little tree hugger

I've half a mind to make a whole herd of these "little people" and attatch them to each and every tree on the place. However, as there are over 200 trees and I have more pressing things to attend to, she will have to speak for all of us.

does that mean....

I was hoping that this sign "Fire Protection Available" posted at the nursery meant that we could look through one of the Firemen's Calendars and choose which fireman we wanted to take home with our tree. Alas, such is not the case. But wouldn't it be a grand idea? "Yes, I'll take three trees and three firemen; June, August and September. Thank you very much."

the missing photo from last blog

I'll never tame the wild gremlins that live in my computer.
THESE are the Ikea finds and the disco ball that go with the caption below.. why, WHY don't these things appear as they did when I hit the "publish" button? Gremlins I tell ya. Gremlins. (Won't it bu funny if THIS picture doesn't show up?..or the photo without the verbage.... arghhhhhh!! I am SO technically challenged!

More fall foolishness

Awwwwwwwwww

Ikea finds. Well, not the disco ball. Can't remember where that came from.










Persimmons

















WHAT a sweet face!

November nonsense

Having some fun with pupils....


Mr Rootie-tooster having a bite of cracked corn. Probably tastes pretty good after a diet of snails.











(They always think its spring in November!)

Pokeberry (Phytolacca)

10 years ago Mom and I took some of this plant to a nursery to find out what it was.
The nurseryman said "Its a nightshade, get rid of it."
Well, Mom and I both thought it was just too pretty what with those red stems and purply black berries so we left the plant.

It is now all over the property but these pictures are from the origional site.
I forgot to see if Phytolacca is indeed a nightshade but I do know that all parts of the plant are toxic to mammals.

Some folks in the southern parts of the United States still do eat "poke salad" but I think I'll just feast with my eyes, thank you very much.

The birds eat the berries but are unaffected by the toxins because the small seeds have very hard outer shells which remain intact in their digestive system and are eliminated intact. This explains why there are now plants all over the property. The
root systems are ginormous so lots of new growth rises up from them too.


The most interesting fact unearthed about this stuff is that the Declaration of
Independence of the United States was written in fermented pokeberry juice! (The plant is sometimes called inkberry) Many letters written during the Civil War were written in this "ink".

Native Americans used the dye to paint designs on their horses.

The fall color of the leaves is exactly as you see it here in the last two pictures. I don't have Photoshop (and wouldn't know how to use it if I did) and I didn't tweak the color in Picasa.

fun with pots

Or, fun with garbage. Take your pick. My late friend, Larry, used to see things like this rusty old cream can and say "Give it to Cheryl. She'll paint it black and plant flowers in it." I've gotten over painting everything black but not over planting stuff.
There have been a few things that finally just rusted away, alas. But golly, is it ever fun to make pots out of junk! Its one of my favorite recycling programs. Once I Mod Podged© the lable on a can of spagetti sauce, punched holes in the bottom, and planted basil in it.















Whilst my computer was refusing to allow me to blog I got to spend time perusing the blogs of other gardeners, one of whom is a Kati from Ontario, Canada. (did you know, by the way, that there is a town in California, La Canada, which is pronounced La Cah-nada?) but I digress. Kati had this wonderful Anti Lord's Prayer (not anti Lord. Don't go getting all crazy on me) that I have absconded with. Written around this crazy pot is the anti prayer; "...forgive us our conformaties and deliver us from normal..." I had to add the "forever and ever amen" because I had too much room left at the end of the quote. ;>)
Kati has lots of fun observations, photos, and links on her website www.realmudgarden.blogspot.com and if that is not correct try www.doorwaystospirit.blogspot.com

That wire thingie behind the pot is a poorly designed peanut feeder, now lined with moss and stuffed with potting soil and waiting ever so patiently for me to decide what to plant in it. You know, like a basket planter? Impatiens perhaps. For someone who is supposed to be down-sizing in case of impending move back to God's Country (that would be Oregon), I sure seem to be amassing a lot of new plants and pots and stuff.

Oh, and yes, that is a pot in a pot...only to see how the plants will look...they look fine. Someone needs to re-pot the poor things into the colorful pot.



I'm temporarily out of words. Let's just see what the Blogmeister does with this rambling too-many-photos-not-enough-verbage. I tried to get atleast 2 more photos of odd pots on here but I don't see them. They are floating around in cyberspace.

mums the word

we are testing. Are testy. depends. More soon. maybe.