Kettle Creek Falls

 

Girl with Rabbit Walking in Country

 

Garden Q&A - syracuse.com

Garden Q&A - syracuse.com In reading this article, I find out that the beloved Rose of Sharon is a "garbage" plant which can be uprooted and thrown on the trash heap if it doesn't perform (bloom) to our high standards. I like the Rose of Sharon--it's humble, historical, and tough. I also like lady who wrote the article--she knows her stuff-- and I look in on her from time to time. (in the figurative sense).

Gardening: Poinsettia blooms will provide years of holiday enjoyment | news-press.com | The News-Press

Gardening: Poinsettia blooms will provide years of holiday enjoyment | news-press.com | The News-Press

Christine's Friend Katie Tuerff and the Bone Lady

Wood, Wood, More Wood

Wood is sexy. Ir'a great when it's growing; it's great when it's dead. Dead wood is best when you're cutting firewood for the winter months. You can't burn wet wood.

so I was cutting firewood in the woods again today, and I'd found an old stand of Red Oak dead hardwood where the shale rock had welled up and thinned the soil making the trees susceptible to wind and storm. And so the trees fell. And so I was cutting the dead wood for the winter.

While cutting wood, I heard some voices and then I saw these three people walking toward me from down the hill below the property. It was this old guy I knew walking through the woods with his two sons whom I also knew slightly. They were scouting out places to hunt and wanted to know where I'd be posted. I pointed to the big pine with the stovepipe arms and I nodded toward the spot on the uphill horizon where the shale rock had split and surged upward to create a jagged rise.

One of the man's sons had worked for a tree surgeon's company and knew a lot about chain saws and trees. I had osme questions about chains. He pointed out that one of my Stihl saws had a "chipper chain," meaning that it had a squarish cutting tooth. That was good. Now I know what to look for. It has a good bite and cuts down effortlessly.

I had the wood cut into sixteen inch logs and stacked them upright in the little drailer I drew with the John Deere 445. They looked at the wood. Nice wood, they said. I knew about the Red Oak but I was wondering if the other wood was White Oak or Ash. The bark was old and peeled and you couldn't tell, not the way the bark had come apart. One of the guys boys said it was Ash but I wasn't so sure. The Cherry wood looked like the Red Oak when it was red except that the outer rings were red to the bark.

The End of Summer - Beginning of Fall

So I took a flyer from blogging for awhile. Lots of reasons for it. Even though heating oil prices are dropping along with the price of gasoline, I'm determined to save the heating oil we already purchased at $4.23 per gallon. Right now, the cost from our dealer is $2.59 per gallon. The price could just as easily swing back to higher levels. Therefore, I'm spending lots of time cutting firewood. With few exceptions, I'm cutting dead wood, mostly oak and maple and ash. I'm playing catch up and I need to build up a pile of dry firewood before winter sets in hard. Truth to tell, I don't expect to cut a sufficient amount to last the winter but I might get close.

I have cut down a few living trees which were very close to other live trees. Those will be split and saved for next winter. Clean wood is a whole lot better than the molding dead stuff I've been cutting. But I have a sense of moral superiority when I cut the dead, down wood. I'm cleaning the forest floor and making room for new and healthy growth.

And yes, I'm leaving some brush piles and cover for the deer little critters.

Heating Costs Drive Homeowners to Wood Heat

In the cold weather parts of the United States, the high cost of heating oil and other energy is driving people toward the purchase of woodstoves, coal stoves, fireplace inserts. Here's a story I wrote for another website about the installation of a fireplace insert. Just click on the blue headline.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1024259/drolet_fireplace_insert_energy_cost.html?cat=6

Multi-color Bee Balm

National Gardening Association :: Regional Reports

Sandra Petersen on the Butterfly Bush

Butterfly Bushes for Small Gardens
A butterfly bush can be a lovely addition to a small garden and with proper care will provide beauty and attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds each summer.
View more »

Ten Deer Resistant Plants for Deer Country - Associated Content

Ten Deer Resistant Plants for Deer Country - Associated Content

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated Content

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated ContentIt's that time of year again...the vegetation is drying out and the greenery is looking tired. Here's where the aggressive gardener can find an opportunity as stores switch into fall mode.

Home Heat: a Rush for Alternatives - WSJ.com

Home Heat: a Rush for Alternatives - WSJ.comThis article seems somehow related to gardening and the outdoors--I couldn't say just why? But hey, the Wall Street Journal would know...

