Miscellaneous Monday

It's another Monday on the Edge.  It's almost the end of the semester so I'm really busy with my teaching duties.  The final will be next Monday and then - BREAK!  Woo-hoo.  Bet you didn't know teachers looked forward to the end of the semester nearly as much as the students do, did you?

Between the end of the semester busys and the high winds we've been having for the past week I haven't been keeping up with this blog so here's a few tidbits to tide you over until the semester ends and the winds die down so I can get back outside with my camera.

The most disturbing sound ever.  Sorry, I didn't record it but this little thing is the cause of a lot of trouble up here.

It's the caterpillar of the winter moth (Operophtera brumata).  It's a European species that has become a major invasive pest here in New England.  The numbers of these brats are astonishing.  They can defoliate a good sized tree in less than a week (my neighbors beautiful 20 year old weeping cherry.  She noticed the caterpillars on Friday, called a company to come spray the tree and by the time they arrived on Monday it was too late - the tree had no leaves left.  They don't go after most trees this bad but they do a lot of damage).  I found this one on the sidewalk.  Did I mention it's been windy?

I've seen birds with beaks full of these guys, carrying them back to feed nestlings but I guess the caterpillars beat most birds.  We're only now getting Warblers (most of whom eat insects) coming through and it's still early in the nesting season so not too many baby birds to be fed.

The sound?  Oh, yeah.  There are so many of these guys that when I walked back into the woods last week I could HEAR them chewing.  Very disturbing.

Three dollar orchid.  This is the bloom from an orchid I bought at a big box store for $3.  It had quit blooming and was on sale.  The flash washes the color out of bit but if you look at the flower to the left you can see a bit of greenish color.  That's the color of the petals.  Very cool looking.

I noticed that both this Phalenopsis and another one I have blooming seem to have little sparkles on the petals.  I'm not sure what causes this but it's pretty cool looking.  I guess this is the effect they're trying to replicate when they spray glitter onto the bracts of Poinsettias at Christmas.

Not a plant thing but....  The Husband has a cousin who left this 120 gallon fish tank at his parents' house for years and years.  Finally (ok, so it only took asking) we convinced him to let me have it and voila!  Yes, it's dirty and yes the stand is showing some wear and tear but after some work it's a free (well, it cost us about $100 to rent a truck to move the tank -it's four feet by two feet by two feet - and the stand) large tank.  I will put plants in it.  Probably not till next winter, after outdoor gardening season is over for the year.  This will make a nice indoor water garden.

And now for some pretty pictures.  Just because.

Tulip is Tinka (from Brent and Becky) and the shrub is a Blue Mist Fothergilla gardenii

Cute little rabbit under the Epimediums. Excuse the soaker hose.

Remember the conjoined tulip buds?  They formed two normal sized and normal shaped blooms that share a stem.  This is Hollandia and is from Messelaar's

This tulip was advertised as a 55-mph tulip.  I prefer the close up where you can see all the different colors.  This is called El Nino and is from Brent and Becky's Bulbs

This is just a nice red tulip.  I think it's called Cum Laude (unless the purple one is Cum Laude in which case this one is Hollandia.  I didn't label them.  Bad Gardener, no compost!) and it came from Messelaar's (which is just up the road from me.  So much fun to wander in and select my own bulbs.  So easy to go overboard doing it).

I like the detail inside tulip blooms.  Too bad I haven't been able to get inside the purple blooms (did I mention the winds up here, it's very hard to photograph long stemmed flowers in the wind).  The inside of those has blues and greens.  Very neat.

Wish me luck on the final exam.  Writing and grading it, I mean.  I give it next Monday.

Misc. Saturday

Today we have over 6 inches of snow on the ground with more to come.  Winter is well and truly here.  I wish I were elsewhere.

I came up with several short topics to blog about today, none of which is really enough for a whole post (unless I really run on and on) and so I'm lumping them all into one post.  Starting the year off chaotically.  Typical.

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Over the holidays The Husband had over a week off from work so we decided to tackle the basement.  Having always lived in warmer climates I've never had a basement before.  Our was dark, dingy and dusty.  Probably normal for a 60 year old house.  After a week of sweeping, dusting and organizing it's better, not great but better.  What does this have to do with gardening?  Here is my wall storage area where I'm able to hang all my plant support hoops and my hoses.  A nice, tangle free solution.

And here are my shelves.  Notice all the empty pots, there are more on the floor.  Most of the tools are wintering in the garage but I might bring them into the basement for cleaning and sharpening sometime this month ( I don't really need my shovel when there's so much snow on the ground.  Even I don't try and plant in this weather).

And my wonderful indoor potting bench.  Notice that the wall behind the bench is a sunny yellow.  My Brilliant Husband decided that painting the concrete walls would improve the atmosphere in the basement.  What a great idea!  

Now that I have a (relatively) clean and more cheerful basement I'll have to do some of those winter gardening chores like organizing my seeds and planning a planting schedule, taking care of the tools, putting a new coat of poly on our outdoor furniture.  You know, the less fun side of gardening.

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My first Amaryllis is pretty much done blooming.  Now I have to decide what to do with the spent bulbs.  Do I keep them alive and try and get them to bloom again next winter or just compost them and buy new?  I think I'll keep the Amaryllis bulbs but compost the rest.  The Narcissus tazetta was a bit overpowering with fragrance and tulips just don't rebloom well (in fact I'm still waiting for my forced tulips).  I still haven't decided about the hyacinths.

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We went to the big home improvement warehouse to buy shelving, paint and rubber floor tiles for the basement.  I needed a pot, one pot, for a houseplant.  What I found were the post bloom orchids on sale.  I bought this Phalenopsis, with the tattered remnants of two pale blooms for $3.

I also bought three Dendrobium, no idea what color blooms, for $1 each.  I think it's worth trying to get them to rebloom.  I was careful to pick plants that looked healthy, with green leaves, good turgor pressure (the leaves were firm) and no visible pests.  We'll see how they do.  I only spent $6 on four orchids!  Well, and I've ordered orchid pots and a special potting mix for the Dendrobium and...  Even so it's a deal.  Really.

The Big Box stores typically do not take good care of their plants but it's worth checking them out.  If you know what you're doing and shop shortly after the plants come in you can get a great deal.  Or if you have a green thumb and are willing to put the time and effort into bringing back plants past their peak.  If you are a new gardener stay away from them.  I've found perennials that are not hardy for my zone, mislabeled plants, invasive plants and even plants that are banned in the state (with good reasons) for sale.  Beginners are better off at Local Garden Centers with knowledgeable staff.  Between the poor choices at Big Box retailers and the bad designs and advice on HGTV it's no wonder many beginning gardeners give up.  Oops.  Hadn't planned on getting on the soap box.  I'll get off now.

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The Husband and I spent both Christmas Day and New Years Day volunteering at the Aquarium.  (I got to pet one of the Anacondas.)  Afterwards we came home and watched the Mythbusters marathon.  They demonstrated the "trick" to tearing a phone book in half.  We only had two phone books in the house so we took the smaller one.  The Husband tried and failed.  I succeeded.  This has nothing to do with gardening but I TORE A PHONE BOOK IN HALF WITH MY BARE HANDS.  Seriously.  How cool.  

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Happy 2010.  Here's hoping for a good gardening year!