Crossing fingers in the garden and out.

 Had an interview today at one of the larger family owned nurseries that is almost as old as Andersen's. Fifteen minutes from where I live so crossing fingers I made a good impression and have more credentials than the person interviewing tomorrow.

Other crossed fingers is the success of pollination from yesterday. Which also reminds me I need to water today despite it being overcast and considerably cooler today.

Looks like it took

Picked the other one

Production is ramping up but still have more open male flowers than females ready for pollen. Not much else going on, looking at future crops and all that. If I get a job I won't be able to check the garden as often but this may be a good thing as fall and winter are coming in. 

Short post today, nothing much to talk about, other things on my mind.

Just when you think you're a failure and seed musings

 Went out to water, picked the tomato and a couple of puny peppers then checked the zucchini and lo and behold, a good size one that has a flower on it! Yay! 

Had to scramble and find whatever male flower I could, luckily there was one that had closed already but it had lots of pollen. These pictures are after the sexy part.

So yay! That one should be all right and then watering and moving leaves around I find this one that must have escaped my notice or I forgot I pollinated it.

Not that big yet but it's growing!

I don't remember pollinizing one in that position. Bush on the right and it's toward the front so who knows, just glad it's growing!

The tomato fit in the palm of my hand, small but still edible. Almost looked like it had two 'navels' if you will but I think one dot was a wound or insect damage of some sort. 

Fruit is fruit no matter how small, if they are ripe I will eat them all!

I also threw some bell pepper seeds on the ground before I watered so will see what happens with those. Gotta mark my calendar and see how long it takes for them to sprout. All nestled in between the wood pieces where water collects.

Maybe five or six seeds

Always good to put in more than you need and then cull them later if needed. 

Speaking of seeds, I realized years ago that corn has the highest fruit to seed ratio that can produce more from one cob than others. Imagine an ear of corn, there's dozens if not hundreds of potential seeds on the ear. All you need is one ear to produce a good size plot of corn. Wheat not so much, it's a grass also but the heads are much smaller so in terms of number of seeds per single 'fruit' corn has it beat. We're talking commercial/production not home garden. Because really..tomatoes and peppers you can get dozens of seeds as well from one fruit and have an entire plot of plants. 

"Corn is pollinated by wind and is typically planted in 30-inch (wide) rows A single seed (or kernel) of corn may produce a plant which yields more than 600 kernels of corn per ear. On one acre of land, anywhere from 22,000 to 35,000 individual plants may be grown."

So there you have it. so how many kernels are on a viable ear of corn? Anywhere from 500 to 800 on average for a good ear of corn. So let's take the average and do 600 kernels in the original citation and you have a really good size chunk of corn planting. So for yield capacity  a bell pepper is anywhere from 200 to 600 and take less space than corn does. Am I going to be planting corn any time soon? Nope, not gonna happen. Just a bit of seed trivia is all.

It really is amazing though that one fruit of anything has the potential for producing several hundred plants. Now when you think about how much we treasure getting fruit and nuts and all that, we are eating potential baby plants. That plant just wants to reproduce and continue the species but we humans have figured out how to cultivate and grow plants and hybridize to maximize production, color and size of what we get. Modern fruits that we are familiar with look nothing like their ancestors from hundreds of years ago. Historical botany is fascinating sometimes and thank you for going on this little side trip down the rows of planting.

Looks like more failure and am disheartened.

 So the one zucchini that I pollinated yesterday doesn't look like it took well. Flower was closed up and when I tried to open it, this is what it looked like:

Can't see it but some of the stigma were brown and the rest weren't, ants of course having a ball but unless they walked from a male flower to here, not a pollenizer. So that's a no go and so is another one that I tried to open the flower that had collapsed already and...oops. 

That will be yellowing soon and no zucchini. I think I'm just going to give up on these. This picture is on the formerly all male bush and as you can see, still lots of buds but no one is syncing up yet. I got two fruit and the first one I picked I still haven't done anything with and it is shriveling. I suppose I'm not much of a vegetable gardener after all.

