I left off cooing about DC's general landscaping and my appreciation for the government buildings and their style of planting as well as their plants of choice.
I'd like to devote this entry to the more garden-y areas I saw such as the Smithsonian, National Arboretum, and Botanical Conservatory.
While the Smithsonian has a small number of official gardens it takes care of and the ones in front of the museums (the Natural History one I mentioned in the prior post) I took a real shine to the National Museum of the Native American's garden around the building and a special one I'll get into later.
The National Museum of the Native American appears to be the newest museum amongst the Smithsonian and allow me to briefly laud its insides as well as its outsides. The exhibits are incredible, in depth and well done as well as very technological oriented. My husband and I spent the greater part of the day on the top floor (the 4th) itself which was just the introduction to Native Americans in North and South America. Politically correct they are. I was overwhelmed (in a good way) by the diversity of culture, food, beliefs, and etc of all the Native Americans I learned about. Much respect to their past (and present!) (and presence!)
Outside the NMotNA's awe inspiring brick and almost adobe looking building facade was very simple, very tastefully done landscaping, landscaping that I don't usually gravitate toward's, not that I enjoy ridiculously showing gardens either, but the colors were mostly muted of yellow,, browns and greens of grasses (to represent the grassland I would guess) punctuated here and there by, now my plant identification isn't perfect, but I could only believe them to be Indian pinks. Teehee.
I believe I saw sweet potato or potato plants and of course, there was CORN! The corn wasn't in vast swaths of course, but nice hills of them here and there. Strange to think of it, but I don't think there was any Three sister's growing action going on (no beans and squash with the corn). A large part of the front entrance was a water feature of a relatively calm pool that ran over various ledges, maybe resembling all those salmon fishing places I've seen in the past that Native American culture has been tied to. Water features can be a drain to resources and aren't the best environmentally, but hey, it's a museum and maybe the water get recycled?
As I look at the Smithsonian site mentioning the museum's landscaping I realize that maybe I somehow missed some of the parts of the landscaping/gardening? Wetlands? Didn't see it.
A quick shout out to the indoor gardens inside the National Gallery of Art (East side! *requisite 3 finger "E" shape sign*) btw on not just having plants in pots indoors, but since the place is so big, they have mini-gardens (which I am sure are low permanent planters) inside. Now that I think about it, I suppose malls and some airports feature these things too, but plants + art = plant art. And thus I am happy to have seen it in there rather than being surrounded by rampant shoppers or air travelers.
Lastly my favorite, and most surprisingly so, a garden that the Smithsonian holds is a little one, tucked between some buildings dedicated to one of the directors or some sort... sadly can't remember the name! A person could very near miss it if they were walking by because it has a short face, and is narrow and winding (as it's between buildings). It's not listed on the official Smithsonian website and this will drive me crazy to not be able to find it or know its name now. It's not the Rose or Ripley Garden listed on the site I am sure, because there was nothing grand like roses or iron-work in this garden.
Getting over the fact that I can't find it online anywhere and hope noone thinks I'm just a loony and making it up, this little gem of a garden is a garden I'd like, except that it'd need tomatoes and peppers and eggplant and beans tucked in it. It's cozy and warm and has MULTITUDES of interesting plants tucked away here and ready to catch the eye and surprise a person. Loads of herbs like nigella and basils dotted the beds and random voodoo lilies were placed elsewhere in other beds and in pots to have impact. Roguchi clematis rambled here and there and peeked out from behind some larger plants. Unusual sedums like a chocolate variety that I'd never seen before (and omg confession again, I broke a sprig off, which is heinous and goes beyond seed saving.... check to Smithsonian...again....) dotted the beds to eventually become groundcover.
I was lucky enough to talk to a groundskeeper person who was in the area planting something (I should have looked closer to what she was planting) and after talking shop for a while I said something along the the lines of "root-y stuff" and she looked at my husband and said, "Does she make up words like this all the time?" Heh. I explained that I don't tend to be very mature in my conversation style and she said she was only kidding (whew). But yeah, don't know what it is about my turning everything into an adjective just about.
Hmmm, so, as this is getting longer than I expected I'm breaking this up again and I'll conclude with National Arboretum and the United States Botanic Garden/Conservatory tomorrow and next week I'll talk of the cool plants I got from my family.
(I'd just like to note too that if I had intended to go to DC for garden viewing exclusively I wouldn't have been the newb that I was to not known that the Smithsonian also had an heirloom and Victory garden I could have seen >_<)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
DC Trip was Plant-tastic! (part 1)
...unfortunately, I'm terrible when it comes to traveling that I don't take many pictures.
I realize that this is especially unfortunate when person such as myself has a blog and many people who read it like pictures :\
Part of the reason why I don't really have pics of DC and the landscaping and plants I'm going to talk about is because I find that carrying a camera around and taking pics all the time makes me feel like I'm losing out on my fun and time when traveling (stopping and taking pics all the time and etc.) and when I take pics for 'looks' I take forever and as my husband and I were wanting to cram in a LOT of Smithsonian museum time, stopping often to take pretty pics was not exactly (pardon the pun) in the picture. Also, my sister and brother-in-law accompanying us on parts of this trip had super badass SLR cameras that put mine to shame and while I'm not competing with their camera-tude, I almost feel a sort of "what's the point?" in taking pics when their cameras are around (and I can try to ask for pics from them later), except for the fact that my eye is interested in very different things than their eyes and so I do end up regretting not having taken my camera with me more often when I find particular plants or textures interesting. Perhaps on another trip when I'm not having to rush!
But anyways, allow me to use my "talent" with words to whisk you off to a faraway place called Washington DC also known as, Our Nation's Capitol. Let us hope that I can give the required thousand words that picture gives to make up for the lacking of eye candy here.
I lived in the concrete jungle of Chicago a long while ago and never saw much interest in plants or landscaping, nor was it expected with their relatively short warm season I suppose. I've been to California many times and when it comes to plants there, they don't count when I can compare locations on plants, landscaping and etc. because plants are abundant and happy there all the time, any time just about. Californians barely need to do anything, and really don't to have trumpet vine running prettily and rampantly all year around, and have rosemary as a common form of edging on the side of the highway and so on and so forth.
