A Change of Venue

After writing yesterday about getting more organized and creating a routine to keep me sane and healthy (on LostGirls), I spent some time going over my stats for all five LostGirls sites.  I kept thinking about the small amount of pageviews that The Black Thumb has (it also has a very small amount of posts and comments).  The more I thought about why I still want to write about gardening (even though I'm an absolute beginner at it), the more I realized that it is more practical for me to put my gardening posts on Uncrafty (formerly known as Crafts for the Uncrafty).  Uncrafty has always been about trying new things, learning more about crafts and various arts.  Gardening certainly fits in with that, especially at the basic level that I'm writing about.  So The Black Thumb still exists on its own URL (with posts from 4/13/12 to 5/26/12), but any new posts will be part of the Uncrafty world.  


If you are still interested in following our gardening posts (I say "our" because other people have asked to eventually contribute or collaborate), the right sidebar of Uncrafty has a variety of ways to keep track of us: on Facebook (via NetworkedBlogs), on Twitter, through an RSS subscription (posts and comments) or via email.  Thank you for reading!

Herbal Update - Week 10 and Some Demands Not Yet Met

First off, because I'm so proud of myself, I want to show you how my herbs are doing.

Look how big they're getting!

I'm having to remove tons of pre-flowers (as I like to call them) from the basil.  Probably needs more pruning, though.  Looks a little lanky.

Coulda done without the stink bugs (not pictured, thankfully).  It's seriously magical how well these guys are doing.  Of course, it's not me.  We've had a lot of rain, the humidity has fully set in, and occasionally I actually remember to give them some Miracle Gro.  This is where we head off into other territory...oh wait, can't forget the Thornless Blackberry.

We may very well have a few berries by the end of summer.  Also, lots of spiders.  And the stink bugs will probably get to all the berries.  Must plant some lavender as companion plants.  And buy a bunch of it to dry and stick all over the house because I'm terrified of finding them inside (see below for what happens).

Oh, you're going to be out of town for a week?

That's cool, Roomie.  I'll just trap stink bugs under these bowls all over the house till you get home.

I have two current assignments for this blog.  The first is that I need to figure out why some people are against Miracle Gro.  If it is not something I should be using on plants I intend to eat, I should probably find out more about that and stop using it.  The arguments I'm hearing are: it's synthetic (there is "organic" Miracle Gro on the market, so that's confusing), it pollutes waterways (something about algal blooms) and it depletes the soil (it feeds the plants, not the soil).  More on that after much research and long conversations with my scientist father.

The second assignment is actually not one of my own making.  My friend Jessie has told me (on many occasions, sometimes only minutes apart) that I need to figure how to compost and then write about it.  Luckily, I have some articles that I kept from a while back on just that and I have quite a few friends on the West Coast who have been composting for years.  So, yeah, a couple things to look forward to in the future of The Black Thumb.  If you have any input on either of these assignments, please let me know!

Herbal Update - Week 9

Oh look, I might actually make a habit out of this.  Maybe.  But I'm going to keep calling it Herbal Update, even though it's not just about herbs.  Just so you know.

Here are my beautiful, sometimes bendy, herbs at Week 9.  They look happy, healthy and so green.  I blame it entirely on the rain and Miracle Gro.  And my pixie neighbor.  I'm just saying it's possible.

And here they are, Weeks 1, 3, 8 and 9.  Because I'm consistent like that.  Or?

And here is the Thornless Blackberry in Week 9.  Check out those big ol' lush leaves on top.

Here is the Thornless Blackberry's progression:

And now for the bad news.  I have managed to kill all the blooms on my White Orchid.  But since the leaves are still big and green, I'm hoping the plant isn't completely dead.  I may be in the denial stage.

The new orchid came along a couple of weeks ago and seems to be doing really well.  Isn't it lovely?

Wish it luck.

