Garden Pic Wednesday: Pampas Trimming & Indoor Petunias!

-
It's nice outside today. Sunny. Clear. Mildly cool.
It's been so bleak and cold up to now, I haven't wanted go outside. But there's outside stuff that needs doing--one being cutting all my pampas grass back to their base. 
But today, being so nice, I headed out and whacked down the first of 5 clumps that need cutting back. Pampas is messy to cut. It's full of dry paper peels that like to blow everywhere and the blades are serrated on both edges. It's pretty stuff, but it's mean, make no mistake about that. I never walk away without at least one cut, even with long-sleeves & gloves.
Because the front pair of pampas border my neighbors yard, I try to keep the process relatively neat. It was one of those I worked on today. Having tried various methods for cutting it back, I've found what works best is just hand-clipping the canes in small bunches, 5 or 6 at time, then folding them a couple times and wrapping around the folds with the blades to secure the bundle, which I can easily stuff into a yard trash bag without it fluffing out every which way.
 Believe me, left loose the stuff simply will not go into a bag and stay there.
I have a spring bulb pot garden that sits in the bed adjacent to that pampas and because paper wasps attached a nest to it last year, today I wiped the outside of the pot down with Avon Skin So Soft bath oil to prevent that.
It's also good to use on hummingbird feeds around the base to keep bees out, which I did last year and it worked. Who knew?

Today's Garden Pic of the Day was actually taken inside: on those freezing icy days my red petunia I have inside decided to bloom:
The blooms aren't as big as they would be outside, but still, it was a  little winter cheer. 


Come back tomorrow for Mama Kat!

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment!

Popular posts from this blog

Good Eating Monday: Apple Cranberry Sausage Stuffing!

-
Image
Now this some wicked good dressing!  I tried it for Thanksgiving this year and everyone loved it! I've been looking for just the right dressing and I may have finally found it!  It's also healthy with a tasty combo of fruit, veggies and a mix of white & whole wheat bakery breads. It will fill a  fill a 9 x 13 pan.  You can use fresh or dried herbs. I've included the measurements for both. Just remember dried seasoning is more concentrated in flavor because it is dried, so you need less of it then fresh herbs. I have fresh Parsley growing outside and this was a great use for it! I found leftover over stuffing wonderful heated up and topped with a over-easy egg for lunch!  Apple Cranberry Sausage Stuffing Ingredients:  5 1/2 cups fresh European style or sourdough bread, white, sliced and cubed 2 1/2 cups wheat bread, whole grain sliced and cubed 1 lb ground pork or turkey ( I used Jimmy Dean's Turkey Crumbles, which was 8 oz and that worked great! ) 1 1/2
Read more

Good Eating Monday: Peach Cobbler Dump Cake!

-
Image
Yes, I tried another new Pinterest recipe and this one is a winner! The primary dictionary definition of a "Dump Cake," is an easily made cobbler in which cake mix is dumped over canned fruit or pie filling.  This recipe was pinned from Del Monte, which means it's been a recipe that's been created & tested in a corporate test kitchen. That's one benefit of all those label, can & box recipes provided by manufacturers on their product packaging. You can even buy cookbooks featuring nothing, but package & label recipes of which many are vintage. The only changes I'd suggest is add one more 15 oz can of fruit. It can be more peaches, cherry fruit cocktail, regular fruit cocktail or whatever you want. (So, I've noted 4 cans of peaches in the recipe.)   It just needs a little more volume on the fruit quantity.  And stir a teaspoon or two of cinnamon into the fruit! Otherwise, this is an excellent, quick dessert you can serve hot with v
Read more

Mama Kat Thursday: Backwoods Indiana Memories: Laundry Day

-
Image
Wringer Washing Machine I remember while growing up in rural Indiana in the 60's and 70's, doing laundry was an all day event. My clearest memories of  "laundry day," come from summer time, when we were out of school.  Mother had a certain day of the week she did laundry usually. I liked to sleep in and I recall waking up around 9:30 to the chugging rhythm the wringer washer already at work.  I'd see all the dirty laundry sorted into piles around the utility room floor: whites, light colors,  medium colors, dark colors and heavy darks, like jeans. (The photo is one I found online of a Kenmore wringer washer quite similar to the last model I remember Mother having in the 70's.) You have to understand, wringer washers only do the washing part. S he'd start with whites, then once the washer finished it's wash cycle, it would stop. Then she'd, by hand, pull each item of clothing out of the washer and feed it through the wringer rollers
Read more

Garden Pic Wednesday: Bachelar Buttons!

-
Image
Garden Pics today: A Profusion of Bachelor Buttons!  Sometimes they are called Cornflowers. I've never had such a thick and prosperous bunch! These I planted last fall from a random leftover box of Wild Flower type seeds and successfully protected them from the December deep freeze. I favor the blue, but they also come in shades of pink and white. My newest Garden addition: This green ceramic frog now sits amongst the Golden Creeping Jenny! I found him at the Dollar Tree.  
Read more

Wednesday Garden Pics: Petunias & Bi-color Hibiscus

-
Image
Since for July 4th, 2012, I thought this pic of my red and white petunia's would be appropriate! You can also see my pretty miniature roses below it. (The petunia's are in a pot; the rose is in the ground next to it.) Petunias need frequent dead-heading and tend to get long and leggy as they bloom out.  I snip those legs and "train" them to be bushy with a limited drape. This forces them to sprout new growth. The next photo, below, is a shot of one of my Hardy Hibiscus I have in the front yard next to the parking spot. Notice one bloom is red and the other, pink. Yet this is one plant from a single root. It's uniquely bi-color. The pink portion of the plant didn't bloom last year, so I didn't know. I plan on trying to save seed from this Hibiscus to see if I can luck into more.
Read more