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uito free due to the temperature but the biting flies are apparently more cold tolerant like fire ants they pack a bite compared to their relative size they are commonly called blackfly scientific name simulium meridionale the female is the biter and she uses her modified mouth parts to draw blood they are super fast and i ve been unable to swat and kill them once one of them draws blood a bunch more show up so it becomes really annoying i ve tried toughing it out but the bites creates a really itchy rash that no lotion will soothe the only way to avoid them is to go in the house or wear protective clothing i hate having to cover up because winter is the only time i can be outside without sweating like a horse and i d like to enjoy the cool air i guess i could get one of those insect protective suits but they can be expensive this past week i had to give up in a huff and come in the house to put on long sleeves and pants but then i had an idea i ve got a whole drawer full of pantyhose left over from when i used to work in offices whose dress codes required them i d order them online in bulk in the four colors i needed and kept well stocked since i was always snagging them on my desk once i didn t have to wear them i started using them as plant ties in the garden so never threw them out they are also handy to dry garlic and onions i hang them on the deck fully stuffed and they look like the worse case of cellulite ever i pulled on a pair of navy hose put my shorts back on donned a long sleeve shirt and went back outside for those of you in the know panty hose fabric is not solid and i ve been bitten by mosquitos right through it but i hoped that it would discourage the flies and it did i was buzzed a couple of times but they didn t land and bite me allowing me to stay out several more hours of course the bad thing is that i also developed several runs which means i m going to go through that drawer pretty fast to stay ahead of the flies mission accomplished thankfully my backyard fence saved my neighbors from seeing me in my glamorous glory although if i fashioned some sort of tutu out of bird netting it could get very interesting posted by sheryl at 7 54 am 4 comments labels biting flies protective clothing winter gardening yardfanatic sunday january 6 2019 2018 favorite photos i m taking a moment to reflect back on the past year i didn t do much traveling or gardening as the scarcity of my photos testify i ve allowed things to get unbalanced and looking through my photos reminds me that i need to slow down and appreciate the wonders these images make my heart warm yes they are mostly plants but hey it s what i love to look at i hope you ll indulge me mckee bridge oregon https en wikipedia org wiki mckee_bridge loblolly pine pinus taeda peckerwood gardens hempstead texas lady bird johnson wildflower center austin texas during a downpour prickly pear austin texas when ponds dream mcashan herb gardens at festival hill texas chocolate mimosa tree at tanglewood garden texas mount st helens washington with the still ash choked toutle river hard to believe it s been 38 years since the eruption seems like yesterday https en wikipedia org wiki mount_st _helens pacific dogwood ashland oregon against that impossibly blue oregon sky my grandpa called this strawberry grass when i asked him what it was it was only later that i realized he made up almost every plant name in order to appease his chattering granddaughters that would never shut up when following him around the forest reflections from lithia park reservoir ashland oregon an infinity of alliums phacelia tanacetifolia purple tansy southern oregon experiment station medford oregon applegate river oregon wild rose applegate reservoir oregon lichen covered limbs hanging over applegate reservoir oregon anigozanthos flavidus yellow kangaroo paw sacramento california jess my host at the california state fair whose badge is being inspected by a friendly porcine see i can take pictures of people too hope you enjoyed them posted by sheryl at 8 21 pm 2 comments labels 2018 best photos sunday may 20 2018 home is where the plants are i just returned from visiting my family in oregon it included a couple of quick visits to some old haunts in the valley and up the siskiyous may is the tail end of spring and it s heralded by roses iris and rhododendrons my goal for this trip was to get out in the mountains and just breathe i miss the perfume of the forest the sponginess of the moss the waft of whatever is flowering the quick flash of fish jumping the rogue valley where i grew up is nestled between the cascade and siskiyou mountains with a mix of environs and plants there was still snow on the peaks but the spring flooding was over so the water was completely clear i was home or was i i couldn t help but think of the south marveling at the antitrichia curtipendula moss growing on a douglas fir that leaned over applegate lake even though it s