New idea for old jars

I grow some herbs in containers on my back porch, but it would be very convenient to keep some in the kitchen.  Some need to be replanted after they are zapped by winter freezes or fried by our summer heat.

The problem is,  my cat is an indiscriminate eater of houseplants, and I want indoor herbs for human consumption. I needed to find ideas to help me keep them out of reach of my curious kitty.  The internet seemed the natural place to look for catproof indoor gardening methods.

I found this idea posted by Tammy at CraftAwl.com (Complete with instructions):

It's a floating herb garden!

I've totally got to try this. 

I'm thinking I might use those water-absorbent polymer crystals instead of just filling the jars with water. I think they'd be more attractive than soil, and probably more convenient, since I'm pretty terrible at remembering to water things.  I haven't found any information on whether those are safe to use for culinary plants, though.

Of Pecans, Allergies, Alligators and Groundhogs.

Whether we watch groundhogs, or we just feel it in our bones, we all have our ways of deciding when Spring is here.  (By the way, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this year.)

Since moving to this area, I have noticed that my allergies always pick  up when a new season arrives.  My nose is itchin', so I guess that means it agrees with old Phil the groundhog.

A year or two ago, someone told me to watch the native pecan trees to see when we were past all danger of winter freezes.  Trees seem to take seriously the Entish motto "Don't be hasty," however. They still have yet to leaf out in my neck of the woods.

If you are looking for another indicator, maybe one from the slightly more hasty animal kingdom,  there is a post over at the Lazy Gardener on the habits of alligators and what this means for gardeners.  Basically, when the alligators get hungry, spring is here.  Big Al, the 1,000 pound 'gator living in Gator Country near Beaumont is hungry, and he has a record for 100% accuracy.



As it seems unreasonable to argue with a hungry 1,000 pound animal with sharp teeth,  I suppose I'd better start planting.

Rasberry Crazy Ants: Not as delicious as they sound.

But they might drive you crazy!

To see the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/v/80UbzvlQB0U&hl=en_US&fs=1&


See the TAMU Agrilife Extension website for more:
http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm#identification



Update: Fox News has even covered these things:

Back in the Saddle Again...

Hello, there Houston Garden Blogging World!

After almost a year of neglecting my garden, followed by a couple of months of getting a bit ahead of myself when visiting nurseries, I'm getting the gardening gloves back on and having at it in a slightly more organized fashion.

Note to self: don't buy plants unless you have someplace to put them within the next two days.  Good intentions don't count! Must build beds first, no matter how cool those plants are.

The persimmon tree damaged in hurricane Ike has been replaced.  I am now keeping an eye on my fig, which was rather badly blitzed during our recent December freeze/snow episode.   My potted herb garden is being revived with new plants, and we'll see how tomatoes do when they are transplanted very very very much later than they really are supposed to be.

Gardening for your health:

Regular, moderate, sun exposure helps us avoid Vitamin D deficiency and is also useful for combating symptoms of anxiety and depression (seasonal and otherwise). Exercise is also beneficial for one's mental and physical well-being. Gardening provides some of both. How cool is that?

Budding hope, or wishful thinking?

Well, things have been so busy, it's been quite some time since I've had the opportunity to do much out in the garden. I finally got out there to water things today. I'm amazed at how many of my plants handled so much neglect. I've hardly touched them in about a month. The container plants sheltered in my greenhouse have done amazingly well with the exception of my air potato vine , which now appears completely deceased. Rosemary, it appears, also has its limits.We'll see if I can nurse that back to health.

Which reminds me, my persimmon tree did not fare well in hurricane Ike, being almost completely broken off just above the graft. I stood it back up and bound it with grafting tape, giving it additional support by tying it to several stakes. That's pretty much where I left it, having become so busy shortly after that I hardly had time to even think about doing anything else with it. I'm not sure, but I think I may have seen some new buds while I was inspecting it today. I could be completely wrong, of course, but I am curious to see what will happen in the spring. In the meantime, I still haven't ruled out trying to replace the tree entirely. I missed the Urban Harvest tree sale this year, and won't make the Fort Bend County one either, so it may be awhile before we see a new persimmon here!

At this point, I'll just be glad if I can clear the weeds from my unplanted beds and get my roses pruned next week!

Christmas lights

While I have yet to put any up for decorative purposes, I have them strung around the inside of my greenhouse to create a little extra warmth. I am also using them on some plants that are outside of the greenhouse. So far, they have proven to be both pretty and useful, especially during our recent and unexpected snow!

Brugmansia

Also known as Angel's Trumpet and (somewhat erroneously) Tree Datura.

There is a useful post about this plant over at Huntingwick Gardens. Check it out.

See my previous post on this plant.

Moderation in some (if not all) things.

Sorry, folks. I got two spam comments for that ubiquitous little blue pill today.

Looks like I'll have to turn on comment moderation.

For now, it's only on posts older than two weeks. Hopefully, that'll keep some of the riff-raff out of the comboxes.

I don't like it when people are annoying. It irritates me.

When Life gives you a lemon...

...You get out the cookbook and see what you can do with just one!

