Rain has stopped here. Hopefully the load of stone will be in my driveway when I get home. Time to finish fertilizing my last iris bed, and to dig the extension of the LA bed. Glad it will only be in the 60's this weekend. Won't be too hot for all the digging.

Just finished the half bed that was left from Wed. so 4 down and 9 to go. It's really windy today, but temp is 50 and it's mostly sunny.

I got all the "eastside" and "Northside" beds done....now it's on to the "other "areas, around the gardens, etc. I am worried about a general "lack of bloom" this spring....lots of the "main", or 'mother 'rhizomes are very soft . Side increases are greening up, but it's likely the "bloom size" ones are goners

Sorry to hear that Arlyn.

Day off here...due to snow.

I hope that as the weather warms up your rhizomes firm up and recover...if that's possible Arlyn.

Lestv said:Thanks for the info on boron. I happen to have borax to kill mold/mildew in my basement (in NC very few houses have basements, and because of the clay, those that do often get wet). It was listed as a non-toxic way to handle mold, and is far kinder than bleach, etc. Works very well BTW. That it also kills the ugly camel back crickets that like to get in the basements around here is a plus. It also did a good job soaking up some spilled gasoline, then I swept it up and put it in the trash. It just seemed kinder to the environment than Sevin dust, so I wondered at an outdoor application. It would only be small amounts, and only in one bed, so I don't know that it would cause an excess of boron in my soil. The area isn't that rich in it. Will have to think on it.

Leslie -- the same situation exists here regarding basements and clay soil. We have a basement. We are frequently dealing with seepage that covers a good part of the basement floor. I never heard about using borax -- can you enlighten me?

Also -- what are camel back crickets? I get some incredibly ugly bugs in our basement that I hate -- and do not know what they are.......

OK -- never mind -- after typing that in the above message, I got on Google. And there they were. Oh. My. Gawwwwd. I hate these freakin' things. Never saw them until I came to Kentucky -- I thought they were a Kentucky problem. Now I learn that they are another Asian invasion. Figures..............

Mary Ann, be grateful you don't get these!

Grasshopper Celia?

I have those camel/cave crickets everywhere in my yard. If you pick a flower, I can almost guarantee you that a cave cricket is inside of it.

Celia, that is huge!

Rob -- I read that this camel cricket is a problem east of the Mississippi River. They are in California too????

Re:the grasshopper. Yes, one of the worlds biggest! Thank goodness, we don't get them either.

If I ever get a grasshopper that big I may quit gardening.

"I give up! You can have it all!"

Bonnie - I see your point and yet I always wonder why women scream at big or ugly bugs. Screaming doesn't help and yet I'm sure I'd let out a loud gasp, if not a full fledged scream. What is different with the genetics of men that they don't scream but behave normally?

Bonnie!

Muddymitts said:Rob -- I read that this camel cricket is a problem east of the Mississippi River. They are in California too????

I need to catch one and identify it with one of these photos. It's either the Camel, or Cave Cricket, or the Sand Treader. They all look the same to me when they're squished.

Perfect gardening for compromised arms: Took the broken leaves and stems off these AV noIDs and planted them in a large AV pot that was pre-filled with soil, to make new plants.


Most of what I am noticing outside as the snow melts, is a lot of cat poop and trash.

ooops, I stuck that in the wrong feed. I did nothing in the iris garden today.

No worries, Leslie.

I was doing the last of the clean-up and found aphids. They no longer are in the Land of the Living.