a completely different plant than spanish moss tillandsia usneoides then my mind went down that rabbit hole making me think of the ball moss tillandsia recurvata that grows on the live oaks here in austin down by the dam applegate river has an earthen reservoir to form the lake the white quartz and orange shale reminded me of the yellow limestone here in hill country of course the water in this lake was blue not the interesting brown that you find in austin back down in the valley i dragged mom down hanley road to see if the strawberries were ripe they were and to stop in at the southern oregon agricultural experiment station and jackson county extension service they are always doing interesting plant trials i was totally captivated by their cover crop mix featuring blue tansy phacelia tanacetifolia purple vetch rye grass and volunteer wheat the staff invited me to pick a bouquet so i did as a kid i would tromp through the pasture and pick grasses and weeds for bouquets alpine meadows were another special place where i just reveled in all the plants jammed into small areas i guess that s why i love texas and the prairie ecosystem and those wildflowers unfortunately i was between wildflower seasons during my visit the woodland flowers like trilliums were done and the late spring flowers like shooting stars dodecatheon hendersonii and lilacs ceanothus had a few more weeks to go but luckily one of my favorites made an appearance by the trail calochortus elegans or kitty ears as we always called them were delightful you can t go by one of these without petting the long hairs along the petals but i do the same thing with wine cup a plant i couldn t grow to save my life in oregon but one that appears everywhere here in central texas i have to ask myself where is home the mountains of oregon with the perfume of respiring trees or texas grasses or trees kitty or doggy ears i don t know anymore posted by sheryl at 1 08 pm 7 comments sunday december 3 2017 cheerfully incompetent about 60 days ago i injured my back i pulled up a tree and gave myself sciatic nerve issues these past weeks have been agony but i am lucky to have found a great chiropractic wellness center which i fondly refer to as the pain palace and helpful advice from jess and val who have experienced the same thing walking the dog using a standing desk at work and lots of careful stretching have culminated into me getting back into the garden today what a mess it is weeds everywhere compost stone cold vegetables long past their pick date roses that need deadheading the list goes on but today my return outside was markedly different i spent more time taking care of myself than taking care of the garden i did my morning stretches walked the dog stretched again then went outside i limited my activity to two garden beds i was out there for only a few hours and did some mildly strenuous work happy to report that i was able to bend and yank vines without issue but then i cleaned and put away the tools came into the house with the harvest made myself a cup of tea and have called it good for the day i walked past the lima beans that desperately need to be picked i walked past the green beans that are trying to outpace the weeds i walked past the blooming dandelions and sow thistle i walked past the crabgrass horse herb and johnson grass i walked past the 10 bags of unopened mulch laying in the beds waiting to be spread i walked past the okra and zinnias that are covered in powdery mildew i walked past the garden beds that have rotted corner posts and are springing their sides i walked past the boards that are cut and ready to use for bed repair once i d harvested the sweet potatoes and squash i lightly raked the beds and threw on a cover crop of crimson clover it s way too late to plant it worse i just lightly patted it in and failed to give it the usual dusting of compost i used five year old seed which has a small chance of germinating i don t have a plan b mulch prepared i hear my own voice telling people during my master gardener speaking gigs never to do what i just did but i did it then i just walked away cheerfully incompetent this willingness to sacrifice myself for a bigger picture has always been a problem and is something my employers are happy to exploit i ve got a huge compulsion to finish things to work on large projects to push myself to exhaustion i don t spend time stretching exercising or just being quiet all because i see some cog some stray string that needs to be repaired built to keep the wheels of my life turning and the web of my existence intact and then my back said uh uh girlfriend my little voice reminded me that my friend jennifer who blogs at rock rose has always cautioned us to warm up do some core work and otherwise take care of ourselves before running outside and doing something stupid yep so now i m trying to do better i m trying to turn my focus from what needs to be done to what i must do to care for myself and please i m not being a martyr