Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[wlhtx]

They won't eat the nettles though. Can't blame them, but it sure would be awesome if they did...

 

[armorfirelady]

Aoxa - mosquitoes also think I am a buffet when I step outdoors. I can have dozens of bites & my mom next to me has none. Even off spray doesn't always protect me & I am like you I hate to put it on my skin. On another thread someone told me I could add real vanilla & lavender to a plain lotion (I use aveno) and apply it to my skin as a natural bug repellent. I haven't tried it yet. I am still looking for lavender oil. But I am hopeful it works and it means the end of chemicals on my skin

Mumsy I have heard of nettles but wouldn't know it if I saw them. Since the dr grounded me to the house today I have plenty of time for researching it. I plan a visit to the library later when it opens to get a few books a natural plants and herbs that are beneficial. I was also directed to a book that lists what's safe for animals as well.

 

[Kassaundra]

@aoxa: I love your wild lawn. Beautiful. The forest is awesome! I wouldn't do a thing to change it. Lovely for walks with your goats and a lovely patch of wild habitat.

@Kassaundra: Root layering clematis gives me a plant that takes fewer years to bloom than cuttings. Clematis cuttings are fragile and need to be kept in my green house for three years before hardy enough to plant out. I grow a couple species clematis that seed will grow true. They have yet to seed in my shrubbery. Most clematis offered in nurseries are hybrids and the seeds are sterile.

Some clematis, such as the species types and those with small blooms or early blooming varieties do best and flower more prolifically if they are left to their own devices and prunned but little. Large flowered hybrids benefit from prunning here in late winter. The blooms then will be larger and the plant rejuvenates. A trick my Grandmother taught me about clematis. They want their feet in the shade and their heads in the sun. They do best with cool roots. I place bricks over the root area of all my large bloom varieties. I plant them at the base of fences, trellis, or shrubs. Then let the vines scramble up through the roses or other shrubs.


This is a clone by root layering of Clematis 'Henri" I planted it behind the climbing hydrangea on the trellis. A self seeded mole plant (Euphorbia) is in front of it) The clematis grows up through the hydrangea and blooms over the top of it some years. They bloom at the same time. One of my favorite combinations.
Edited to add: The clematis that aoxa shared a picture of is a species Clematis Oriental from Asia.

So should I cut the plant back in the winter?

 

[armorfirelady]

I'm curious about that to Kausandra. I was always told some clematis need to be cut down yearly others you leave. If you scratch the vine and find green leave it. If its not green cut it back. The one I cut down was the one that had green stems even when it looked dead except this time when it died back the stems were dead.

 

[coldupnorth]

The stinging nettle we have around here is not fun to touch or walk through with shorts on, but it does have its uses. If cooked or dried it can be eaten. Good source of vitamin C and dried leaves make a good tea. Young stems and tops have been used to make beer. Nettle that has been dried can be fed to animals (cows, horses, chickens). Supposedly, cows will produce more milk, chickens more eggs and horses will have a shinier coat. I've tried cooking it and drying it for tea and it is better than you think. I haven't tried drying it for my chickens, though. Maybe I will.

Thankfully, no poison oak around here, but you do have to watch out for poison ivy. I'm always amazed when we camp or picnic with friends, that most do not know what poison ivy looks like. I'm always pointing it out so that they make sure to stay out of it (their pets too).

Friends always talk about the wild rhubarb that they see and wonder about harvesting it. I have tell them that eating Burdock would not be a good idea.

 

[MumsyII]

I wear my industrial strength leather gloves (sold in the BBQ section at the hardware store) for nettles and any plant in the Euphorbia family.

I used to collect different types of Euphorbia. They do not appeal to everyone but I think they are very interesting plants in a mixed flower border. Unusual leaves and flowers. One of the peculiarity's of this genus is that instead of attracting bees, they attract flys. Weird. I cannot detect a smell from the blooms but they sure must smell yummy to fly's.

The most useful Euphorbia I grow these days is the mole plant. I planted seeds decades ago to help discourage deer from browsing the back garden. It has self seeded ever since. It is not a bad thing though because only a few plants come up every year and they are easy to pull up. They grow a long tap root and don't transplant well. I wear thick leather gloves because the sap that oozes out from even the tiniest of breaks is a skin irritant for me. This sap is what deer, moles, and rabbits want to avoid. There are no moles on Whidbey Island and moles do not eat vegetation but moles build tunnels that can be used by voles, mice, and weasels. I grow it because it's interesting and it does indeed discourage deer and rabbits.


