Theme post: Cheap Gadget I had to Buy

Today is a theme post called 'Cheap Gadgets I had to Buy'.

Please check out my other two blogs to see what cheap gadgets I bought for the house and kitchen.
These are called 'watering cones'. You attach a 1 or 2 liter plastic bottle filled with water to the 'watering cone' and it is suppose to slowly water the 'root zone' of your plant. I thought these would be great for fertilizing my tomato plants. I use fish emulsion which you mix with water and then pour onto the soil around your plant. As you might guess, it's not the best smelling solution, but given the choice I would rather smell composted manure than fish emulsion. But nothing works better than fish emulsion and an added bonus is that it is a non chemical organic fertilizer.

The price was $3.99 for 6 'watering cones' and I purchased 2 packages. Why did they name them 'watering cones'? I think 'watering spikes' make more sense. I bet I know. Look closely at the bottom left corner.I think they felt 'spikes' sounded too dangerous. And of course one cannot be too cautious so they added yet another warning on the back.
Wear safety goggles when setting up the product? And notice not just any goggles but ANSI goggles. And if that is not enough warnings to scare you off they add that last little line...SAVE THESE WARNINGS.

So far none of those warnings scare me. Goggles, well if I must, I'll throw on a pair of cheap sunglasses. SAVE THESE WARNINGS??? Yea right, I'll add it to all the mattress tags I've ripped off.

What I find REAL SCARY is MADE IN CHINA. I wonder what poisonous materials these 'watering cones' are made out of????? Malamine or maybe lead?

Time for Spring

Time is the theme of my three blogs today.

It is time for spring. This winter has been brutal. So looking forward to tulips and daffodils.

If you live in the eastern time zone do not forget to 'spring ahead'. I prefer to 'fall back' rather than 'spring ahead'. 'Spring ahead' sounds like too much work. 'Fall back' sounds like gravity is doing all the work and you are just along for the ride.

The actual time for the start of daylight saving time is 2am March 8th 2009. Also don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors and programmable thermostats.

Personally I wish they would leave the time allow. Here in the Midwest we have 2 time zones and with some states not fully participating in daylight saving time. In the state of Indiana certain areas have daylight saving time and some do not. This makes traveling to a race and arriving on time very difficult.

Daylight savings time has destroyed the drive in movie theater industry. We still have several in this area and R and I try to go once a summer. Every time we go the drive in it is packed. People set up lawn chairs, some picnic, kids have sparklers, and of course there is always someone with a few illegal fireworks (surprisingly not R!!).

Back in the day...R and I could sit through both movies. Now it is 1 movie and afterwards one of us usually has to ask the other how the movie ended because one of us was asleep for the ending. But if they had not enacted daylight savings time I can guarantee you that we both would see the ending. Of course making it through a second movie without falling asleep is not going to happen no matter what they do to the time.

It the mean time until spring arrives I look at photos in books of plants, gardens, and garden ideas.

Here's my latest garden book acquisition.

Mountain Laurel and a new book

Last summer while looking at a nursery catalog my eye caught the Mountain Laurel. It was love at first sight. So this summer I hope to plant several varieties. I particularly like this one.
I have no idea the name but it seems to be the most prevalent one offered. I know they also offer a pink with darker highlights. I think one of each will be a nice addition to 'The Gear's' landscape.

On the book front. I purchased the book, Shrubs and Vines by Donald Wyman. A large book at 598 pages but unfortunately none of the photos are in color. Seems like such a waste not to have at least some of the photos in color.This warm weather......38 degrees....has got me wanting to get out in the garden, but I know this is just a tease and unfortunately it will snow again.

Today's Theme is Owosso Michigan

Not only does Owosso Michigan manufacture my favorite patio furniture (Woodard) but it is home to several antique shops. It was at one of those shops that I purchased a small flower vase with matching frog made of black amethyst. I already own several larger black amethyst vases but this is just perfect for small roses on thin stems that will not hold up the heavy flower. The smaller piece with the holes is the frog and it sits on top of the vase. Some frogs sit in the bottom of the vase and are not seen unless the vase is clear. You see clear round glass frogs all the time at garage sales. They usually sell for less than $5.00. They are handy for holding the stems in place so that you can arrange long stemmed flowers in a tall vase.Black amethyst glass appears to be black until it is held to a bright light in which it shows purple. R didn't have to ask me why they call it black amethyst because he has been to enough antique shops to know......but that didn't stop him from asking me "Why do they call it a frog? It doesn't look like a frog to me." Damn him. Just a minute while I look that up.....I'm back. Seems the guy who wrote this article doesn't exactly know the answer but has some interesting frog facts. Just a minute while I look some more....OK, well it seems that no one knows for sure but they guess that it is because the frogs (flower holders) usually sit in the bottom of a vase in water much like a frog sits on a lily pad in the water. R says "that's doesn't make any sense."

