The Gardeners Anonymous Blog

Green Thumb Sunday

Red Columbine.

A common theme in my blog this week is: "Where the heck did that come from?" O.K., I'm not an organized person. Carol of May Dreams Gardens keeps a gardening log. I do not. I'm a lazy, unorganized gardener. I broadcast seeds a lot. I sometimes plop a plant in the ground without proper preparation. Often, during the spring and summer, this type of gardening causes me to mutter these seven little words: "Where the heck did that come from?"

Blue.

Purple.

White. White? Where the heck did that come from?

Save Darfur

I went to a fundraiser Sunday. It was film and lecture about the continuing genocide in Darfur Sudan.

The name of the film was God Grew Tired of Us. Directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn, co-directed by Tom Walker.

The subject of the film was the Lost Boys of Sudan. The film focuses on three of the Lost Boys of Sudan who were forced to leave their war-torn country of Sudan. Along with 25,000 other boys they were forced to leave their families and homes, and flee on foot from Sudan to Ethiopia and then to Kenya to keep from being slaughtered by the Sudanese Arab rebels and Radical Islamic factions.

The boys ranged in age from four years old to teenagers. They made a five-year Journey with hardly any food or water. Many died from starvation and dehydration. Many were murdered. Only 12,000 survived.

Most of the film takes place in the United States when these three boys are given the opportunity to leave their camp in Kenya—leaving behind the surviving boys who have now become their extended family.

The film follows the boys to the U.S. through their culture shock of having nothing to having more than they ever bargained for. They struggle with understanding modern conveniences, holding down jobs and the prejudice and isolation that comes from being dropped like fish out of water into the fast pace of a first-world country. They deal with the haunting memories of their incredibly difficult journey and of the family and friends they left behind.

The purpose of the fundraiser was to raise money to purchase solar cookers for the boys as well as for families. They have a hard time finding fuel to burn. This has created a huge problem with deforestation in the area. And searching for fuel exposes them to danger and violence.

The one thing these people have in abundance is sunshine. The solar cookers cost about $20.00 apiece, are lightweight, easy to use, and easy to ship.

For information on how you can help, please go to savedarfur.org.

I took my two boys to see the movie because sometimes they don't know how lucky they are.

Green Thumb Sunday

Abutilon

Abutilon

Abutilon

Iris

I was going to dedicate this Green Thumb Sunday to the Abutilon in my garden
But I couldn't resist this gorgeous little Iris.

Poisonous Plant?

I try to help my friends with their gardens as much as I can. Why? Because I like to—and because it makes them happy.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be around when one of my favorite neighbors needed some help. Not with her garden but to help her identify a plant her daughter had tried to eat.

Our kids had been playing together earlier that day. Her two kids and my son were feeding the horses another neighbor’s nearby ranch. The kids had been picking miner’s lettuce and dandelion greens to feed the horses.

My friend’s daughter, the wonderful little experimental being that she is, decided if the horses could eat it, so could she. My little friend started to take large bites of the freshly picked horse food. She would laugh and most of it would fall to the ground while the horsed just stared at her with sad hungry eyes.

At one point she was actually playing what my son calls “chattin’ a noodle” with the horses. You know the scene from the Lady and the Tramp, where Lady picks up the same noodle Tramp does. They eat it and meet in the middle. She was lip to lip with a horse. It was not exactly an even match, but she is incredibly cute and the big horses are incredibly gentle with her.

My son and I walked home a few minutes later to go out to dinner with my other son and my husband.

As we backed out of the driveway, my friend pulled in behind us in her car. She jumped out holding a large leaf. I thought, oh how nice she drove all the way here to bring me a—leaf.

A leaf?

I climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked back towards her. As I came closer, I realized she looked slightly panicked. She said, “Do you know what this is? My daughter just took a bite out of it. Is it poisonous?”

My friend, looking a little misty eyed, said “She has blisters in her mouth. she said that when she put it in her mouth, it felt like needles sticking in her skin.”

Using my large cranium, I told her what plant I thought it was. I said in my deep superhero voice, “Why, that’s Jack-in-the-pulpit”. and then I gave her the number for poison control.