So, I was pretty impressed getting to Washington DC to see a ridiculous amount of landscaping and diversity of plants not only our nation's capitol but in the random neighborhood my sister in law was in (granted, being the capitol of our nation they might be putting a special foot forward and my sister's neighbor was a bit of a plant nut which could be considered outside the norm).
Granted once again, Thomas Jefferson, a plant nut himself, may have caused this lasting impression for DC's plant cool-ness but nonetheless, allow me to be impressed that a non-tropical city such as this (in a state that's not tall like Cali and thus have a million zones) is so plant-tastic! (I must parenthesize here that I have not been to famed Buffalo and its Garden Walks too, so maybe we can just say that I've been a little sheltered since my incarnation as a plant-o-holic?)
Before heading to DC proper I was thrilled to see that no one in my sis-in-law's suburb appeared to take particular care of their lawn. Weeds and clover everywhere! Score! No little tags proclaiming particular landscaping companies, no stupid crunchy fertilizer pellets ruined my walk as I took the dog out, no idiots watering their lawns at 2pm or after a rain. It should be noted that most of the lawns were somewhat on the smaller side and that there were lots of trees, but the notice that there were TREES (and lots of them) is a happy reminder of what a few good deciduous trees can do for a neighborhood in the cooling, habitat for animals, and less watering for grass way.
I was really pleased to see too that the National Lawn was also in the same state as most of the suburban lawns I saw earlier. Loads of weeds and clover, but it was still relatively green. Maybe I caught it on a particularly bad week, or maybe the Gov decided that it did have better things to spend their money on than lawn maintenance especially when how many thousands (if not millions) of people tromp all over it a day.
Despite all the buildings everywhere for all the many departments and agencies of whatnot and all in the capitol, any little bit of green space that could have just been relegated to a simple lawn mow job was actually really nicely landscaped with hardy, interesting shrubs and many perennials. I didn't recall seeing many generic annuals like petunias, but there were lots of smoke trees (love!) and mahonias (both of which are actually natives to Washington interestingly) and other eye-catching plants in those spaces with relatively little grass to cut. Maybe even less lawn to mow in total for a building than the lawn at my house (sad, really).
Another thing which I found pretty cool of note was the use of tall permanent concrete planters all around many of the buildings. These planters appeared to be there to delineate the sidewalk of the building from the street, eradicating the need/use of a grassy parking strip and probably also being safe for pedestrians from cars on top of being mostly easy to tend to.
Many of these permanent planters were simple: full of mondo grass, or other tall grasses, trailing naked jasmines and the like, but in a tall planter were sufficiently nice as a long set down a sidewalk. As you might have noted, these plants were all pretty nearly perennials, which is an awesome cost-saving thing. I found it sort of funny that the the Department of Finance building was one of a few locations that did not have their planters filled with any plants. Maybe they deemed it a unnecessary and a cost-saving measure? Come on guys, mondo grass is cheap! Even accountants need a little more green (in the living kind sense!)
Interspersed between the buildings were little gardens and the Smithsonian museums, all of which were landscaped not just prettily but interestingly. My interest is peaked at unusual plants, but even more so when the unusual plants (of no edible interest that I was aware of) are planted with EDIBLE plants. Lots of basils, and ornamental peppers and random herbs (or maybe it's just that I knew those plants were herbs that are edible or medicinal that made me interested).
The Natural History museum's entire perimeter was lined with many wonderful edibles one of which was nigella, aka love in a mist or black cumin, a plant that I loved as a child and didn't know what it was despite it running rampant in my mother's flower bed (until she decided she didn't like it anymore and ripped it all out). I only came to know what this plant from my childhood was a few years ago and I have been desperately trying to get it to grow in my garden. The seed pods in the museum beds were dry and ready to drop, and here is where I made a gardener's sin: I took a seed pod. *covers face* I do not condone stealing and think it's pretty abhorrent, but seed gathering I feel a little less bad about. "But what if everyone took a seed pod?" my brain asks. I know, I know, so bad and the Smithsonian doesn't deserve tourists like me, but a nice donation will be made soon-ish? There are many seeds and I don't really buy souvenirs, so I usually take a rock, some sand, a leaf, drift wood or the like as my souvenir when I go on trips, obviously most never on an institution's property... so this is my guilt and man, am I guilting here (as I should). Writing... check.... for Smithsonian... donation...(should I write "for the seed pod?" on it?)
This whole seed pod just brings down a whole slew of apple-Adam-Eve and 'Beauty and the Beast' tales in my head. If anything, I can say that a Smithsonian garden person working on another garden was going to offer me a pod of nigella anyways (after I had already taken one from the Museum of Natural History... but I didn't mention that...) No excuses though still.
But yeah, that whole seed thing, DC trip and more, tomorrow at my blog!
I realize that this is especially unfortunate when person such as myself has a blog and many people who read it like pictures :\
Part of the reason why I don't really have pics of DC and the landscaping and plants I'm going to talk about is because I find that carrying a camera around and taking pics all the time makes me feel like I'm losing out on my fun and time when traveling (stopping and taking pics all the time and etc.) and when I take pics for 'looks' I take forever and as my husband and I were wanting to cram in a LOT of Smithsonian museum time, stopping often to take pretty pics was not exactly (pardon the pun) in the picture. Also, my sister and brother-in-law accompanying us on parts of this trip had super badass SLR cameras that put mine to shame and while I'm not competing with their camera-tude, I almost feel a sort of "what's the point?" in taking pics when their cameras are around (and I can try to ask for pics from them later), except for the fact that my eye is interested in very different things than their eyes and so I do end up regretting not having taken my camera with me more often when I find particular plants or textures interesting. Perhaps on another trip when I'm not having to rush!
But anyways, allow me to use my "talent" with words to whisk you off to a faraway place called Washington DC also known as, Our Nation's Capitol. Let us hope that I can give the required thousand words that picture gives to make up for the lacking of eye candy here.
I lived in the concrete jungle of Chicago a long while ago and never saw much interest in plants or landscaping, nor was it expected with their relatively short warm season I suppose. I've been to California many times and when it comes to plants there, they don't count when I can compare locations on plants, landscaping and etc. because plants are abundant and happy there all the time, any time just about. Californians barely need to do anything, and really don't to have trumpet vine running prettily and rampantly all year around, and have rosemary as a common form of edging on the side of the highway and so on and so forth.