The tomato still isn't quite ready yet, still very much dark orange rather than red, I ate another tomato today in a salad and guess what, it tasted like a tomato! Yeah that happens a lot I'm sure. I am hoping that I have better success with peas and leafy stuff as long as I can get more nitrogen and other nutrients into the soil. Still another month or so before that starts happening due to the weather. Another hot day today and we're buttoned up already at 12:30pm. I do have one little success and I mean tiny:

Cilantro!

Yes indeed one little seed carried by the water from behind the bush all the way to the front under the tomato. I was about to pick it but saw the secondary leaf and then felt it and was 'YAY!' will see how far it gets though. I almost watered this morning but might do it in the evening instead. Might even throw some of the bell pepper seeds down and see who comes up. Luckily they sprout in about a week with warm weather like we're having. 

FYI:

When they say the temperatures need to be between 70-80 degrees that means not only the air temperature but the soil needs to be warm as well. That's likely why tomatoes and peppers do so well in the summer but not so much in the spring or fall. Soil temperature is crucial in some seeds as much as the ambient temperature. Chili peppers need warmer weather as well and it always confounded me when people came in for plants in March. 'Dude, it is still spring despite it being 75 outside, the soil isn't warm enough yet.' Then I have to explain the details and if they wanted, they could go get some seeds and start those, see how long it takes for them to sprout. Right.

Anyway, it is a good time of  year at least to try peppers and I might just trash the zucchini plant in another few weeks and dig in that bed for peas. Get a DIY String trellis and give it a go. On second thought, that side of the garden is going to be in more shade soon, might do the lettuces and greens over there and put the peas where the pepper is and see what else I can put in that bed for the winter. I don't do cabbage or brussel sprouts, kale, all those crops take  A LOT of nitrogen in the soil and a LOT more room to grow. 

Did you know a cabbage plant can get three feet across? Brussel sprouts can get 5 feet high and 3 feet wide? Same with cauliflower, broccoli all those crops. I'm pushing my space with the two zucchini that may well be stunted due to lack of nutrients.

Oh and if you're going to grow a pumpkin for halloween, get it in the ground now! You might be in time for October depending on the variety but the window is getting smaller and smaller.

One thing low nitrogen soil is good for is root crops. Radishes and carrots I would definitely grow,but still need more of the other nutrients boosted. Remember 'Up, Down, all Around' so definitely need more phosphorus for good root growth. Root crops generally are not available in starts because it's too easy to mess the tap root in transplanting.  Not to say you can't but you have to be extra careful. I will start looking at some radish and short carrot varieties soon as the weather cools down. Hopefully soon.

So look at your local area suggestions not the back of a seed packet. The people who live in your area and are experts or experienced can give the best advice. Everything is a chance, including gardens, just look at all my posts!

Forgot to post yesterday, took pictures though and butterfly trivia

 I remember going to the garden yesterday and watering and took pictures but had to go out on errands immediately after so forgot to post here.

I picked the zucchini but it was still a little yellow on the underside so it should have stayed on another day. The next tomato isn't quite ready and more pollination today!

Colors are always funky with different lighting. Oh well. When I checked the zucchini today there are three incoming females and no male flowers. Go figure! I managed to scavenge one flower to pollinate the flower on the right in the picture.

Torn open to pollinate

Tomato almost ready

And here is the weather and our inside temp after running the AC and fans for three hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12:25 pm and I just came inside from being in the garden. We have two thermometers, one in the main hallway, close to the middle of the apartment and the other by the kitchen window that gets little airflow and maximum reflected heat when the sun gets over the building. Before we left it was 78 and we did our set up because we knew it would be this hot by the time we got home.

So now that running around is done, we're inside for the remainder of the day.

Now on to butterfly trivia.

