Gardening as therapy.

Little, tiny, smooth, light greyish, taupish, some a little darker, but there are lots and since they block my pathway and look up at me, better to name them than be afraid. Car parked in outer edge of driveway since a baby lizzie was sun-bathing.
I get no respect for my needs!

Well, I won't be wearing shorts while gardening. If I were able, physically, a nice flowering country english garden would be nice. My husband can barely keep up or help, so we make due. It is nice he prefers to hand garden. After one hour outside, even with insect repellent, I go to bed x 3 days in pain and with bug bites. The no-seeums are the worst.

I have a very pretty yard and gardens done mostly by my hubby, he loves to be outside doing anything over being indoors. I do my best work, picking out the plants I want each spring and setting them right where I want them planted, and enjoy mixing it up each Spring. When we first bought this house 20 years ago, there was grass and not much else, but now, every edge is garden and all around the walkways and patios. It is lovely to sit outside reading and watching things grow, and watching my hubby enjoy his passion! The years are taking the tole on his back however, and we have tried to make the yard a lot less work with a lot of ground cover and perrenials. I bought a Monkey Puzzle Tree, about 8 inches tall and we planted about 5 feet from the fence in our back yard, and now the devil is 12 feet high and gorgeous, however it needs to be moved and I am stumped as to what to do with the darn thing! You would have to wear very protective gear just to get near it, so I am thinking about calling the local Community College Horticulture group to see if they may be interested in taking it from us, as it is my prize, and it is truly beautiful, but it had outgrown the spot it is in, and the Lilacs we planted to give us privacy along that fence have also grown up huge, 20 or so feet, but those also send up shoots as we planned, but they are encompassing the MP Tree's space, oh, it's distressing, as I Love that tree, but it is becoming a Monster! So Gardenartist, what am I to do with it? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Other then that, we have rhubarb, tomatoes, fruit trees, and raspberry bushes, and I love container gardening as well, mainly flowers on the patio, and hanging baskets too! There are great deals out there now on plants for next year, many just need to get into the ground, but after 20 years, we have run out of space! I do appreciate the yard and gardens and love to look at others, as well as looking through magazines and catalogs for next seasons ideas!

Gardenartist, GREAT THREAD IDEA! I love to hear about what everyone else is doing besides caregiving! Not that that isn't important, lol! We don't want the Oldy Moldy's shriveling up inside the house, let's not forget about them, lol! Oh wait, we are the Oldy Moldy's!

Friends and I enjoy The Huntington Library & Gardens in San Marino, CA. Home of the paintings Blue Boy, the Gutenberg Bible, and Japanese gardens. Many of these gardens, museums, etc. have free entrance days once a month.

I'm getting behind on responding to all your interesting and helpful posts. Just a quick one here to Stacey in response to her question on the barbed tree:

Stacey, I've never ever heard of a monkey tree so I had to quickly check it out. It's a lovely evergreen but the thorns are incredible - they must be 3 -4" long!

As I suspected, it's not native to the US, but is to some South American countries. If you were in Washington DC, I'd suggest donating it to one of the South American country embassies since it would be a nice gesture for a tree that would complement their home country's native species.

But I see you're in Washington state, so.... some other suggestions:

1. Are there any arboretums or commercial gardens in your area? We have one at the Cranbrook Institute of Science, Matthaei Botanical Garden, and a Meijer (retail grocery store chain) garden.

A garden like this that charges admission would probably have funds to hire a landscaper to dig up and remove the tree, and they may even have suits of armor or something to protect them from the thorns. I'm sure they've dealt with armored trees before though and would know how to handle them. It might even involve wrapping a thickly padded tree quilt or something like that around the trunk.

2. Do the local libraries have gardens? Same situation except they may not have the funds unless the libraries are in more wealthy neighborhoods.

3. Call local landscapers and see if they want the tree. You might even be able to make an exchange for a tree that you'd like.

4. Last option is to post on Craigs' List, but I had too many unpleasant experiences with too many unsavory characters, so that's always a concern. In addition, I doubt if too many people would want to or know how to safely excavate a tree and protect the roots.

Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm sure I'm missing something - there must be a nice new home for this beautiful tree!

Sendme2help,
It sounds like you haves anoles...the nice looking lizards that have almost disappeared around my area in the last 20+ years. They aren't native here, but I don't know about for your area. Instead we have tons of what look like ancient ugly dinosaurs reduced to lizard size. They aren't smooth but rough, bumpy and gnarly with enlarged heads compared to anoles. They have rough skin with mixed colors that are unattractive. I'd gladly welcome the anoles back!