I was like Supergardener. The green superhero that swoops in with her Master Gardener’s handbook and helps curious children in need. I felt confidant that because my neighbor’s daughter hadn’t actually swallowed it that she would be O.K.

Well I was right about one thing—she’d be O.K.

What I got wrong was the plant.

After finding out that her daughter was indeed O.K. I thought about it a little more. Then the REAL name of the plant came to me as well as a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. Arum, it was Arum. Jack-in-the-pulpit lives on the East Coast. I looked it up and sure enough I was actually right about it—this time.

My stint as SuperGardener was short-lived. Now I was IdiotGirl, SuperGardener’s want-to-be sidekick who, when working as the janitor at the local nursery, fell into a vat of rancid Miricle Grow. This stale liquid made her brain shrink instead of grow, and now she spends her days dragging her knuckles, drooling, and blurting out Latin names of plants in the wrong order.

The moral of the story is, if you or someone you know eats a plant and doesn’t know what it is, don’t call me! I’m Idiotgirl. I’m guaranteed to make you panic and break into a cold sweat over what your child just ingested.

It turns out that Arum and Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) are in the same family Araceae and they are both poisonous. Supergardener was back for the time being.

“The plant contains calcium oxylate crystals. These cause an extremely unpleasant sensation similar to needles being stuck into the mouth and tongue if they are eaten.”

This post is the reason why I find the study of mycology so unappealing.

I would be the one who picks the wrong mushroom and ends dying of liver failure.

Calla lilies (Zantedeschia) are from the same family as Arum.
Calla lilies grow wild here also.

Philodendron are in the same family. I have some in my house.

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) Also in the same family also in my house.

All these plants are common, all are toxic, all are in the same family and all are in and around my house.
So don't eat them.

Trip to San Francisco Zoo.

My kids, my husband and I went to the San Francisco zoo over the break.

My kids had never been there before. I felt like a bad mommy for not taking them before this. They had no idea that they were going to see exotic animals.

When we drove into the parking lot, there were no other cars and just one lone seagull circling the parking lot. We told them that the zoo was in the middle of a seagull exhibit and the parking lot was the zoo and we were there.

They believed us till we rounded the corner to the entrance where two giraffes stared at us from over the fence.

My kids went nuts.

Giraffes are my youngest son’s favorite animals—followed by penguins.

They also saw lions and tigers and…no bears. We did see koala bears and we saw birds and monkeys and lemurs, hippopotami, and hyenas.

The boys were quite impressed with the sheer number of animals we saw.

Oh, did I mention that I was carrying the camera?

The Gloves Are Off…

and lying on my lawn.

As promised to Carol of May Dreams Gardens you showed me yours, so I’ll show you mine.

Here are all my gardening gloves—well actually not all of them—there was one pair hiding in my car when I took this picture. My husband has stolen several pairs from me and I have three more pair at our rental which has a quarter acre of garden.

You might notice that some of the gloves are no longer pairs. I usually wear out the right one first, or at least the index fingure and thumb. Don’t ask me why I keep that left glove.

Maybe I’ll sudenly become left handed. You never know.

Now, do I go for the crème colored suede type with the fashionable colored gauntlet. Ney ney EAL.

I like the type that fit snugly and are somewhat waterproof for planting, digging and trimming.

I use really heavy-duty gloves when I’m weeding nettles and blackberries and others stickery weeds, or trimming plants with thorns.

As you probably can tell by the shear number of pairs I do most of my own gardening although due to some chronic pain I have as I get older, I do have a nice man that works for me once a month or so to do heavy lifting and digging. My sweet husband helps as much as he can. As my children get older they will eventually become my garden slaves. But for the most part I’m too bossy and impatient, so I do most of it myself.

I do try to wear gloves when I garden. I also do mosaics. My hands are 48 years old and they have seen a lot of action in those years. I try to keep them looking nice. Check out my article Nail Tips.

