“Agavephobia”

ESPatch Sep 22, 2012 9 comments

“Ahhh, Differential grasshopper.”

Oh come on, what was I going to do?

Melanoplus differentialis

Did you know that one of their favorite gourmet meals is Giant ragweed?

Ragweed is a plant synonymous with late summer hay fever, and one I struggle to clear my throat of every year. The plant is generally considered the greatest allergen of all pollens in North America.

Today, there is no area in the US that is free of ragweed pollen.

So chomp away my spiny-legged pest, but you better move immediately away from my Mex. Leucantha, if you know what is good for you.

The design on this insect is quite something, the armored plating, the militia graphics on its thighs, the hooks, spines and alien eyes.

“Get them off me…I have agavephobia you know!”

Calm down Gandalf!

I will thin them out soon enough, and I had no idea.

Def. Agavephobia is a condition where the sufferer becomes anxious in environments that heavily feature members of the agave family. Triggers for this anxiety may include serrated edges, unnecessary worry and concern for loved ones, and more rarely in subjects, a fear of sharp soil. Agavephobia is often, but not always, compounded by a fear of sharp points, weevils and drought tolerant, water wise planting schemes.

Changes are certainly in the Patch air.

Pyracantha berries are a reminder that pumpkins are just around the corner.

The rain and the sun has put this satsuma tree back on track for a great fall harvest.

“Aye, she has a nice bunch of satsumas all right, but i’m tellin ye, anymere, n’ she’ll fall apart. Just-one-mere-satsu…”

No more Scotty!

Asparagus Fern,

Asparagus pyramidalis

Asparagus pyramidalis is a hybrid between A. plumosa and tree fern, it adopts a more vertical, layered habit than other cultivars but it is equally as invasive. Asparagus fern is somewhat deceiving as a name because it is not a fern at all, it merely looks like one, it is in fact a relative of edible asparagus. Pyramidalis is more dense and does not wrap round other plants or trees like plumosa.

Both my pyramidalis (above),

and my plumosa (above) ferns are currently displaying tiny off-white flowers.

Moving along…

Soft Mexican bush sage contrasts well with soft leaf yucca.

This stand in the front of the Patch is completely out of control and leggier that I would like it (pruning negligence on my part), though it does have more of a natural rambling look when left to its own devices like this…

…okay it is just leggy.

On sending up a flower spike yuccas

flower very quickly.

A great drought tolerant plant for our area and well worth getting a jab now and then, oh and if you are as obsessive as me,

you may not want to get down low and look into the heart of the plant.

This is almost as annoying as…

I said almost.

You can see where I started in on this stock tank sticker in the top left corner, and the massive progress that I made attempting to remove it.

Stupid stock tank stickers.

Duranta erecta ‘Sapphire Showers’ is very much living up to its name.

Stunted Cone flowers and browning feather grasses signal in the fall.

Inspirational Images of the Week:

Path at Powis Castle in Wales leads to dark trail winding through a stunning yew hedge.

Some beautiful Hipstamatic and filter work by:

http://tinktastichana.tumblr.com/

I will leave you with some serious landscape LED lighting. Forest of Light is a serene forest of 20,000 illuminated stems scattered along a forest walk.

Art Installation: Bruce Munro

Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/lwgHome.html

And here is a link to a free App that allows you to explore the Gardens and installations after hours:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/light-installations-by-bruce/id532235352?mt=8

Stay Tuned for:

“Thats Just Not Blight!”

All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

Happy Birthday PP.

“My Compost Pile Burped at me”

ESPatch May 14, 2008 0 comments

I have two plastic rotating compost bins that I constantly work and leave to compost longer than what I probably need to. My favorite bin catches all the essential “juices” in a container base that I then use to make compost tea. I have come to realize that extracting finished compost from any of these above-ground plastic bins is reserved for individuals with 3 (preferably more) tiny arms, no fear of roaches, and a high tolerance for coping with copious amounts of fruit flies. I have adorned my oldest gloves many times to basically hand-scoop out the damp gold from the bottom of my compost drums into my wheelbarrow, a lovely job. It might be just me, but my compost has never resembled the fluffy, dry stuff found in gardening magazines and on infomercials. It is still good, so good in fact I wash it down with a nice Chianti. (accompanied with the obligatory Lector noise)

My large rotating bin and my smaller spinning drum complete with juice catcher base.

I use large amounts of used coffee grounds from a local east-side coffee shop which forms the base of my compost. I then add 4-5 months of organic kitchen waste and dried grasses etc. When it has sufficiently decomposed, I attempt to extract it from the bins. I then apply a good layer to the surface of the soil around the base of my plants, I do not dig it in. It continues to decompose over the next 6 months and by then my 2nd compost bin is usually close to being ready.

“Sticking” on the subject of composting for a moment, I have a dark secret, one that involves multiple corpses of birds, frogs and the occasional fish. It is 6 feet tall, 5 years old, and is full of clippings from my ornamental grasses and weeds…a general dumping ground. It smells like farmyard silage and a multitude of things live and hunt in it. . . . . but I have reason to believe something much “bigger” inhabits its’ core chamber. It is my “Wild Patch”, and recently it burp at me, or was that him? I intend to shred it all and compost once again.

Burp!

Who needs a sculpture or a focal point when you have this!
My larger grass and brush pile – complete with all the debris the recent storm brought down
from my Post Oak (luckily no main limbs came down).

Other notables right now:

Canna Bloom Caladium blood vessels

First Dragons have arrived! and they are never camera shy.

Asparagus Ferns in the Amphitheater

Stay Tuned for:

“Throw Another Saints Leaf on the Barbie Mate”

All material © 2009 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

Asparagus Fern