So, I was pretty impressed getting to Washington DC to see a ridiculous amount of landscaping and diversity of plants not only our nation's capitol but in the random neighborhood my sister in law was in (granted, being the capitol of our nation they might be putting a special foot forward and my sister's neighbor was a bit of a plant nut which could be considered outside the norm).
Granted once again, Thomas Jefferson, a plant nut himself, may have caused this lasting impression for DC's plant cool-ness but nonetheless, allow me to be impressed that a non-tropical city such as this (in a state that's not tall like Cali and thus have a million zones) is so plant-tastic! (I must parenthesize here that I have not been to famed Buffalo and its Garden Walks too, so maybe we can just say that I've been a little sheltered since my incarnation as a plant-o-holic?)
Before heading to DC proper I was thrilled to see that no one in my sis-in-law's suburb appeared to take particular care of their lawn. Weeds and clover everywhere! Score! No little tags proclaiming particular landscaping companies, no stupid crunchy fertilizer pellets ruined my walk as I took the dog out, no idiots watering their lawns at 2pm or after a rain. It should be noted that most of the lawns were somewhat on the smaller side and that there were lots of trees, but the notice that there were TREES (and lots of them) is a happy reminder of what a few good deciduous trees can do for a neighborhood in the cooling, habitat for animals, and less watering for grass way.
I was really pleased to see too that the National Lawn was also in the same state as most of the suburban lawns I saw earlier. Loads of weeds and clover, but it was still relatively green. Maybe I caught it on a particularly bad week, or maybe the Gov decided that it did have better things to spend their money on than lawn maintenance especially when how many thousands (if not millions) of people tromp all over it a day.
Despite all the buildings everywhere for all the many departments and agencies of whatnot and all in the capitol, any little bit of green space that could have just been relegated to a simple lawn mow job was actually really nicely landscaped with hardy, interesting shrubs and many perennials. I didn't recall seeing many generic annuals like petunias, but there were lots of smoke trees (love!) and mahonias (both of which are actually natives to Washington interestingly) and other eye-catching plants in those spaces with relatively little grass to cut. Maybe even less lawn to mow in total for a building than the lawn at my house (sad, really).
Another thing which I found pretty cool of note was the use of tall permanent concrete planters all around many of the buildings. These planters appeared to be there to delineate the sidewalk of the building from the street, eradicating the need/use of a grassy parking strip and probably also being safe for pedestrians from cars on top of being mostly easy to tend to.
Many of these permanent planters were simple: full of mondo grass, or other tall grasses, trailing naked jasmines and the like, but in a tall planter were sufficiently nice as a long set down a sidewalk. As you might have noted, these plants were all pretty nearly perennials, which is an awesome cost-saving thing. I found it sort of funny that the the Department of Finance building was one of a few locations that did not have their planters filled with any plants. Maybe they deemed it a unnecessary and a cost-saving measure? Come on guys, mondo grass is cheap! Even accountants need a little more green (in the living kind sense!)
Interspersed between the buildings were little gardens and the Smithsonian museums, all of which were landscaped not just prettily but interestingly. My interest is peaked at unusual plants, but even more so when the unusual plants (of no edible interest that I was aware of) are planted with EDIBLE plants. Lots of basils, and ornamental peppers and random herbs (or maybe it's just that I knew those plants were herbs that are edible or medicinal that made me interested).
The Natural History museum's entire perimeter was lined with many wonderful edibles one of which was nigella, aka love in a mist or black cumin, a plant that I loved as a child and didn't know what it was despite it running rampant in my mother's flower bed (until she decided she didn't like it anymore and ripped it all out). I only came to know what this plant from my childhood was a few years ago and I have been desperately trying to get it to grow in my garden. The seed pods in the museum beds were dry and ready to drop, and here is where I made a gardener's sin: I took a seed pod. *covers face* I do not condone stealing and think it's pretty abhorrent, but seed gathering I feel a little less bad about. "But what if everyone took a seed pod?" my brain asks. I know, I know, so bad and the Smithsonian doesn't deserve tourists like me, but a nice donation will be made soon-ish? There are many seeds and I don't really buy souvenirs, so I usually take a rock, some sand, a leaf, drift wood or the like as my souvenir when I go on trips, obviously most never on an institution's property... so this is my guilt and man, am I guilting here (as I should). Writing... check.... for Smithsonian... donation...(should I write "for the seed pod?" on it?)
This whole seed pod just brings down a whole slew of apple-Adam-Eve and 'Beauty and the Beast' tales in my head. If anything, I can say that a Smithsonian garden person working on another garden was going to offer me a pod of nigella anyways (after I had already taken one from the Museum of Natural History... but I didn't mention that...) No excuses though still.
But yeah, that whole seed thing, DC trip and more, tomorrow at my blog!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Not dead yet!
You know, I didn't know that in Monty Python and the the Holy Grail, the official title of the character of the old man who "wasn't dead" (but was being forced into the 'dead cart' by who we can only presume to be his son) is called "The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't"
I'd almost like to claim that I'm the "The Dead Blog that Claims It Isn't" for all the times that I've left you all in a lurch except I'd be paranoid-ly looking above me for some sort of Monty Python-esque massive paper cut-out hand above me ready to bop my head.
So yes, for the second time in the past 2 weeks I must apologize for the lack of updates. Usually I am better about having posts interspersed and prepared to entertain you whilst I am running about on vacation (yes, that's the reason for my absence as many of you might have surmised since it was over Memorial Day weekend). I have a tendency to not want to proclaim to the world, via Twitter, Facebook, blog and the like that I am not in the house for an extended period of time for good reason. Not like I'm famous like Elvis or have a collection like the Kew Conservatory that I'm worried about but too many people tell the world when they're not at home and it's just not smart.
Anyways, please give me another day to recover from many days of nonstop walking around the Washington DC area (8-10 hours a day, 5+miles a day, not including the time spent upright in museums) and the 12-14 hour nonstop crazy drives my husband and I make to get to see family and fun because sleeping at night (when there's less traffic too!) is for newbs and we're just crazy like that.
