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Question of the Week:
How do you grow figs in the Midwest, Carol? Old Blog post: My Midwest Figs and How I Grow Them.
From a listener: a question for Dee and Carol. Is there any way to kill Canadian thistle without wiping out all my landscaping? My landscaper says pre-emergent chemicals won’t work on it.Thank you for your help. Linda Granat
He’s right, pre-emergents don’t work well. Carol has used carbolic acid spray (Captain Jack’s Deadweed Brew) on hers and it knocks it back, but she still just pulls them when she sees them. Plus that is nasty stuff the kills any plant in touches so be careful!
Insect of the Week:
Insects that like to come inside when it gets colder: lady bugs, squash bugs, spiders, etc. What do you do about them? (Carol kills them.)
“There is magic in the night when pumpkins glow by moonlight.” Anonymous
Flowers:
Let’s revisit the concept of Perpetual Spring as Dee plans more of her gardens.
Something blooming in every season.
Popularized by: Elizabeth Lawrence, Canon Henry Ellacombe, Sir Francis Bacon
The basic idea is to always have something in bloom.
Favorite winter flowers:
“All plants are edible. Some only once.” — Gothic / Dark Botanical Saying
Vegetables:
Spooky Vegetable Decor and Snacks
“A pumpkin in pies we all of us prize; And surely no pumpkin a boy would affright. But a jack-lantern light is a terrible sight. And scares all the children that walk out at night. ~L. Frank Baum, Father Goose, His Book, 1899
On the Bookshelf:
The Cozy Commonplace Book by Miranda Mills (Amazon, Bookshop)
“When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling; When wild, ugly faces we carved on its skin, Glaring out through the dark, with a candle within...” — John Greenleaf Whittier (”The Pumpkin”)
Dirt:
Cutting up butternut squash. Be careful! If we looked hard enough, we could probably find statistics about how many people go to the ER after injuring themselves trying to cut a butternut squash open.
“Earth knows no desolation. She smells regeneration in the moist breath of decay.” — George Meredith
Rabbit Holes:
Dee:
Carol: Latest Lost Lady of Garden Writing is Sister Rose Agnes Greenwell.
Our Diaries, Ourselves: How Diarists Chronicle Their Lives and Document the World by Betsy Rubiner (Amazon, Bookshop)
Purdue’s expedition to find Amelia Earhart’s plane! I won’t tell the ending, you can look online for the info.
A Garden to Visit:
Continuing with our cemetery theme: The Secret Life of a Cemetery by Benoît Gallot (Author), Daniel Casanave (Illustrator), Arielle Aaronson (Translator) (Amazon, Bookshop)
On Instagram: Carol: Indygardener, Dee: RedDirtRamblings, Our podcast: TheGardenangelists.
On Facebook: The Gardenangelists' Garden Club.
On YouTube.
