In April, G Johnson left a comment about dishwasher soap.
We use 7th Generation dishwashing soap and Earth Friendly Product's WaveJet stuff for the spoting. They are a pretty good combo. I would have to look again but I don't ever remember seeing a recipe for a dishwasher soap.
27 June 2008
Native Plants are hard to find
Last weekend I decided to look around for a few more plants (this really is becoming an obsession).
I heard a lot about Gardens of Babylon which is located at Farmer's Market and I know of at least a couple of garden shops on Dickerson Rd. I trotted over to Farmer's Market and boy was I disappointed?!!? They had a much larger variety of plants than Home Depot or Lowes but it was the same old stuff. There were VERY few natives, I did see a few Growild supplied plants but for the most part is was the same old stuff. Very Sad. Next I drove to Dickerson Road Farmers Market and it was the same story. They have a lot more herbs, food plants and they have a bunch of sedums but their perennials were more or less the same as everywhere else. I did find some tiny pint sized natives.
In the front yard there is a small planter that my Dad used for roses (one of his plants of choice). It gets sun all day and the few perennials I found were all sun lovers so I bought a few to fill this little square. I bought 2 of each of the following:
Verbena Canadensis "Homestead Purple"
Penstemon Digitalis "Husker's Red"
Asclepias Tuberosa aka Butterfly Weed (THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS BUTTERFLY BUSH, which is very popular and very invasive)
Johnders hung out (really, he laid there while I planted) with me while I planted them at 9pm day before yesterday. Its amazing how late you can stay outside before it gets dark.
As usual we'll see what happens. These plants are next to a holly bush that some mockingbirds or chickadees have made a home in for years. I read somewhere recently that you should make plant butterfly larval food, which makes sense. Larva feed birds, birds spread seeds and feed larger predators and the cycle of life continues. Hopefully these plants will do their job by attracting the butterflies and I have something in the yard that would be larva food.
It seems I've turned this into a gardening blog. I would say that gardening, especially native plant gardening is a very eco-friendly thing to do. I am doing by best to 1. restore the native beauty to my neighborhood, 2. restore the ecological balance to the soil and the landscape by inviting beneficial critters back onto the land, 3. planting more items that eat carbon dioxide thus reducing my carbon footprint, 4. my goal is to plant so much that I will reduce the need of a gas powered lawnmower and electric powered trimmers.
It all fits.
I heard a lot about Gardens of Babylon which is located at Farmer's Market and I know of at least a couple of garden shops on Dickerson Rd. I trotted over to Farmer's Market and boy was I disappointed?!!? They had a much larger variety of plants than Home Depot or Lowes but it was the same old stuff. There were VERY few natives, I did see a few Growild supplied plants but for the most part is was the same old stuff. Very Sad. Next I drove to Dickerson Road Farmers Market and it was the same story. They have a lot more herbs, food plants and they have a bunch of sedums but their perennials were more or less the same as everywhere else. I did find some tiny pint sized natives.
In the front yard there is a small planter that my Dad used for roses (one of his plants of choice). It gets sun all day and the few perennials I found were all sun lovers so I bought a few to fill this little square. I bought 2 of each of the following:
Verbena Canadensis "Homestead Purple"
Penstemon Digitalis "Husker's Red"
Asclepias Tuberosa aka Butterfly Weed (THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS BUTTERFLY BUSH, which is very popular and very invasive)
Johnders hung out (really, he laid there while I planted) with me while I planted them at 9pm day before yesterday. Its amazing how late you can stay outside before it gets dark.
As usual we'll see what happens. These plants are next to a holly bush that some mockingbirds or chickadees have made a home in for years. I read somewhere recently that you should make plant butterfly larval food, which makes sense. Larva feed birds, birds spread seeds and feed larger predators and the cycle of life continues. Hopefully these plants will do their job by attracting the butterflies and I have something in the yard that would be larva food.
It seems I've turned this into a gardening blog. I would say that gardening, especially native plant gardening is a very eco-friendly thing to do. I am doing by best to 1. restore the native beauty to my neighborhood, 2. restore the ecological balance to the soil and the landscape by inviting beneficial critters back onto the land, 3. planting more items that eat carbon dioxide thus reducing my carbon footprint, 4. my goal is to plant so much that I will reduce the need of a gas powered lawnmower and electric powered trimmers.
It all fits.
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