Upcoming posts will be about the awesomeness of:
-Washington DC's plants and landscaping
-The National Arboretum
-The National Botanic Conservatory
-Having a family that trades plants with EVERY visit (you'd think that the plant varieties would equalize out at some point..) (this post will also highlight the plants traded)
Segueing into plant trading with family I have an admission that I am going to make that's relatively stupid (but the husband insists I need to update my foibles--- and I should, but still, blah.) but I broke my plant moratorium. Just this once! After I was stung by the wasp recently I was "le sad" and at the local farmer's market they were selling pretty, 6 inch tall coleus plants for a $1(!) and I, uh, believed it would dull the sadness and pain of wasp sting-i-tude(ness). The seller also gave me a piece of a pretty purple and green coleus that had snapped off, so it was like I got TWO coleus for $1(!).
I'd like to blame Dave at The Home Garden for influencing me many months ago to the idea of keeping, cutting and saving coleus cuttings for over the winter (and just to make more). I don't tend to like to purchase non-edibles, but having a yen for color lately and add in some easy propagation on TOP of being severely malnourished of new plant/interesting growth in the garden I succumbed. SIGH. There, I got that out. Guilt be gone? Except for some guilt that occurred in DC... but not in the plant purchasing way! More on that later and until then, thanks for your patience.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Not a fan of the shrubbery, but I gets it
After over a week of eating it, the kimchee got me. Really. And then I resurrected myself and was well enough again for another day of blogging!
Obviously, just kidding, but not kidding now, I'm sorry about the delay in posting. Things just have gotten really busy suddenly and I didn't have a bunch of posts lined up as usual to stay on task due to busy-ness reasons, so thus my absence on the internet.
For a short moment I had some difficulty thinking of a topic due to my busy-ness that has kept me from gardening as much. I'm really just waiting for things to grow anyways, but then a non-my-usual-edible-garden-y issue popped up in my head that I thought I'd address: shrubbery.
My house came with a plentiful supply of generic landscaping plants: azaleas, weigela, nandina, boxwood-like things, and lots and lots of hollies (some slow growers, the others, the tree kind, grow like the dickens).
It's a love-hate relationship with the shrubs. The happiness of having some relatively decent good bones and pre-made professional landscaper designed stuff that is relatively work-free and xeriscaperific, and there are the instant micro-climates that some of the taller plants make for lower, shade loving plants you might acquire such as bleeding hearts and some begonias for example. But it's pre-made landscaping also comes with the annoyance of a yard that you hadn't envisioned, full of sort of boring (inedible) plants (Ilex vomitoria anyone?) and some especially that are annoying as heck to maintain either because you have to trim them up all the time or like my Otto Leuyken and boxwood-like thing that was PRONE to pink wax scale aka strawberry scale.
A year ago the Otto Leuyken finally did kick the bucket due to lack of water and most likely due to the strawberry scale infestation despite after spraying multiple times with neem oil. Despite its branching and I tried to get rid of the stuff as much as possible, I suspect that the scale was just too tenacious and was able to hide well between the "elbows"/nooks of the branches and survived. I dug it up and tossed it leaving an unfortunate empty spot in its place.
Later that same year of 2009 I found the same scale on one of the boxwood things, cut it tragically short and attempted to pick out the scale and prune out dead and crowded branches (one of the most annoying and worst tasks ever). Things looked good, new growth was occurring... and then this year I found it again on the same plant. And then the next one... and next one... and next one.... until I realized ALL of the boxwood things in the same row against the house were INFESTED.
I pruned them ALL back severely earlier this year and sprayed and then after a while, I thought to myself, "Man, this stuff doesn't go away, and I hate these shrubs anyways. They do NOTHING for me except act as a strawberry scale hotel." So I said "screw it" and dug them up:
Oh my was that cathartic and thank you mom and dad-in-law for the tiny me-sized shovel you gave me for Christmas that helped me dig these bloody things up!
Surprisingly they weren't as tough to dig up as I was worried about in the first place. A little hopping on the shovel a few times were needed to cut roots here and there, but nothing terrible. Granted doing that for 6 shrubs did give me a little sweat, but I am not complaining if that means no more stupid pink bugs to deal with from hear on out.
In its place I think I'll let the oregano that I've used as ground cover cover up the holes where the shrubs once were. It's getting a little woody and I don't think I'd mind oregano "bushes" The root system isn't terrible I find, shallow enough to pull up if need be and I can easily hard trim the stuff back if I want to. Plus, it just means more oregano available, and how is that a bad thing? (unlike mint....)
Point being in this whole ordeal. Got a shrub you really hate and gets infested way too often? Stop fighting it! It's not worth it! Dig it up, let it go and find something that gives you infinitely less grief! Life's too short to waste on plants that just can't cut it.
Obviously, just kidding, but not kidding now, I'm sorry about the delay in posting. Things just have gotten really busy suddenly and I didn't have a bunch of posts lined up as usual to stay on task due to busy-ness reasons, so thus my absence on the internet.
For a short moment I had some difficulty thinking of a topic due to my busy-ness that has kept me from gardening as much. I'm really just waiting for things to grow anyways, but then a non-my-usual-edible-garden-y issue popped up in my head that I thought I'd address: shrubbery.
My house came with a plentiful supply of generic landscaping plants: azaleas, weigela, nandina, boxwood-like things, and lots and lots of hollies (some slow growers, the others, the tree kind, grow like the dickens).
It's a love-hate relationship with the shrubs. The happiness of having some relatively decent good bones and pre-made professional landscaper designed stuff that is relatively work-free and xeriscaperific, and there are the instant micro-climates that some of the taller plants make for lower, shade loving plants you might acquire such as bleeding hearts and some begonias for example. But it's pre-made landscaping also comes with the annoyance of a yard that you hadn't envisioned, full of sort of boring (inedible) plants (Ilex vomitoria anyone?) and some especially that are annoying as heck to maintain either because you have to trim them up all the time or like my Otto Leuyken and boxwood-like thing that was PRONE to pink wax scale aka strawberry scale.
A year ago the Otto Leuyken finally did kick the bucket due to lack of water and most likely due to the strawberry scale infestation despite after spraying multiple times with neem oil. Despite its branching and I tried to get rid of the stuff as much as possible, I suspect that the scale was just too tenacious and was able to hide well between the "elbows"/nooks of the branches and survived. I dug it up and tossed it leaving an unfortunate empty spot in its place.