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Gorilla "Paradise" Found; May Double World Numbers

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Aster

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Aster

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Calendula

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Calendula

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Dianthus

Fernlea Flowers - Autumn Flowers: Dianthus

Zinnias and Sunlight

 

Back Garden Flowers

 

Purple Grapes Are Green in July

 

Broken Pot in a City Park

 

From Dirt to Dust

From Dirt to Dust

Grandmother goes 15 rounds with rabid fox - poconorecord.com - The Pocono Record

Grandmother goes 15 rounds with rabid fox - poconorecord.com - The Pocono Record

Lauterbach on gardening: Growing native is at odds with growing your food | Margaret Lauterbach's columns | Idaho Statesman

Lauterbach on gardening: Growing native is at odds with growing your food | Margaret Lauterbach's columns | Idaho Statesman

Gardening Returns

Top Story

Another Reason to Garden

We have heard since time immemorial that too much exposure to the sun can cause melanomas on the skin. I don’t doubt that, and have seen in myself. But the trouble with our 24-7 news cycle is that it emphasizes the sensational at the expense of common sense.

Currently, the media is focused upon a study indicating that heart attacks are linked to low Vitamin D deficiencies. But that’s nothing you didn’t know already. Most of us have, at one time or other, told the children: “Go outside, get some sunshine and fresh air.” That seems to have been good advice, acquired without a degree from Harvard Medical College.

The research I’m talking about comes from the Archives of Internal Medicine and shows that the risk of dying from heart disease is MORE THAN DOUBLE in those with vitamin D deficiencies who rarely get the sunshine. You can buy Vitamin D in the stores (for a price) but nature provides it for free in the summer of our Hemisphere. At least ten minutes a day will give you a good boost (about 10,00 I.U), and do that without the sunglasses. Your eyes need the Vitamins, too.

Other researchers believe that Vitamin D from the sun may protect from other physical and psychological ailments, too. The sun is a good psychologist, treating you for the winter blues, also known as depression. That something the Red Rooster knows, and it is no coincidence that your dog or cat like to nap in the sunshine. So finally the knowledge has traveled up the food chain to the “higher levels”…ahem…of planetary development.

So get out there and garden. For longer periods, you already know what to do. Wear a hat and cover that skin from excess exposure.

Gardening: There is still time to grow your own vegetables - Telegraph

Gardening: There is still time to grow your own vegetables - TelegraphThe British are really good at reminding us that literacy in gardening has not gone the way of the horse-drawn plow (except for Lancaster).

News Flash from Tomato Junction: The Salmonella Outbreak

Salmonella: Are Tomatoes From Local Farms Safer? | Newsweek Health | Newsweek.comClick on the headline for the long of it. The short of it is that there's good reason to tear up your lawn to plant tomatoes. Okay, that's x-treme but there a significant factor that runs through it all:

Large industrial producers, with packing plants and other delays, provide more time for salmonella bacteria to spread through the tomato. Small farms and locally grown produce goes more quickly to market and is safer in most, but not all cases. Improper growing habits can cause contamination even among small farmers.

The message is clear. Do it right and grow your own, at least until the FDA figures out where the contaminated tomatoes are coming from. The article cross-linked with this post is from Newsweek magazine, which seems to do a better job of covering the salmonella issue than it does of politics.

Newsweek may want to re-brand itself as a gardening magazine.

Coreopsis: A Can't Kill Plant for Deer Country

Coreopsis is one of my favorite perennials and some of these are blooming early here in the Northeast. One of the most popular from the Coreopsis family is “Moonbeam.” It looks a lot like Potentilla. I planted some last year but they returned to the home of their ancestors. I’ve had better luck with this variety and have found it to be one of the most reliable and can’t-kill plants known to modern man. Beautiful yellow flowers from a plant that can get as high as 2 feet. It loves any kind of soil. It attracts butterflies and, best of all, the deer won’t eat it. We live in heavy deer country and have put this plant in a variety of poor soils with positive results. You’ve got to plant this one. It’s not prissy and requires no work beyond planting and will return year after year.

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated Content

Gardening Economics: Ask for a Discount on Withered Plants - Associated ContentLearn how to save money when buying plants for your landscaping projects. Click on the headline for money saving tips.

Don't Be Afraid to Ask for Plant Discounts

Plant prices have risen along with gas prices. Yet, landscaping plants remain one of the least expensive ways in which to improve the appearance of your home. Nonetheless, you can save additional money on your plant purchases if you’re willing to wait and think the way the plant vendors do.

