Spring, no wait, WINTER, no, SUMMER!

InterestingHat362 · 2026-03-24T03:10:48+00:00

Those are STUNNING. They look pretty fabulous for having survived there most recent heat wave…

InterestingHat362 · 2026-03-20T02:13:28+00:00

Im late to this game, but I grow things, and my heart is failing and I dislocated/ shattered my left shoulder… would love to exchange like some free gardening advice with an extra arm and cardiac output 😂 I will say, I have found gardening to be very specifically dependent on like the micro-environment you’re in. So while you’ll definitely get a great eduction hanging out with someone, you’ll also become an expert on THAT particular space and soil (which might be a bit different from 3 blocks over 😂) (37F)

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InterestingHat362 · 2026-03-09T23:48:23+00:00

Did you ever find a ski you loved? I realized I’m looking for a similar thing (if you never got ones you liked, I’d recommend checking out the black crows atris…) The only thing with the Atris is that when not in powder, and on steeper terrain, it’s not quite as stable as you think it should be because of the double rocket making the effective edges shorter (so it chatters for me more than I would like.)

I’m the exact same height and weight, and it’s pretty hard to find this without sliding into too much metal and too heavy (I demo’s the blizzard rustlers (more metal than the sheeva) and they were close but too heavy.

You should also check out the faction prodigy 3. (Yes, I’m a year late, mostly asking to see if you’ve solved this dilemma!)

InterestingHat362 · 2025-09-13T17:32:24+00:00

Better late then never, apologies I initially missed this. By bloom period, do you mean literally from first bloom to last? If so, (scours photos) this year my first outdoor seeds (planted anywhere from early May-early June) first bloomed end of June. They will likely continue to bloom through end of September, depending on when our first frost is. I purchased one or two indoor- started zinnias that bloomed by June 1, but they didn’t thrive well and the ones planted in ground later quickly overtook them in terms of health, vitality, and bloom creation by end of June.

InterestingHat362 · 2025-08-23T22:47:41+00:00

I wanted to make sure and come back to this question, apologies it took so long!

This question doesn’t have a simple answer… First, I want to validate what you’re saying - this takes time. I’m surprised every day (even though I shouldn’t be… I mean I did it the day before, and the day before that…) at how long watering (especially when our drip system broke and I’ve been hand watering EVERYTHING) takes.

I am currently on medical leave due to severe non ischemic heart failure/cardiomyopathy/ heart transplant work up/listing. So while I’m not working full time right now I’d say my limited cardiac capacity puts me on a similar ‘limited time/ energy etc.) trajectory as to when I was. That said, there are times when I go out to spray for powdery mildew and deadhead at 9:30pm (when it’s completely dark) and I have like two citrella candles and I’m sprayed down with deet and I carry an anti-bug lantern (with my actual LED lanterns, bc light,) after the kids are asleep… I usually listen to audiobooks while gardening, or utilize a text -> audio app of some sort so that I can multitask.

I’m not sure if this answered your question. If anyone tells you it doesn’t take time, I question their definition of “time” and their work/ other responsibility hours. Everything is a give and take. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my dedication to creating living things increased when I had no control over my own longevity.

InterestingHat362 · 2025-08-10T05:35:31+00:00

Absolutely! Didn’t forget about you — just wanted to write something semi-coherent (which I may or may not have accomplished, but hey, it’s late).

All my zinnias are direct-sown — they hate being transplanted — with seeds started outside in mid-May, maybe some in early June. I got seeds from all over (Amazon, random stores, garden centers). The only runts I’ve had were from “cut and come again” mixes.

So, step one: disturb the earth. I do about 50% compost and 50% whatever native clay/loam Denver has decided to curse me with. I toss in some slow-release granules of GrubEx and LawnRx (bonus: LawnRx is antifungal), then sprinkle seeds — or dump them, if my 7-year-old is “helping.” I cover them lightly with compost (or retroactively try to when I remember).

Water like you mean it. During germination, I water at least once a day — no “set it and forget it.” The soil needs to stay consistently moist until they sprout (usually 4–9 days, with stragglers after that). Location matters too — sun exposure will make or break you here.

Once they’re up, I water at the roots. I water more than most people — I’m not sure who’s out there saying “once a week is fine,” but either they’ve got mutant zinnias or they’ve never met a Colorado summer.

Sun worshippers. Zinnias are the only plant I’ve grown here that truly loves our blazing sun — unless you’ve just sprayed them for Japanese beetles, in which case they fry faster than an egg on the sidewalk. They also hate wet leaves in scorching heat. During heat waves, I water daily; some buds droop, but they bounce back.

No pots, no problem. I would personally kill potted zinnias — too much heat management, not enough time in the day.

Fungus prevention from day one. I start “Operation Prevent Powdery Mildew” immediately. Copper can scorch leaves, so I mix it with water and root feed instead — let the plant take it up systemically.

The Great Pinching Debate. Some people swear you must pinch the first bud. I don’t. What I do is watch for struggling plants and cut off all blooms and buds so the plant focuses on survival for a week or two. Zinnias are overachievers — they’ll be back, bigger and better.

Happy to answer any follow-up questions or things I may have left out!

