Appliances, gardening and balance
Apr. 1st, 2008 07:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellymellSo, we bought a new washing machine last night at the Sears scratch and dent outlet. We'll be picking it up tomorrow. We didn't get as awesome of a deal as we did on the dryer but it's still better than what we'd get some where else. And it is actually a new one, wasn't marked that it had any cosmetic or other damage and was not returned. It's not the same model as our dryer, but it is the same brand and model series, just maybe two models or so older.
As of yesterday, I've got lettuce sprouts! Hopefully we can get a few heads before it gets too hot.
I think we might have had a bearded iris bulb fail in the front, which kind of sucks because now the late spring landscape is going to be a little off balance. The other three are up and off to a great start, as are all the tulips and Dutch irises, but there's one bearded iris that has yet to emerge. Oh well.
Need to order the seeds for annuals and summer bulbs today. Hopefully I can get them started this weekend. I'm a little late, but since I was planning on planting them a little late (first weekend in May), I think it might still work (as long as my seed starting space is warm).
I'm wondering where in the hell my azaleas are. I ordered them 8 days ago. I guess they have up to 10 days to get them here before I start to concern myself with them.
The blueberry and raspberry are going through kind of a second fall since I put them outside. The leaves they had sprouting out on new shoots have turned red because of the cool temperatures at night. I'd really like to get a book on berries to be sure I know what I'm doing. I'm afraid I might have to get a second blueberry of a compatible variety to pollinate the one we have. So far what I've read has said this is a common necessity. I guess we're not expecting much if any fruit this year anyway, just trying to get them going.
We passed on a $50 Japanese maple at Costco last night. They were really lovely, with red branches and light green leaves and a nice size for a landscape planting. The problem is, our landscape is very much in limbo right now as we plan to build a deck and patio in the next year or so. Until then, we're just not sure where to put it. It was a wise decision. Sure, it was a fantastic price (I normally see trees that size of that species at more like $100 each), but if we don't know what we're going to do with it, it's just not a good idea to get it. I think I've finally learned my lesson on not buying plants on impulse. Either you wind up with a hodge podge garden or you wind up with dead plants and wasted money because you didn't have the proper place for them or didn't know how to take care of them.
On the indoor gardening front, I lost a section of my Bird of Paradise this week. It's kind of a surprise too, because just a week or two ago, I noticed what seemed like a healthy new shoot coming from the center of it. When I watered yesterday, I noticed the large leaf was dying and then noticed the new shoot had turned brown as well. I cut it off at the base to avoid any rot from affecting the rest of the plant, which appears to be quite healthy. I suspect it had to do with my sporadic watering schedule lately (too much water, then too little).
I really need to repot all my large plants. One dracaena and the philodendron are having issues draining well and not drying enough between waterings, in fact, they got skipped yesterday. The foliage looks fine though and the philodendron especially seems to be constantly putting out new leaves.
I also lost the cherry tomato plant I had kept all winter, just as it was getting it's first blooms since last summer. I failed to notice an aphid infestation until the plant suddenly started wilting one day. By then, it was too late. I moved the plant outside and managed to get rid of the aphids, but it's still continued to wither and die. There were just a few that spread to the tomato plants![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
baka_san gave me a couple of weeks ago. I picked those off by hand and left them outside on one of the nicer, slightly windy days last week to completely rid them of their pests. They appear to be doing fine, though could use some fertilizer.
The majesty palm is battling scale right now. I've taken it outside and sprayed it once, but I have a hard time figuring out when scale is dead. It appears it's not, because it seems to be spreading again. I may have to get a more specialized spray to make sure I get rid of it. Or sit there one day and pick them off myself. Or take a sponge and rubbing alcohol to them. Whatever I wind up doing, I think I'm going to have to do it on a regular basis for a while and I really should quarantine it from the other plants. Luckily, it doesn't appear to be spreading to the Chinese fan palm next to it, so I've been slow about remedying it. But I really need to do something soon or it definitely will spread. I seem to always get an infestation of aphids and/or scale this time of year on my indoor plants.
I'm still missing the mark on balance. The house has been reasonably clean and tidy for about two weeks straight and the gardens are all humming along. But, I haven't exercised in over a week now, nor have I done any jewelry work or sewing since I set those aside as focal points. I talk myself up to get ready for a workout, then let something little get in the way. I let the fact that the office is a mess keep me from working on my creative processes. I'm feeling fulfilled by gardening and realize it requires more of me right now due to the season, so maybe it's not all bad. But still, I think I should be incorporating at least some of my other interests, even if it's just a couple of hours a week. That's what balance is all about, right?
