Saturday, March 24, 2007

Answers to a Couple of Comments

I do struggle with how to answer comment questions. I usually answer them right in the comment, but I don't know if many people ever really go back and read them???

Yesterday Sandy asked if I would share my deer repellent recipe. I didn't mean to give the impression that I make my own. I've tried everything imagineable and the only thing that has ever worked for me is a commercially-available product called Hinder. I have been using is sucessfully for a few years now. It's only successful if you use it OFTEN. Every time it rains it has to be reapplied. I use it on my tulips and lillies. If it rains often, I tend to say, "heck with it" and sometimes the deer/rabbits get them after all. It's supposed to rain for the next 5 days and I won't be going out every day to spray.

Yes, Sandy, we did make the rockwall. Thank you for the nice comment about it.

Sissy asked me when I bring my cannas out. Sissy, I did answer your canna questions in the comment section of that long ago post. But I'll answer them again today with pictures. You inspired me to check under the house to see how the cannas were doing.

And, whoa........look at the long shoots that have sprung up! This must have happened during the warm January weather.


Do note that little white/green shoot just coming up next to the tall shoot. Can you see it? Remember it because I will show you a close up after the next pic.
Well, here is a macro of the new shoot. Go ahead and click to make it bigger. MORE GROSS BUGS! This is the first time my pots under the house have been invaded.
When you just look at this with the naked (unbifocaled) eye, it looks like dust. In fact, I thought to myself, "What's this dusty stuff?", and I ran my fingers down the stalk. YUCK! My bare (nicely manicured) fingertips. GROSS!

Then it occurred to me that these were probably aphids and I quickly wiped the squashed bug bodies from my fingers to my pant leg, before snapping a few macro shots.

Anyway, back to Sissy's question about when I bring them out. I leave them right here until mid May. Then I will bring them outside during the day and drag them into the garage at night for about two weeks to let them adjust to the new conditions.

Now that I have discovered these bugs, I will go back under with a soapy cloth and run it up each stalk to squish the little invaders.

I did a little raking of the rockwall area last night....as it turned out, very little....it wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. :) I had a new pair of leather gloves and I could feel blisters starting after about 1/2 hr. so I stopped and decided to go around and spray the tulips instead.

I hope everyone that wants to can get out and do some yard work today. Whatevewr you decide to do, I hope you have a great weekend!

8 comments:

  1. I love gardening but I find it so frustrating at the same time because of the bugs and diseases we must always fight off! Last summer my flowers seemed to be bug free and then the slugs got at them..can't win! lol I won't be able to work on my flower beds for a couple of weeks yet, there's still some frost in the ground and everything is soaked from the snow just melting. xox

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  2. Thank you, Zoey! For the longest time, I wondered why you never answered me, I am so forgetful, I forgot it was from a long ago post!!
    You got big problems with those aphids, Zoey! They must have overwintered in the soil and hatched when it got warm. I would take those out and jet them with the hose!!

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  3. Thanks for the answer, Zoey.
    I know what you mean by the bifocaled eyes! Have you ever picked up what you thought was a piece of sewing lint, then found when you got it up in front of the bifocals, it was a spider???
    I won't be working out today, we got more snow last night. Nothing serious, just messy.

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  4. Hi Zoey,
    My cannas are starting to sprout up again too. And I was so worried when I asked you b/c they all died during January's cold blast.

    As for comments, I always answer mine in the post where the person commented. And I usually answer them when I put up my next post. People do come back to see what the answers are to their questions. But also, I view my comments as an ongoing conversation with my regular blog readers so I try to respond to every comment.

    As for bugs, I remember one solution is to boil a bunch of onions in some water and spritz that on the aphids. I've never tried it myself but it can't hurt?

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  5. Hi Chopsticks, I've never head of the onion cure, but it's worth a try. Thanks!

    I agree about the comment section being a good place to connect with your readers. I just wasn't sure if others felt the same way. I know some people get so many comments, it would be impossible to answer them all.

    Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a moment to let me know your feelings.

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  6. Pea, you are so right about gardening being frustrating! I try to just take it all in stride. In the big scheme of life, it really does not matter if aphids eat a plant or two.

    Sissy, I had DH bring the hose out today. Now I just need him to be home to help me carry that heavy container out from under the house.

    Sandy, I think I would rather squish an aphid or two with my bare hands than pick up a spider!

    Now I wonder why this silly word verification is coming up on my own post? Maybe if you answer twice in a row, it makes you do it?

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  7. Hi Zoey,

    Try a big pot of water and several large onions, skins and all. If I remember correctly, it's something about the onion chemicals that's irritating to bugs. Then just put it in a spray bottle and spritz.

    Well, another blogger told me he learned from someone else to always respond to every comment. Afterall, if someone enjoys your blog enough to read and comment, it's nice to have that acknowledged. And I've noticed that the blogs I like, even if they get upwards of 50 comments, always respond to each one eventually. And since I usually don't get more than a dozen comments, it doesn't take much out of my day to respond after I've updated my next post. Anyway, that's just my take on it. There's a nice post here on the dos and don'ts of food blogging, which has lots of good points about blogging in general.
    http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2007/03/07/howto-foodblog/

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  8. Good article, chopsticks. Thanks!
    I did find that font size a little hard to read though.

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I appreciate you taking the time and effort to leave a comment. I will try to answer any questions you have. Please note due to Blogger changing word verification so almost nobody can read it, I have had to change to no word verification and only allow registered users to comment.

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