Holland Bulb Farms is having their November Clearance now through Monday, November 9. Selected bulbs are 50-85% off.

I got mine! *happy dance*

My blueberry bush is finally fruiting and a lot of the berries are getting big and dark.

How do I know when the berries are ripe enough for the picking? So far I've had one berry fall off into the pot and I ate that one and it tasted great.

I've been saying all year that this was the best year for peppers ever, at least here in zone 6. Novemeber 5, and we've had a few light touches of frost, and I'm still picking peppers. And now the fall broccioli is really starting to come into its own. I continue to be fanatically loyal to DiCicco.

Just parcelling up the freebie bookmarks that a friendly bookcrosser has said she will put in her wild released books for me for a bit more advertising.



Yay!

Hello everyone.

I have a few questions about my orchid. I did check the tags and nothing helped.

About six weeks ago I bought a beautiful orchid plant from Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market (grocery store). I saw it and had to have it. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to care for it and the poor thing died.

The plant was potted in moss. Instructions were to water it every 14-21 days/if the moss felt dry and make sure it receives plenty of sunlight. I think we watered it four times during its life (the moss did feel dry) and it lived on our dining room table which got plenty of sun.

About three weeks ago I noticed the flowers on top started to die. Then the flower on bottom died. I had a guest at my house two weeks ago who pulled apart the plant and told me the moss was sitting in a plastic container (I didn't think to check inside the pot). So she took it out of the plastic container, placed it back in the pot, watered it, and put the bottom of a plastic cup under the pot. I knew we couldn't save it so I just let it be.

Tonight I decided it was time to throw it away. I wanted to save the pot for a future plant but I was very surprised the see what was in the moss. I am assuming they are worms because that is what they look like.

I Googled everything I could think of to find out what these are. Did not get any answers.

I never had it outside so the worms must have been in there when I bought it.

1) Are they actually worms?
2) Why are they there?
3) How would they have survived being that big in such a small pot?
4) Did I water it too much?
5) Did these worm things kill it?

( the beautiful orchid and the worms )

Any and all help so greatly appreciated!!



Edit: Thank you. I feel really stupid now!

First, the seed offer: I have collected seeds from my monster Cosmos sulphureus. They have reached greater heights (one of them is easily over 10 feet tall now) and finally started blooming. The seeds are easy to grow, should really only turn out like 3-4 feet tall, and will probably bloom orange (although a rogue yellow or red could appear.) If you want some seeds just leave me a comment or send me a PM through livejournal. I can send first class mail to anywhere in the US, and if you have something neat to swap, even better! I've promised some to trekkingkitty but there are plenty for everyone.

I'm in North Carolina, zone 7b and we've had two very light frosts and we're due to have a couple more cold nights this week. Though it doesn't look like we'll have a freeze until the end of the month, I really had to get a couple shots from the end of the season just in case the frost gets them tonight.


Borage (and a zinnia bud on the left)
( Cosmos, more final blooms & two first blooms under the cut )

The empire strikes back

In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.

RSS feeds again

If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.

Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

c_s_i

If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.

Enveloped in postcards

Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.

Photos of the week

If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
( Read more... )

Hello everyone :) I need some help, I have googled and looked through all the appropriate tags but I can not ID this caterpillar that is eating my Boston Fern! I got them at the beginning of the summer when I went away for a weekend and I thought I had manually pulled them all off. I moved my ferns indoors for the winter at the beginning of this week and they exploded again, I have pulled at least 4 a day off for the past 3 days. I am not good at plants but I am really attached to my ferns! My husband bought me Ortho Max Lawn and Garden Insect Killer but I am not sure if it would work, it does not say anything in there about ferns specifically; is it ok to use? Would diatomaceous earth be better for killing them without hurting the fern?

I am in middle NC.

TIA for your help!

( Pics of the caterpillar )

I have some questions on what to do with my flowers right now.