While there are bargains to be had at the smaller independent horticultural businesses too, the best bargains on plants are found at the large chains like K-Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Walmart. While some of these “big-box” stores send unsold plants back to the vendor for charge-backs, others are only too willing to get rid of those plants that don’t sell by heavy discounting. Keep in mind that time is of the essence in the plant business. People want to get their gardens in early; therefore early spring is not a good time to find bargains. Business is brisk. Plants are quickly snapped up by homeowners eager to set up colorful displays or to get an early start on vegetable gardens. After the initial period of plant buying frenzy, however, there are some plants which are beaten up by a combination of poor care, buyer indifference, or excessive handling. Some of these plants are terminal, but most are not. Look for the discount stand at any of the big box stores. If you don’t see one, find the horticulture manager and ask. Don’t ask the lowly salesperson who has little authority in the matter.

Yesterday, at a Lowe’s, we went to the distressed plant stands and found a variety of plants which were substantially marked down from their original prices. We heralded a “plant manager” and humbled ourselves by asking “how much for the whole thing?” We were offered the entire stand for one dollar each. Here’s a sampling of what we got:

Moudry Fountain Grass: Original Price 24.98
2 Palalenopsis Orchids : Orginal Price 8.88 each
1 China Girl Holly : Original Price 6.98
1 Sweet Potato Vine : Original Price 9.95

Except for the Orchids, all of the plants were in large one or five gallon containers so they were definitely good value at a buck apiece. We took them home and watered them, along with an assortment of smaller plants (marigold, petunias, and impatiense) which we bought en masse for a bulk price of $3.00. We watered them and put them outside. This morning, all look crisp and ready to grow. We might lose one or two, but so what? The value they add to the landscape was well worth the $8.00 we paid for them.

Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum)

Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum)While hiking yesterday, we came across this plant. It was kind of interesting and we identified it by looking, first, in our botany books. Later, we found this photo on the internet. I took some pictures, too, but the plant we photographed had not yet flowered. This plant had some remedial properties--astringent, used as a medicine by the American Indians for gastro ailments. I'll add some of the pictures we took when I get a minute.

thisweekonline.ca - Growing organically is the biggest gardening trend

thisweekonline.ca - Growing organically is the biggest gardening trendHere's an interesting site. I used a little fertilizer last year but I'm trying to go without this year. Organic is me. So far the plants are healthy, though suffering from the colder weather and lack of sunshine.

The lettuces are doing well, however, but the peas are growing more slowly than I thought in spite of my application of natural ferilizer.

I'm hoping that the unsually cold weather will kill off part of the Gypsy moth population which seems to have swelled this year. Those things were imported in the early previous century to make silk. I see a lot of caterpillars, but very little silk. I prefer the Japanese Beetles, scheduled to arrive in late June or early July. I haven't been inspired to see the beauty of the gypsy moth caterpillars whereas those destructive Japanese beatles are admirable little warriors with a beautiful shell.

Hudsonhubtimes.com - 'Hay bale gardening' takes root

Hudsonhubtimes.com - 'Hay bale gardening' takes root

The Age of Botanical Exploration - WSJ.com

The Age of Botanical Exploration - WSJ.com This information will make you a very desirable guest at garden parties around the country.

How to Get Wasps Off Your Deck or Patio

I got tired of chasing wasps from our back deck with a sprayer filled with insecticide. The insecticide seemed to harm us more than it harmed the wasps, whcih would soon return. I also became tired of having wasps chase (and sting) me. So I did some research and came up with the following environmentally safe advice from an HGTV garden expert:

Wasps are territorial, so a natural way to remove them from your deck or patio is to make them think that another wasp nest is close by. A simple but effective way to do this is to take a used paper lunch bag, fill it with air, tie it at the bottom with string and hang it from a branch .

Author Tells of Being Bitten By the Gardening Bug, Battling Woodchucks - Health - redOrbit

Author Tells of Being Bitten By the Gardening Bug, Battling Woodchucks - Health - redOrbit

Here's a book that appeals to me. I'm going to look it up later on Amazon.com. It's fun to read the commentaries which follow after the formal reviews. Of particular interest to me was the battle with the groundhogs. I think most rural gardeners have had some experience with those cute but destructive furry creatures. Apparently, the author of this book never heard of shooting at them or "having them on a plate" along with the garden vegetables he grew. There was a man I knew a while back who made a great stew of goundhog meat. He had a peculiar and colloquial voice.