If you sometimes wonder why you only see certain butterflies more in a certain time of year here ya go. Butterflies time their migration and emergence to when their preferred flowers and plants are abundant. So in my area (San Diego in general), the first ones that are obvious to be seen late spring are the Monarchs, which is when milkweed is starting to grow and flower. Many nurseries don't have the space or money to provide hundreds of plants, but WAN does, every year. I mentioned and had pictures of how many they had earlier. Skipper butterflies that I've mentioned also are early in the year as well. They prefer meadows and grassy areas so that's why they aren't seen as much. Swallowtails start showing up as well, depending on what is growing. Swallowtails are either here for dill/parsley/fennel or citrus trees depending on the species.

There are a few cabbage butterflies as well, the medium size white ones who lay eggs on anything and everything related to cabbage/mustard/lettuce, you name it. Considered a pest in a veggie garden for sure.

Next are smaller ones like  Checkerspots, more skippers and the Fritillaries that favor passionfruit vines when those are starting to flower. Typically you don't see particular butterflies until their preferred plant is growing or blooming so right now I'm seeing a lot of Clouded Sulphur, medium size yellow butterflies that prefer to lay eggs and feed on Cassia trees and bushes. Coincidentally, for evolution reasons I guess, they all have yellow flowers.

It's a good idea if you're trying to attract butterlies (I've gone over this previously) plant a variety of flowers and trees if possible to attract a wider range of pollinators to your yard.

A few years ago there was a major migration of Painted Lady butterflies and it was wondrous to see drifts of butterflies moving through the canyon and neighborhoods.

Meanwhile in the middle of summer right now I've seen a monarch or two, a swallowtail here and there, cabbage whites, and because there is a cassia tree down the street, there were several Sulphurs flitting around the neighborhood.

Going to be trying to eat my tomatoes and zucchini today. I bought more ranch dressing and have some salad greens left, wonderful for a hot summer day. That's all I've got for today, hoping the pollination took and waiting for the weather to cool down, likely not until next week or middle of next month reliably. And by cooler I mean not in the 90's.

Failure to pollinate but another on the way!

 So the other one has not changed size and, in fact, has developed yellow at the blossom end so no go on that one but the other took!

You can also see by the shadow that the sun is definitely dipping to the south now. A month ago that would have been in blazing sun at this hour. I picked the other tomato and pollinated (hopefully) another zucchini on the other bush. Hoping the female flower was receptive and I will have a third zucchini. Who knew getting zucchini would be such a problem?

The ants were busy on it and had to find a male flower that wasn't totally done, here is a picture of the male flower with the pollen. You can see the difference between that and the female above.

Petals removed for pollination

 

So very much typical of binary flower reproduction, not the proper term but you get my drift. I didn't take botany but I pretend I did. Flowers are either male or female not having both parts in the same flower.  The are considered monoecious having both female and male flowers on the same plant. 

Okay botany class over. While taking Rocky for a walk, I spied a wonderful denizen and beneficial animal just chilling on a step.

Couldn't get a closer look so had to zoom.

I believe it is a Southern Alligator Lizard, or as I call them 'Leezards'. No longer than my hand and oddly enough, likely because it didn't skitter away, Rocky didn't notice it. I think he was on the prowl to see what other cats had been around.

I grew up with lizards, rabbits, deer, snakes (rattle and other), all manner of plants and animals in my backyard. I have no problems with lizards and snakes or other reptiles. I find them fascinating and wonderful to have in your yard. Again, another topic that many people would come in and say, 'do you have any lizard repllent?'. Um, no. We have snake repellent but frankly if it's in your yard, leave them alone. 'My wife is deathly afraid of them getting in our house'. ::facepalm::

One guy wanted a snake repellent for his yard, we asked why, typical reasons then a coworker asked, 'have you seen any  mice or rats?' the man thought about it and said no, 'there you go. The snake is keeping the rats and mice away. Which would you rather have a problem with?' That convinced him to live with the snakes.

I ate one of the larger tomatoes in a salad the other night and it was delicious, of course. Need to dig out the zucchini and see if I can slice that up and cook it before it goes bad. Watered yesterday but not today, all is good in that department. Slow slogging days of Summer, supposed to be very hot today but it might only get in the high 80's not 90's as predicted. Small wins right?

