Garden, Yard Talk

[Huntn]

This morning I walked out the back door and opening the storm door, had a green anole, (what I grew up calling a camelion) fall on me. Skurring away, as the door closed it was like it was trying to get himself squished in the jam going into the house. I have found several little dried up husks of lizards in the house and it always makes me sad. It is just not a lizard friendly environment.

Anyway, I prevented that, and noticing it was in the 50s this morning I assumed it was cold and seeking warmth. Having capturing it in my hand and holding it for a bit, I finally opened my hand and he was in no rush to scamper away, the advantages of being warm blooded. I watched those little eyes that can look in all directions appraising me. I offered him life in a terrarium or freedom and finally it chose the latter.

Not my photo
​

 

[Apple fanboy]

This morning I walked out the back door and opening the storm door, had a green anole, (what I grew up calling a camelion) fall on me. Skurring away, as the door closed it was like it was trying to get himself squished in the jam going into the house. I have found several little dried up husks of lizards in the house and it always makes me sad. It is just not a lizard friendly environment.

Anyway, I prevented that, and noticing it was in the 50s this morning I assumed it was cold and seeking warmth. Having capturing it in my hand and holding it for a bit, I finally opened my hand and he was in no rush to scamper away, the advantages of being warm blooded. I watched those little eyes that can look in all directions appraising me. I offered him life in a terrarium or freedom and finally it chose the latter.

View attachment 807953
Not my photo
​

What a cutie! I’d photograph him all day!

 

[Huntn]

I live in Houston, Texas and was out today wrapping a tree with Christmas lights and observed a web in the bark of some of my trees.

A whitish verticle streak on left side


Close up
​

Then with a close up inspection, I spotted a moving clump of Moss and plucked it off taking some pictures of it. My iPhoneXR takes some pretty good closeups. What do you think it is?

See its little pincers?​

Some quick online searching seems to indicate this is a bark lice (https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-21_barklice.htm), a beneficial bug that lives on tree bark and eats fungi, algi, and dead bark.

However, what I had found seemed to have adorned itself with moss as camouflage so i’ll, probably stop at the local nursery or call the local arboretum and get their input. I’m glad I resisted my initial temptation to step on this critter, but I’m feeling kind of bad because I placed him on the edge of the walkway about 10’ from the tree putting him in a situation with a long journey to get home, if it even knows which direction home is and if I did not step on it later by accident. However no evidence of a squished bug on the sidewalk or the bottom of my shoe.

 

[eyoungren]

We've been in Arizona (Phoenix) since 2000 but it wasn't until we moved from our old house to our new place in April that we encountered scorpions.

I've killed three so far and found a carcass that had died from lack of oxygen. Apparently it crawled in and somehow got sealed in.

One of the scorpions I killed had been hanging out on the ceiling!!!

PS. Lived in Houston from 1975 to 1980 (4-9 years of age). Sageyork Dr.

My wife tells me my Texan accent pops up from time to time. Can't help that, I was a kid back then and it just imprinted.

 

[Huntn]

We've been in Arizona (Phoenix) since 2000 but it wasn't until we moved from our old house to our new place in April that we encountered scorpions.

I've killed three so far and found a carcass that had died from lack of oxygen. Apparently it crawled in and somehow got sealed in.

One of the scorpions I killed had been hanging out on the ceiling!!!

PS. Lived in Houston from 1975 to 1980 (4-9 years of age). Sageyork Dr.

My wife tells me my Texan accent pops up from time to time. Can't help that, I was a kid back then and it just imprinted.

I spent about 2 years living in South Texas, Corpus Christi/Kingsville, saw a couple of tarantulas, but don't remember seeing a scorpion. My impression, which is speculation, is that tarantulas because of their size, don’t do well in developed areas.

 

[eyoungren]

I spent about 2 years living in South Texas, Corpus Christi/Kingsville, saw a couple of tarantulas, but don't remember seeing a scorpion. My impression, which is speculation, is that tarantulas because of their size, don’t do well in developed areas.

I remember catching toads a lot as a kid. The area that Sageyork Dr is in was a new development at the time we moved in and the areas some of my friends lived in were also undeveloped at the time. Lots of places to find bugs and other things in back then.

 

[Gutwrench]

No garden but the back yard in Minnesota can be a regular Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom complete with Marlin Perkins.

 

[jbarley]

My wife tells me my Texan accent pops up from time to time. Can't help that, I was a kid back then and it just imprinted.

I can totally believe that.
My wife and I and another couple spent 2 weeks in Houston years ago at a convention, it probably only took a few days before we would catch ourselves talking texas.
One thing I do remember was one night at dinner in a snazzy restaurant we had an young east Indian server, the combination of his native accent with the addition of a texas twist totally broke us up.

 

[Huntn]

No garden but the back yard in Minnesota can be a regular Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom complete with Marlin Perkins.

In Minnesota, I remember an abundance of Canadian Geese some who decided to spend the Winters in the Twin Cities instead of farther south, and many suburban deer.