Later that same year of 2009 I found the same scale on one of the boxwood things, cut it tragically short and attempted to pick out the scale and prune out dead and crowded branches (one of the most annoying and worst tasks ever). Things looked good, new growth was occurring... and then this year I found it again on the same plant. And then the next one... and next one... and next one.... until I realized ALL of the boxwood things in the same row against the house were INFESTED.
I pruned them ALL back severely earlier this year and sprayed and then after a while, I thought to myself, "Man, this stuff doesn't go away, and I hate these shrubs anyways. They do NOTHING for me except act as a strawberry scale hotel." So I said "screw it" and dug them up:
Oh my was that cathartic and thank you mom and dad-in-law for the tiny me-sized shovel you gave me for Christmas that helped me dig these bloody things up!
Surprisingly they weren't as tough to dig up as I was worried about in the first place. A little hopping on the shovel a few times were needed to cut roots here and there, but nothing terrible. Granted doing that for 6 shrubs did give me a little sweat, but I am not complaining if that means no more stupid pink bugs to deal with from hear on out.
In its place I think I'll let the oregano that I've used as ground cover cover up the holes where the shrubs once were. It's getting a little woody and I don't think I'd mind oregano "bushes" The root system isn't terrible I find, shallow enough to pull up if need be and I can easily hard trim the stuff back if I want to. Plus, it just means more oregano available, and how is that a bad thing? (unlike mint....)
Point being in this whole ordeal. Got a shrub you really hate and gets infested way too often? Stop fighting it! It's not worth it! Dig it up, let it go and find something that gives you infinitely less grief! Life's too short to waste on plants that just can't cut it.
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Labels:
boxwood,
otto leuyken,
pink wax scale,
shrubbery,
shrubs,
strawberry blight,
wax scale
Labels:
boxwood,
otto leuyken,
pink wax scale,
shrubbery,
shrubs,
strawberry blight,
wax scale
Friday, May 28, 2010
Revitalized root pruned citrus and forbidden fruit
So, remember a while back I decided I really needed to prune the roots of one of my potted citrus plants because I knew it was root/pot bound?
Well, I think it seems to be doing a-okay!
In fact, better than just ok it seems. The pic from above was from 2 weeks back and presently, it's glorious bursting out in its full foliage, fuller than it's been in a long time and maybe even when I first got it!
Talk about revitalization the plant!
It even has some flowers! (not photographed b/c they were getting old and wilty)
Since this grapefruit tree is doing so well, I am tempted to root prune the navel orange tree now, especially as the fruit I was so excited about:
Got either knocked off by the wind, or I suspect birds or squirrels (gah, squirrels, I really hates them). So there's nothing really stopping me from root pruning except some worries about the heat as it's a bit late in the year.
But if I don't do it now, or sooner, rather than later, I'll have to wait until next spring and if it's root/pot bound I'd rather give it the opportunity of all this sun to soak up and strengthen itself for the winter now with the potential to flower away this winter/coming spring. Past reading seems to indicate that prune then shouldn't be an issue, so I've had good luck with the grapefruit, why not expect the same with the orange?
Randomly, as I have a proclivity for living green mulches (ok, groundcovers...) so I don't have to mulch the wood chips/ pebbles/hay/etc way (though some of those ways are necessary) I decided to add some sedums to the citrus pots in hopes that their covering the surface will keep moisture in relatively well , assuming that they both decide to not compete for water... granted sedum root structure is shallow, I'm relatively unworried. If anything I think if the sedums do well, they'd look pretty spiffy hanging off the side of the pot and maybe this way too I will be inhibiting the little weeds that keep cropping up in the pots.
After summer's over I'll most likely take the sedums out of the pots and replant them in the sedum pathway where I originally got them from because I've found these sedums get very leggy and scraggly looking inside, rather unattractive when I eventually need to take the citrus in.
Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend folk!
Well, I think it seems to be doing a-okay!
In fact, better than just ok it seems. The pic from above was from 2 weeks back and presently, it's glorious bursting out in its full foliage, fuller than it's been in a long time and maybe even when I first got it!
Talk about revitalization the plant!
It even has some flowers! (not photographed b/c they were getting old and wilty)
Since this grapefruit tree is doing so well, I am tempted to root prune the navel orange tree now, especially as the fruit I was so excited about:
Got either knocked off by the wind, or I suspect birds or squirrels (gah, squirrels, I really hates them). So there's nothing really stopping me from root pruning except some worries about the heat as it's a bit late in the year.
But if I don't do it now, or sooner, rather than later, I'll have to wait until next spring and if it's root/pot bound I'd rather give it the opportunity of all this sun to soak up and strengthen itself for the winter now with the potential to flower away this winter/coming spring. Past reading seems to indicate that prune then shouldn't be an issue, so I've had good luck with the grapefruit, why not expect the same with the orange?
Randomly, as I have a proclivity for living green mulches (ok, groundcovers...) so I don't have to mulch the wood chips/ pebbles/hay/etc way (though some of those ways are necessary) I decided to add some sedums to the citrus pots in hopes that their covering the surface will keep moisture in relatively well , assuming that they both decide to not compete for water... granted sedum root structure is shallow, I'm relatively unworried. If anything I think if the sedums do well, they'd look pretty spiffy hanging off the side of the pot and maybe this way too I will be inhibiting the little weeds that keep cropping up in the pots.
After summer's over I'll most likely take the sedums out of the pots and replant them in the sedum pathway where I originally got them from because I've found these sedums get very leggy and scraggly looking inside, rather unattractive when I eventually need to take the citrus in.
Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend folk!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Mini-update to previous ants post
In regards to my latest post on ants that I discovered in my herb bed...
The great Tom Turpin from Purdue University's entomology department emailed me identification on my little guys:
"These are Lasius ants. Sometimes called piss ants. They tend aphids (which might be a problem for plants) but cause no direct harm to plants. So your saffron bulbs are safe but the presence of the ants might mean that there is a healthy population of aphids on some plants in the vicinity. Regards."
Anyways, thus far I haven't noticed an ant problem in my herb bed, but thanks for the heads up Tom! I'll probably inspect it closely tonight and possibly give it a spray-spray of soap or neem or just knock 'em off with water.
The great Tom Turpin from Purdue University's entomology department emailed me identification on my little guys:
"These are Lasius ants. Sometimes called piss ants. They tend aphids (which might be a problem for plants) but cause no direct harm to plants. So your saffron bulbs are safe but the presence of the ants might mean that there is a healthy population of aphids on some plants in the vicinity. Regards."