Oh, that orchid cactus cutting I found? Finally got it planted a few months ago and tada! It's growing a second branch!

Of course it started growing the original branch just laying on the counter covered by ads. The branch was kind of pale but after a few days out in the light it turned green, like they do. Hopefully furball butthead won't try and eat it. He basically killed my three year old african violet about three years ago by eating the leaves. Can't have nice things around anymore.

Neighbors plant, healthy and hearty

ANyway it will be a surprise whenever it grows if it lasts that long. Keep on gardening!

Tomato picked and zucchini are still stalled out.

 I thought I would have a bumper crop of zucchini by now, giving them away every day. But nooooo I have this:

 

Although I can tell that when it droops toward the ground it is growing, much like figs do. We will see in the next few days. I still need to get some fertilizer though and maybe a watering can if I get liquid.

Picked the other tomato and discovered one on the other side was ripening as well. I now have four in the fridge.

 Jalapenos are slowing down, I almost threw some of the bell pepper seeds down but held off since it's supposed to be hot this week and I would need to keep it very well watered. Don't have the supplies to do them in seedling tray at the moment.

Just took about 3/4 of the peppers I had in the fridge down to the 'community table' in an envelope marked 'Jalapeños'. Hopefully someone will want them but in any case I have four tomatoes oh..and I researched what was causing the lines on the peppers and tomatoes.

Just as I figured, it was going too dry then soaking and hot weather. On the peppers it's called 'corking' and is nothing wrong just irregular watering. Kind of like stretch marks but on veggies.

I saw another tomato leaf with mite/thrip damage and brought it inside to get a better look at it. I have the microscope app on my phone and was looking at one section of the leaf. Absolutely miniscule mites but then I saw something more gelatinous moving. It stopped, I refocused, it shifted again then it was too pixelated to see clearly so I changed to my camera zoom. Well in doing that I forgot where on the leaf it was and lost it. Almost like an amoeba crawling around and wish I had one of the usb microscopes to go on my wonderful high def computer monitor. Oh well. It's fun looking at things up close and if not for my eyesight going bad and it needing a college degree in biology and other things I would go into being a bug expert, entomologist.

And here to show why bugs are so fascinating and wondrous, a selection of various beetles..

To give you an idea, that one on the bottom with the sort of V shaped gold and emerald green back? The one with the red antennae? That one is the type we get every year in the summer. They are about an inch long and fly like a bomber plane so easy to catch and bat away. They are called 'Japanese Fig beetles' because they LOVE ripe figs. I know, I saw them just chowing away on some when I worked at the nursery. They also love the flowers of palm trees. I know, I took a picture of them swarming around a flower branch on one. Soo that give you an idea of how big and little some of those beetles are. Oh I've also seen them flying around in the afternoon where I am now possibly going after late summer Jacaranda flowers. Just amazing colors and variety!

Spiders are just as much fun but not going to go there as some of my readers have a delicate disposition and freak out at the sight of them. So bugs are good to a point, not all need to be killed outright, as I related last time with the katydids.

That's all for today folks!

More pollination and not sure the other one took.

The next tomato isn't quite ready yet and more plant sex!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite what the tomato looks like, it isn't that red.

The picture on the right is a male flower part stuck inside the female parts. Swirled it around good, and the ants were helping too. Made sure there was plenty of pollen on the second one, that may be the issues with the previous one, not enough fresh pollen. One of these days I'll take a picture of the anatomy of the flowers so you can see the difference.

Size comparison of the previous pollination attempt:

Same angle and distance roughly but it looks like the fruit has elongated a bit but hasn't gotten that much bigger in girth. Sigh. The new one that I just pollinized is behind it on the left picture.

I'm fixing spaghetti sauce today and will be using the fresh tomatoes in a salad to go along with it. Hoping they are still good, tomatoes unbruised can last about a week in the fridge. Will see what happens tonight.