"Waaaallll (well), bring 'er in and I'll a skin 'er," he told me once when I'd shot a groundhog.

I hadn't shot at a groundhog again until last year when there was a particularly voracious one who had made a home under a shed just a few feet from the vegetable garden. You can keep on reading because my story has a happy ending. Fat as he was, that groundhog, I took aim and missed, watching while he scurried across the yard and into the woods, never to be seen again. I checked for blood; there was none. Clean miss. Happy ending.

Spelling Test: Culantro or Cilantro?

Well, both spellings are right, and they're different plants in the same family.

I wonder if the security cameras at Walmart caught me snacking on one of their plants. Don’t worry, though, I did buy the plant after nipping off the tip of one leaf.

It was called “Culantro” and that’s the correct spelling. I had to taste it because it’s often mistaken, misspelled, and misnamed for its close relative “cilantro” or “coriander.” So I found out it tastes just the same, only a bit stronger, and bought it.

I also planted it the same day, albeit in the wrong place. I took a gamble and placed it in a sunny spot before reading the card that said:

“Culantro grows naturally in shaded moist heavy soils near cultivated areas. Under cultivation, the plant thrives best under well irrigated shaded conditions.”

The plant is rich in calcium, iron, carotene, and riboflavin and its harvested leaves are widely used as a food flavoring and seasoning herb for meat and many other foods. Its medicinal value include its use as a tea for flu, diabetes, constipation, and fevers. One of its most popular use is in chutneys as an appetite stimulant.

The name fitweed is derived from its supposedly anti-convulsant property.
I bought another herb, too; Thai basil has a licorice or anise taste in addition to the familiar tastes of basil. But more of that later. Right now, I’m going to replant the Culantro in a shaded, moist spot as the growers recommend.

Green Gardening: Honeybees get a boost from supplement

Green Gardening: Honeybees get a boost from supplement

Suburban Lawn Struggles

Fiscally Fit - WSJ.com Terri Cullen writes an interesting column for the Wall Street Journal. She writes about practical things, mostly, and has a common sense approach. If you live in the country, as we do, you might like to see how things work in Suburbia.

Sharp growth in vegetable gardening

DutchNews.nl - Sharp growth in vegetable gardening

Uhh....this is in Holland where the supply of land is much more limited than it is here. Yet, the Dutch have an attachment to farming and gardening that is sometimes lost in America. America has a vast amount of land that can be used to gorw vegetables. We're so lucky here in America-- yet, we prefer Chem-Lawn to John Deere -- Use some of that yard space for a vegetable garden, people!

Expand Your Gardening Vocabulary

Gardening was always so much easier when I was a child. A tomato was a tomato, corn was corn, and the word "flower" applied to as many plants as I wanted. Now I realize what little I know, but still, I'm having fun. Here's a gardening quiz and I'll give you answers at the end. Hopefully, we'll both learn something and perhaps have a little fun in the process.

1. What is the probably the most powerful garden design factor?
2. What time of day and weather conditions are best for planting?
3. What is the difference between an Annual and a Perennial?
4. What is oxalis?
5. What nutrient deficiency can result from over liming or from lime leached from cement or brick and is often found in regions where soil is derived from limestone and in areas with low rainfall?
6. Which plant nutrient is responsible for the healthy green color of your plants: nitrogen, phosphorus or potash?
7. In gardening terms, what does deadheading mean?
8. What is a biennial?
9. What is the term for plants that are resistant to pests and diseases, are often more vigorous and productive and can withstand cold winters?
10. What is the more common name for the perennial myosotis sylvestris?
================================================================================

Okay, now the answers. I'm sure you'll get them all right. That wasn't so hard, was it?

1. Color is probably the single most powerful garden design factor.
2. Evenings of cloudy days is the best time to plant. If you have to plant during the heat of the day or on sunny days be sure plants are watered thoroughly immediately after planting.
3. An annual goes through its life cycle in one summer, and a perennial will bloom summer after summer.
4. Oxalis is a common perennial weed.
5. Iron deficiency.
6. The plant nutrient responsible for the healthy green color of your plants is nitrogen.
7. Deadheading is removing faded flowers by pinching off the flower head. The plant will spend its energy producing more flowers instead of seed. This encourages more flowers and creates a longer blooming period. Also pinch the central growing tip of the plant. This will produce side shoots further down the stem, creating a bushier plant that will produce more flowers.
8. A biennial is a plant with a two year life cycle, that produces leaves in the first season, then flowers and sets seed in the second season.
9. Referred to as hardy plants.
10. The more common name for the perennial myosotis sylvestris is forget-me-nots