Yes, not much going on in the garden lately. Very busy times these days. Several potted things have dried up from neglect, but the strong are surviving, thanks to a few well-timed rain showers.

I got one meyer lemon off of the tree today. The other two aren't quite ripe yet. The little Miho Satsuma orange tree has six more this year. Last year it produced six as well, but three of them were stolen (I presume by hungry fruit-eating critters of the non-human variety), leaving us with very little. Better luck this year I hope.

What kind of flower are you?

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

Fort Bend County nurseries re-opening!

Enchanted Forest has been open since Tuesday.  When I went in earlier this week they were still without power, but they were still smiling and happy to help. 

Caldwell's is open as well. CayDee and her staff were also busy cleaning up, but still happy to help. I dropped by for some grafting tape and was quite happy to find that they stock it!

Calling your locally-owned nursery ahead of time can be a good idea, since some of them may be out of certain things that are in high demand after a storm. If they are still without electricity, cash is usually much appreciated. 

If the local places do not have what you need, the big box stores are also open.  If you need fencing material to stake your trees, Lowe's of Richmond/Rosenberg is well-stocked with u-posts.  Home Depot's selection is usually not as good as Lowe's anyway, and this week it has been even worse.  If you need anything sturdier than a bamboo stake for your trees, save yourself the trip.  

Posting Post-Ike

Looks like most of the other Houston area gardeners whose blogs I read have made it, even if some of their plants didn't!

Brenda Beust Smith
Nancy
Herself
Scott Head

Taking Stock after Ike: We're very fortunate.

Well, the important things came through fine (husband, house, cat, electricity, running water).

Some of the fun stuff, not so good. No cable. Which means no internet. Which means I had to find a public place to use the web and e-mail relatives to let them know we haven't been sent tumbling off to Oklahoma by any hurricane force winds.

Most of the damage in the garden was minor. Potted plants were all sheltered and/or turned on their sides, so nothing in containers blew away.

Treewise, things are a little more interesting. Our larger trees (the ones that would be really dangerous if they fell) appear fine, having only dropped a few small to medium-size branches. Amazingly, none of these damaged the house. Other people in our subdivision did not fare so well. Some have similar-sized trees that fell on their homes.

My little trees are interesting cases. The Methley Plum is still shorter than I am, and planted in a protected area, so it appears untouched. The fig and the pomegranate were slightly uprooted, so fixing them should not be too difficult.

The worst damage was to my Saigo (Saijo?) Persimmon tree, which was snapped like a toothpick just above the graft. It was not broken off entirely though. About half of the trunk is still attached. Even though it is nearly four days after the fact, it still looks alive. The rootstock appears fairly healthy, and (as I was told at the plant sale where I got it) has pretty good structure. I hate to let even part of a good plant go to waste.

I have no idea what to do about this. Stand it back up, and see if it heals? Take cuttings and re-graft? (Which means I have to learn how to graft, and fast.) Call a tree expert? Go back to the plant sales and replace?

Since the next major plant sale around here isn't till January (and will likely be very crowded, since I'm sure many people lost fruit trees to Ike), I figure I have nothing to lose by trying.

I just wish I knew what to try.

Ideas, anyone?

Preparing your landscape for a hurricane

Here is a useful article from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times with some advice that makes sense:

http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jul/19/have-a-landscape-plan-in-case-of-hurricane/

At this point, all of the potted plants that I can pick up and carry, along with several ornamental items have been moved into the garage. Those that cannot be moved easily are under our covered porch or in other sheltered areas.

Here in Fort Bend county, we are starting to see more cloud cover, and more breezes. Nothing major yet. I'm sure time will fix that.

Stay safe, everybody.

Y-Ike-s!

It looks to be headed straight for us:

Image source: Weather Underground

We shall see how it goes for those of us southwest of Houston.  Keep an eye on Nancy's blog for news of what's happening to the north.

Looks like I'll probably need to shelter some of my more delicate potted plants. Our more experienced neighbors are planning to ride it out, as are we, with a disaster supply kit for ourselves and our kitten at the ready, of course.

Do it yourself Rain Barrels?

It's getting tempting...



I have looked around for ideas for a do it yourself rain chain as well, but unfortunately tools I do not have, and some I'm not even sure I should use (blowtorch, anyone?) are usually involved. Rats. Gotta keep looking.

Sunny skies!

And a few (slightly curvy) wisps of cloud and a light breeze over here southwest of Houston. Our little kitten Chico is sitting on the windowsill by my desk as I type, birdwatching.

As predicted, Gustav is directing most of his fury at the residents of the Louisiana coastline. Keep them in your prayers!

Boston Ferns and your Cat

The Cat Fanciers association lists the Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata--a.k.a. Sword Fern) as a non-toxic plant for cats.

Today, our little guy taught us differently by munching on my boston fern last night while we slept, and getting sick afterwards.

Non-toxic does not necessarily mean "edible". We all know what happens when cats eat things they aren't meant to swallow.
 

Yuck.

We took him to a veterinary ER, to make sure he would be OK.  Apparently Boston Fern can cause gastrointestinal upset, lethargy, vomiting, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. We've seen all but the last one in our cat.

