Author |
Project Discussions: Learning Together: Bees, Butterflies and Plants  |
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2019 : 11:05:40 AM
|
 I wanted to introduce you to a most special lovely lady...Zephirine Drouhin! Isn't she a beauty? Her fragrance is heavenly. Oh, and the best part...she will not wound you or me, because she carries no thorns! |
Texasgran |
 |
|
YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
    
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2019 : 11:50:39 AM
|
Marilyn she's beautiful. Love your 'special' place. I know you spend many happy hours out there. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14 FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
|
 |
|
levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
    
10433 Posts

Denise
Ohio
USA
10433 Posts |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2019 : 12:32:41 PM
|
Thanks ladies. She is spreading, and has a mind of her own. I bought two, and after the first year started two more from a cane. |
Texasgran |
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2019 : 5:51:43 PM
|
Well, you know me, I love spring and pretty greenery and flowers. God gets the credit, I only plant and when I remember, I give them a drink. Here are more photos. Now that the honey suckle is blooming...the scents of the roses mixed with the Honeysuckle is awesome. That is English ivy on the ground on the right side. It will have to go...snakes! |
Texasgran |
Edited by - TexasGran on Apr 22 2019 5:53:23 PM |
 |
|
levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
    
10433 Posts

Denise
Ohio
USA
10433 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2019 : 5:56:15 PM
|
We won't have honeysuckle in bloom here until June. There seems to be plenty of pollen around. I am struggling against it today. I have noticed many seeds and flowers being advertised as pollinators. More are becoming aware of the need for the bees. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com www.torisgram.etsy.com |
Edited by - levisgrammy on Apr 22 2019 5:57:51 PM |
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2019 : 11:41:00 PM
|
We need bees! Without them we have no food. We also have one humming bird drinking from the one feeder I cleaned and cooked sugar water for last week. There may be more, but I have seen one for sure. |
Texasgran |
 |
|
YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
    
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2019 : 05:06:04 AM
|
Marylin love your secret garden. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14 FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
|
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2019 : 10:49:21 AM
|
Thank you Sara. I love the roses and honeysuckle...They smell so devine, together. |
Texasgran |
 |
|
Bonnie Ellis
True Blue Farmgirl
    
859 Posts

Bonnie
Minneapolis
Minnesota
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2019 : 1:19:38 PM
|
Marilyn, your garden is awesome! |
grandmother and orphan farmgirl |
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2019 : 2:20:51 PM
|
Thank you Bonnie. |
Texasgran |
 |
|
Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
    
3683 Posts

Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
3683 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2019 : 2:27:30 PM
|
Beautiful garden, Marilyn!! those pink roses are gorgeous! I bet the Bees are visiting those blooms too. |
Winnie Nielsen #3109 Red Tractor Girl Farm Girl of the Year 2014-2015 |
Edited by - Red Tractor Girl on Apr 23 2019 2:28:00 PM |
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 07:43:01 AM
|
We have not had a lot of bees yet, this year Winnie. I was visiting with Sara about the pine trees in eastern Texas, and that made me think of toilet tissue! Have any of you ever used the toilet tissue made from bamboo and sugar cane ?? I recently ordered some from the Grove Collabrative. I like it. The package says that it only takes about 3 months to grow bamboo ( and this is not the same kind that polar bears eat...) Where as it takes 20 years to grow a pine tree. The sugar cane is the left overs after the liquid sugar has been extracted. In my next order I will try their other paper products. They have napkins, paper towels and tissues for your nose. Now I doubt they can match my Viva paper towels but as far as the tissue, it is good. I normally buy Charmin strong. And when I use it I know a tree did not die so I could have paper products. |
Texasgran |
Edited by - TexasGran on Apr 24 2019 07:44:34 AM |
 |
|
levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
    
10433 Posts

Denise
Ohio
USA
10433 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 08:58:32 AM
|
I have seen a few but not many of the bees we need. We have tons of those big fat bees that bore holes in the wood and plenty of wasps but alas not so many of the bees we need for pollination. I saw most of them in the garage instead of on the apple and peach blossoms. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com www.torisgram.etsy.com |
 |
|
levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
    
10433 Posts

Denise
Ohio
USA
10433 Posts |
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
    
