May 24th is the Queen's birthday...
May. 24th, 2010 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calzephyrand if you don't give us a holiday, we'll all run away! Or at least that's how an old, old skipping rhyme goes.
The May long weekend is the traditional start of the Canadian gardening season, although I think it's starting a little late here. Some positively chilly weather has put a damper on being outdoors as well as a nasty wind - sometimes I think if I had known the wind was so bad out in this part of Calgary I would have moved somewhere else! If we're not losing the garbage cans, it's the deck chairs. I want a cast iron patio set - try to move that, Mr. North Wind!
I hit Canadian Tire today and it was easy to see that people have been indoors for too long. Either shoppers were bobbling about in a confused way or, stressed out like the lady that was ahead of me. She was having a meltdown over a credit note that the cashier couldn't process. I bought two giant terra cotta pots, a giant see through bin, an awesome telescoping pick/rake (I think it ranks a +4 bonus against weeds), and two bags of potting soil.
Most of all this was for my miniature roses. I had talked with my friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
taeha about making a homemade greenhouse for them, but I don't have the time at the moment to get some plexiglass and an old shelving unit. A Gorm unit from Ikea would be pretty ideal actually!
Anyway, I have been itching to get the miniature roses out of the house. Many people think of them as throwaway roses or not real roses, but they can be just as hardy as the larger type. Mine have lasted indoors for three years, but I do believe it's time to get them outdoors and into larger pots. For starters, they have been afflicted from the get go by mealy bugs or spider mites - whatever the little things that leave a webby trail behind are. I have tried squishing them, trimming the leaves, spraying them with water and an insecticidal soap, but no luck.
When I unpotted the roses, I discovered that the little buggers were in the dirt. I carefully seperated the plants and swished them in a pail of water to get the dirt off the roots and then I realized why the bugs were so difficult to get rid of. I had see them in the dirt before, but I didn't realize just how deep into the dirt they were. I did the best I could and gave each plant a generous spray of insecticide before repotting. I'm hoping there's some insect out there that likes these bugs.
So, for now, here's my little ghetto portable greenhouse - just enough to protect them from the wind, and make them easy to bring back inside if necessary.
The May long weekend is the traditional start of the Canadian gardening season, although I think it's starting a little late here. Some positively chilly weather has put a damper on being outdoors as well as a nasty wind - sometimes I think if I had known the wind was so bad out in this part of Calgary I would have moved somewhere else! If we're not losing the garbage cans, it's the deck chairs. I want a cast iron patio set - try to move that, Mr. North Wind!
I hit Canadian Tire today and it was easy to see that people have been indoors for too long. Either shoppers were bobbling about in a confused way or, stressed out like the lady that was ahead of me. She was having a meltdown over a credit note that the cashier couldn't process. I bought two giant terra cotta pots, a giant see through bin, an awesome telescoping pick/rake (I think it ranks a +4 bonus against weeds), and two bags of potting soil.
Most of all this was for my miniature roses. I had talked with my friend
taeha about making a homemade greenhouse for them, but I don't have the time at the moment to get some plexiglass and an old shelving unit. A Gorm unit from Ikea would be pretty ideal actually!Anyway, I have been itching to get the miniature roses out of the house. Many people think of them as throwaway roses or not real roses, but they can be just as hardy as the larger type. Mine have lasted indoors for three years, but I do believe it's time to get them outdoors and into larger pots. For starters, they have been afflicted from the get go by mealy bugs or spider mites - whatever the little things that leave a webby trail behind are. I have tried squishing them, trimming the leaves, spraying them with water and an insecticidal soap, but no luck.
When I unpotted the roses, I discovered that the little buggers were in the dirt. I carefully seperated the plants and swished them in a pail of water to get the dirt off the roots and then I realized why the bugs were so difficult to get rid of. I had see them in the dirt before, but I didn't realize just how deep into the dirt they were. I did the best I could and gave each plant a generous spray of insecticide before repotting. I'm hoping there's some insect out there that likes these bugs.
So, for now, here's my little ghetto portable greenhouse - just enough to protect them from the wind, and make them easy to bring back inside if necessary.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-05-25 07:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-25 12:17 pm (UTC)I brought them in last night - they have led such pampered lives!
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Date: 2010-05-25 02:21 pm (UTC)Hah! Today's high here is supposed to be 95ºF. It's the start of "open windows at night and close them during the day so you can put off installing the AC in the window" season.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-27 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-25 02:44 pm (UTC)So, not to break tradition, it snowed, and rained, and the wind howled at speeds of over 70kmh! The rest of the week isn't exactly looking much better. Yay Spring-time in Canada, eh? %)
(At least Spring-Time in Canada on the prairies. Those pampered buggers in Western BC with their flowers all in full bloom in March can "Kiss It" as Trixstir would say!)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-27 03:22 am (UTC)It keeps trying to rain here...I would love some!