Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[wlhtx]

Thankfully, my momma goats were not lactating during their primary poison ivy eating time last fall. I'm sure they must have eaten some while they were lactating earlier this spring, but it must not have been enough for us to notice. Then again, we do not consume that much of the milk...mainly just use it as coffee creamer.

I'm also not very sensitive to it, though my husband is. That would be a rough lesson to learn...

 

[coldupnorth]

Mumsy - You are right about nettles. They may be nutrient-rich but they probably don't fit into a romantic or even whimsical garden, so therefore a weed in that situation.

Scary thought about people eating poisonous plants because its looks like something they know as good. Happens around here too, especially plants that have berries on them. My youngest ate some mushrooms growing in a potted plant at my parents house. We were visiting and had just arrived when I noticed that she was chewing on something. Pulled it out of her mouth and discovered mushrooms. She was just over a year and not talking well yet. We called poison control and was told not to worry about it because they were brown mushrooms. What??? We knew better and brought her into the emergency room. They filled her stomach full of charcoal and my hubby drove 3 hours away to meet the "mushroom Lady" at 2:00 am in the morning. She looked at them, but couldn't completely identify them, but said they were definitely on the dangerously poisonous end of mushrooms. They grew up in the potting soil that my mom had bought (originated in CA). To this day, my youngest will not eat mushrooms and I am very cautious with kids outside to make sure they are not putting anything in their mouths.

 

[MumsyII]

Mumsy - You are right about nettles. They may be nutrient-rich but they probably don't fit into a romantic or even whimsical garden, so therefore a weed in that situation.

Yes. Nettles come up in the shrubbery, in nooks along the fence line and they even set seedlings in my compost pile so I get them sometimes in the raised beds. I often don't see them until I feel them. *ouch!* Every garden plant started out as a weed somewhere in the world. Man kind started gathering and then cultivating the desirable ones. I could harvest and make a meal from the wild plants if I had to. The knowledge is in my head. The plants are readily available.

Scary thought about people eating poisonous plants because its looks like something they know as good. Happens around here too, especially plants that have berries on them. My youngest ate some mushrooms growing in a potted plant at my parents house. We were visiting and had just arrived when I noticed that she was chewing on something. Pulled it out of her mouth and discovered mushrooms. She was just over a year and not talking well yet. We called poison control and was told not to worry about it because they were brown mushrooms. What??? We knew better and brought her into the emergency room. They filled her stomach full of charcoal and my hubby drove 3 hours away to meet the "mushroom Lady" at 2:00 am in the morning. She looked at them, but couldn't completely identify them, but said they were definitely on the dangerously poisonous end of mushrooms. They grew up in the potting soil that my mom had bought (originated in CA). To this day, my youngest will not eat mushrooms and I am very cautious with kids outside to make sure they are not putting anything in their mouths.


Yikes! Good call not listening to the clueless poison control person. There are hundreds of thousands of fungus. Most are brown. Most are poisonous. I am an amateur mycologist. Have been searching for and identifying mushrooms for years. I probably have more fungus pictures than garden plants. Hah!

 

[NanaLynn]

This thread moves so fast! Okay I am caught up. I have a few pictures of our yard and the butterfly bushes we have, we planted them along the road which was probably a bad idea since they are growing so big! Is it okay to trim them back? Or should I relocate them somewhere else. They are so beautiful in full bloom with all the butterflies!







We also get these half bumble bee half hummingbird type bees too. I had never seen them before we planted the butterfly bushes.








You can see them along the road at the top of the picture. I also planted Japanese pencil bushes between them. Our plan was a natural fence along the road. The Japanese bushes are taking forever to grow, probably since the butterfly bushes are taking over. I may be calling everything by the wrong name. This garden in the front of the picture is a small one with gardenia's, roses and a few small shrubs. It needs some weeding. In the center I have chives, I love the purple flowers from the chives.


We have two sheds, this the smaller one. We planted rose bushes around it and it really helped to make it look better. This is probably a bad view, it looks better around the side. In this pic you can see the chicken run all the way down to the left. We have a lot of grassy area and our house and land is on a hill. A creek is further down past the run. We're trying to get plants in the ground and are adding little by little.

Sorry if I interrupted anyone else's conversation.

 

[mlowen]

LynnEBC, that's a sweet looking place.

