Re: strange gardening year

I don't think that sounds mean Marge. Slugs are the enemy. Was repotting
some stuff this weekend and found a couple hiding under a pot - took
them out back and dumped them right under the bird feeder. Mwaaa ha ha
ha. Birdy food. And I don't know what's worse - too much rain or not
enough. Both are bad. My xeriscape stuff loves drought. My pocketbook
does not.


Odd year??  You betcha...

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Marge Talt" <mtalt@hort.net>
Reply-To: gardenchat@hort.net
Date:  Mon, 29 Sep 2003 03:29:58 -0400

>Donna,  
>
>I'm with you - this has been one really strange year.  Snow started
>before last Christmas and never left the ground, with that 2.5 feet
>of snow in Feb. to cap it off; very long, cool and wet spring turning
>into a short wet summer that never really got as hot as usual tho' we
>did have many days in the 90s, enlivened by a big hail storm early on
>and then assorted wild thunderstorms, culminating (I hope) with
>Isabel....sure don't need any more wild weather for a while.
>
>My spring would have been glorious if it hadn't been so wet.  Flowers
>lasted on all plants about twice as long as usual, but were turned
>into big brown globs from all the rain.
>
>Fungi have been having a blast this year - both beneficial and not
>so...many plants showing fungal problems but I'm just ignoring them.
>
>The hail in early summer shredded all my large leaf plants - hostas
>really damaged and then I had major vole attack on them and poor
>dears suffered even more with Isabel throwing huge branches on what
>was left of their foliage - some really sad looking children.  Of
>course, the slugs have been enjoying the damp as well; hard to tell
>where some of the holes in leaves have come from - hail or slugs.  I
>used up 2 containers of Sluggo - it worked, but it's expensive and I
>have to trudge out to VA to get it, so by the time the last one was
>gone, I just gave up.  Cut those blighters in half every chance I
>get...nasty of me, but great satisfaction.
>
>Some insect - never caught it in the act - turned all the foliage on
>Tovara 'Painter's Palette' to lace this year - very strange; hope
>they enjoyed it.
>
>Leaves are browning and dropping from trees (esp. oaks) as fast as
>I've cleaned up after the storm, the ground is littered again.  Some
>trees were pretty well defoliated by the storm; others had wind burn.
> The dogwoods will not look good this fall - their leaves are
>browned, burned and crispy on the edges, I think from windburn.  I
>have seen a few fallen leaves with color, but it's really too early,
>so that's an indication of some kind of stress; Lord knows they've
>had enough kinds this season!  Usually don't see fall color around
>here until middle of next month.
>
>Now, it's turned cool - forecasts for this week are highs in the 60s
>and lows in the 40s....about 10 degrees colder than normal for this
>date.  My tropicals aren't gonna like that much and I shall have to
>bring in the Caladiums and a few others at least for this week - it
>may warm up again...but the writing is on the wall.  Winter is around
>the corner and I really am not in the mood for it because, like
>others of you who have posted, summer doesn't really seem to have
>happened here this year.
>
>All in all a really strange gardening season....if getting ample rain
>means this kind of season, I'm almost ready to go back to drought
>mode again...well, almost:-)  It was nice not to have to drag hoses
>this year and sell my soul to our local water company...
>
>Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
>mtalt@hort.net
>Editor:  Gardening in Shade
>-----------------------------------------------
>Current Article: Variegation on the Green Theme - Part One
>http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/shade_gardening
>------------------------------------------------
>Complete Index of Articles by Category and Date
>http://mtalt.hort.net/article-index.html
>------------------------------------------------
>All Suite101.com garden topics :
>http://www.suite101.com/topics.cfm/635
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
>message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT
>
>

--
Pam Evans
Kemp TX/zone 8A



--

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index