The Roses:
I have a few rose bushes that I'm not sure how to prune.  One is a big rambling plant that has the prettiest flowers on it. It's still putting out new growth (despite the frosty weather) so I'm not sure if I should cut it back yet or not. 
I've also got a bird-planted rose bush that showed up in my front garden this spring.  I didn't get any flowers from it this year, not that I was really expecting any it's first year.  From what I know about roses there is the "flowers on the new growth" variety and the "flowers on the old growth" variety.  As I have no idea who the parents of this plant are what should I do?  Leave it be or cut it back?  Some of each?  Can I even expect flowers on it next year or will it take longer for it to bloom?

Do any of you know a good website that can teach me how to take care of my roses with out hacking them into oblivion?


The Lilys:
I have more day-lilys than I know what to do with.  Some of the generic orange tiger lilys and some sort of really pretty white and pink variety.
I did some research last year and I know that now is the time to transplant some of these guys.  But do I need to cut back the growth first?  It's still really green and I don't want to cut it back if they're still storing up nutrients in the bulbs, or whatever it is that day-lilys have.
When it's time to cut back the growth do I just have at it with the weed whacker?

I'm on the border of zones 6b and 7a in Tennessee

thanks!

As is the norm around here this time of year, cooler temps are trying to take hold, but just can't quite manage to take over. Days are warmish (mid 70s) with cool evenings (mid 40s). First frost still hasn't happened, but it's been close once or twice. This means that a few of the flowers are still hanging on.

Also, PECANS! I'll have pecans this year, as opposed to last year when I didn't get any due to dry conditions. The tree shed about 3/4 of its pecans a couple of months ago, but it looks like there'll still be enough that I can say, "I had pecans this year." So far I've only picked up a few dozen, but there's sure to be more once we get a frost and the hulls start cracking open more readily.

So, this is my native pecan tree. As you can see when compared to my car, the tree is HUGE. See the cut off limb low to the ground on the left side? (you should be able to click the picture to enlarge) Because of this, we're able to date the tree to about 100 years. We're able to do this because that particular limb was grafted onto the tree. It was papershell pecans.

Here's the story: We had a family friend named Rex who died several years ago when he was in his mid 80s. That papershell limb was grafted on by Rex's father when Rex was a young boy. The pecans from that limb were never very good and when a storm severely damaged the limb, we cut it off. We left that "stump" as a sort of reminder.



The tree was badly damaged again about nine years ago when we had a horrible freezing rain. Several rather large limbs were broken from the tree, mainly on the right side. Luckily my car was not in the drive at the time. It's taken all this time for the tree to recover but the damage can still be seen during winter when there are no leaves to provide camouflage.

( Garden porn and plant ID under the cut )

A dotee art dolls that i sent out for a private swap on swap bot. I just love her face!

Out:

Four standard size carrier bags worth of clothes, toiletries, silly bits and pieces
One old mobile phone, charger, manual etc
Lots of paper shredded
Heaps of old out of date medications disposed of

Today, a load of books will be going out to BookMoochers and some heavy hardbacks to the charity shop.

(edited for typo!)

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The Chinese version of ONTD, AIYA is a dynamic international community that welcomes users who share a love of contemporary Chinese pop culture. Dedicated to celebrity gossip and entertainment news, you'll enjoy gorgeous photos and breaking stories featuring the glitterati of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

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Designed to rescue fashion victims everywhere, this Brit-based community reads like a rag-ezine. Published once or twice weekly, you'll view bizarre highlights of the global fashion scene through captivating photos and delightfully snarky editorial. Sit tight for a virtual fashion tour from the runways of New York to Milan to Paris and back home again to London in homage to the adage: you can't buy good taste.

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My thanks to those that helped me with my dwarf pomegrante question.
I now have little sprouts!
When I looked into the cabinet a few days ago, all I could shout was I HAVE LIFE!!!


Because whenever I try to put up a picture, I get the red X of doom, here is a link!
Dwarf