06.26.09
Posted in Nature at 3:29 pm by trueepicure
I wondered why one of my columbine disappeared overnight, and why the other ones had almost no leaves. Thanks to this article from Garden Gate magazine, I discovered what was going on and how to fix the problem.
As the article says, handpicking the caterpillars, using soap spray, or products like Dipel dust that contain Bacillus thuringiensis will work well for any other moth or butterfly larvae. This includes critters such as the sawfly, White Cabbage Moth caterpillars (Pieris rapae) and Tomato hornworms (Manduca quinquemaculata).
Now, I just need to figure out what is pooping on my Basil!
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06.22.09
Posted in Garden, Nature at 9:14 am by trueepicure
Honor the pollinators.
Check out the events.
Create a wildlife habitat.
Enjoy nature.
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05.03.09
Posted in Flower, Green Thumb Sunday at 8:30 am by trueepicure
Azalea ‘Ben Morrison’
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
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04.30.09
Posted in Flower, Garden, Green The Grounds at 9:03 am by trueepicure
You may remember my post about the flower beds at HUD. Today I found out that all of the plants in the flower beds are, in fact, thrown away. The good news is, most of the this seasons tulips won’t even make it into the garbage. Enterprising gardeners in the vicinity made sure that didn’t happen. 
The landscaper promised me that in about 10 minutes (as soon as the lady who left just as I stopped by went upstairs) everyone from the building would come down with a plastic bag and all of the tulips would be adopted.
I didn’t have a plastic bag with me. I usually have one of those envirosax-like things with me at all times, but for some reason it’s not currently in my backpack. I was going to try to come back later with a trash bag, but the landscaper told me that it would take about ten minutes for the plants to be gone. So instead, I did what any other enterprising gardener would do. I picked up about 25 tulip plants, put them under my arm and walked the rest of the way to work.
Yes, I got a lot of looks on the way to work. I even got a really big smile from one guy, who is obviously a fellow tribesman, and was giving me the “you are my hero” look. Hey, it’s my own version of the $25 Victory Garden Challenge!
I would like to point out that I did encourage the landscaper to consider dropping off any left-over plants at our school. The school, as with most of the schools in our area, could use some sprucing up, and it barely gets the books students need. Free landscaping plants are always welcome.
†(sung to the tune of “I am the Walrus”. Koo koo ka choo.)
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04.19.09
Posted in Flower, Garden, Green Thumb Sunday at 9:47 am by trueepicure
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04.13.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:15 pm by trueepicure
At the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC
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04.12.09
Posted in Garden, Green Thumb Sunday at 6:45 pm by trueepicure
We had a lot of cardboard boxes and newsprint left over from our recent move, many of which are on their third use and can’t be used again for storage/moving. Instead of recycling the boxes (which may or may not mean they actually get recycled), I opened them up and I’m using them as the second layer of the base for the new flower beds. (Layer one was the newsprint which you can see in some areas that aren’t covered by the boxes.)
(detail available on Flickr.)
The next layer will be composted mulch from Fairfax County’s solid waste program.
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04.09.09
Posted in Corn-Free, Food at 10:15 am by trueepicure
Is here.
I think I could even make this with just the microwave (since we don’t have a working stove yet). Stay tuned.
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04.08.09
Posted in Garden, Green The Grounds, Musings, Rants at 9:57 am by trueepicure
I find the grounds-keeping practices of some office buildings abhorrent. Case in point, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) building near my office. Beautiful mums were planted in the late summer/early fall, but as soon as they started looking a little bit peaked, the plants were dug up and thrown in trash bags. I assume that these plants went to the landfill, considering their internment in trash bags.
A couple of weeks ago, tulips appeared where the mums used to be. I doubt that the tulips were planted as bulbs, considering how fast they appeared (and that I didn’t see any baby tulip leaves). I wonder what will happen to the tulips when they are past their prime? And how much money is HUD putting in to reworking their landscape every season?
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04.05.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:54 pm by trueepicure
Just a taste of the lovely Orchids from the 2009 Orchid Show at the National Museum of Natural History:
More to come!
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