Please let us know what you name the cat and how your attempts at friendship work out. I hope it doesn't find something in your garden to munch on too much.

staceyb,
Cute doggy! We used to have a monkey puzzle tree, too. It was about 30-35 ft. tall and was pruned so that the prickly branches were trimmed higher than we could reach. We only had to deal with the thorns when a limb fell and thank goodness! We had other tall trees so it wasn't the only tall tree. I have no idea to add to help you get rid of your tree, sorry. At least there are lots of good ideas already.

The rest of your garden sounds interesting and beautiful. I'm glad you get to sit out and enjoy it. I would do that more but we seem to have 2 seasons, summer, summer, summer and winter. One's too hot to be outside and the other's too cold. You have to move fast to catch a nice spring or fall day outside! Whooopps! It's gone!

Coloresue, have not seen the cat, can't believe it's been 4 days since visiting on this thread. Maybe I'll just name it gray. Not too creative with names.

Or you could name it "missing".
Are you sure you'll see it again? Maybe you won't have to name it. I hope it comes back because I believe you would like it to. Then you could name it "Missy" because it misses days. Maybe.

GardenArtist thank you for this thread. It's so interesting to hear what others are doing. I have 2 dogs - Sue, a miniature pinscher x jack russell terrorist, 6, inherited from my mother and Ashy Girl, a black lab, 9, who came from rescue a couple of years ago. I also have four cats - Charles T. Cat, 8, off the street when I lived in the city (head of the Mouse Squad), Pixie, 7, inherited from my mother, Katie, 7, pulled from a horrible situation, and Lucy, 1, found tiny, sick and starving in the middle of a nearby dirt road last year. There's also Ralph, an old goldfish who has been with me for years.

As I'm older with some physical issues, in buying and renovating I've always kept in mind making things easy for me to handle as I get older and creakier. The veggies are coming in well right now and blackberries are fruiting but the raspberries did nothing so out they'll go. Blueberries did nothing either so they're going to a friend who might have a better spot for them.

Yesterday I mowed everywhere and did some weed whacking. The flowers in containers on the deck are pretty much done so need clearing out. All in good time.

Got a call at 5.30 a.m. that my mother, in a NH for almost 3 years, passed away in the night. At close to 90 and failing fast, it was expected. We've never been close so I'm ok with it. I'm her only family and she had no friends. Her Will states she wants to be cremated and her ashes scattered. Just waiting for confirmation that the funeral home has collected her so I can go down and start clearing her room. In the meantime, chicken done baking, pot of tomatoes simmering on the stove and going to play ball with my dogs.

Thank you again so much for this thread. I've much to attend to but I'll catch up with you again soon. Dog Bless you all ♥

Ashlynne,
You must have a great big heart to have taken in so many animals. Some of their stories are heart-breaking. I looked up miniature pinscher & jack russell terrier and tried to imagine what your dog must look like...and got NoWhereFast. I'll keep working on it. I'm a beginner when it comes to dog breeds.

I'm glad you're at peace with your mom passing, I'll be thinking of you in case a touch of sadness bothers you.

You are one busy woman this am, and you've gotten a good start on the day! Today we have our handyman here to do yard work only. That's what we originally hired him for and what he loves the most. I can totally understand that. It just turned out that he can do many other things as well. I hope you have a great day and return to this thread soon.

Ashlynne, I'm so sorry for your loss, even if your mother and you weren't close. Still, it's difficult to lose a parent.

I love the names of your pets, especially the head of the Mouse Squad. I've never heard that before - love it! I'm wondering if the neighbor's cat who visits regularly has appointed herself a Mouse Squad leader for my back yard - she inspects it often enough! Hopefully she won't decide to be a Bird Squad leader - she's already diminished the robin population by one which she caught last year.

Coloresue, I like the name of Missy for SendMe's vagabond cat.

As to everyone else, I've been absent from this thread for a few days and haven't gotten back to respond to your messages or follow up on research I said I would do. I apologize.

Back to gardening, it's now 56 here outside, mid 60's in the house and time to think not only about turning the furnace on but also getting outside work done before the snow comes...which hopefully won't be in September! One never knows though with such changeable weather.

I was thinking this morning how nice it must be for folks who have fireplaces - these are days when it's nice to just sit in front of a fireplace and be warm. Add some hot chocolate and of course chocolate chip cookies and you can enjoy some really relaxing moments.


The goldenrod in the garden has reached its peak and is slowly fading. There are a lot of seed heads which I think I'll plant this autumn - it saves drying them and keeping them inside for a whole winter.