 Oh I collected some bell pepper seeds from the one I used in the sauce just for the heck of it. Not sure how or where I'm going to plant them but I like feeling productive like that. There are 'vegetable growing hacks' out there where you cut a pepper in half, add some dirt in the cavity, sprinkle seeds in there and wait for them to grow. Um what a waste of food! Go get a paper cup or some of the pressed peat moss planter cups for that. Or better yet something resuable. Why would I buy a perfectly good pepper and then use it as a planter without putting it in a recipe?

Nimrods. 

Trivia about that word, actually means just the opposite of idiot, means skillful hunter so when Bugs Bunny was using it on Elmer Fudd he was being sarcastic about his hunting skills.

 

Meanwhile back at the ranch.....

Might pull up the pepper plant and see what I can plant there next. First have to get that stupid aloe in the pot out of there and the dilapidated planter behind it. That will give me much more room to plant stuff. Maybe...just  maybe move the logs over to the corner next to the jade plant? Would have to talk to the manager about moving stuff around. I'm sure there's black widows in that wood pile and maybe the lizard still.

Can you imagine what kind of wonderful condo that is for a lizard? Bugs and spiders in there, shade on hot days, shelter... wonderful set up. Hate to disturb it.

 

Need to go out and get some cat food and maybe splurge on some fertilizer as well. 

Until next time...

 

I think it's gotten bigger? Maybe?

I can't figure out how to get a weather widget on my blog. The one app that has it I followed the directions and it says 'copy the html in the box below and paste it into the edit'...whatever, no code showed up after I chose all the things I wanted.

Anyway.. it's overcast a little misty and might not break mid 70's today. Wonderful weather! I even have pictures of moisture on the plants!

Formatting pictures is wonky too. I will use exactly the same actions as previous entries and I get this.

Sigh.

Anyway, I picked the tomato that was ready, another on the way and the zucchini may be stalled out. Previous one was twice this size after I pollinated it.

 

So if it doesn't double in size in the next day or so then it will start turning yellow at the blossom end. Come on guys get it together! I almost have enough tomatoes to make salsa or something. Three tomatoes and LOTS of peppers. Not enough nitrogen to really grow anything leafy like basil and too hot for cilantro though that's coming up in about a month. Might look into it after the next heat wave though.

One thing I wanted to point out was the azalea bush that is blooming again in our complex. From what I can see it's one of the Encore azaleas. They bloom more than once during the season, and by season I mean it blooms in the spring as it should then it gets another set of blooms like this in the summer.

 The flowers really are that bright pink, though this is a bit overexposed. It's going to bloom like this for a few weeks then rest and likely start up again when it cools down. Encore is the particular hybrid family and this one I think is called 'Autumn Jewel'. All of them are 'Autumn...xxx' because they were developed for colder winter areas azaleas normally only bloom in the spring and nothing for another year. These are cool weather triggered so technically it shouldn't be blooming now but it is because we had some cooler weather after heat which to a plant means 'hey it's fall! time to bloom again!'. Right, silly plants.

Something else that appeared the other day after taking Rocky for a walk:

Hard to tell but that's a katydid on the neighbors door. Another destructive little chewer that especially likes large flowers like hibiscus. They eat leaves too, but years ago there was a hibiscus bush near where I parked and when I left in the morning I saw two of these on a bright red hibiscus flower. I thought oh that's cool! Came home and there were holes all over the flower and some parts were really bit into. Well I grabbed them as fast as I could and tossed them as far as I could, didn't stomp on them. Still have a hard time doing that.

For someone who grew up with an expansive yard and wild areas to explore, I have always loved having nature around me. The idea of living in an apartment building in the middle of a city makes me cringe and feel closed in. I've got to have trees and bushes even if they're planted and planned in a landscape it's something. My guy, Jon grew up in Harlem in New York, he loves the city but he also had Central Park as his backyard. The idea of people not wanting something green around even if it's houseplants seems very wierd and psychotic to me. 

