Posted on 06/01/2025 5:48:14 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
I like the comfort, that they won’t over-heat you, and all the pockets. :)
They are awful. I have to dust my stems into the roots with food-grade diatomaceous earth every year.
Link for medium-high power UV flashlight that I mentioned above:
I “pinched” my 4 dahlia seedlings this evening .... it was only semi-traumatic. Their raised bed got a good weeding, soil amended with some bought topsoil, organic fertilizer sprinkled & a deep layer of pine straw added. They are definitely getting bush-like and strong - the wind really blows them. Once they get heavy with flowers, I am sure some support will be needed.
Finished the carpentry part of the lean-to project today & it looks pretty good. Next part is to haul all the stuff in the barn into the lean-to. I wanted to do it tomorrow, but I offered assistance to an elderly relative & she took me up on the offer so I am taking her to a specialist doctor appointment tomorrow (30 miles/45 minutes one way). I am very worried about her - she’s fallen twice in the last 2 weeks & cannot get up by herself, none of which is good.
The Rat snake was in the barn early afternoon - when I came back from a break, it was in front of my red mower. It finally moved on after I lightly tapped the end of its tail with my shoe - took 2 taps. I thought it might coil defensively after tap 1, but after tap 2, it moved on out.
This evening, as I locked up the shop, a dark shape caught my eye in the grass in front of the barn. It was a skunk! Not the typical coloring, mostly black with white on the end if its tail - no stripe. I figured we had one around due to all the holes dug in our landscape mulch. I hollered & clapped my hands a couple if times and it took off for the fence & the neighbor’s field (tall grass, lots of cover). A temporary retreat, I’m sure.
Right. I’ll check out the link. Thanks!
Well, June is about gone, and our two final days at 80% chances of heavy thundershowers passed with all of them somehow missing us and drenching almost all the rest of the area. For now, that is good - our soils are still damp, but, they are no longer soggy. The ditches along the rod(s) along our property have mostly drained, so, the water table should be at least a couple feet down. There are still some scattered storms popping up, but, they don’t look like flood makers... :-)
Cool, I was beginning to wonder. I might have to pick up a cake decorating kit. Zip lock with corner cut off works but doesn’t give the ridges.
BTW, I had to go to Menards yesterday (June 30) for an electrical box cover plate: I’d replaced the switches in the bathroom for the overhead exhaust fan & light, the afternoon prior, putting in a lighted “flat rocker” switch for the light, and a timer control for the fan. But, somehow I didn’t have a cover plate with dual large rectangular openings. I just had singles and a couple triples. Huh.
Anyway, Menards has now marked down a lot of the 6-packs of veggie plants to $1.50. I resisted the urge to buy any more tomatoes, but, they had a few packs of peppers, so I got one pack of golden peppers. Interestingly, those plants were NOT overgrown and stressed looking, like a lot of the tomatoes looked. I’d have bought some hot peppers to use for critter deterrence, but, they had none at all - quite a turn-around from this Spring when our Menards had lots of hot peppers but no sweet peppers.
Some small pots were also on sale, and they had some named “Coleus canina Hybrid” (s). These are interesting, as apparently they emit a scent that will repel many animals. They are not hardy, but, some plants are already going to seed, so, I assume they may behave something not unlike mint plants. At $2.50 each per pot, and, evidently, 4 plants per pot, I bought two to try out as critter repellents. Has anyone ever planted these? Will they come back up from their seeds next year?
Also called the ‘Scaredy Cat’ plant - keeps cats from pooping in your garden - they don’t like the smell.
My mom used to grow Coleus, but never the anti-cat ones. When we were growing up, the neighborhood cats used our sandbox for their toilet & left mom’s flower beds alone.
There are some absolutely gorgeous varieties of Coleus. I always thought of them as shade plants, but some varieties are more sun tolerant. I think I have a good spot for Coleus, but it will be next year before I can plant them.
Yes, the Coleus canina Hybrid plants @ Menards are marketed as exactly that: Repellent for a wide range of animals. Reading online, just how effective that might be seems to be quite open for debate. Bringing one inside, the odor was detectable it did NOT stink up the kitchen. My wife cooks a couple of Filipino foods that are about 1000x times as repulsive smelling to me, but, that doesn’t mean much: Our cats seem undeterred by them. Granted, they don’t seem to mind even the worst of my “#2’s” “fragrance” before the exhaust fan takes care of that, um, problem.
Anyway, we’ll see if these Coleus canina Hybrid plants do any good, and, if so, possibly I can collect seeds from them. I’m still not sure what “semi-hardy means...
I forgot to add: Back 10 years ago, roughly, we put a different variety of coleus in our flower garden, one year. They can indeed be quite attractive. :-)
Holy moley-- that's awful! I've never had that happen on grass (knock wood) although I worry about it on the hilly parts, but I've slipped under my CAR on a city street, sliding on the ice beneath the car when trying to de-ice the windows -- only my head was sticking out. Until I wriggled out of the way, I was terrified that another car would come and run over my head!
Yikes!
We obviously both live, ‘A Life of Danger’ but have lived to tell of it. ;)
God knew that FR would want our input someday...
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