Yummy.

Cat's not happy about it either, but he seems to be recovering, getting his appetite back late this afternoon. (Right after we got home from the vet hospital, of course.)

From now on, only "edible" plants in the house.

Good thing I live in a semi-tropical climate, because my ferns are about to be banished to the warm shadiness of my back porch, where they will probably be just as happy anyway.

For a longer list of plants poisonous to your cat, see this list from the Cat Fanciers Association.

Just a spoonful of sugar...

Or is that a spoonful of raindrops?

That's about all I got from Edouard in my rain gauge today.  Almost exactly one inch in 24 hours. 

I feel like Ben Stein in the Clear Eyes commercial.

Wow.

Looks like I'll still be doing plenty of watering this week.

On the bright side, no flooding!

So far, so good over here.

Things are still pretty quiet southwest of Houston. Plenty of rain, very little wind.

Nancy has been seeing 

more action from Edouard today.  She has posted twice so far. Here, and here. See all of Nancy's Tropical Storm posts.

Not nearly as bad as Tropical Storm Allison, which stuck around dumping rain long enough to turn this:

Photo Source

Into this:

<

Photo Source: Rice.edu

Photo Source: http://www.srh.noaa.gov

That's right.  Full up to the top. This was before I came out here.  Just gives you an idea of the possibilities, though.

Edouard, however appears to be moving at a decent enough pace to avoid repeating this.

Smells like rain...

Lots of it. And Wind. Nasty wind. 

Never been through a tropical storm, so this will probablly be an education.

I'll be bringing many of my lighter weight plants and my outdoor furniture into my garage tonight so they don't get too blown around.

The containers that are too big for me to move will just have to wait it out, I suppose.

Oh yes, and the wind chimes? They're coming in too. 

Hopefully the new little trees I planted last winter will be okay.

Hopefully the big trees won't drop anything on my house.

Tomorrow, definitely staying inside.

On the upside, at least we need the rain.

Post-storm thoughts to be posted later.

"Aqua Globes"

I have to get really tired of watering before I go out and buy some gimmicky TV product.

But the two-pack was only 10 bucks at the drugstore, so I took a chance.

I like 'em.

Do they replace watering? No.

But my thirsty indoor ferns do not suffer quite as badly from my neglect. 

~~~~ Houseplants and your Cat

My hubby and I finally took the plunge and adopted a kitten. He typed the "~" symbols in title of this post by walking across my keyboard.

He is everything that kittens generally are, especially with respect to cuteness and curiosity.

Which means I have to make some decisions about my pothos vine and my poinsettias, both of which are toxic to kitties, should they be ingested.

A hanging basket will probably keep the pothos out of reach, as long as it does not drop leaves.

Not sure what to do with the poinsettias though. They may have to go outside. He doesn't seem interested in them now, but they drop leaves, and those might make tempting toys.

Cats should also be kept away from philodendrons, crotons, ivy, polka-dot plant, chrysanthemums, cyclamens, castoroil plant, cherry laurel, azalea, Lily-of-the-Valley and diffenbachia. Here is a list of other plants known to be toxic to cats, along with the symptoms they produce. Also, the University of Nebraska has a page with a list of many common indoor plants, with their toxicity noted. PetPlace.com has a useful list as well.

I will probably start an indoor herb and grass garden for my kitty so that he will have some safe plants to chew on. Hopefully making him less interested in the purely ornamental ones.

I find that daily applications of cat repellent (purchased at the pet store) work for keeping him away from dangerous places/objects until I can finish "cat-proofing" the house.

Here are some indoor plants that some people suggest as safer alternatives for homes with felines. It is still best to keep your kitty from chewing on your plants. It's still not the best thing for her to eat. Plus, it's not so great for the plant.


**Please Note: I am not an expert on this, I merely draw from other resources. When in doubt, talk to a vet or toxicologist for expert info.**

African Violet (Saintpaulia ionantha)
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Wandering Jew (Zebrina pendula)
Peperomias (multiple varieties)
Jade Plant (Crassula ovata, also known as Crassual argentea)
Swedish ivy (Plectranthus australis)
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
The Prayer plant (Maranta spp.)
Rattlesnake plant (Calathea insignis)
Grape ivy (Cissus rhombifolia)
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis spp.)
Burro's Tail (Sedum morganianum)
Wax plant (Hoya carnosa and varieties).


Sources:
Brian's Garden
Suite101.com

Also: see CatTraining.com for info on training kitty to stay away from the houseplants.

-------------------------------------------

Update: While some websites lists plants that are not fatal to cats, that does not mean that you should let your cat munch on them.  Ours had a little too much fun with a boston fern, included on the "safer" list above, and while it did not do any permanent damage, it still made him quite ill for a little while.

Texas may be hot enough for this..

..but I am not.

Therefore, in the interests of the general public good, and of protecting myself from sunburn and insect bite, I shall not be participating in next year's World Naked Gardening Day (If you follow Ljmacphee's link in her post, be aware that the official site has pictures).

This takes natural gardening to another level.