Mole plant and Feverfew have naturalized in my back garden. Both are shunned by deer and rabbits. I don't handle the Mole plant but the Feverfew is medicinal. A tea can alleviate fever and aches and pains.

It doesn't really have a bloom but the seed pods are interesting. When they ripen, they explode a very hard black seed that shoots quite a distance. The plant blooms once and dies. The progeny come back in different places every year.


Forgot to put my camera in macro mode. A blurry shot of the sap oozing from the spot I removed a tiny leaf. That sap is to be avoided.

 

[aoxa]

Aoxa - mosquitoes also think I am a buffet when I step outdoors. I can have dozens of bites & my mom next to me has none. Even off spray doesn't always protect me & I am like you I hate to put it on my skin. On another thread someone told me I could add real vanilla & lavender to a plain lotion (I use aveno) and apply it to my skin as a natural bug repellent. I haven't tried it yet. I am still looking for lavender oil. But I am hopeful it works and it means the end of chemicals on my skin

Mumsy I have heard of nettles but wouldn't know it if I saw them. Since the dr grounded me to the house today I have plenty of time for researching it. I plan a visit to the library later when it opens to get a few books a natural plants and herbs that are beneficial. I was also directed to a book that lists what's safe for animals as well.

Aren't they terrible?! Off does not work flawlessly for me either. I have been reading that sulphur works. I haven't tried it. Vanilla did not work for me. I smelled nice though

 

[echosrevenge]

@aoxa, a handy tip for IDing maples is that they are always symmetrical. Sometimes it can be hard.to spot because one of the branches took off while the other died, but they always grow branches and leaves in opposite pairs.

With regard to goats & poison oak/ivy, yes they love it but some people who are particularly sensitive to the plants can react to the milk of goats that consume large amounts of it, and the oils can transfer to your hands from the udder while milking if you dont wash it thoroughly beforehand (ask me how I know...lol)

Burdock root is edible, and makes an AMAZING addition to winter stews. Really does amazing things for the flavors of the other veggies, especially roots. It is highly prized as a food in Japan, I have seeds for a named cultivar but haven't planted them yet.

A mixture of nettle, raspberry leaf, and red clover buds makes an excellent women's tea for nutrition and reproductive system support. I am currently harvesting and drying as much as I can of all three for when we start trying to conceive this winter. My sister used it all through her pregnancy and lactation, with great results. Highly nutritious, too, especially for wintertime when many micronutrients are in short supply.

 

[MumsyII]

@Kassaundra: I have cut some clumps of clematis nearly to the ground and they have come back bigger and more robust than ever before. Some I have left a tangled mess to it's own self be true. Fewer and fewer blooms over time.These days I go a couple years then whack it down. No matter what cultivar it is. Timing is everything with clematis. Generally with most of the large to medium bloom types, I cut them straight across at about my chest height in late winter. Four feet is an assumption. I weed the base. Replace the bricks or stones, water deeply if Spring rains are sparse and let the plant come back. If a bad cold spell is expected, I pile evergreen branches over the pruned shrub for insulation or to keep heavy snow from piling up. Got to remember to remove those branches in the Spring. Rabbits and squirrels like to munch on the tender roots of clematis.

About nettles. Where ever they grow is a good indicator of rich fertile soil. There are beneficial butterfly's and moths that use nettles to lay their eggs. They are indeed rich in nutrients. (I've never been that hungry) Not a bad plant. But remember. Right plant for the right place. Every thing else is a weed.

People in the Pacific Northwest are routinely poisoned and many die as a result of mistaking poisonous plants for edible. Usually folks that arrive from Asia. They pick and eat mushrooms that 'look' like the ones back home. They make tea from Fox glove leaves because they 'look' like Comphrey leaves.

It happens nearly every year. Most die. Many must get liver transplants to survive.

 

[TexasLisa]

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With regard to goats & poison oak/ivy, yes they love it but some people who are particularly sensitive to the plants can react to the milk of goats that consume large amounts of it, and the oils can transfer to your hands from the udder while milking if you dont wash it thoroughly beforehand (ask me how I know...lol)

I was getting ready to ask if the poison ivy came through on the goat's milk. We are toying around with getting goats. My DH can be in the general area of poison ivy and he gets it. I, on the other hand, can pull it up barehanded and not get it.

Just remember the old adages for poison ivy: "leaves of three, let them be" or "hairy vine, no friend of mine".

Lisa