Re: [gardeners] Our beautiful October garden
Ron Hay (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 16 Oct 2001 07:33:37 -0700
Hello, again, Penny,
It must have been a case of sleepy early morning eyes, thinking you were
in So Cal.
The weather here has been a regular roller coaster, this week. Mid to
upper 90s during the day; low 60s at night. Shorts and t shirt in the
garden; flannel nighties at night, with a damp ocean breeze.
Speaking of pelargoniums, I need to whack ours back: they have
completely overgrown the garden path on the east side of the house. Once
again, I will try potting up cuttings. This time, I think I will just
put them in some garden soil in pots, water them about 2x a week, and
otherwise ignore them. Last year, when I took every precaution to pot
the cuttings "properly," using perlite, sand mixed into the soil, and a
bit of peat moss, after taking cuttings with a sterilized xacto knife,
not a one of them took. The ones I broke off from a huge plant at the
back of our yard, nearly choking the blood orange, broken, mind you,
purely by accident while feeding the tree, I stuck in the ground, in
haste, along the east side of our garage, and voila, 3' plants this
year...and six of them!!! I guess I will just snap off some more from
our geranium jungle and just plunk some of them in bare spots around the
yard.
I really don't know what to tell you about the passion fruit. Trying
half and half can't hurt. Some of the ones we salvaged from a massive
whacking back of our vine are actually ripening, so maybe there is hope.
This year, we must, absolutely must, go up on the roof to remove the
vine from the shingles, as it has climbed up from our gutters, right up
to the roof ridge beam, engulfing our chimney. Not good, but it has kept
us cool. Here's hoping it has not done a number on our roof!
A question: Orthenex has proved only marginally successful in beating
back the white fly on our hibiscus. I wonder if a systemic is the way to
go. What do you think?
As for firebugs of the juvenile persuasion, if caught, their parents are
liable for the cost of fighting the fires....and that is extremely
costly. But for the adult miscreants, I fear there is little recourse to
recover losses. Ah, well!
Enjoy the occasional warmth of your garden and the sight of the leaves
as they turn.
Ron