Re: CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in May, 2016

**Kelejan** 5/20/2016, 9:44 pm

TD, I'm totally OK with you posting pictures of your flowers. But I am not the boss here.

I love the pictures of flowers, it brightens up my day. Very Happy

**Kelejan** 5/20/2016, 9:59 pm

I don't think it is going to be a very good Victoria Day weekend here in the Southern Interior of British Columbia.

Rain later on tonight, rain and thunderstorms for tomorrow and rain again on Monday.
also pretty cool at 15C.

Glad you are having better weather in Ontario and places east. You deserve it.

We do need the rain in Western Canada to add a bit of security from fires. I see the bears are descending on Fort McMurray due to the destruction of their habitat. Be careful when you return to your homes.

**Kelejan** 5/21/2016, 11:00 pm

Surprise! Surprise! No rain today so far that was predicted.

Finally used up all the job lot of 2" x 8" 6" wood that I bought about four years ago.
I made a 6ft. 18" bed and actually painted it. This is to go in my car port; no longer have a car so I am making it a seating/working area.

I had put up a temporary (2 years) screen, an old used trellis that my runner beans climbed, so as to give me some privacy from the road.

Second coat of paint tomorrow, when dry will fill it with whatever soil I can find, then plant with whatever else I have hanging around.

bigdogrock 5/21/2016, 11:07 pm

Hi Kelejan, I would like to see your new 18" bed that is going into the car port. I am always building something and get a lot of ideas from others. I hope your new bed gives you lots of pleasure. Rock

**Scorpio Rising** 5/21/2016, 11:44 pm

Sweet, Kelejan! I am getting ready to build an 18"x10' bed on the south of my house for squash, melons, etc. And a permanent location for rhubarb that I miss.

Would love to see it too. What color did you paint it?

**sanderson** 5/22/2016, 5:05 pm

Photo?

**Kelejan** 5/22/2016, 10:11 pm

sanderson wrote:Photo?

I know, sanderson. So far I have never got around to really learning how to use a camera and post pictures. I have to get out the instruction book even to see how to delete pictures on the camera. The other day, even to find out how to turn it off. Embarassed

A rather miserable day here today, even though at the same time I rejoice that we are having the rain so as to fill up the ground with moisture to help the Soil Web and my wood chips. Also to help with those forest fires in B.C., Alberta and other places.

I put on anther coat of paint on my new boxand laid some landscape cloth on top of the hardware cloth. The colour of the paint is Thunderbird Blue and is the colour of the trim on my yellow/blue painted home. Then I placed the fancy concrete blocks on which the bed is to rest and that was it for today.

The lawn must be growing at a rate of one inch a day with no end to the rain for the next five days.

I did manage to place a lot of grass clippings around the potatoes and I am in the middle of placing straw under the strawberry plants; lots of green berries there.

A question: anyone know what Bellis is? Looks like a small bedding plant, Strawberries and Cream. I bought it at the Farmer's Market and forgot to ask for more info on it. How tall etc. is it an annual? Could not find it on the Internet as yet.

Spent the afternoon listening to classical music; Debussy, Ravel, and Beethoven's 7th,. all performed by the Paris Symphony Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Solenen. Enjoyed the performance very much. This was on British Columbia's Knowledge Network. Like PBS but specific to this province.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/22/2016, 10:27 pm

I have no knowledge, Kelejan, of Bellis, but will keep digging. Love some classical music to relax the mind.... I love you

**trolleydriver** 5/22/2016, 11:26 pm

From what I can find out Bellis Perennis is English Daisy.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/22/2016, 11:31 pm

Pretty!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellis_perennis

I have these! flower

**Kelejan** 5/23/2016, 2:42 am

Thanks TD and Scorpio for doing my research for me. Very Happy

Fancy finding out that they are common daisies, a flower of my childhood when we made daisy chains.

I remember when I was at school, we used to go down to our local town and visit the ruins of an old castle. All that was left was the perimeter wall, and the ground inside was covered with daisies in the lawn, it was a sea of white. I thought it looked beautiful.

I think I will plant my bellis in the middle of my lawn and let it fight it out with the other flowers that live there.