 

[Huntn]

Brought over from the unofficial recipe thread:

Rosemary- I never realized how common rosemary is. During a recent trip to San Antonio to visit some nephews, one of them who is currently working as a gardener was pointing out all the rosemary planted for landscaping and growing wild around the city, next to buildings, on the small strip of green between the sidewalk and the street. To grow in those conditions it must be drought tolerant. Native to the Mediterranean, I assume so, it seems happy to grow wild in central Texas. Break off a twig and it smells wonderful. I heard if you throw it on the grill, (the plant), while cooking dinner it will chase the mosquitos away.

View attachment 846825​

Haha wow that is so strange because one of the reasons for it in the mop sauce is that a some runs off and burns up in the charcoal and the smell is amazing, never knew it might be keeping away mosquitos as well. Bonus



Amazing, I struggle to grow it in a pot here on the east coast. We have to take it in in the winter and then it gets a funk and cross your fingers if it makes it until spring and then summer when you can actually start cutting pieces off to use in recipes.

I am no Rosemary expert, but from the reading I’ve done, it does not like cold, wants 6 hrs of sun, and likes slightly acidic, well drained soil, preferring full sun. Apparently there are different varieties that have different cold tolerance, but this article (https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/184/) says hard to 20s (F). We live in zone 9 and usually we see one or two nights where the temp falls to below freezing for a couple of hours, enough to knock the leaves off many of our plants, even kill some of them, like Lantana, Pride of Barbados (Peacock Flower), and Creeping Rangoon, but not always. I planted some in large pots by our pool and will have to debate covering them in the winter.

By the look of this plant, the leaves are more like pine needles, than leaves, I assume a freeze, if it hurts the plant, would kill the branches completely, but maybe not.

 

[Huntn]

I'm very pleased with the Caladiums I planted in a border bed. Got a great price at Costco, 12 Ryzomes for $12. Local nursery's can't beat this when they are selling a single 4" pot for $6. And they have grown so fast, there is no time disadvantage saving $ for this kind of a purchase.

​

Also something interesting happened in our front bed about 2 years ago. A volunteer Elephant Ear, just magically appeared there, in just the right spot, so we kept it.

Almost 6' tall.​

I looked it up and apparently there are a variety of large leafed plants called Elephant Ear. I believe the version we have is Alocasia. https://www.gardendesign.com/plants/elephant-ear.html#alocasia

 

[Huntn]

Does anybody have an idea what plant this is? I recall “ginger” being in the name, but my searches have not come up with something that looks like this. It is a perennial that dies back in the winter and comes back reliably each year.

 

[0388631]

Try Plant Snap or any of the AI based apps. Never seen that myself. Especially a purple and yellow flower combination.

 

[jbarley]

Looks like it could be one of these, both with "ginger" in the name.
Dancing-girl-ginger ................................................Dancing-lady-ginger

These photos show the flowers in their prime, yours not so much.

 

[0388631]

Looks like the first one. Fun fact, they used to shove peeled ginger up old horses arses back in the day.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Looks like the first one. Fun fact, they used to shove peeled ginger up old horses arses back in the day.

I recall reading about that.

Not really a fun fact, rather an unpleasant, downright uncomfortable (for the horse) - and somewhat underhand - practice; if memory serves, it tended to happen at horse fairs, or sales, when a vendor might have wished to give the impression that a horse was a bit more lively than it actually was.

This unpleasant practice tended to be reserved for those horses that might have been a bit aged, or broken down, and - with the insertion of ginger in the anus, would be stirred to produce an energetic performance - keen trotting for example - with the aim to possibly fool a potential buyer by this (nefarious) means.

 

[Huntn]

Looks like it could be one of these, both with "ginger" in the name.
Dancing-girl-ginger ................................................Dancing-lady-ginger
View attachment 848179 View attachment 848183
These photos show the flowers in their prime, yours not so much.

Actually, that photo I posted is about as good as they get.
Dancing Lady Ginger, I think that is it! It’s a ryzone and is robust, coming back each year.
Thanks!

Dancing Lady Ginger​

 

[Huntn]

Try Plant Snap or any of the AI based apps. Never seen that myself. Especially a purple and yellow flower combination.

Thank for the suggestion! I checked out Plant Snap, an iOS app. Out of 5 snaps, as many as the free version of the app would allow me, it correctly identified plants 3 out of 5 times, Golden Dewdrops (Duranta Erectaj), Bougainvillea buttiana, Caladium bicolor, and a Rose, no problem. It flat out could not identify Dancing Lady Ginger (Globba winitii) or Mexican Fire Bush (Hamelia patens) I would buy this app except for one thing, they want a $19 to purchase which strikes me as on the high side for a casual iOS app (for my purposes). When you hit your limit of 5 snaps, it asks you to wait 16 hours to snap more, or it proposes, 5 snaps for $.99, or $.75 a month.