As of yesterday, I've got lettuce sprouts! Hopefully we can get a few heads before it gets too hot.
I think we might have had a bearded iris bulb fail in the front, which kind of sucks because now the late spring landscape is going to be a little off balance. The other three are up and off to a great start, as are all the tulips and Dutch irises, but there's one bearded iris that has yet to emerge. Oh well.
Need to order the seeds for annuals and summer bulbs today. Hopefully I can get them started this weekend. I'm a little late, but since I was planning on planting them a little late (first weekend in May), I think it might still work (as long as my seed starting space is warm).
I'm wondering where in the hell my azaleas are. I ordered them 8 days ago. I guess they have up to 10 days to get them here before I start to concern myself with them.
The blueberry and raspberry are going through kind of a second fall since I put them outside. The leaves they had sprouting out on new shoots have turned red because of the cool temperatures at night. I'd really like to get a book on berries to be sure I know what I'm doing. I'm afraid I might have to get a second blueberry of a compatible variety to pollinate the one we have. So far what I've read has said this is a common necessity. I guess we're not expecting much if any fruit this year anyway, just trying to get them going.
We passed on a $50 Japanese maple at Costco last night. They were really lovely, with red branches and light green leaves and a nice size for a landscape planting. The problem is, our landscape is very much in limbo right now as we plan to build a deck and patio in the next year or so. Until then, we're just not sure where to put it. It was a wise decision. Sure, it was a fantastic price (I normally see trees that size of that species at more like $100 each), but if we don't know what we're going to do with it, it's just not a good idea to get it. I think I've finally learned my lesson on not buying plants on impulse. Either you wind up with a hodge podge garden or you wind up with dead plants and wasted money because you didn't have the proper place for them or didn't know how to take care of them.
On the indoor gardening front, I lost a section of my Bird of Paradise this week. It's kind of a surprise too, because just a week or two ago, I noticed what seemed like a healthy new shoot coming from the center of it. When I watered yesterday, I noticed the large leaf was dying and then noticed the new shoot had turned brown as well. I cut it off at the base to avoid any rot from affecting the rest of the plant, which appears to be quite healthy. I suspect it had to do with my sporadic watering schedule lately (too much water, then too little).
I really need to repot all my large plants. One dracaena and the philodendron are having issues draining well and not drying enough between waterings, in fact, they got skipped yesterday. The foliage looks fine though and the philodendron especially seems to be constantly putting out new leaves.
I also lost the cherry tomato plant I had kept all winter, just as it was getting it's first blooms since last summer. I failed to notice an aphid infestation until the plant suddenly started wilting one day. By then, it was too late. I moved the plant outside and managed to get rid of the aphids, but it's still continued to wither and die. There were just a few that spread to the tomato plants
baka_san gave me a couple of weeks ago. I picked those off by hand and left them outside on one of the nicer, slightly windy days last week to completely rid them of their pests. They appear to be doing fine, though could use some fertilizer. The majesty palm is battling scale right now. I've taken it outside and sprayed it once, but I have a hard time figuring out when scale is dead. It appears it's not, because it seems to be spreading again. I may have to get a more specialized spray to make sure I get rid of it. Or sit there one day and pick them off myself. Or take a sponge and rubbing alcohol to them. Whatever I wind up doing, I think I'm going to have to do it on a regular basis for a while and I really should quarantine it from the other plants. Luckily, it doesn't appear to be spreading to the Chinese fan palm next to it, so I've been slow about remedying it. But I really need to do something soon or it definitely will spread. I seem to always get an infestation of aphids and/or scale this time of year on my indoor plants.
I'm still missing the mark on balance. The house has been reasonably clean and tidy for about two weeks straight and the gardens are all humming along. But, I haven't exercised in over a week now, nor have I done any jewelry work or sewing since I set those aside as focal points. I talk myself up to get ready for a workout, then let something little get in the way. I let the fact that the office is a mess keep me from working on my creative processes. I'm feeling fulfilled by gardening and realize it requires more of me right now due to the season, so maybe it's not all bad. But still, I think I should be incorporating at least some of my other interests, even if it's just a couple of hours a week. That's what balance is all about, right?
