Author: Lilac

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The Banana Slug lives in Heaven

 

There are readers of TheGardenLady blog who tell me that “shh, it is a secret”: but they have found Heaven and it is in California. From looking at the photos below, I think they are correct.

The other weekend these Heaven-dwellers hiked to a favorite spot in the Redwood forest where they not only got to see their favorite slug- the banana slug.  The Pacific banana slug is the second-largest species of terrestrial slug in the world, growing up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long.  Banana slugs can move at 61⁄2 inches (17 cm) per minute. But they also got to see their favorite salamanders.

Do TheGardenLady readers agree that these Californians may have found the door to Heaven?

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Raising chickens in your backyard

Our Chicken Coop by furtwangl

A very popular trend today is raising chickens in one’s back yard. Lots of people like the idea of having chickens in the yard because they eat insects and can help rid the lawn of ticks. When you raise just a few chickens, they can become pets. And think of the wonderful fresh eggs one gets from the hens. Some of the chickens even hatch Easter egg colored eggs.

When I was a child, every spring my parents would get a big box of baby chicks from the chicken hatchery. I loved the fluffy yellow babies that chirped in the box- we kept them in the house for warmth; but once the chicks started shedding their yellow down and started getting feathers, I must confess to losing interest in playing with them. Not all the animals on the farm are considered playthings. But a cousin who raises a few chicks on her property in Maine says her chickens have grown up and are family pets.

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Honey Bee Troubles!

Bees are in Trouble! by Richard Elzey

TheGardenLady just read the most recent articles on the death of the honey bees and other bees. (see here) The death of bees has been a concern for a number of years now, but the most recent articles are saying that this year is the worst ever – that beekeepers are seeing death rates of up to 50% of their honeybees.

TheGardenLady wrote about the frightening loss of Monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico this year. So TheGardenLady is writing this column  to beg readers PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT use pesticides in your gardens or on your grounds this year. And please spread this advice to everyone you know. Get your kids to talk about what is happening. Make it a local issue that will grow into a national issue and finally into an international issue.

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Macy’s 2013 Flower Show

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This week TheGardenLady went to Macy Department Store’s annual flower show in Manhattan, NY. This year the theme is The Painted Garden.

Because Macy’s is doing renovation work in the store, this year like last year, they had the main part of the flower show in a tent behind the store. The tent is set up on Herald Square.  Luckily when I visited, the line was very short going into the tent so that when I got into the tent that was filled with flowers, I was able to get close enough to see the displays without much difficulty.

The photos on this post could be taken without too many people obstructing the view. I cannot imagine what it is like if the line of people were longer. There are so many flowers in the tent, there is barely room for people to walk around. And I was lucky when I looked at the decorated windows because there were not too many people surrounding them.  I was able to get close to every window display. Unfortunately the glare on the windows made it difficult to take photos of all of  these window displays.

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Gardens to see spring bulbs in bloom

MARCH BANK WINTERTHUR by PHOTOPHANATIC1

It is still a little too early for many spring bulbs to be blooming in TheGardenLady’s garden. In a few more days, flowers will seriously start showing off. The buds on my daffodils are ready to open- one already did.  I can see some hyacinths forcing their flowers out of the leaf bases. One gets a little impatient waiting.

If you enjoy seeing masses of spring bulbs in bloom outdoors, there are wonderful gardens that one can visit.

Winterthur in Deleware is a wonderful place to see early spring bulbs in bloom. This is the week is when their March Bank is especially lovely. What they refer to as the March Bank is the oldest surviving garden area at Winterthur. H.F. DuPont, the owner of the estate, began naturalizing daffodils on this rolling hill in the early 1900s and “by the 1940s had planted thousands of snowdrops, snowflakes, crocus, squills, and glory-of-the-snow.”

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Gardening Videos

Botanic Garden by jonnyphoto

 

I love the internet. There is so much free advice to find on it. Just in gardening alone, there are so many excellent free gardening videos. If you have the time to view them, check out.

The BBC gardening series is outstanding.

The Telegraph in the United Kingdom has some excellent gardening videos.

Another source of excellent videos on gardening is this.

More sources for excellent garden videos are these:

Gardening video tips.

Gardening videos from Canada

A commercial site.

If you, dear reader, have a garden video website you would like to recommend, please let TheGardenLady know about it.

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Happy International Day of Happiness

monarch on asclepias, 7 Aug 2012 by mmwm

Today is the International Day of Happiness. The UN designation of The International Day of Happiness is for Wed., March 20th, which is also the first day of spring this year. Let us celebrate !!!! (see here)

What can make one happier than planning your garden if you are in areas where it is still too cold to plant and to be working in your garden if you live in areas warm enough to plant?

On this International Day of Happiness think about how happy you will be when the flowers you love will be blooming in your garden.  Flowers that bring joy not only to you, your family and friends, but your neighbors and people who walk and drive by your yard as well as the insects, birds and animals that survive because of you. Today bring out those catalogs and check off your list all the flowering plants you will grow in your garden this summer.

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Organic Fertilizers

sup’r green chicken manure by cafemama

TheGardenLady has always preferred organic, so it gives me great pleasure to see the growing interest in organic horticulture.

I learned not to trust products that were synthetic from my father who hated using synthetic chemicals on his farm. Everything he used had to be natural. Fertilizers came from aged horse, cow and chicken manure. Bugs were handpicked from the plants. It was my job to pick off the yellow/orange eggs, the larve and any adult potato beetles. Mostly I squashed them. I also picked off the Japanese beetles and dropped them into a container of soapy water that killed them. Thinking back, these were mainly the two major pests on our plants. My father was fearful of chemical pesticides and today I am so grateful that he was.

Then I married a chemist.

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Going Organic

organic spring flowers by digiyesica

Flower U-Pick by Suzies Farm

Are you into Organic living in a big way? Or are you interested in getting started going over to an organic lifestyle? Or are you concerned about the environment’s health?  Or are you concerned about your own health and so you want to be more organic? Whatever your reasons for wanting organic, there are now many gardening sources where you can buy items that say they are organic.

What does organic mean? Well, let us look at the definition of organic farming:

“Organic farming can be defined by the proactive, ecological management strategies that maintain and enhance soil fertility, prevent soil erosion, promote and enhance biological diversity, and minimize risk to human and animal health and natural resources.” (see here)

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March 2013 Flower Shows

flower like chocolate by anjan58

March is big month to attend Flower Shows around the United States. These shows are a wonderful way to banish the grey or cold days before you can get in your own garden to start working or to get ideas for your own gardens. Even if you have no outdoor space to garden, it is a great place to see the newest flowers or get some plant related ideas that you can use indoors.  Garden shows are fun for all ages,  kids too. Many shows have special exhibits just for the children. (PS The shopping is fun, too.)

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