(heh, "piss-ants" Ok, a little puerile, but I'm amused mostly because I'm a fan of entomology as well as etymology I've heard it used a few times, really! It's in Merriam Webster:
Main Entry: piss·ant
Pronunciation: \ˈpis-ˌant\
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: pissant ant, from 1piss + ant
Date: 1945
sometimes vulgar : one that is insignificant —used as a generalized term of abuse
and from dictionary.com:
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source
|
Link To pissantOnline Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Anyways, thus far I haven't noticed an ant problem in my herb bed, but thanks for the heads up Tom! I'll probably inspect it closely tonight and possibly give it a spray-spray of soap or neem or just knock 'em off with water.
Admittedly, it would be kind of cool (and uncool) to see ants milking aphids like farmers. But I'll just tune into the Discovery Channel (if I had tv...oh, yeah, the internet!) if I really want ant-milking-aphid action.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Work Hazards: Wasps
Marking my calender today, my first wasp sting ever. Woohoo, I'm alive?
I had seen a wasp hanging around the bird house I just got for a buck at a garage sale and after I thought I had made sure it went away I went to check on the little drawers beneath it to make sure nothing was trying to make a home in it other than birds.
I think that's when it and I may have collided because 10 steps later after checking the birdhouse I felt like what was a thorn stuck in the wrist area of my sleeve. This actually didn't disturb me so much as I often get stuck by stuff in the garden (someone's going to tell me to wear gloves aren't they... though I think the wasp could have gotten stuck in there too). I was surprised of course when I tugged at my sleeve and couldn't get the thorn loose and then exposed the wasp which then flew away.
Mostly I was worried about having a reaction (too many horror stories growing and re- showings of the movie "My Girl" I guess). The sting itself wasn't so bad, but the interesting aspect of this experience was that I was able to force myself to stay calm (very weird for a highstrung person such as myself) and within a minute I called my neighbor who's a nurse (and interestingly allergic to bees/wasps, making her perfect to help me in case I went into a anaphylactic shock). She told me to hold a minute and she would be right over.
I washed my hands to get all the dirt off and stupidly began putting dishes away and fretting about the mess of the house all the while feeling a little dizzy.
Usually I try to tough things out and figure out how to handle it on my own, but the idea of having a reaction and dying was enough to keep me from trying to just "let it go." I was also very lucky because my nurse nieghbor ususally works the 3rd shift and she was off today and awake/alert (I had talked with her earlier that day) so this helped things immensely.
In my weird calm daze, my nurse friend immediately put meat tenderizer she has on hand at her house on the sting (which looked like a fairly small red mark on my hand). As I was dizzy from either dehydration or anxiety she got me to put my head between my knees and cold washclothed my neck and then made an ice bath for my hand to place in and bring down/prevent any swelling.
After I got a little less dizzy, she dried my hand off, put some topical benadryl on the wound and covered it with a bandage. I took some aspirin on my own to try to offset further swelling. Then I ate some coffee gelatin and chocolate (dark) to make me feel better.
(that's 'ouchie' not something else my husband thought I wrote)
Other than swelling, little twinges of pain here and there and my wrist oddly popping a little more than usual, I think I'm taking my first wasp sting pretty well.
From what I remember seeing when I was stung, it looked to be what they call a big red wasp, which, other than being big, isn't a terrible one is what I've been told.
I also was told by my nurse lady that even if you don't show signs of allergy to a sting now, you can have a reaction if you get stung again. I guess the first sting primes a person's immune system?
I don't blame the wasp, just does what it does. Reminds me of Aesop's tales, those wolf or scorpions won't change their nature, you just have to accept them as they are. I still won't be putting up any wasp traps (they're pollinators!) but perhaps just a little more vigilance should be necessary on my part when I see a wasp hanging around from now on.
Oddly enough, I've found this sting (of course it was treated very quickly) more tolerable than some of my mosquito bites I've had in the past
For more info on what you should do if you get stung by a wasp or bee and how to avoid getting stung:
http://nasdonline.org/document/962/d000800/first-aid-for-bee-and-insect-stings.html
I had seen a wasp hanging around the bird house I just got for a buck at a garage sale and after I thought I had made sure it went away I went to check on the little drawers beneath it to make sure nothing was trying to make a home in it other than birds.
I think that's when it and I may have collided because 10 steps later after checking the birdhouse I felt like what was a thorn stuck in the wrist area of my sleeve. This actually didn't disturb me so much as I often get stuck by stuff in the garden (someone's going to tell me to wear gloves aren't they... though I think the wasp could have gotten stuck in there too). I was surprised of course when I tugged at my sleeve and couldn't get the thorn loose and then exposed the wasp which then flew away.
Mostly I was worried about having a reaction (too many horror stories growing and re- showings of the movie "My Girl" I guess). The sting itself wasn't so bad, but the interesting aspect of this experience was that I was able to force myself to stay calm (very weird for a highstrung person such as myself) and within a minute I called my neighbor who's a nurse (and interestingly allergic to bees/wasps, making her perfect to help me in case I went into a anaphylactic shock). She told me to hold a minute and she would be right over.
I washed my hands to get all the dirt off and stupidly began putting dishes away and fretting about the mess of the house all the while feeling a little dizzy.
Usually I try to tough things out and figure out how to handle it on my own, but the idea of having a reaction and dying was enough to keep me from trying to just "let it go." I was also very lucky because my nurse nieghbor ususally works the 3rd shift and she was off today and awake/alert (I had talked with her earlier that day) so this helped things immensely.
In my weird calm daze, my nurse friend immediately put meat tenderizer she has on hand at her house on the sting (which looked like a fairly small red mark on my hand). As I was dizzy from either dehydration or anxiety she got me to put my head between my knees and cold washclothed my neck and then made an ice bath for my hand to place in and bring down/prevent any swelling.
After I got a little less dizzy, she dried my hand off, put some topical benadryl on the wound and covered it with a bandage. I took some aspirin on my own to try to offset further swelling. Then I ate some coffee gelatin and chocolate (dark) to make me feel better.
Other than swelling, little twinges of pain here and there and my wrist oddly popping a little more than usual, I think I'm taking my first wasp sting pretty well.