I bring this up because I am still hoping some day to have my own place, I've been looking at mobile homes for sale because that's cheaper than an actual house. Most of these are geared to older people that don't want to take care of a yard and go to great lengths to put down rock and fake plants because they still want something 'green'. Even if it turns blue after a few years in the sun.When people came in to ask for weed killer I had to be very specific about where they wanted to kill weeds and how dead did they want them. The term I used is 'mobile home park dead' due to the almost universal use of decorative rock surrounded by the red scalloped brick edging found in so many places.

I'm being rather whiney right now due to having less money very soon. I still tend my plants and hope for better days for my crops and for me. Never give up on having plants. If you learn to take care of them and nurture them you will be one step closer to being able to care for others just as well.

Not much to report today. @greendinigardenguru #smallgardens

 Tomato isn't ready quite yet, not sure if the zucchini took, seems to be the same size as yesterday.

No sign of the grey grasshopper but they are very good at hiding despite the fact that I spied it very easily. The ants seem to love walking all over the male flowers but since the female was all curled up and closed today didn't want to disturb it. Still haven't eaten the first one, unless you have lots of zucchini about all you can do with one or two is cook them however you want and eat them in one shot. It's disappointing I'm not having the bumper crops my parents had when I was little, or even other people in my same area. Live and learn with gardening. More nutrients for sure! Stronger cage and maybe a different spot next time for the tomato. Can't even plant bush beans at this stage because I need A LOT more nutrients to make those succeed. 

I'm not much on leafy greens but will try some lettuces in the winter as well as cilantro. I've always suggested theme gardens for people when they don't know what to plant. 'Spaghetti' garden can be bell peppers, tomatoes, oregano, parsley and garlic. Those mostly all grow in the same season, garlic may be pushing it in the summer. A 'salsa garden' unfortunately is off in the timing as well. Peppers and tomatoes for sure in the summer but cilantro, garlic and onion are mostly cool season. Recipe for failure there. (aha. aha... see what I did there?).

So many things I want to try and grow but not without a lot more work and waiting for winter or next summer. Not going to grow pumpkins.. nope. Watermelons.....still not enough room, corn... HA! Now lima beans might be something but again need trellising. I have a wonderful recipe for zucchini,yellow squash, corn and lima beans. Sallume Succotash, just salt, pepper, garlic and butter. It was delicious first time I made it! Haven't had it in fifteen years.

So that's another consideration that people don't think about, what are you going to cook with your vegetables? I still have my mom's recipes for zucchini in various forms, several spaghetti sauce versions and some chili recipes. Dating back to the 60's and 70's for the most part. I always ask people, 'What do you want to eat?' if they hem and haw, then maybe growing vegetables isn't what you should do. Sometimes they'll answer something like 'can I grow corn in a pot?' uhhh no. 'how about a watermelon? uhhh not that either. If you're stuck with growing in containers only you don't have many choices for a garden. Tomatoes, peppers, herbs, maybe peas or beans depending on the container. That's about it. Okra anyone? uhhh no.

Back on point:

No need for watering today, still overcast but will be in the 90's  next week again, bleh! So just when you think it's good to go in the garden and do some work. Keep track of the weather folks! Both on the news for what it's going ot be like and in your own notes. Going to look at a widget I can put on this blog to show what the weather is like when I post. Day to day changes and all that.

Keep on gardening!

Pollination mission hopefully a success!

 The flowers were very shriveled up this morning but I still used the pollen on them for the now open female. Hope enough pollen got on the anthers, at least an ant or two were crawling around inside the flower so that may be a help to move the pollen around. Of course I was in such a hurry to do that I didn't take any pictures of before and after oh well.

On to the tomato, another one is ripening and... an invader! Possibly the same green juvenile that had been on the zucchini.

And once again, I didn't chase it off simply because it isn't big enough to do any damage. 'But it will only get bigger and will cause more damage. Well by the time that happens the bush will mostly be done and I won't have to worry about it. I usually chase pests away like this as I've said.

Not much else going on today in the garden, watered all plants and hope the zucchini takes!

