Re: [gardeners]Not obeying orders.....

penny x stamm (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 15 Jun 1998 23:25:44 -0400 

Yes, Kay -- 43 years ago when he was thrown off a ladder and 
had a compression fracture, they put him into a full body cast for
12 weeks. After 10 weeks he got under the car to make a repair and
cracked the cast. Doctor didn't think it was funny at all -- he slapped
another cast on top of the cracked cast, and made him carry that
burden around for the remaining 2 weeks! 

Anyway, I have no intention of having Jim dig my holes for me -- 
first of all, he's not at all ambi-dextrous, and secondly, he's not light
on his feet. In between the storms yesterday,  I had enough time to
plant three big dahlias and a dozen of the last Hawaii Royal blue
ageratum to complete the end of the border. Then the rains started
up once again, darnit. 

Last night, more rain; today, more rain. Tomorrow, more rain. It's
like a husband or a wife: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. 

The soil is loose because that's what Jim had been rototilling to the
point of exhaustion just before he fell. That's a plus. I intend to
plant whatever I can reaching over the border plants into the 2nd row,
without stepping on the wet soil. I can reach from the driveway; I can
reach from the lawn; and I can reach from the two rows of pathway of
17 sq.in. stones within the garden.  Anything further will require my
placing the 1/3rd sheets of plywood down before I step in, so I don't
compact the soil. I'm very slow getting up or down, so the job will take
quite a while. I think my garden sign will say, "Guts Garden". 

Last Friday's monumental rain washed about an inch off the entire bed
into the driveway and down the drain. Until the entire bed is planted, 
soil will have the tendency to wash down and off, so I am making no 
attempt to replenish it. There's only a small incline, but it's just
enuff
to let the soil move.   

Jim's been nagging me for weeks that the shrubbery beds needed
more water, and I've turned a deaf ear because my instincts told me 
they had enough. I even brought out my moisture meter to prove it.
Now that we've been drowned with rain, ALL the shrubbery has grown
a thousand feet high and wide, everything, and I feel as if I'm looking
at time-lapse photography....! 

Yes there are 100's of annuals still to plant. 12", 18", 24" celosias
with
the pointed spires; 12" celosias with the cockscombs; pink cleomes;
36" both yellow and orange marigolds; red salvia and blue; yellow
daisies; ponytails; gomphrenas; New Guinea hybrid impatiens; some
tall dahlias and gladioli -- off the top of my head. There will also be
some
of the mystery Brazilian blood-red 4-5 ft tall plants which at this
moment
are only an inch high in the seedling tray.... and then there are the
snap
dragons which wintered over and are heeled in, in the veggie garden. Oh,
yes, there are asters. 

Lotta work. Please may tbe skies clear!

Penny, NY zone 6- - 4 weeks late with the planting....  



_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]