the heavens if I so choose. Unfortunately, it's a wee bit dated, and I live in one of the most humid locales on the planet. So it's frizzy. And out of control. I struggle with my hair constantly. I'm starting to embrace it, though, and in spite of filling up the square on video calls, I'm wearing it large and enjoying it more than I used to. Large hair might not be an option for you, though. My brother has the same exact hair and keeps his cropped fairly close to his scalp. It looks very polished and professional.

I have never heard that...I have good hair and skin, and I don't drink, but I think I have genetics to thank more than abstinence. I use Erno Laszlo phelityl soap to cleanse after removing makeup with a cleanser. I also swear by Dr. Hauschka regenerating serum. Everything else I sort of switch up and play with but those two items I am never without.

My dahlias are actually doing okay. I lost 3 dahlias that were rotted, but the rest of them are hanging in, blooming, starting to bloom, etc., and are looking good. I've had to spray them with a 3in1 - the deep south is much different from the climates where dahlias seem to thrive. I hope they'll pull through and do well; I just love them. @lady narcissa, you got some bad weather in your area this week! I was thinking about you - hope you dodged it and all was well. @Alarich II, I love that saying about the weather. It's so true!

So, I just ran in here to gripe. We got 13 inches of rain in the last seven days, and my lovely dahlias that I have babied, prayed over, sacrificed small animals to...well, they're not doing so great. I am SICK. Between all the rain and the f@#%#$ Japanese beetles, I am ready to get one of those giant hot air balloon guys and call that a garden. So how's your garden doing?

Is bittersweet like a vine? We don’t have it down here. It looks pretty but is obviously invasive. I will trade you bittersweet for creeping Charlie. We HATES IT SO MUCH.

It didn't do anything, thank goodness. I was so disgusted because two weeks prior, I had covered EVERYTHING and my Dear Dolores hydrangea STILL got burned by the cold. She's just not happy, period, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to move her. As much as I like the hybrids, you cannot beat the old-timey, tried and true heirlooms...they just perform so well.

So it might frost here tonight in the Deep South. Two weeks ago I covered my hydrangeas and some other things. This week I’m tired and just can’t be bothered.

@lady narcissa, here’s a good link for cutting back basil. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/basil/pruning-back-basil-plants.htm

Mint is a total thug - I love it, but the only way to grow it is in the pot. Don't let either start flowering - keep them trimmed and fertilized and they'll stay bushy and gorgeous all summer. Once basil starts flowering, you have to mercilessly cut it back or it starts getting leggy.

@Tears of Lys, I got married about 2 years ago. He's amazing, thinks I'm amazing, and doesn't mind when I spend $200 on dahlias. And he's constantly rescuing animals. He's a dreamboat. <3 I hope you're doing well - I think about you often! I spent the afternoon in the woods yesterday and dug up several buckeyes and wild azaleas on a river bank. I'm hoping they do well...I'm trying to establish some "natural-ish" looking beds with river rock, different types of wild ferns that I've dug up, and some hostas as well as Lenten roses. It's coming along. Mr. ES and I also found some tracks that we feel strongly are panther, but that's a subject for another thread. I suppose.

This guy loves dahlias more than anyone!

I used to be a lot more persnickety about the lawn than I am now. As long as the weeds are kept short, and everything is weed-eated, I focus all my attention on flowers/vegetable garden/potted plants, etc. I exclude clover though - I never mow the clover so that the honeybees have it. I just added up all the dahlias I bought that should be arriving in the next 3-4 weeks - 16. I also have about 24 tubers in the garage to put out, but they're mostly dwarf. I also have a bleeding heart to put out, an Empress Wu hosta, and a new variety of coneflower that looks gorgeous. I may have gotten a wee bit carried away...