Hot Pepper Habanero - Pepper, Hot - Vegetables - Burpee

Hot Pepper Habanero - Pepper, Hot - Vegetables - Burpee

I usually indulge myself every year by planting a rather large number of hot peppers. The practice is wasteful in terms of land use but I can't resist. Truth to tell, I can hardly eat one of these 10-alarm babies each year but I plant them anyway. I can them or give them away. On the other hand, I snack on a variety of mildly hot peppers that I also plant. Somehow, hot peppers seem to me patriotic. Plant some, you'll see.

Red Lettuce, Arugula, and Barack Obama

Lettuce is a cool weather crop so it's suitable for early spring planting. This year I'm determined to enrich the soil with organic fertilizers. Above is a variety of red lettuce which adds a little visual impact to a salad. I learned about Arugula from the Elite Presidential Candidate Barack Obama and so I planted some of that, too. I've no idea what it looks like. I had to go to an old-fashioned plant and feed store to find arugula. What next? Birkenstocks and Brie?

The Judas Tree

The blooms come early and long before the leaves mature. The Judas Tree is said to be the tree from which Judas Iscariot hanged himself. Naturally, a tree of such elegance and delicate beauty would be renamed. In Pennsylvania, it is called the Eastern Redbud. It send out roots to propagate. It's stunning to see a whole hillside covered with Redbud in the early spring...

Native flowering Dogwood blooms seem to float...

Once established, the native Dogwood sets deep roots but is inclined to travel..... While between the woodpile and a forsythia in its waning days, a bleeding heart begins its wary entrance...

Spring is about Hope

Gardening: Succession Planting

Even the Wall Street Journal is getting into the gardening act. A couple days ago , the WSJ featured an article about suburban homeowners tearing up their green lawns to establish gardens. Can’t blame them—it’s tough to eat grass. With the rising price of food, gardening makes more sense now than ever. Yet, the WSJ article told of neighbors who complained of having to look at brown earth rather than green grass. What about those hungry people who complain of having too look at vast expanses of inedible green lawns? No mention of that.

I’m working on a small garden now and I’m remembering the problems we had last year when everything matured at mostly the same time. I managed to can a large number of hot peppers but not much else. I gave as much away as I could but some was wasted. This year, I am planning to engage in “succession planting” whereby you schedule maturation in a more orderly fashion.

I planted some tomato varieties by looking at the maturation dates. “Early girl” tomatoes are just that….expected to mature in about 60 to 65 days. There are other varieties which take longer to mature so you can plant some of each type.
With early vegetables like peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes and others, you can plant in short beds with planting intervals scheduled every two weeks until the weather gets too warm. Be sure to rotate what you plant and to rip up all the old vegetables the minute they begin to bolt.

Spring Garden Strategies

It's early spring. The water is rushing into the gorge and spewing from the waterfall down below. Yet, there is a degree of uncertainty about it all as the days go from frigid to warm and back again. We're behind with the indoor seedbeds and I'm looking at the high prices for hothouse plants in Wal-marts, Lowe's, Home Depot and the various local gardeners. The high prices are caused, in part, by the rising energy costs for transport, storage, and even for greenhouse production. It would have been a good year to get plants from seeds and I'm hoping it's not too late.

My obsession for the past three years has been Provence Lavender. Obsession comes from not being able to obtain any. So I bought some seeds this year and put them in a seed box. The minute I do that they pop up in the stores for $3.00 a plant. They are healthy plants. The pent-up lavender emotion of three years compelled me to splurge. Long before the flowers show, lavender has a wonderful, pungent smell that wafts in the air and clings to your fingers.

We've decided to expand the garden farther out into the law area behind the house. That involved skimming the topsoil grass off with the loader and moving it to a bare spot alongside the house. We quarreled about the kind of deer fence we'd put up, settling on something thin and unassuming.

We had a trillium at our old house and now we didn't so we planted a package of trillium seed in the shade beside the foundation. Ditto, the snakeskin orchid. I have no clue about either one, and these do not always flower in the first year.

