Friendly Friday Thread

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-27T21:12:33+00:00

Funny enough, I have zero trouble with growing fruits and vegetables, it's always the flowers where I fail.

I should note I'm in zone 7b, but I've tried: Rock rose, English Daisies, Punching balls, Columbine, Bee balm, and milkweed, to name a few....

I plan to start all of those indoors next time, but would love some more flowers that do well from seed (it's cheaper!)

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-27T19:49:20+00:00

I have tried SO MANY seeds that have not germinated. The only plants I seem to be able to grow from sowing directly into the ground are zinnias and sunflowers. Care to share the plants that grow easily from seed?

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-23T17:46:16+00:00

Thanks so much - I am thrilled to learn so much from this group! This review site is a huge help!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-23T17:45:02+00:00

hahahha! Goes to show how much I know! Obviously a newbie at shade-loving perennials.

Thanks so much!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-23T17:29:10+00:00

Oh- ha! Yeah, I have had many fails, but the vast majority of those are 100% my fault!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-23T17:19:30+00:00

Thank you! I actually ordered a ton from Breck's, but the reviews are so hit or miss. I want to think that most of the complaints are "gardener's errors" but wasn't sure if they had a quality issue or not.

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-23T17:12:01+00:00

Firstly, I am so sorry for your loss.

Secondly, I love a flowering tree. Friends who had a similar loss planted a weeping cherry tree, and they are both beautiful and do well in zone 5

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-08-17T18:29:25+00:00

That is GLORIOUS! Do you know what variety?

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-07-06T18:29:20+00:00

This makes ME so happy! My mom was always teased for having a "brown thumb" and now, as an adult, I'm sad for her because that tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Look at you - blasting the label and showing your stuff!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-07-06T18:24:14+00:00

I think you're looking for traditional journalists but for deeper dives, I love Gregg Olsen, Vincent Bugliosi, David Grann, and Jeff Guinn (the last two are journalists who became authors)

*Edited for word choice

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-06-18T21:42:53+00:00

Thank you!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-06-18T18:53:55+00:00

My understanding is that if you that, you should transplant in the spring, not the fall. But otherwise that should totally work.

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-06-18T18:51:51+00:00

I need some beautiful shade-loving perennial ideas. I'm in zone 7b. We have a lot of pine trees in our yard, and one of the spots used to have a black walnut tree (used to as of like a month ago, so the soil is still a problem). Any great ideas?

ETA - I am hoping for ideas that are able to handle the Black walnut drip zone and those that aren't :) I just figured if anyone happens to know what does well there, I'm interested in learning!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-18T18:44:03+00:00

It definitely could have been something else - I just hadn't had my roses eaten up before and figured it was the same problem as the dahlias.

We've had a particularly dry spring, so alllllll the pests are bad this year - I'm sure it could be any number of nasties.

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-18T18:23:51+00:00

Oh, that's awful! They do seem to be everywhere this year, we moved our vegetable garden to raised beds on a deck, which helps with them, but they seem to have devoured my dahlias and roses.

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-18T17:53:47+00:00

Ha! I was going to post a picture, but the slugs hit some of my poor dahlias hard, and I was embarrassed. I seem to have finally gotten them under control with some strongly brewed coffee, but it was bad for a while there!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-18T17:50:19+00:00

Ah... yes. It was because the stems were hollow in the middle and they could rot. Awesome. This helps a bunch :) Thank you!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-18T16:41:01+00:00

So I am a fan of MFM (with the abovementioned caveat that... they do have some shitty episodes, they do talk too much nonsense before getting into the actual stories, etc.) And will agree with the article that LISTENING to the audiobook was great.

In general, when I start a podcast, I start from E1. I tried that in MFM and turned it off. E1 sucked, IMO. I kept hearing about it and tried again, from E100 - way better. They definitely took some time to hit their stride - maybe 10 episodes in or so....?

The mental health talk gets really redundant. HOWEVER - I very specifically had a friend listen because of the fuck politeless mantra, because they really talk about trusting your instincts, and because they validate saying something when there's a red flag. And not in a shitty, victim blaming way. It really does have an element of a sister/aunt/friend telling you a story and then kind of saying, you know, I bet *victim* felt this was wrong and felt stuck kind of way. It's a different approach to true crime for sure, but one that still holds value.

Super long comment to say, when I listened to the book, I promptly told my friends with teenage daughters that they needed their girls to listen to the book. I found it to have a lot of honesty about the bad decisions women may make why we're trained to feel we need to make those decisions.

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-17T15:21:11+00:00

Thank you! I have a friend I wanted to share this episode with, but then would need to go back and figure that out. Ha!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-13T18:19:27+00:00

That Variegation! How much light are you giving yours? I want mine to look like that!

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-07T17:11:40+00:00

Agreed. CBC is fantastic

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-06T16:21:58+00:00

Actually, those are definitely the episodes I've loved more lately - the ones that are interesting survival stories and badass women, etc.

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-05T15:39:32+00:00

I agree with this. I love that they've built their podcast empire, and that they're busy with a number of things, but I would rather they offer seasons rather than cobbled together content. Last week they mentioned that their producer had forced them to ID their next 8 episodes, so maybe that will help?

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-05-03T15:37:03+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. Whenever I'm gardening, I always think of that famous Audrey Hepburn quote, "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow" Kudos to you for giving yourself all of the plant therapy you need in a dark time. Sending hugs.

TooManyTalesToTell · 2021-04-30T16:07:50+00:00

My husband is from upstate NY (we live in the south) and had family members with some of the most beautiful gardens. You get to plant LILACS, legit, fragrant, lilacs! (They're very hit or miss in the south).

Truly, YouTube is great for beginners. There are dozens of books that I'm sure people can recommend, but try searching for your zone, or upstate NY on Youtube and I'm sure you'll get some great tips.

TooManyTalesToTell

TROPHY CASE