doodle by andre: sub-tropical separation anxiety
IT FEELS LONELY IN HERE, or at least it will by the end of the week when the last of the children (some larger than I am) are all outdoors at summer camp. You’re absolutely right, Andre Jordan; it’s a bit of a shock and will take some getting used to. (And by the way: Was that Jack’s voice you are invoking in the window-as-thought-bubble? To set the record straight: He never calls me darling; it sounds something like “Meow,” which I take to be short for “Margaret” or “Mommy,” not quite sure which.)
Our plants go outside in stages. The ones that are happiest with warmer weather are the pond plants we overwinter in our conservatory. Our hardy waterlilies and the lotus stay in the pond all winter (lowered to the bottom of the pond), but the others come inside with us in the fall. (Huge savings!)
The funniest moment I’ve had bringing in the pond plants was when a green frog jumped in my face just as I was about the bring the pot inside. I was SO glad he chose that moment to show himself–not indoors!
‘Love all the photos of plants. Now I know what heathy plants look like. My seed-
lings don’t always make it……dying from too little or too much water. ‘Will try a
‘bee-friendly’ garden next. Herbs are doing well in Va. Beach, VA.
I am enjoying the beautiful photographs you have on your site. Now I know what
healthy plants look like. Lots of times, my plants don’t make it out of the seedling
stage. They die from too much or too little water. My Va. Beach yard has an herb
garden and I am planning to start a bee friendly garden soon. ‘Will have lavender,
borage, kalanchoe, and Russian sage in it. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Paula McCann, Va. Beach, VA.
Hi, Paula. My best advice: Compost, compost, compost. Find a good source for bulk compost (like leaf mold, rotted manures or composted stable bedding from farms, etc.) and topdress your beds every year…and use really good composted mulch. (Read my mulch page for that info.) My plants don’t get fertilizer, they get compost and good mulch that makes them thrive. No kidding.
The parade started yesterday…ferns, begonias, abutilons, ficus, the massive passiflora all tangled and webbed together arching over the dining room windows (best light!), and lots of other winter boarders. I’ve long called it ‘the dance of a thousand plants”. Playing it safer these days with our wacky temperature swings. I’m hoping we’re past frost, but if it threatens, they’ll all come back in. And we will surely do the same dance come Fall!
And yes, the house is sadly (almost) empty. The perfect excuse for purchasing more plants!
Margaret, loved the container workshop today. Your friendship with Bob Hyland was so evident..you played off of each other perfectly! A lovely afternoon and so informative! Thank you!
So good to see you, Bob (even if I was bleary-eyed…blaming sunstroke, tee hee). A long but great day seeing garden friends like you. And yes, the dance of a thousand plants is under way here this morning, too. Yikes!
Oh. no! The house doesn’t feel empty, it feels much more spacious without all those extra people taking up space! I have assorted small begonias and orchids, plus 6 brugmannsias, a ginger plant, and a really gigantic 20-year-old gardenia which puts out over a hundred blooms every year, and when they all go outside I feel as if the kids have gone off to college (but without the tuition expense).
The idea of sending my plants to camp is one that lets me let go a bit. Sort of like sending my kids out to catch the school bus. Yeah, it’s hard to let them leave my protection, but they need time without me.
Very sweet, Pat. They do need time away from us, you are right. The house feels empty though as I said!
i completely understand… i sit on my couch in the evenings, overlooking my roses in bloom. when it gets cold at night i always want to toss a little shawl over them!
Ha! Ha! I laughed out loud when I saw this! I can SO relate! Andre’s doodles so often hit a chord with me! Thank you for sharing them on your blog! And yes, I put my houseplants out yesterday – (and now that they’re out of the way, I guess I could wash the windows!) It felt like the day I waved goodbye to my 5-year old as I put her on the bus to go to Kindergarten, nearly 30 years ago! I arranged them in a protected area by a fence and was thinking a stepping-stone shelf arrangement might be a nice way to display the ones that stay in pots. Summer camp, indeed!
Our nights are still in the forties. I wait until June to put my houseplants out. It’s really a relief. Watering is so much easier outside. I can just hose them all down. It also means I can have the window seat back.
Every summer my house plants go outside. At the end of August, I take them out of their pots and give them fresh soil. This way any worms etc. that has made it’s way to the pot won’t be coming back in. I can also cut the roots back if I need too!
Good plan, Dianne — especially the freshening up and so on. Thank you. See you soon again, I hope.
The only trouble with Andre’s captions are that they are wonderfully complete on so many levels that they render me speechless (which is probably a good thing!)