Elsewhere, trees are beginning to turn color, very quickly and just in the last few days. One of the next door maples is showing very tiny bits of red. Some other trees that are early achievers have begun shed golden leaves. As yet the annuals seem to be holding their own, but I think after the few nights of mid 40 degree weather they're going to be scurrying for cover and hiding on the soil.


Thanks again to everyone who's participated on this thread. Don['t give up on me - I'll be back after some pilgrimages to the yard to refresh my spirits.

Coloresue, I like MISSING for a name because that is what it is! It would have to be friendly to find out boy/girl, so just MISSING is perfect for this cat. We could change it later to MESSING if it shows up. Poor thing.

Planted a bouganvilla and the top is already brown and the leaves ars falling off, before I plant the second one. I know they are sensitive to transplanting, but it is not yet fall in socal. Maybe I should not plant the second one, just leave it in the pot to die. They could have a race to see which one will live, or not.

Sendme2help: You get to name it whatever you want! ;o) It sounds like you're worried something has happened to the cat. I hope not. Isn't it normal for cats to roam and not show up for periods of time? Maybe your yard isn't it's normal area to roam in? Maybe you're going to be visited infrequently?

Sendme2help,
I recommend you cancel the race.
Maybe the plant wasn't healthy to begin with. It shouldn't have reacted so badly and I'd plant the other. Don't hesitate to take the plant back and get a refund if it continues to do badly. I assume you don't shake and mangle the root ball when you transplant!
You did mention high temps...maybe transplanting + hi temps = bad reaction in bougainvilla?? Possibly it needed temporary protection from the sun? Just guessing.

Wandering cats...in my experience feral cats do wander. Perhaps they've scouted out the neighborhood to find the yards that have the best free menu options. Or maybe they just want a smorgasbord of choices from different yards. Some cats may be partial to buffets.

A few years ago there were 8 different cats visiting my yard. Most were feral and ran away when I called to them. Some were seen periodically, never on any kind of regular basis, and some were seen only a few times over the summer.

Next year, only a few returned for a visit. Being feral, perhaps they moved on to better mouse pastures down in Detroit.

SendMe, as to your bouganvillea...I'm not familiar with its growth needs but I do know that California has been battling the worst drought in its recorded history. So I'm assuming that soil everywhere has suffered.

There may be some alternatives though.

Coloresue is right - the plant might not have been healthy, or it may have been marginally healthy. I think another highly likely possibility given that the whole country is approaching the end of gardening season is that the plant has been sitting too long at a nursery, its growth has been restricted, and more likely the roots are bound up.

Over 2-3 years I lost a few dozen mums because I didn't realize I need to unbind the root ball. There are a few things you can try:

1. Trim back the browned top growth; it's the farthest from the roots and would be the first to show moisture deprivation. If the plant is already tall, that portion may not be salvageable anyway.

2. Dig the plant up, separate the roots if they're really compacted, and transplant it to a container with ample room for the roots to expand. Move it to a shady area and treat it as if it was a seedling being hardened off.

I call this my plant ICU treatment.

3. Cut back more of the vines and plant them in smaller containers. At least that way you can save some of the plant.

4. Do the same with the other plant. When you remove it, you can easily tell if it's rootbound as the roots will be strangling the entire root ball.

5. I assume you've amended your soil and added compost? If you have any mulch, it wouldn't hurt to add some to the temporary containers to help conserve moisture.

I checked the hardiness zone for bougainvillea - it's 9b. I can't imagine that making much of a difference though unless you're so far north that you're closer to the Oregon border.

Good luck - let us know how it works out - we gardeners have a special fondness for good root systems!

Gardenartist, Thank you so much for the MP tree moving suggestions! I will most definitely check those out! I do hat to loose it, but it Will become a Monster at the rate it is growing now! Funny how it fit in so nicely for the first 7 or so year's, but now is growing about 1-2 feet a year, and then what, it seems to be growing so much faster every year! Gosh, it was only 6 inches or so when I planted it, and knowing nothing about them, and their Not being native to our area, I never expected it to even grow. I should have done something sooner, but I would guess that the Fall is the best time to transplant, or the spring, IDK! THANK AGAIN!

Stacey, just a thought since you like your monkey tree.

1. You could take cuttings and put them in containers. That will limit the root growth, but you'll also have to keep the top growth under control so the tree doesn't produce more branches and leaves that it can't support.

2. You could bonsai it. My aunt and uncle had a small rock garden nursery. Uncle specialized in bonsai-ing plants. They had some really lovely and unique plants.

Fall and spring are both good times to transplant.

Watching the garden activity today, as well as watching the glint of the sun on what flowers still remain is a soothing pastime. The goldenrod remain bright golden but are gradually fading as Fall creeps in. They're a brilliant splash of color in an otherwise partially subdued landscape of foliage.