Collection and harvesting and other stuff

 It is overcast today and won't even approach 80 degrees so it's much cooler and I even have long pants on instead of my shorts. The little female #zucchini is bigger but still has a closed flower so I collected male flowers that had plenty of pollen.

Will check her tomorrow

Hoping these are still good.

I pruned some of the leaves off the zucchini and did a much harsher pruning on the tomato as well as picking the tomato what was almost ripe. I have apples in the fridge so put it in there to help it along.

Still a little green

Cut even more off after pic

When I was pruning the tomato I was shocked to see a leaf entirely covered in thrips. The still photo doesn't do it justice but needless to say I cut it off, carried it carefully over to my leaf pile and stepped on it several times.

Now the bush itself is still in great condition so why didn't I instantly panic and find some insecticide? Because why use something for an isolated case? I found the colony, destroyed it and of course I didn't get rid of all of them but I have a thriving bush so not really need to do that.

Something else I discovered on the zucchini that I thought I had avoided, mildew. At least it looks like mildew, powdery mildew most likely, but still an isolated incident.

So I just cut off those leaves, and several others to get more light to the interior of the plant, and threw them on the leaf pile. I didn't have to water today so will do that tomorrow but I have been trying to water around and under the plants rather than over the top, like ya do.

Bit of a different from yesterday to today's pruning. I did even more after this so it's considerably thinner on the bottom. Hoping that gives some more energy to the fruit that's there. I really am looking forward to adding more organic food to the soil and turning this bed over for the winter. As far as San Diego is concerned, Fall doesn't start until November, we really don't get cold until late December or January. So some people are still growing and planting tomatoes and peppers now that know our weather patterns.

The one thing I have encountered several times in all my years is the 'helpful relative' who is visiting and wanting to help their friend/sibling/daughter/ whoever to plant their garden or do some landscaping. Well the problem is, this person is 7 out of 10 times not from San Diego and 9 out of 10 times not from even from California. The worst was a young (30ish) couple who's in laws were visiting to help them get plants for their new house. The mother kept interrupting me when I was asking questions and saying I really like this or I think that looks good, none of which were options that would work. I finally had to put my smiley face on and look at her with a audible chuckle to smooth things over, 'Okay so who's house is this?' they would say it's hers, indicating the younger lady, 'okay so where do you live?' she said something like Ohio or something back east 'I'm just visiting', 'She's the one that's going to live in the house not you.' I then turned to the woman who actually owned the house and started asking her questions pointedly about what she liked to see.

My daughter wanted me to go with her to the nursery because she knows I have lived and worked here and knows what is what. If someone is  visiting from Michigan or Ohio, 'oh well where I live we do this'. Well you can just take your suggestions and stuff it. Even if you lived across town that's going to be different than living in El Cajon or Los Angeles or anywhere else. There is a saying I learned from a wonderful manager at the nursery, '5 feet's as good as a mile' meaning, your neighbor could have completely different soil than you do so stop trying to get the same results with what you are doing.

Another lady I encountered obviously had more money than I ever will as she kept talking about her house in Del Mar then goes on about 'when I lived in (some town near L.A.) I never had this problem, and then when I had a house in Colorado....' Stop right there... omg.  I know to me it sounded like she was bragging about how many places she had but in fact was trying to point out that she was an experienced gardener and her garden in Peñasquitos didn't work like it did (name somewhere else she had lived) and oh but I was probably wrong about why her flowers weren't working well because she was an experienced gardener. I told her I had over 20 years experience dealing with plant and soil problems working at a full service nursery. 'Well that's not the same'.  Stand still and let me knock you off your high priced shoes old lady.

The point of all this is when looking online or asking someone advice, listen to them with a critical ear. Make sure they are from your area and have experience more than 5 years and not just 'a friends gardener' or 'the old guy who used to do my garden'. 'I saw a youtube video on how to do this last year'.

Anyway, just check your sources okay? I have experience yes, but I still check information and make sure I'm trying to pass on correct information because I hate being wrong and passing that on.

My how it's grown!