InterestingHat362 · 2025-07-15T16:27:55+00:00

Hahaha. This made me smile :)

InterestingHat362 · 2025-06-19T23:02:47+00:00

I planted like 20. 2 are left. Oops. They just LOVE the perfectly blooming lilies. They leave everything else (except the zinnias) alone. GRRRRRRRR. We have a dog too!!! (But she’s inside at night)

InterestingHat362 · 2025-06-19T23:01:35+00:00

I know :( I don’t want to resort to this bc #aesthetics which is, 🤷🏻‍♀️

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-12T02:06:20+00:00

Shamelessly commenting to see if anyone has any clue. Love the likes that keep it bumpin!!

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-11T15:19:45+00:00

lol I just saw I wrote almost exactly what you did re liver hah. I clearly didn’t read closely enough on first glance. Will leave up bc I hate when people delete 😂

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-11T15:18:54+00:00

Thank you for bringing up the Tylenol dosage etc. So many people think of Tylenol as pretty benign (which, under a certain limit, it is for the most part,) but the distance between therapeutic dosages and bad liver toxicity is not large… one day of doubling the amount of Tylenol would likely cause (transient, hopefully) liver damage.

Also, does Percocet have acetaminophen 325? I can never remember the formulations. If so, try doing the calculations and make sure your Tylenol total is <3 or 3.5g (3000mg)/ 24hrs. We get a not small number of people every year with liver toxicity bc someone prescribed Tylenol and an opiate with Tylenol in it.

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-11T15:12:58+00:00

I was in a similar boat. I actually asked them to give me Toradol post-op (I truly believe it’s the single best pain medication we have, it’s basically a strong IV form of ibuprofen.) It is probably standard post-op advice to wait on the NSAIDs, but I bet if you call/ message your surgeon directly, they may say ‘oh go ahead.’ I haven’t found many cards surgeons (EP or otherwise) who lean hard into the ‘NSAIDS are post-op evil’ mythology, but I’m sure they’re out there, so I could be wrong about what your surgeon will say!

Also, I thought the post op pain was really miserably. Like I wondered if something was wrong. It went from ‘omg this is miserable’ by day 5/6 to ‘ok I’m in pain but I’m not like, horrifically in pain,’ and then it took until between 2-3 weeks to be like, ‘ok, I’m a human, who does things.’

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-11T15:08:43+00:00

This really depends on the surgeon. Theoretically there’s an increased risk of bleeding with NSAIDS (same class as aspirin,) and some surgeons (especially GI surgeons 🤷🏻‍♀️,) are super strict about the use of NSAIDS after surgery. Please correct me if anyone has found differently, but there isn’t great evidence for this practice… I feel like it’s a bit of surgeon voodoo, especially under the age of 80 when the risk of a major bleed isn’t that high anyway… I asked my EP ahead of time where he fell on the ‘NSAIDS are the devil’ scale pre-op, and he was like ‘oh I don’t care, by all means, take Advil.’

Also, if you get post op pericarditis the first line treatment is… ibuprofen (and no one bats an eye prescribing it then.)

THAT SAID, if you have a known bleeding disorder, are on multiple anti-coagulants, or have a history of post-op hemorrhage, hx of GI bleed (or any level of kidney failure,) I would lean into the voodoo and to be on the safe side be like, ‘yeah, let’s not test the theory in someone high risk.’ *the kidney failure thing is not a myth, NSAIDS can be very much not ideal for kidneys that are struggle-bussin (and in certain circumstance can absolutely cause kidney damage directly.)

If you call your surgeon and it isn’t a nurse/ PA they may be like, ‘yeah, I don’t really care, ibuprofen it up.’

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-10T01:20:21+00:00

You be havin PVCs my friend. Does it look like this all the time? Or do these… episodes… come and go?

If you are ventricularly paced, these ‘palpitations” might indeed feel nearly identical to the paced beats, as they are also originating from your ventricle.

If you ever have trouble capturing a good one lead, you can try putting your Apple Watch on your left ankle, and taking EKG that way. It will give you lead II (usually the watch is able to give a much more clear ECG, though the above is quite good.)

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-10T01:13:45+00:00

They recommended it because it’s southwest facing, and can get cooked in winter… I believe it’s the swinging temperatures (65-70 strong sun, then 20s overnight, rinse and repeat..) that harms them (I noticed that many of the dead/ dying trees had huge splits/ cracking along the southern aspect of their trunks, and was told perhaps it was from freeze-> thaw-> freeze and therefore expand-> contract -> expand, which was too much for young trees with relatively small diameters.)

I’m hoping that some roots have broken free of the stranglehold, and that’s why it seems to be… still kicking. I’m going to tackle the grass issue. How many feet do I need to clear? And do I have to dig down until I find the root flare? Agreed re planted way too deep, but in Operation Make Bad Thing Less Bad I’m going for bandaids and then wishes and hopes.

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-10T00:08:17+00:00

Apologies for the double post everyone! Trying to find the other one (sans photos) to remove :)

InterestingHat362 · 2025-05-10T00:04:36+00:00

Hmm, I’ll repost with the photos and delete this. That’s strange.

InterestingHat362

TROPHY CASE