 

[armorfirelady]

Lynn I wonder if its a hummingbird moth?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird_moth

 

[MumsyII]

This thread moves so fast! Okay I am caught up. I have a few pictures of our yard and the butterfly bushes we have, we planted them along the road which was probably a bad idea since they are growing so big! Is it okay to trim them back? Or should I relocate them somewhere else. They are so beautiful in full bloom with all the butterflies!







We also get these half bumble bee half hummingbird type bees too. I had never seen them before we planted the butterfly bushes.








You can see them along the road at the top of the picture. I also planted Japanese pencil bushes between them. Our plan was a natural fence along the road. The Japanese bushes are taking forever to grow, probably since the butterfly bushes are taking over. I may be calling everything by the wrong name. This garden in the front of the picture is a small one with gardenia's, roses and a few small shrubs. It needs some weeding. In the center I have chives, I love the purple flowers from the chives.


We have two sheds, this the smaller one. We planted rose bushes around it and it really helped to make it look better. This is probably a bad view, it looks better around the side. In this pic you can see the chicken run all the way down to the left. We have a lot of grassy area and our house and land is on a hill. A creek is further down past the run. We're trying to get plants in the ground and are adding little by little.

Sorry if I interrupted anyone else's conversation.

Don't ever worry about interrupting the flow. I love coming on here to see all the great questions, input, pictures, and my friends. I've been picking beans and freezing them and have pickled beets in the canner now. So I popped in to see what was up. That is called a hummingbird moth. They are marvelous creatures. You are fortunate to be there to take a picture! Butterfly bush can be cut almost to the ground in winter. It blooms on new wood. Shrubs are kind of like this. Spring blooming shrubs can be pruned as soon as they are done blooming. They bloom on old wood. Late summer shrubs get pruned in the winter because they bloom on new wood. This is a generalization but works for me with most shrubs.

I will get back to the rest of your post. In a bit.

 

[coldupnorth]

I love the butterfly bushes - so pretty and fragrant! They are sold as annuals here because they can't handle the winters. I've tried to overwinter one in a pot in the insulated garage, but it didn't make it.

 

[midnightroo]

Yes the humming bird moth. Since a crazy lovely creature. It looks like a flying lobster to me. Armor you might see them when the cleome grows. They tend to visit ours in groups at dusk. They are also the tomato horn worm, but I saw my chickens eat one.

I have nettles. I also use them for tea and the Japanese beetles love ours, so I just pick them off and feed them to the chickens. If you rub plantain on a spot where nettle brushed up against you it takes away the discomfort. For me, it works very quickly.

Lynn your flowers and set up are very nice. We have a purple bush and my daughter loves to go out and catch the butterflies that visit them.

I hadn't read anything on oleander until after I posted. I was surprised that it was so posionous.

 

[MumsyII]

You can see them along the road at the top of the picture. I also planted Japanese pencil bushes between them. Our plan was a natural fence along the road. The Japanese bushes are taking forever to grow, probably since the butterfly bushes are taking over. I may be calling everything by the wrong name. This garden in the front of the picture is a small one with gardenia's, roses and a few small shrubs. It needs some weeding. In the center I have chives, I love the purple flowers from the chives.


Japanese pencil bush is unknown to me. Maybe you can take a picture when you have the chance.
If you can grow Gardenia's out side, you must live in a mild climate.

If you love the chive blossom there is a bulb section you may enjoy in the Allium family. (onion family) I have one that I love called the Drumstick allium. They remind me of lolly pops. You can plant them in a clump together the same time you plant tulips and daffodils. I find them in nurseries sometimes in the Spring or you can find them in catalogs. Flowers in the Allium family are considered edible flowers by gourmet restaurants. You can pull the little florets apart and sprinkle over salads. Tastes onion-y without being overpowering.


We have two sheds, this the smaller one. We planted rose bushes around it and it really helped to make it look better. This is probably a bad view, it looks better around the side. In this pic you can see the chicken run all the way down to the left. We have a lot of grassy area and our house and land is on a hill. A creek is further down past the run. We're trying to get plants in the ground and are adding little by little.

So charming! Is the window real or ornamental? It is so cute. I would put a little window flower box under it and plant it full of Nasturtiums.

Sorry if I interrupted anyone else's conversation.