Check out my other blogs for today's Owosso related posts.

Hostas and Hydrangeas

The hosta beds are coming along nicely and I think this coming year will really show us what the beds will look like when all the hostas mature.The roses were doing so well until the Japanese beetles had a field day with some of them. The Knock Out roses and the Purple Carpet roses were not tasty enough for the beetles and were for the most part left alone.

Last year we put down granules to kill the grubs and I would guess that our Japanese beetle population was cut in half. So maybe if we repeat this procedure for the next couple of years we can rid ourselves of this nasty pest.

The beetles also hit our plum trees pretty hard but did not touch the Asian pear trees. We had an abundance of Asian pears (20th Century variety). These pears were the absolute juiciest pears I have ever tasted.

We planted about 23 different heirloom tomato plants. Holy cow. They grew and grew and grew. Lots of tomatoes but some never ripened or we just had an abundance of foliage and only a few tomatoes. We narrowed down the varieties we are going to plant this spring. We have decided on Brandy Wine, Half Moon China, Great White, Amish Paste, Lemon Boy, Golden Boy, Orange Oxheart, Russian Prince, Sweet 100's, and Rose de Borne.
We also planted several new varieties of hydrangeas. I was really surprised with the 2 red hydrangeas I received free from Bordine's Nursery the year before. They were only 6 inches tall and I thought these will never survive so I planted them behind some other plants. I was weeding and when I lifted a low branch this is what I saw....I transplanted them last fall. They had doubled in size from the year before so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they make it through this nasty winter. The only good thing I can say about this winter so far is that there hasn't been any of those plant killing thaw and freeze cycles. It's just been one constant FREEZE!!!!

Roses

I love roses, but sometimes they can be disappointing and nothing like the photo on the little attached tag. I purchased 8 Midnight Blue rose bushes two years ago and they have not grown an inch and have produced very few blooms. The blooms that did blossom were very fragrant and a deep dark purple but the bushes are very small and misshapen.

On the other hand, my Knock Out roses are doing great. I can't complain one bit...well maybe a little.....they just seem to be lacking in the olfactory department.

Here are a some photos of the roses currently blooming in my yard.

Midnight Blue Rose


Blue Girl (I think)


Gourmet Popcorn...a rose bush that has very small sprays of roses. Great for using as filler in your flower arrangements.

The next two photos are both red Carpet Roses

The next two photos are Purple Carpet......look at the thorns in the second photo. The leaves are dull and very corrugated not the usual shiny dark green. This rose is also very fragrant.

Louise Oldier or Odlier. Very fragrant.

Don Juan climbing rose

Unknown pink climbing rose. Very fragrant, hardy, fast grower, and lots and lots of blooms.

Last but not least...the free miniature rose that I received last year from Bordine's Nursery for being a VIG cardholder (very important gardener....don't be impressed.......anyone can say...."give me a VIG card!!") Notice all the oxalis growing around my rose bush. It's everywhere.

So there you have it, all the roses currently in bloom at 'The Gear'. Joseph's Coat and a sorbet rose should bloom start blooming this weekend.

The theme is magazines

Today's theme is magazines. Most of my magazines fall into three categories. Those areas being home/house, garden or plant, and cooking/eating.

Some of my home/house publications also cover gardening. Martha Stewart's Living is such a magazine. If you really do not enjoy spending money on magazines and wish to limit your magazine intake to a handful, I would suggest Martha Stewart Living. I have never received an ill conceived issue. The photos are spectacular. Last month's issue had photo of Martha's peonies. I now have peony envy. We have planted six or seven bushes at 'The Gear' and hope to add to them along the way. We feel that peonies are age appropriate for our home.

Horticulture is another favorite of mine. This magazine leans more towards the botanical but not completely so. All that botany I took in college has finally paid off. I can pick a tetraploid at 10 paces.

For those living in the Midwest, Midwest Living always has a garden article that focuses on the Midwest's specific gardening needs.