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Joe's supposed to be supervising. Methinks he's enjoying the day too much to care. It make's no difference to Joe iffin he sees his shadow. There's no folklore associated with him.

Shhhh, he's zoning.....

Michael,

I've been digging for a couple of weeks.
We have had some wonderful 70+ degree days.

Went to a garden club meeting Thursday and heard a new quote (for me, anyway) that I love.

"It's not a green thumb that makes plants grow...it's the dirty fingernails."

Planted potatoes Friday a new way...inside of a tire (without rim).
As the green comes to the surface, put on another rimless tire, add mulch, leaves, etc.
Repeat this process until you have 3-4 tires when it's time to harvest.
Then, just take off one tire at a time and harvest what you need.

This is a wonderful way to grow potatoes if your space is limited.
A friend did this last year and harvested 40+ pounds from each 'tire bed.'

(If anyone tries this, be sure to drill holes in the tires to let the water drain that will get inside the tire.)

Those tires will add a lovely ambiance to the yard, methinks.

Actually, if I had a supply of tires I would be doing the same thing.

By the way, when is the Mullet Toss this year? Lulu's is still up and running, I hope.

Yes, Lulu's is still up and running.
Repairs are finished from Ivan and Katrina.

Here is this year's info on the Mullet Toss held at Florabama.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mullet Toss

Rubber tires are mild compared to some of my landscape/garden designs.

The link below is of my garden mentor.

Here is a link that might be useful: Felder

I'm in awe of Felder. I recognize sheer bloody genius when I see it.....

Yelp. I like Felder's attitude.

MSU? Got two brother's whom graduated from there. Both engineers. Iffin you think doctors and lawyers are arrogant....

PPPPPPPSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST

What Pam said. It has dropped 20 degrees since this morning. From 30.

Just planted a russet potato in the corner of the orphan's bed. Will use a variation on the tire method. Will make judicious use of the spare plywood and 2 by 2's I have going unused at the moment. Just drew up the plans a moment a go. OK, so the plans are dredged from memory and from some old gardening book or other that resides there.

It's 5:31 and twilight is just about to start. The day is noticeably longer. 'Bout a thousand or so blackbirds are taking roost in the backyard. They are making a lovely racket.

It's been a perfectly lovely day. Anyone interested in sniffin' honest dirt, why I could send a small baggy filled with said honest dirt to those who are in the throws of withdrawal. For a small fee, of course.

Got throat problems, Pam?

8D

Got to mid-70s today.
Was home alone...ahhh, so nice and quiet for a change.

Planted six flats of pansies and six flats of snapdragons.

Trimmed the lirope down one side of my front walk while talking with a special friend on the phone.
Sure made the task much nicer.

Didn't come in until about 7:30...was able to work by security light and front yard light.
So nice out today.

Michael,
Felder has made a fortune on being 'unique' and doing his own thing.
He is sure bloody genius.

I have been fortunate to hear him speak on several occasions.

A couple years ago, I went to a MG Conference where he was key speaker for the afternoon.
I was under-the-weather that morning and the hostess for the conference put me in a quiet, out of the way place.
Low-and-behold Felder walks in.
Very friendly gentleman.
I found it didn't take much for him to start a conversation but it probably didn't hurt that I had on a sweater with pink flamingos on it. LOL.

We had a nice long chat with him explaning to me the difference between 'real' plastic pink flamingos and 'bootleg' plastic pink flamingos.

When it came time for him to leave to give his speech, he presented me with his book "Passalong Plants" having signed it with the message, "Wanda, Have FUN in the garden. The rules STINK. Felder"

I have always been one to 'color outside the lines' but since then, I haven't given a flip about gardening/designing rules and have done whatever makes me happy...pink plastic flamingos, potato tire towers, and blue glass bottle trees. : )

It sure is nice to steal a couple of days from winter, and not have to leave home to do it.....

No i have dirt envy problems. Actually ive been winter sowing some seed this weekend and stopped and just spent a moment sniffing the soil. Pure bliss........