From what I remember seeing when I was stung, it looked to be what they call a big red wasp, which, other than being big, isn't a terrible one is what I've been told.
I also was told by my nurse lady that even if you don't show signs of allergy to a sting now, you can have a reaction if you get stung again. I guess the first sting primes a person's immune system?
I don't blame the wasp, just does what it does. Reminds me of Aesop's tales, those wolf or scorpions won't change their nature, you just have to accept them as they are. I still won't be putting up any wasp traps (they're pollinators!) but perhaps just a little more vigilance should be necessary on my part when I see a wasp hanging around from now on.
Oddly enough, I've found this sting (of course it was treated very quickly) more tolerable than some of my mosquito bites I've had in the past
For more info on what you should do if you get stung by a wasp or bee and how to avoid getting stung:
http://nasdonline.org/document/962/d000800/first-aid-for-bee-and-insect-stings.html
Monday, May 24, 2010
Game, mâche, set!
So, for the longest time I thought I had heard that mâche, aka corn salad, aka lamb's lettuce aka RAPUNZEL (a new name find for me, and one that I think I'll use for now on as I am a sucker for fairy tales...) was perennial.
No clue how that got stuck in my head that it was perennial, but somehow it did and now I am chastened to say that it's really a bloody ol' annual. Maybe I was reading up on too many perennial vegetables, and getting it mixed up with something like Good King Henry (because they sound so alike...) but I made a mistake and I apologize for my stupidity if I accidentally mislead anyone there.
Back to mâche/rapunzel though.
All in all, growing this vegetable was not so successful as I'd like, not in the 'it-didn't-grow-for-me' way but in the 'I-didn't-use-it-much-because-I-didn't-force-myself-to-eat-salads-more' way.
This is a cool weather green that seemed to grow very very slowly in the winter when it did sprout and then warm weather came upon us so quickly that this thing bolted like the dickens and got yellow-y and un-worthwhile to eat fast.
While there were plentiful little cute leaves to eat, I loathed to eat them because they seemed so tiny and though I had also heard you could eat the heads whole like some smaller lettuce varieties, the idea of extinguishing my plants in 3 bites was not very agreeable to me.
So, instead the leaves went somewhat to waste (which I hate) except for the fact that I guess that energy went into making surprise...
(and this was just from one plant... half of the seeds were still in the bed/between cracks of the bed)
....SEEDS for me!
So, maybe I will grow mâche (rapunzel) again and try to utilize it better now that I can feed a whole herd of goats with the amount of seed I saved.
I noted too, when brushing up my knowledge, that you can use it in omelettes and OMELETTEs are right up my eatin' alley.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1370492
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62221/
http://www.floridata.com/ref/v/vale_loc.cfm
No clue how that got stuck in my head that it was perennial, but somehow it did and now I am chastened to say that it's really a bloody ol' annual. Maybe I was reading up on too many perennial vegetables, and getting it mixed up with something like Good King Henry (because they sound so alike...) but I made a mistake and I apologize for my stupidity if I accidentally mislead anyone there.
Back to mâche/rapunzel though.
All in all, growing this vegetable was not so successful as I'd like, not in the 'it-didn't-grow-for-me' way but in the 'I-didn't-use-it-much-because-I-didn't-force-myself-to-eat-salads-more' way.
This is a cool weather green that seemed to grow very very slowly in the winter when it did sprout and then warm weather came upon us so quickly that this thing bolted like the dickens and got yellow-y and un-worthwhile to eat fast.
While there were plentiful little cute leaves to eat, I loathed to eat them because they seemed so tiny and though I had also heard you could eat the heads whole like some smaller lettuce varieties, the idea of extinguishing my plants in 3 bites was not very agreeable to me.
So, instead the leaves went somewhat to waste (which I hate) except for the fact that I guess that energy went into making surprise...
....SEEDS for me!
So, maybe I will grow mâche (rapunzel) again and try to utilize it better now that I can feed a whole herd of goats with the amount of seed I saved.
I noted too, when brushing up my knowledge, that you can use it in omelettes and OMELETTEs are right up my eatin' alley.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1370492
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62221/
http://www.floridata.com/ref/v/vale_loc.cfm
Friday, May 21, 2010
Ants in my Plants!
Pittering around the herb garden a couple of days ago, I noticed something odd around an area where I had tossed a light handful of fertilizer some days ago: movement.
Lots and lots of tiny movement.
Closer inspection proved that I had a whole helluva of a lot of ants. And they were carrying BABIES. Well, EGGIES... or PUPAE (to be really scientific).
(sorry about the fuzzy pics, as they are tiny and my camera isn't the greatest, this is what I've got)
There was a lot of activity going on, workers swarming back and forth with their little white bundles. It looked like the main nest or whatevers was based in circle of my borage plants and directly on top of where my saffron bulbs are. It looked like they were ferrying things between that nest and another a couple of feet away from the rue/lemon balm.
My initial reaction:
"Aw crap! Need to make powdered sugar-borax balls to kill them!"
Mature reaction soon thereafter:
Ok, what a minute. Don't need to kill them, just because they are plentiful and you have no idea if they are beneficial or not and because you get rid of them when they party inside the house. It's time, for some RESEARCH!
As I'm not one for ant identification, I decided to google and see what might come up while I try my luck again emailing Professor Turpin from Purdue University's illustrious entomology department to see if I might be able to come up with anything.
Of any benefit I could think of that ants might be of use in the garden, the only one was of aeration from their tunnels. Online searching seemed to indicate this to be true, and also pointed to me that common garden ants are scavengers of old, dead materials, cleaning up after other things or pests. Ants also are pollinators (a plus obviously) and in addition are predatory towards the eggs and larvae of fleas and other pests, news that is GREAT to me.
The negatives now:
If you find ants underneath pavers or stone/foundation things you freqently walk on or need held up, the ants need to go as they can collapse these structures with their tunnels.
You might also be aware that quite a few ants like nectar (just like bees as pollinators!) and they can be a nuisance if you enjoy picking or sniffing flowers when there's an infestation nearby.
Some of you may have also heard that some ants like to "milk" aphids, which is true, and the ants will protect the aphids to retain their food source "milk" of honeydew that the aphids produce. Though, a good indicator for aphids, it can get bad, and messy if there are aphids and ants together. As long as you get rid of the aphids, the ants will find other sources of food and will not be an issue.