Cauliflory

A followup to Trees of Virginia (on Lost in DC) from Seth:

 "These photos show examples of cauliflory - the botanical term for trees which flower and fruit directly from their trunks or main branches. This allows the trees to be pollinated or have seeds dispersed by animals which cannot climb or fly. Cauliflory is often seen in tropical trees where brightly colored flowers grow directly from the main trunk. The Eastern redbud, native to and common in Virginia, West Virginia and Oklahoma (where it is the state tree) grows purple-red flowers from its branches and can have  clusters of 2-6 flowers growing directly from its  trunk. In rare instances, the redbud tree's cauliflory will be white. Perhaps this is the case here. Will need to consult reference books on trees in north america to be check this out. A note of interest - the Eastern redbud is also called the Judas tree because of a traditional belief that Judas hanged himself from such a tree."

Recommended Reading:

Herbal Update - Week 8

It is Week 8 of my herbs and Thornless Blackberry actually staying alive.  I feel like I should throw them a party or something.  Invite other people's plants over and make teensy-planty party hats.  Serve Miracle Gro-infused cocktails.

Or not.

Anyway, Mojito Mint is doing really well.  I don't even think this picture (below) does it justice.  I haven't been pruning it to make it grow out and bushy because I need it to get a wee bit taller first (so it can hang further out over the planter's edge).  I think my neighbor is a garden sprite who comes over and takes care of my plants.  I've seen his garden and I've seen what I usually do and have decided that this is the only thing that makes sense...but it doesn't seem like he could scale up to our second floor deck very easily.  Yup, must be a sprite.  Or maybe some kind of pixie.

Ah Rosemary, I don't even know why I bother pretending I'm caring for you.  You're going to be just fine.  ...Wait a minute...why are you bending like that?

I removed all the leaves from Basil that had any kind of brown on them so that nutrients wouldn't get sucked up by the ones who weren't going to make it anyway.  And it's not looking so bad now!  I also got direction on how to properly remove the flowers from my Basil plant on Chow.com's YouTube channel.

And look at the Thornless Blackberry.  Remember when I said I thought it was dead and all I'd really done was bury a stick in the ground?  It must have heard me.  It's certainly doing an excellent job of proving me wrong.  I'm going to need a better trellis system by the end of summer.  We may even have a berry or two.

I've been trying to work up the courage to go over to one of my neighbors' and ask him, no beg him, to let me take pictures of his front yard and back patio.  They're just so lovely.  And his deck is covered with herbs.  I want him to make me his apprentice and teach me everything he knows.

His pixie apprentice.

Good Surprises and Bad

The only reason I got out of my pajamas today was to look for two dogs who had escaped from a neighbor's yard this morning(ish).  I saw them running around in the street and decided that I wouldn't feel right just leaving them out there in the rain, especially considering there's a major road right next to our little community and no one around here knows how to drive.  I never found them (I'm hoping they're safely home now), but I did discover a couple of new things in our side yard, as I was driving back to the house.

Good Surprises...
Not only did I not know that we had azaleas in our yard...

But I had no idea they grew in bunches like this.

Back in March, I noticed these shoots coming up...

You can barely see them, way down at the base of those sticks.  Sticks that were once a plant, that is.

And I'd been wondering what they were going to turn into.

There they are.

It doesn't seem like it was that long ago - how'd that get so big?!

And so lovely.

And Bad...


What the heck happened to my Jade Pothos?!

Notice shredded leaves on table and floor.

Oh...I see.

It's cool, just play with the plant you've destroyed in front of me, Frankie.

Well, that's what I get for taking too long to hang it up.  Will definitely remedy that situation today.

She looks so innocent, doesn't she?

Plant Identification Day

A friend of mine just bought a house with a huge backyard just brimming with plants.  I recognized some of them, but (as you know) I'm not exactly a plant (or tree or shrub) person.  So, for today's post, I'm giving you guys the photos and hoping you can help us figure out what the name of the plant in each one is.  I'll be contributing (via comments), as well, but can use all the help I can get.  And, of course, I appreciate any corrections to the info I give.  The best way to look at these is to click on the first picture, then flip through the album.  I hope you enjoy looking at her garden as much as I did.