DH and I have opposing views on gardening, most of which I ignore and just go ahead to do my thing my way in my garden. However, he pitched such a fit when I wanted to use some treadbare tires for the potatoes, that I gave in and didn't plant them in my garden. I also never mentioned that I did use 3 in a friend's garden for her potatoes. We planted tall marigolds around the tread side, and I don't think anyone not in the know realized what was behind the flowers. I just may go hunt for some tires for this year's garden.

Elia, don't forget to plant marigolds among the taters, they help keep the bugs away.

I reveled in the smell yesterday too. I have Irises at my new house. MMM, dirt!

Two beautiful days this weekend & I was out in the veggie garden planting cool season seeds. Michael, I hear you about the blackbirds. When I took trhe dog out this morning there was a flock of hundreds of them noisily swooping about over & among the tree tops. I just stood tehre for a moment watching them.

You folks in the warmer climes are killin' me! LOL. -20 here this morning, -34 with the wind chills.

It's OK, Dirty, I'll extend my (frozen) hand to you. We're subzero with a wind chill factor too... and can you believe it, we have more &*@#-ing snow in the forecast today and later this week. Don't feel bad about it though. Just practice your denial skills, and share their joys vicariously. Eventually, we too will thaw. They always go first, so the longer they go on and on about it, the closer we get. ;o) Encourage them!

As for denial skills, I went to a garden show this weekend. I bought some herbs to stick in the Wardian case I keep some of my orchids in... when it gets bad, I just go sit next to the grow lights and smell stuff. I've got a baby key lime plant tucked in there too. Maybe someday it'll get as big as my Meyer lemon... That plant is big enough it should be blooming soon... my neighbor also does citrus and regularly gets lemons and limes. I'm thinking next time she gets a flush of blossoms, I'm going to have my plant sleep over for a week or so to pick up some pheromones. I don't know if that's how it works or not, but I'm awaiting my plant's puberty as impatiently as I awaited my own.

I think it's time to plan my garden too. I have a whole new bed to play with. Full sun, 3' x 60' on the edge of my driveway. My neighbors have a retaining wall adjacent, so I promised not to grow against it (though I'm tempted into tricking their girls to want pumpkins, which we'd plant in my dirt, but make wander all over their expanse of empty lava rocks at the top of their wall... we'll see if I can get them to think of it).

I'm actually envisioning doing something with a touch of formality... like planting thyme and chard and kale and lettuces and such in rows and knots and funky little patterns. Maybe I could get Steve interested enough in the patterns that he'll stop pruning our bushes into (@*#& marshmallows every time I turn my back!

It's about time to order my seeds. I promised myself I wouldn't order so many this year... that I'd buy established plants at the Farmer's Market like a sane person and avoid the mess. But who can resist just a few. Plus, I bought a really cool coleus at the garden show and plan to dismantle it for a mess of cuttings. I'll have a tray full of 'em in no time!

Wanda, I have Passalong Plants and have read and re-read it. I love the tone and philosophy. I wonder if I could get away with the tire set-up on the side of my house if I planted some sunflowers between it and the street to screen. It wouldn't block the sun any...

Just spent this year's seed money on five different varieties of banana plants, three different types of elephant ears, and two different types of passiflora, and a dwarf bird of paradise.

The tropics are gonna be restored to my backyard.....

Y'all really got to quit recommending books. Between books, banana, boats and such I'm going broke....

If I just had a jackhammer I could dig in the dirt too.

Gandle ~ Jackhammers are awfully hard on the hands and wrists. Maybe you better wait for spring. Of course, If you've got some potting soil that isn't frozen, you could play with winter sowing...

Having lived in LA (lower Alabama) all but a year of my life in central IL, I don't have a clue what people living in cold climates have to endure.