(more close-up individual ant portraits)
For now, I can conclude that they are not carpenter ants, as they are not large-ish or black and I don't think they are fire ants as they seem non-threatening and didn't swarm a ladybug that I placed amidst them.
So, until I get word from someone of bug identification brilliance, these guys are a-okay where they're at.
Lots and lots of tiny movement.
Closer inspection proved that I had a whole helluva of a lot of ants. And they were carrying BABIES. Well, EGGIES... or PUPAE (to be really scientific).
There was a lot of activity going on, workers swarming back and forth with their little white bundles. It looked like the main nest or whatevers was based in circle of my borage plants and directly on top of where my saffron bulbs are. It looked like they were ferrying things between that nest and another a couple of feet away from the rue/lemon balm.
My initial reaction:
"Aw crap! Need to make powdered sugar-borax balls to kill them!"
Mature reaction soon thereafter:
Ok, what a minute. Don't need to kill them, just because they are plentiful and you have no idea if they are beneficial or not and because you get rid of them when they party inside the house. It's time, for some RESEARCH!
As I'm not one for ant identification, I decided to google and see what might come up while I try my luck again emailing Professor Turpin from Purdue University's illustrious entomology department to see if I might be able to come up with anything.
Of any benefit I could think of that ants might be of use in the garden, the only one was of aeration from their tunnels. Online searching seemed to indicate this to be true, and also pointed to me that common garden ants are scavengers of old, dead materials, cleaning up after other things or pests. Ants also are pollinators (a plus obviously) and in addition are predatory towards the eggs and larvae of fleas and other pests, news that is GREAT to me.
The negatives now:
If you find ants underneath pavers or stone/foundation things you freqently walk on or need held up, the ants need to go as they can collapse these structures with their tunnels.
You might also be aware that quite a few ants like nectar (just like bees as pollinators!) and they can be a nuisance if you enjoy picking or sniffing flowers when there's an infestation nearby.
Some of you may have also heard that some ants like to "milk" aphids, which is true, and the ants will protect the aphids to retain their food source "milk" of honeydew that the aphids produce. Though, a good indicator for aphids, it can get bad, and messy if there are aphids and ants together. As long as you get rid of the aphids, the ants will find other sources of food and will not be an issue.
For now, I can conclude that they are not carpenter ants, as they are not large-ish or black and I don't think they are fire ants as they seem non-threatening and didn't swarm a ladybug that I placed amidst them.
So, until I get word from someone of bug identification brilliance, these guys are a-okay where they're at.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Dancing queen: Dark Dancer Clover
I've always had a soft spot in my heart for clover. The poofy flowers, the soft structure of the leaves... knowing the difference between it and medic and oxalis :P
When I was a kid, I was the one on the softball team in far left field, dawdling, throwing my glove in the air or on the ground looking for 4 leaf clovers. I mean, what 8 year old is going to throw a homer my way? (It did happen; twice, I recall, and my team was not happy with me.)
I think I've found 4, maybe 5, four-leaf clovers in my lifetime that I'm sure I pressed between pages of books for safekeeping, only to lose track of which books they were in over the years.
It's not as though I really believed in the nature of luck to be gained by 4 leaf clovers, just the simple rarity of them was enough to sustain my interest and I suppose the pleasure of whiling away the time enjoying the simplicity of such small treasures.
Even as an adult, I can't go past a patch of clover without giving it a cursory glance for 4 leafed stalks.
Well, right now I've got Mother Nature beat. Or you might say, scientists have made the magic a little less special because I purchased some time ago Pre-P.M. (Pre-Plant Moratorium) this little lovely:
All Hail to Dark Dancer Clover!
As you might expect, the burgandy on green hue is what first caught my eye, but upon closer inspection, I noticed a four leaf clover, then another, and another, and more!
Dark Dancer is gifted with not only beauty, but luck too! (Sounds like the fairies gifting Sleeping Beauty doesn't it? Well, except for that one stupid bit of bad luck...)
I'm in love with Dark Dancer, and though she's blessed with all her gifts, I've seeded in my front and back lawn some basic red and white clover so I can have patches of the plain ol' stuff to lie on my belly in and while away the time look for 4 leafed treasure.
ADDENDUM: The OTHER reason I've seeded my front and back lawn with clovers is because we don't really fertilize our lawn, and as clovers are nitrogen fixers thus fertilizers, which I hope it will do our lawn good.
Red clover has the interesting property too of a being a favorite food of slugs I've read and research seems to indicate it as being an excellent diversion crop for crops such as strawberries. Granted, as my husband scoffs, 'why are we feeding pests?' it's a little counterintuitive to be letting pests you hate get a free dinner, but we can just hope too, that with a little Slugg-o in the clover patch, maybe those slugs won't be coming back...
I've also heard that planting clover in a lawn can encourage moles because many bugs seem to like clover and when you bring bugs, their predators (the moles) will not be far behind. So far my clover patches aren't too large yet, but this was just a warning for those who might be interested in clovering up their lawn too. If I get any extra moles, I'll mention it.
ALSO, more info on Dark Dancer:
Dark Dancer, like all clovers, is perennial here and is known to spread relatively well to vigorously. While I really wanted to plant it in my lawn, the husband thinks that would be 'weird' and so I've taken his opinion into consideration and planted a small patch at the edge of a flower bed...near the lawn, in hopes that it might make it's escape and spread, spread my pretties!
Another point of interest is that, despite its appearance, Dark Dancer is actually a white clover. I know that it's the flowers that determine the white/red variety of clover, but a person could easily assume that the red leaves would mean red flowers or just red clover-ness. Hmm, now I sort of wish the flower did come in red because that'd be rather pretty and I just like red.
FINALLY, just a crazy thought because I'm weird:
Speaking of nitrogen fixers, did you know that when there's a thunder storm, with lots of lightning, it makes the ground more fertile? When lightning strikes, the energy breaks nitrogen molecules in the air enabling it to bond with oxygen and this forms nitrogen oxides which then dissolve in rain and gets carried down to the earth. SO, other than the amount of energy to create this, wouldn't it be awesome to create some sort of 'lightning sprinkling water wand' that we could go around using in our gardens (or that we could rent?) and zap our gardens into fertility? Spiffy and Thor-tastic!
LINKS OF INTEREST:
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