4981 Posts

Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
4981 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 10:52:07 AM
|
I haven’t seen bees here yet. Maybe soon since it is warming up.
Fleas, yes, bees, no. lol |
Linda B quiltee Farmgirl #1919 FGOTM for August, 2015 and April, 2017
|
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 11:26:45 AM
|
Denise, there is a man in Oklahoma who uses tubs and a wicking system to grow plants. Go on you tube and type in gardening with Leon. Then there is a young man named Daniel, who lives not far from Leon, who has learned a lot from Leon and is sharing. Arms family homestead, is his you tube channel. He is a good teacher, also a state trooper. My first homestead channel was Doug and Stacy's...They are off grid. She cooks with a wood cookstove and a sun oven. I enjoy homesteading videos. I learn a lot from some of them. I have always wanted to live that way but my husband, not so much. Now he likes to grow a garden, with long straight rows, a jillion squash plants, two jillion tomztoes, etc. Then he will not allow me to go into HIS garden! Now that I have tubs started I can have more control over the number of squash plants. We only need four. |
Texasgran |
 |
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
    
4981 Posts

Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
4981 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 11:37:31 AM
|
Love your arbor/fence roses and honeysuckle. Such a special place.
Those tube videos sound like wonderful learning tools. We'd love to grow more, but with our travels, and more places to see, we'd need a caretaker to watch over them. Ed's soil is sandy, so would be good for growing vegetables - a lot better than the black adobe soil at my place. As for living off the grid, maybe some but not entirely. We are THINKing off building another house on Ed's property and selling mine. Though I'd hate to give it up, it is 117 years old, and old houses always need work/repairs of some kind. It's not for sale yet, but anyone know a farmgirl in Texas lookinng for acreage? LOL! |
Linda B quiltee Farmgirl #1919 FGOTM for August, 2015 and April, 2017
|
 |
|
YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
    
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 12:10:44 PM
|
Denise I checked the article out. Thanks for posting the link.
I've been gardening in containers for years. This year I have 6 red cabbage plants in two 2' long red plastic containers that I got at Dollar General 10 years ago. The cabbage is on the deck along with a 2' long container of green onions and pots of pineapple mint & spearmint; pennyroyal - in the mint family - insect repellant; sage; wee bay tree; and two container roses.
Neighbor across street grows squash and peppers in two 2' plastic containers on 2 sawhorses with pieces of wood laid across them. Tomatoes in large pots.
I saw a few bees and butterflies back in March but haven't seen any lately - too much rain I guess and gloomy days. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14 FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
|
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 1:11:52 PM
|
Linda, you could grow in tubs because you don't scoop up your diet to use, you use a mix of peat, compost, fine wood chips, worm castings and a bit of garden soil. Then you add some natural fertilizers. I will need to feed mine due to the heavy rains...which wash the fertilizers away.I have ten tubs planted right now and more to get ready. |
Texasgran |
Edited by - TexasGran on Apr 24 2019 1:13:38 PM |
 |
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
    
4981 Posts

Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
4981 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 3:34:38 PM
|
I may try containers - when we decide how long we will be in one spot. LOL! I have used containers before, but not recently. |
Linda B quiltee Farmgirl #1919 FGOTM for August, 2015 and April, 2017
|
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 4:45:05 PM
|
Linda, if you use a five gallon bucket, and keep the bail(handle) up...you can move the bucket around or to another location. Someone even showed how to put a tomato cage on a bucket. I like this idea: set a supplement tub on top of a 55 gallon barrel...Then prepare the tub, fill with soil and plant four tomato plants in the tub. Fill using the water tube and watch the tomatoes grow...over the sides of the tub and down toward the ground. Of course this tub will be a heavy feeder tub. |
Texasgran |
 |
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
    
4981 Posts

Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
4981 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 8:03:54 PM
|
Thanks, Marilyn
|
Linda B quiltee Farmgirl #1919 FGOTM for August, 2015 and April, 2017
|
 |
|
TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
    
5777 Posts

Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2019 : 8:08:12 PM
|
You are welcome. Did you get lots of rain? |
Texasgran |
 |
|
Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
    
3683 Posts

Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
3683 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2019 : 06:38:39 AM
|
I have a big Carpenter Bee that has made a home in the wooden structure of my Pergola. It was looking seriously for another home two days ago, so I sprayed him. They are very destructive to wooden structures and I don't need a colony eating my structure from the inside out! I hated to get rid of it, but they are a huge problem here in the south and they even sell Bee traps to hang on homes to catch them because they are a huge destroyer of property. Sigh, not many pollinating bees around my yard. Our Monarch butterflies are everywhere these days which I love seeing. |
Winnie Nielsen #3109 Red Tractor Girl Farm Girl of the Year 2014-2015 |
 |
|
Project Discussions: Learning Together: Bees, Butterflies and Plants  |
|