During a wonderful walk down Memory Lane with Mr. Man's grandmother, she told about her brother passing during the hardest winter they had had in 20 years.
They had to store his body in the barn until the earth thawed enough for his burial.

gandle,
Gather up your piles of colorful gardening magazines, get your favorite mug and sip a cup of hot tea, put a fresh log on the fire, and start dreaming of your wonderful Spring garden.
It'll be here before you know it.

My heart goes out to all of you north of the Mason-Dixon line, and maybe those living right along it too. You've been having a miserable winter. As Wanda says the seed catalogs & gardening magazines are your only solace. Don't lose hope. Spring will come - just later this year than in the past few.

Jaz,
That book is a fun read.

Have you ever seen any pics of his 'truck crop'?

His philosophy is gardening is too hoity-toity.
A garden can be grown anywhere.
So, he has an old pickup truck that he grows a garden in year-around.
When his speaking engagements are close enough, he drives this old truck.

Give the tire planter a shot.
You can always paint the tires. LOL

Sorry.
Hit submit before I meant to.

Jaz,
I dare ya.
I double-dog dare ya.

And, we wanna see pics.

Hey, I once had an old car that died but was frozen behind tall banks of snow and couldn't be towed away until summer. So I used it as a make-shift greenhouse. Best maters and peppers I've ever grown. Does that make me a redneck?

LOL, that makes you a genius, Dirty Fingernails! josh

That's colorin' outside the lines.

I like it....

That's ultimate recycling.

Now, get some bright colored paint and really 'color outside the lines.'

Paint some sunflowers on it, vines growing in and out the windows, ladybugs crawling around...ooohhh, maybe Mr. Man will let me have the '68 Chevelle he's been planning on rebuilding since he bought it in 1971.

Elia, where did you find your new Elephant Ears? I usually stick with Plant Delights and the new varieties have me drooling but are so expensive. Likewise the new Cannas.

It's funny - back in the sixties when I started gardening these two plants were definitely out of fashion and never available at nurseries. Had to seek them out from a couple of "older ladies" my Mom knew. I gardened for my own pleasure and rarely chatted with other gardeners. Fast forward to 1996 when I joined GW and "met" a fellow Cycad grower (rather rare at that time) I felt so up-to-date...grin But on further chatting, we found we both grew Cannas and Elephant Ears. It's been fun to see them re-emerge as hot new gotta-haves. josh

I found the elephant ears on ebay. It's easier to find the rarer species on line. Stokes Tropicals out of Lousiana is where I usually get my rarer banana plants. The hurricane put them temporarily out of business but they have been back in business for about a year now.

Thanks, Elia. Prices seem way below Plant Delights but Stokes has a rather uneven rating at Garden Watchdog, so I hadn't considered them. I think I might give them a try when I cull down my cart at PDN. Even small bulbs of Colocasia will be interesting to watch grow. josh

The weather gods are sweet. Last weekend was ever so nice. During the week, however, we had a couple of nights where the low was 20 degrees and the wind chill didn't play nice either. A couple of days where it didn't get above freezing.

But this weekend is shaping up to be ever so nice too. Todays high will be 62 degrees with mixed sunshine. I could say mixed clouds but today I am an optimist. Tomorrow will be warmish, too, but with clouds and maybe some rain. At this time of the year I don't complain much when it's cloudy or raining as long as the temps are pleasant. And 60 degree temps are a pleasure....

So, there will be digging in the dirt today. I have a few spare windows that I have been saving and methinks I will construct a cold frame for the orphan's bed. But it will be more like a miniature green house.

Most importantly, I am outside again today.

OK elia, Now you have done it....or have i? I kept thinking about the heavenly smell of fresh dirt. S...o...o..o i went out and got a shovel,dug up a spadeful of dirt and proceeded to smell away. Up drives DD. "Mom, what are you planting?" Says i,i'm not. i'm smelling dirt.
I expect to be in a nursing home by Monday.LOL
It did smell good and DD knows what a nut i am about gardening.

Oakleif...LOL...that's the way to chase those winter gremlins away...good for you. josh