Agastache: A Tongue-twisting Indestructible and Deer Resistant Plant

The plant is a tongue twister, but your friends will be impressed if you can say “agastache” or “anise hyssop.” But even if you can’t, the plant is a nice addition to your garden, particularly if you live in deer country.
Much has been said about “deer resistant” plants. To my way of reckoning, the only deer resistant plants are the ones planted where there are no deer at all. Deer are the ultimate survivalists and will eat “deer resistant” plants with relish when they are hungry enough. That usually means the period toward the end of winter, or during periods of mid-winter deep snowfall.

Given a choice, deer are very much like the rest of us. They prefer one type of salad greens to another. Agastache is one plant they will avoid when there are better things to eat. Agastache is also called “anise hyssop” and, as the name would imply, has a strong odor which is unpleasant to deer.

Agastache blooms on 4-inch-long spikes that are covered with small lavender-blue flowers. The blooms attract butterflies and bees. Planting agastache will help insure that bee colonies survive. Agastache is durable and can be grown in sun or partial shade. It tolerates dry conditions and requires little maintenance. Once in a while, the deer will help the plant by nipping the ends of its 2 to 3 foot stalks before moving on to greener pastures.

Life in the Bamboo Jungle

How to Trick Forsythia Bushes into Early Bloom

Things You’ll Need: pruning shears, a bucket of warm water, a sunny area...



In the cold climates, the ideal months to pick Forsythia stems for "forcing" is February or March. Any later than that, and they'll bloom some warm day without your help...

Make some cuttings from the Forsythia bush with a sharp pruning tool. It is important that you select a warm day to do this as the stems will be less brittle. Brittle bushes snap are easily damaged. Try to pick the stems with the most buds. The length is up to you but it's much easier to handle shorter lengths. Let the size of your vase(s) be your guide.

Take the cuttings inside where you've filled a bucket with warm water. Place the cuttings in the bucket of warm water. Some experts recommend that you re-cut the bottoms of the stems while they are submersed under water in order to protect the fragile "wounds.

Saving the Planet Through Inertia, Laziness, and TV

Well right now’s the time of year when you’re supposed to be looking through seed catalogs and planning your garden. While I don’t disdain such activity, I can’t say it gives me a great deal of satisfaction either. After a time, you know what works and what doesn’t. You also know what part of your property gets the sunshine and what part the dark. Remember that spot along the treeline where the sun rises? That’s the East. From there, the sun heads South. Eventually, it ends up in the West. Once in a while, it evaporates into the ether. That generally means it’s a cloudy day. The wet stuff is rain, sleet, or snow. If it’s snow, you can plan your garden by drawing lines in it with your boots as you long for spring, but I prefer to shovel it.

About the only thing I like to do this time of year is prune the trees and grapevine. I only do that on a warm winter day. You run the risk of hurting the plant if the branches or vines are brittle from cold.

The other think I think about is those plants you buy in containers from K-Mart or Wal-Mart. The discount stores have the least expensive selections but not always the finest plants. People who work in the discount stores seem not to like their plants too much. It’s as if the plants are undergoing basic military training in preparation for the Big One. The Big One is the war where the urban homeowner recently located to suburbia drives to the store to load up a bunch of plants they will torture until dead. Really, I don’t think that such gardeners as these are so much sadistic as they are inclined to be distracted. Many homeless plants bought from K-Mart or Wal-Mart become the victims of adult attention deficit disorder. Some are half-buried because the people who adopt them find the soil too hard to dig with those cute little garden tools they found in Home Depot or Lowe’s. A common mistake made by urban gardeners is to believe that all plant life originated in the Sahara Desert. This type of gardener does not believe in spoiling the plant with an excess amount of water. That notion ties in neatly with other ideas of environmental conservation. Laziness, slothfulness, inertia, watching television—these are the things which will save the planet, so long as they are combined with the fasting which will be inevitable when the food supply fails to appear in the summer months.

Gus: In Memoriam

I’ve heard it said that if you die and go to heaven, you will meet there with all of the pets you ever had. I’ve just buried my beloved dog, Gus, and it comforts me a great deal to know this is so. It’s probably the only reason one would ever want to go to heaven anyway. Seeing the pets you lost during your lifetime is certainly an inducement to the “good life.”

Gus was always very good to us and I learned a great deal about life that I didn’t know before we joined up with him. To some people, it may seem a bit lunatic to say that a dog helped you find your way in life, especially a mongrel dog like Gus, but the fact is that Gus was unmatched in nobility and courage and determination and that opinion applies to all the animal world which includes humans, whether aristocracy or low-born.