INTERESTING TIMES

 I keep planting things in the yard and then forgetting what they are, so I need to take notes somewhere.  This seems like as good a place as any.  

BEAR'S BREECHES
In the front of our yard, facing the road, is an area that has long been overtaken by bear's breeches (Acanthus mollis).  It was pretty enough with its large glossy dark green leaves and spires of purple & white flowers...but it took over the entire bed and wanted to keep expanding its territory.  I was done with it.  I wanted to plant crape myrtles.  W dug up the bear's breeches last fall, but this year it has been coming back with a vengeance.  I go to the front and dig out more roots every 3 days.  A one-inch chopped-off piece of root will continue to send out leaves for...a long time.  Now when I plant something new I dig up the entire area and sort through the soil, finding every chunk of bear's breeches root and throwing it in a pile.  But there are many places where the roots are still under there, and the leaves keep coming up.  I hope to have that plant eliminated from this bed by next year.  It has become clear what a big job that is.

CRAPE MYRTLES
The two we planted are going to be 20 foot trees, but for now they are not even waist high.  I believe they are the Natchez variety, white flowering in late summer, leaves turning orange-red in the fall.  I planted them because I want the muscular trunks to frame my view from the front porch.  I have seen gorgeous crape myrtles in botanical gardens and arboretums.  I've been studying on what to do on youtube--going to go out and cut a couple of crossed limbs and eliminate suckers when I finish this post!

DIANTHUS
(Vivace rustique?) I just planted a pink dianthus in that front bed.  I planted one a couple years ago and W moved it or maybe weeded it out...if he doesn't know what a plant is, he is mean to it.  Anyway I'm hoping that this will bloom soon as it is covered in buds.

GROUND COVER
A month ago I planted a couple of plants that are supposed to cover a lot of ground and I have no idea what they are called now.  I also planted a maroon-leafed composite that is blooming now with chocolatey flowers.  Wish I knew what these things are.

ROSES
The pale pink rose by the front walk is going HUGE right now, blooming harder than I have ever seen.  All the other roses on the property are looking exuberant as well.  I'm not wild about any of our roses because none of them have great aromas.  I like roses for their smell more than anything.

FOOD
We're eating spinach and asparagus from the garden.
Lots of other greens are on the way.
The green beans germinated well and are growing fast.
The broccoli and peppers and tomatoes are growing nicely.
The blueberries are forming up.
The raspberries are flowering and are covered in bees.
The fig tree (2nd season) has figs all over it.
I just potted a basil plant in a large pot---last year they were up-and-dying in the garden soil so I will keep it in this pot for now.

PEAR TREE GONE
W took out the pear tree last fall and we have not planted another fruit tree in its place.  We'd like an apple tree but basically it doesn't matter how much I study up on it, W will not believe me nor will he go with my choices, so he has to do it himself.  Of course, if I go out and buy something he will plant it, he just won't let me tell him what to buy.

MY LITTLE HERB BED
All I have in there is peppermint, thyme, calendula, and digitalis/foxglove.  The foxglove just started to bloom.  The mint is spreading underneath all the other plants and will have to be trimmed back down to size soon.  Scattered around in other places I have a purple sage and a rosemary, and the oregano is mixed into the grass.  The parsley has bolted and W planted stuff all around it.

I found an awesome tree key online. Here: http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/tree-key/simple-leaf-trees.htm This one is only good for trees with "simple" leaves, meaning that they are not compound, or rather, that only one leaflet is on the leaf stem. Some trees like walnuts and ashes have many leaves extending from the leaf stem.

More than you wanted to know--unless you are into knowing about trees. =-]

Just because
you can eat it,
doesn't mean it's food
--Paul Bergner

Pretty interesting overview of the newest attack here on Natural News: FDA's scheme to outlaw nearly all nutritional supplements created after 1994 would destroy millions of jobs and devastate economy. In the new proposed rules synthetic nutrients are exempted. The target of administrative control appears to be animal and plant-derived supplements. Botanicals. There are many health practitioners who prefer to use natural products as opposed to chemically synthesized ones. But the FDA wants to put us under. It's too dangerous to eat plants and animals; the content is not standardizable. We don't really know what's in there.

More here. You can make noise there too by signing the petition if you care.

And I did not know this, but the FDA has already banned the P5P form of vitamin B6---which some people cannot manufacture on their own and must get from their diet. They're basically trying to trap us into purchasing pharmaceuticals when relatively inexpensive natural alternatives exist. Because some people need to take top quality B6 for life (because of inherited metabolic handicaps), they see a market, just like any drug they can get you to buy for life. It's much more profitable for pharmaceutical corporations to make drugs that you need forever more.

It's time to start gardening, folks. They can't keep us from eating the weeds that grow by our house.

A schoolmate just dropped off 17 potted plants that are to stay with me for the summer. He is going to Minnesota to stay with his girlfriend and then to a Buddhist retreat, and returning to Portland in time for school in September. I volunteered for plant duty; I love plants and did not especially want to go buy anymore...though I did buy a basil plant for a dollar at the coop the other day. I think he was happy to find a good summer home for his babies. They have just been drenched in cold water and are rejoicing in the bright sun of my porch.
( D's plants, a list: )

SPOROTRICHOSIS

These notes are with regard to a case I know of a woman who was bitten in her hands by a cat and 8 years later still has inflammation in the bitten knuckles. Most people acquire this infection via a small wound from a single thorn stick (rose gardeners), not direct innoculation into a joint. But this is what I think is going on, and why.
( more )