no one would ever describe me as a selfless humanitarian or care giver hard worker and dependable are two things that come up instead i ll take that but it s time to be a little less of those and more cheerfully incompetent someone who is happy to turn away and not try to solve everything someone without back issues ha thanks for listening and don t call me if you need rock hauled posted by sheryl at 11 32 am 2 comments labels fall gardening sciatica yardfanatic saturday august 5 2017 brown is the new green the quest for a sustainable lawn carex texensis in spring these hot august days have driven me inside for my summer dormancy where i weakly wave to my plants and wish them the best until october i do suit up hat gloves long sleeves to mow my neighbor s lawn on occasion so that i can add the clippings to my compost many people have strong opinions about lawns in relation to the chemicals and water resources used to keep it perfectly green not just lawns driving home from work the sprinklers were mostly watering the road in an attempt to keep the median green my own front yard is approximately 625 square feet if i watered it the recommended 1 inch per week it would use about 1 677 gallons a month 1 inch of water 62 gallons square foot that s a lot of water to keep alive something that you can t eat or put into a vase it will also require fertilizer to keep it going which then means i ll have to mow it water fertilizer even if it is organic and gasoline suddenly the word sustainable isn t springing to mind what is sustainable anyway there are a lot of definitions environmentally speaking some say it is anything that endures over time without artificial or man made input watering from a hose is not considered a sustainable act while rain falling from the sky is if you have to supplement plant growth in any form that to some is not considered sustainable the lines blur when you enter in the whole organic movement some say that as long as you use organic inputs like cow manure or compost you are being sustainable because those sources are renewable resources so if i go ahead and have a lawn get rid of the mower and use a goat to graze and fertilize it i m being sustainable to me the argument becomes ridiculous because having a patch of green grass that requires all this maintenance makes it artificial and therefore not sustainable to me plus i m not fond of goats used to raise them don t want to repeat the experience clearly there must be room in the middle there is something about the makeup of human beings that loves to see a sea of green maybe it is our pastoral past where we associated green fields with good hunting in any case telling people to give up their lawn is just not going to fly what we can do is help people make better choices instead of a thirsty lawn of st augustine consider reducing the size of the lawn and plant more ornamentals trees and shrubs don t require as much maintenance and are just as lovely we also must change it should be perfectly fine to plant buffalo grass and let it go brown and dormant in the summer thus eliminating the need to water at all my own lawn is history i killed all my st augustine grass seven years ago and planted sedges carex texensis in a much smaller footprint i only water once a month if it hasn t rained and i don t mow it although you can if you wish i ve spread wildflower seed so that in the spring and early summer i have my own meadow the peripheral ornamental beds are planted in natives and antique roses that don t need to be babied through the growing season an added benefit is that many of the ornamentals provide food and habitat for our native birds most of the year it s my contribution toward being responsible to our growing population and shrinking resources water in texas and most elsewhere is finite and we all need to work together to make sure we conserve having a brown lawn should be a badge of pride brown should be the new green posted by sheryl at 6 20 am 1 comment labels lawn no lawn permaculture sustainability turf yardfanatic saturday july 29 2017 farmstastic working farm at california state fair cal expo grounds i was lucky to spend my vacation with my best friend jess who happens to be on the the california exposition and state fair board we grew up in 4 h and ffa then went on to teach vocational agriculture so going to fairs is a nerdy pleasure for me it was especially nice to get out of the heat and humidity of austin and enjoy dry days and cool nights in sacramento california the fair as always was a hoot and i am happy to announce i did real damage to the food booths i also got to chat up the livestock exhibitors and discover all the people we have in common several hogs goats sheep cattle and even a sturgeon were petted and cooed over but the real highlight for me was the farm squash calexpo has a working demonstration farm right on the grounds and while i ve seen other similar treatments most notably the children s garden at the san antonio botanical...