There are several apps like this, Plant Net is free, but seems more limited in their plant darabase and Picture This wants $20 a year!

https://garden.org/plants/view/87528/Dancing-Ladies-Ginger-Globba-winitii/​

 

[anika200]

Very first tomatoes from the garden - Variety is Early Girl.

This moment is nice for me because I had to build a fence for a couple years and finally got the electric layer started and defeated the Ground Hogs or Wood Chucks and the whitetail deer and rabbits etc... Super cool moment.

 

[Huntn]

Anyone one work with concrete anchor sleeves and familiar? They are designed to be used with a bolt, in this case a 3/8" bolt.

I've been busy putting up a Gazebo (pictures to follow) in the back yard and I've gotten to the point where I want to bolt it down to the concrete deck. I've done this before with a lighter weight gazebo and anchor, but this one looks like it is designed for a 3/8" bolt anchor. Please look at this image: https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=17816

I assume you drill the hole as deep as the anchor. My question is what length bolt do you need to use?

The anchor is set with a tool which spreads the bottom of this anchor into the walls of the hole to secure it. However, my question is how long a bolt should you use? None of the online sources, including videos, I've looked at seem to address this and bolts are not sold in a set.

The anchor is 1 9/16" long, and the threaded part of this anchor is 13/16". My question is when you set this anchor is the interior part that is shoved down to spread the ends of the anchor, how long of a bolt does that allow to be installed? Any ideas? I'd like to order these from the online source because neither Home Depot or Lowes carry stainless tap screws (threaded all the way), but I want to know what I need before I order.
Thoughts anyone?
Thanks!

 

[anika200]

Anyone one work with concrete anchor sleeves and familiar? They are designed to be used with a bolt, in this case a 3/8" bolt.

I've been busy putting up a Gazebo (pictures to follow) in the back yard and I've gotten to the point where I want to bolt it down to the concrete deck. I've done this before with a lighter weight gazebo and anchor, but this one looks like it is designed for a 3/8" bolt anchor. Please look at this image: https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=17816

I assume you drill the hole as deep as the anchor. My question is what length bolt do you need to use?

The anchor is set with a tool which spreads the bottom of this anchor into the walls of the hole to secure it. However, my question is how long a bolt should you use? None of the online sources, including videos, I've looked at seem to address this and bolts are not sold in a set.

The anchor is 1 9/16" long, and the threaded part of this anchor is 13/16". My question is when you set this anchor is the interior part that is shoved down to spread the ends of the anchor, how long of a bolt does that allow to be installed? Any ideas? I'd like to order these from the online source because neither Home Depot or Lowes carry stainless tap screws (threaded all the way), but I want to know what I need before I order.
Thoughts anyone?
Thanks!

View attachment 916441​

That looks like a tricky one, the ones I use (Red Head) have a a stud type bolt that you can cut off after you put the nut on, this allows much more flexibility for error in the drilling phase. If you are using SS Bolts then it looks like you have about 3/8 inch to work with so if you are bolting through 1/2inch base then your bolt would be about an 3/4 to 1 inch long. Obviously you would want the anchor deeper in the concrete so say you set it 1 inch deep (top of anchor) in concrete then you need 2" long bolt, set anchor 2" deep then a 3" bolt etc...

 

[Gutwrench]

No garden because this is all I’d see when looking out the window...

 

[Huntn]

That looks like a tricky one, the ones I use (Red Head) have a a stud type bolt that you can cut off after you put the nut on, this allows much more flexibility for error in the drilling phase. If you are using SS Bolts then it looks like you have about 3/8 inch to work with so if you are bolting through 1/2inch base then your bolt would be about an 3/4 to 1 inch long. Obviously you would want the anchor deeper in the concrete so say you set it 1 inch deep (top of anchor) in concrete then you need 2" long bolt, set anchor 2" deep then a 3" bolt etc...

Hmm, the anchor I want to use has an inner disk and there is a tool to set the anchor by after placing it in the hole, shoving the disk down spreading the end of the anchor against the side of the hole to make it snug. If I am picturing it correctly, this would allow a longer bolt, not just the 13/16” threaded area, inside the sleeve. The challenge with this is that once you’ve drilled the hole, placed the anchor, and set it, you are commited, don’t think the sleeve can easily be removed From the hole.

Regarding the other stud style with nut you mentioned, my impression is that you run into the issue, if you later want to later pull that out of the concrete, it’s difficult, yes? In my case we had an older gazebo of a different size, and there when the hex bolts were removed, I was left with a flush hole, nothing sticking out of the ground.

Thanks!

 

[D.T.]

@Huntn Geez, I should ask my contractor, since he was just doing this for anchors/brackets for all the new decking (and it's built like a tank).

 

[Huntn]

@Huntn Geez, I should ask my contractor, since he was just doing this for anchors/brackets for all the new decking (and it's built like a tank).

What irritated me, is that I called the company who sells the anchors above, and asked what length bolt is designed to work your anchor and the answer was We don’t make recommendations. I think it should not be that hard, how thick is the material you are bolting down, and what length of the bolt actually fits within the anchor, and how deep the anchor is set in the concrete.