1.5 miles to sanity

1.5 miles to sanity

Looking forward to this summer!

Rodenator burrowing pest control

Tired of traps and poison?  Envy Bill Murray in Caddy Shack?  Try Rodenator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgztUzqaL3E

"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote." -Carl Spackler

Rain 0.20"; season total 5.97"

We had some late rain:

07 May 2013 0.20", that was surprising in its brief intensity.  The following days brought scattered sprinkles that I couldn't measure well, so I guessed: 09 May 2013 0.01"

This puts the season total at my house at 5.97", lower than last year's 7.48" (which was admittedly a coarse measurement).  Neither of these years were above average. Watch for water issues to regain prominence in the local papers.

I don't expect any more rain this season, though sometimes we'll get a July shower or two that just gets the ground damp.

- Posted at great expense from my iPhone

Papaver 'Danebrog', finally

I had a brief and satisfying email exchange with Annie's Annuals. After reviewing a picture that I sent they agreed that they had sent the wrong Papaver selection and offered a gift card in the amount of my purchase. Of the three blooms I've seen (one of four plants has yet to bloom) two were 'Queen's Poppy' and one was the selection I'd ordered, 'Danebrog', shown below with its characteristic ruffled petal edge. Danebrog means Danish flag, which the poppy resembles.




- Posted at great expense from my iPhone

Bloom time: Calochortus Superbus, Papaver '?', and Crocus sativus

Calochortus superbus is still superb!

Papaver '?' looks brilliant! Note: ? = 'Queen's Poppy' (what I think I received) or 'Danebrog' (what I ordered). I have an email to Annies to see if they can tell. This is a so-called 'breadseed poppy'.  So far as I can tell this is a euphemism for an opium poppy (though a beautiful one).  The parentage seems somewhat obscure on Annie's site, since they probably don't want to attract the sort of people that won't enjoy the blooms like I will.

Crocus sativus (Saffron Crocus) did not produce any flowers and therefore no saffron this year. This is what happened at my old house. In fact, it may have taken them a couple years. I was hoping for some production this year. Oh well. This state of being is normal, which is why it's nice to have pots.  I'll just put the pots out of the way until fall.