What's in Bloom April

Abutilon
Apple tree
Azalea
Bleeding Heart
Calendula
Camelia
Columbine
Cyclamen
Cymbidiums
Daffodil
Gerbera Daisy
Heuchera
Lavatera
lavender
Orange Tree
Potatoe vine
Primrose
Rhododendron
Rockrose
Rosemary
Roses
Salvia
Santa Barbara Daisy
Snapdragon
Sweet Alysum
Thyme
Tulips
Vinca
Violas
Wisteria

Iris Shopping

Los Coyotes

Yesterday I saw a hand-painted sign that read “Iris sale.”
These kinds of things get me very excited. I don’t really know what that says about me—but they do.

The bad thing was, I didn’t have time to stop and look. So I grasped my steering wheel firmly with both hands and turned the wheel in the other direction—vowing that I would return the next day.

After much begging and pleading the next morning, I loading my kids into my car and drove back to where I’d seen the sign. The sign was gone. I said to my ten year old, “Oh shoot, the sign is gone.” He replied swiftly, “Good, let’s go home.”

I have noticed for years a particular house about a block from the sign. The house always had a garden full of irises, so I took a chance and drove by. And sure enough there was a sign in the yard that said irises for sale. I squealed with delight and parked my car. I left my kids in the car (Their choice) and went to investigate.

There were all sorts of beautiful iris specimens but no humans to be found. It was someone’s private home, so I felt uncomfortable prowling around.

After a few minutes, someone else pulled into the driveway. It was a woman who told me she had been there before and no one had come out of the house.

Her presence gave me courage so after knocking on the door, I strolled down the side yard and yelled out “Hello, Is anyone here?”

At that moment I realized that I was in the wrong backyard, and ran for the gate.

The nice man who was advertising his irises must have heard me—because he emerged from the other side yard at about the same time that I was coming out of his neighbor’s yard.

His name is Henry.

Henry has a passion for irises. He is retired and raises irises as a hobby. Sometimes he sells them. He sells them at a very reasonable price not for profit—but to raise money to buy more irises, soil, and pots and to pay the water bills.

Henry knows a lot about irises. It was great fun talking to Henry and looking through Henry’s Iris collection.

I also met a landscape designer. Her name is Tura. She is the one who pulled in the driveway after me. Her business is called “Garden Envy”. I just love that name. I regrettably lost her number and information. If you’re a regular reader, this won’t surprise you. So if you’re reading this Tura, email me and give it to me again.

Tura had an incredible knowledge of organic gardening and insects and their role in the garden. She also was very kind and had a great laugh.

I purchased three beautiful irises and Henry says if I come back and buy more he’ll throw one in for free.

I’m definitely going to take him up on the offer.

Wintry Skies

Friday the 13th...AHHHHH

Happy Friday the 13th from Gardener's Anonymous.

This the scariest picture I could find in my Repertoire.
This is my son from a couple days ago.
He was dressing up with a friend.
They were filming a movie.
My favorite part about the costume is that the hat was scotch taped to his head.

Computer Pain

This computer issue that my husband and I are having is really becoming a pain in my AAACHOOO! Oh excuse me, there is a lot of pollen flying around isn’t there?

I’m not kidding about the pain and here’s why. Last night my husband was working late on MY computer. I had fallen asleep reading with both my little boys upstairs. Somewhere around one o'clock in the morning, after getting an elbow in my nose, I woke up. I crawled out of bed and I thought to myself Rich has to be asleep in some other part of the house. Cold this be it? Could it be my time on the computer? I snuck down the first set of stairs and came to the landing.

Then I took the first step down the second set of stairs, or rather it took me.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM THUNK!

...Owww.

My husband yelled OMG HONEY. ARE YOU O.K.? He was at my side in seconds.

He was at my side in seconds because I had landed on the hardwood floor next to my office where my computer was and he was still on it.

If you’ll excuse me, I have to go. My husband needs my computer and I need Advil.

Oh, here’s a picture of a flower.

This was an Iris I divided and planted at my old house.
Then I divided it and planted at my mom's house.
When we moved into our current house, I divided it and planted it here.
It's such a dark, vibrant purple, I love it.