Leaves on the maple tree next door are already curling up, and seem to be shriveling in size in preparation for their downward flight to a winter resting place.

The sky today is a brilliant copen blue, contrasting nicely with the trees that are still intensely green.

It's a nice day to just sit and watch the leaves and the trees as they're gently tussled about by the winds.

The zucchini are still going - it was a task to handpick bugs and eggs with duct tape, but it paid off. The tomatoes are hanging in there - they were hit with aphids early so the plants aren't as prolific but still fruiting. The okra (burgundy) is doing great - best plants ever. Peppers are still going - poblano and orange mini sweets. I have a fledgling batch of bush peppers I hope will have enough time to finish out. Basil is getting cut this weekend before it starts to lose it's sheen. No apples this year - must've been zapped by frost early. Onions and leeks did well.

For me, gardening is a way to reset my head. Whether it's a good year or off year, it feeds the spirit. There's something hopeful and joyous about seedlings poking out.

BTW, I did "winter sowing" in milk jugs for a couple years - it works great and gets the early plants (spinach, lettuce, etc.) off to an easy start.

I'm intrigued by the variety of tomatoes and peppers that people grow, as well as you how preserve them.

Do you can, freeze, dehydrate?

I've never tried the winter sowing, wondering how well it would work in a Zone 6 that sometimes is a Zone 5 climate.

Linda, do you protect your milk jugs in a cold frame, or with bales of hay, or mulch, or something else?

Does anyone plant cover crops? I've planted buckwheat before but I'm thinking this year I might put some old beans in; they're too hard to boil and use for soup but maybe I can soften them enough that they'll sprout, with a little encouragement from the soil and rain. I'll leave them in place over the winter in lieu of mulch or in addition to mulch.

Any suggestions on beans as a cover crop?

Gardening here is mostly over, my zucchini has succumbed to powdery mildew and the peppers are turning red and need to be picked. I've tried different varieties if bell peppers over the years but I still like good old california wonder as it is always dependable. I liked to chop and freeze for them for winter as I hate to pay the high price for food shipped in from Mexico, plus I know my own haven't been sprayed. I miss my big garden.

I always liked to grow indeterminate tomatoes as they just keep on giving right up to frost, some little cherry/grape types, a few beefsteaks to brag about, a few ordinary garden center types and some romas for canning. And it was fun to try something different like yellow or purple tomatoes too. If you are lazy just toss whole tomatoes in the freezer, the skins will slip off as they thaw and you can toss as many of them as you need into sauces, soups, stews.

Some of the farmers around here plant beans or peas as a cover crop after the wheat is harvested, they must figure it is worthwhile or they wouldn't be doing it!

Tomatoes still coming in like crazy ... stew down and freeze for now. On top of finishing house renos before winter, since my mother passed over the weekend I'm overwhelmed with that stuff too. Shrubs need trimming, carrots and beets need to be pulled but thankfully I mowed the 2 acres last week and it hasn't rained since. We need rain badly - supposed to rain on Saturday. In the meantime I have 7 rain water collection barrels to water the veggies. Flowers in tubs on the deck are done and need clearing out. Supposed to be decent weather into October so there's time yet.

I apologize for not keeping the thread going. In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in seeing some unique floral applications.

According to the garden links from which I found these, they're made of flowers:

My favorites are the knight in shining armor (or should that be in shining flowers), the mother tiger with her babies (extraordinary!), the cow (or is it a steer), and the birds.

Van Gogh in flowers:
The second photo must be based on the famous self-portrait. I'm not sure if the animal is a hedgehog or armadillo (7th photo).

I assume that some of these are intense and dramatic because they're based on Van Gogh's life, and reflect his mental state. They're not anything I'd enjoy seeing on a regular basis, but I do appreciate the artistry.

(When copying the URLs, just delete the spaces, added to prevent automatic deletion of a dot com URL.)

GA, do you feel like a trip to help reclaim my gardens, heck my whole yard! As you probably remember I had a fire at my home just over a year ago. The repairs are nearly complete for my move back a week from now. But now the yard is terrible, three ten-year old maples need to be removed, fescue sod has died out spirea need pruning, karl foresters need dividing and transplanted to areas where they have died and I have about a month where the weather will be somewhat warm enough to get this work done. And then also figuring out where to put things away inside and look for work. I am overwhelmed! HELP!

And GA, this is much more therapy than even I need! :/

Glad, I just wrote a long answer to your post and lost the entire thing! I'll have to start over after some refreshments. Given that it's a bit of a chilly day, I think hot chocolate is on the agenda. Back later, with some ideas but with more consolation than ideas.