CapeCoddess 5/23/2016, 11:38 am

My English daisies look more like buttons. And they are low growing but spread a bit. Maybe 8" hi and wide.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Bellis+perennis&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9ocOGw_DMAhWMQD4KHQS1BY0Q_AUIBygB&biw=1280&bih=640#tbm=isch&q=English+daisies&imgrc=_
CC

**Kelejan** 5/23/2016, 3:52 pm

CC the only daisies I remember were just plain ole white with single petals. Sometimes they had a little pink on the tips but that was all. That site gave an enormous variety.

The ones I have, have a name, Strawberries and Cream so I am assuming they will not be the plain white. We'll see when they bloom.

**trolleydriver** 5/23/2016, 4:12 pm

Kelejan wrote:CC the only daisies I remember were just plain ole white with single petals. Sometimes they had a little pink on the tips but that was all. That site gave an enormous variety.

The ones I have, have a name, Strawberries and Cream so I am assuming they will not be the plain white. We'll see when they bloom.

Not at all Kelejan. They will be beautiful if they look anything like the ones shown at these links.

http://www.gardencrossings.com/plantname/Bellis-Polar-Strawberries-and-Cream

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bellis+strawberry+and+cream&id=F51726B3BA2E9F469C56D6FA5FEEFD25A158C8A6&FORM=IQFRBA

CapeCoddess 5/23/2016, 4:12 pm

Strawberries & Cream:
CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in May, 2016 - Page 7 51MEWcBNzcL

http://www.amazon.com/STRAWBERRIES-ENGLISH-Bellis-Perennis-Flower/dp/B00A9A4052
I have these. So lovely but not as prolific as in the photo. But then, my soil isn't the best in the area where I have them.
CC

**Kelejan** 5/24/2016, 1:07 am

So, with my Bellis Strawberries and Cream I have something nice to look forward to.

I finished my 6ft x 18 inchx 8 inch deep box with a second coat of paint that dried overnight, In it I have some tall marigolds, a Sedum, Hen & Chicks, Thyme, Rosemary, Dianthus and tomorrow I will plant the Bellis Daisies.

I was struggling to find enough soil to fill the box this morning, when a friend brought me the marigolds, some tomatoes and a pepper, as promised; asked what I was doing so I told him about getting enough soil, he said he had some spare and later on brought me something like a cubic yard of good soil. So that was why I was able to finish planting the box.

Now I need to find somewhere to store the extra soil for further use and to return the containers that the soil was in.

When I started filling the box I laid down some shredded paper followed by shredded leave, a little bit of part-finished compost, then some defrosted fruit and veggies that I use for worm food, then covered that with what little soil I had. All that was topped up by the addition of this new soil. Each layer I watered and added a mist of some soluble mycorrhizae. That will be topped up with some small-size wood chips and some red wigglers added.

**sanderson** 5/24/2016, 3:35 am

KJ, I can't find the answer as to what color you painted the box. Yellow, to match your house? Photo?

Margay77 5/24/2016, 5:28 am

sanderson wrote:KJ, I can't find the answer as to what color you painted the box. Yellow, to match your house? Photo?

He painted it Thunderbird Blue, which matches his blue/yellow house.

Mimi2 5/24/2016, 8:27 am

I had a productive weekend gardening over the Victoria Day weekend, in between BBQS, fireworks, tulip festival, and trips to the park. Amazing what you can do when you have a three day weekend (and gorgeous weather in Ottawa). Gardeningwise I had a chance to put plants in most of the squares o the boxes behind my house (tomatoes, peppers, asparagus). The SFG in front of my house has herbs, marigolds, strawberries, and one tomato plant. All boxes appear to be doing fine after the big move (due to by-law infraction). Haven't had the chance to plant any new seeds yet though. Most of my kale plants, peppers, and some tomatoes are still hardening off. Not sure I'll have room to direct sow anywhere.

**Kelejan** 5/25/2016, 1:16 am

sanderson wrote:KJ, I can't find the answer as to what color you painted the box. Yellow, to match your house? Photo?

Yes, sanderson, I was a bit non-specific when I wrote that I painted my box the colour of the trim of my yellow/blue house.

I should have written: I painted my box the colour of the blue trim of my yellow house.

Mimi2, I was a non-productive gardener over the Victoria weekend as I watched the rain pour down every day. But I was under cover so that I could do garden related stuff. So glad you had good weather in Ottawa.

Early this morning about three, drinking chocolate while sitting on my covered deck watching the rain just teeming down, I never dreamed that by late afternoon I would have mown 80% of the lawn and planted four tomato and four pepper plants, and finished planting my new box. The lawn was so thick and lush I was surprised that the mower was able to do its job. I had to clear the mower about five times as it filled up with damp grass on the blades and outlet holes.

In addition I rendered two turkey carcasses and one chicken, gifts from my neighbour who had cleaned out her old freezer as she had a new one. They yielded five pounds of meat for my Jazz equal to about ten meals.

**Kelejan** 5/25/2016, 1:22 am

Margay77 wrote:
sanderson wrote:KJ, I can't find the answer as to what color you painted the box. Yellow, to match your house? Photo?

He painted it Thunderbird Blue, which matches his blue/yellow house.

Hi Margay, I am a lady. Very Happy

One of my non-de-plumes is Lady Janice. My husband once said that if he had a boat he would name it The Lady Janice.

I must admit that when I was very young i wanted to be a boy, but only because I thought the boys had so much more fun then I did and they never seemed to have to do any household chores like washing up and cleaning the floor and grocery shopping.etc.

Margay77 5/25/2016, 5:12 am

Kelejan wrote:
Margay77 wrote:
sanderson wrote:KJ, I can't find the answer as to what color you painted the box. Yellow, to match your house? Photo?

He painted it Thunderbird Blue, which matches his blue/yellow house.

Hi Margay, I am a lady. One of my non-de-plumes is Lady Janice. My husband once said that if he had a boat he would name it The Lady Janice.

I must admit that when I was very young i wanted to be a boy, but only because I thought the boys had so much more fun then I did and they never seemed to have to do any household chores like washing up and cleaning the floor and grocery shopping.etc.

My apologies! Embarassed

yolos 5/25/2016, 7:15 am

Kelejan wrote:

I must admit that when I was very young i wanted to be a boy, but only because I thought the boys had so much more fun then I did and they never seemed to have to do any household chores like washing up and cleaning the floor and grocery shopping.etc.

+1. And when we all got older, the boys got scholarships to play sports in college and the girls had to buy their own uniforms, pay for hotel rooms when playing out of town, drive their own cars and pay for their own gas.

**Kelejan** 5/25/2016, 8:31 am

Weather forecas there in the B.C. Interior is rain until May 31st at least. There does seem to be a weather window this coming morning so I hope to finish mowing the grass area that fronts the road.

Then rain and thunderstorm for the afternoon, which means I will be under cover clearing up all the stuff that has migrated there while I have been building my box.

I find that having so many generous friends giving me plants and soil and turkey carcasses, that I am working overtime to get them all squared away. Very Happy

The City gave every household a huge garbage can and two recycling containers and we have to find room for them. The recycling bins have metal cans in one and paper in the other. My cans look lost in the bottom of one, my paper does better as we have two weeks of flyers to go in there. These garbage cans are not bear-proof and have to be repaired or replaced. I will be interested to see how much this is costing us.

I already had a bear-proof Rubbermaid garbage can and a single small blue recycle container sufficient for my needs.

Having lived in this area since 1980, I reckon I have received at least 2,000 flyers that I have never even glanced at from each of 15 different businesses. All going to the landfill. Those are just the everyday grocery stuff.

**Kelejan** 5/25/2016, 10:08 pm

Another satisfying day when I beat the forecasted thunderstorm. I mowed the roadside grass and then repaired the holes that I had punched out to remove the plantains. Then with the extra soil I had been given, put on a layer in the low spots and where there was no grass at all.

The trouble is that many vehicle drivers drive over my grass to go round the bend as it is an acute bend and although most drivers can keep on the roadway, there are the persistent few who want to take up all of my forecourt and when you realize that after a car has been driven for a while, the very hot tires kill anything growing.

There is little I can do as the forecourt or boulevard is city property, and it is my responsibility keep it in good repair. In addition I just like to keep it nice looking for the general area.

More thunderstorms tomorrow, and rain for the rest of the week. Being retired I can take any opportunity to dash out and do something. When I was working it was impossible to do that. I LOVE being retired, now that I have adjusted to a different way of living. I would have loved being a Kept Woman as in the old days. Very Happy

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