Today I Consign To Hell -the All Saints version

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  • PomonaPomona Shipmate
    edited May 2023
    Gee D wrote: »
    Perhaps the pilot should have said that if this kiwi wanted to go to Miami, it had to do so by itself? You can very safely predict that the zoo owner is a Trump supporter.

    Miami is a historic Democratic stronghold in Florida and has been for decades, so unlikely. It's VERY different from the rest of Florida except for perhaps the Keys.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    Gee D wrote: »
    You can very safely predict that the zoo owner is a Trump supporter.
    Aside from what @Pomona said (though immigration, particularly from Cuba, has made the political landscape in and around Miami more complicated), the “zoo owner” is Miami-Dade County. So that “safe” prediction is wrong.

  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Thanks for the articles @Nick Tamen I was feeling a mixture of both sadness and anger about the kiwi and I hope that this episode and the publicity it has had educates other zoo owners, and maybe some will take up the offer of assistance from DOC - the NZ Department of Conservation who have expertise with kiwi.

    I was also really excited when a kiwi colony was established several years ago a few kilometres into the bush from where I grew up and that another one has been established more recently, and is apparently thriving near Wellington. There are also others in different parts of the country. The old saying about not putting your eggs in one basket is particularly important when it comes to saving endangered species.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Nick Tamen wrote: »
    Gee D wrote: »
    You can very safely predict that the zoo owner is a Trump supporter.
    Aside from what @Pomona said (though immigration, particularly from Cuba, has made the political landscape in and around Miami more complicated), the “zoo owner” is Miami-Dade County. So that “safe” prediction is wrong.

    Thanks for that correction and detail
  • Bindweed. How can anything grow 6 inches in 2 days in baked hard soil?
  • Bindweed. How can anything grow 6 inches in 2 days in baked hard soil?

    It's looking for its beloved honeysuckle.
  • DoublethinkDoublethink Admin, 8th Day Host
    :mrgreen: aha, another Flanders & Swann fan !
  • DiomedesDiomedes Shipmate
    My first thought too! That'll be this evening's earworm then.
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host
    To be sing mf*, of course.




    * A musical term. It means mit feeling.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    My first thought too! 🎶
  • NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
    And mine. :smile:
  • PomonaPomona Shipmate
    Bindweed. How can anything grow 6 inches in 2 days in baked hard soil?

    Surely that is a triumph for nature and pollinators?
  • Pomona wrote: »
    Bindweed. How can anything grow 6 inches in 2 days in baked hard soil?

    Surely that is a triumph for nature and pollinators?

    Sure is ... but roots 3 feet down and counting?
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Pomona wrote: »
    Bindweed. How can anything grow 6 inches in 2 days in baked hard soil?

    Surely that is a triumph for nature and pollinators?

    Sure is ... but roots 3 feet down and counting?

    The stuff is notorious!
  • PomonaPomona Shipmate
    Pomona wrote: »
    Bindweed. How can anything grow 6 inches in 2 days in baked hard soil?

    Surely that is a triumph for nature and pollinators?

    Sure is ... but roots 3 feet down and counting?

    Oh it's certainly a pain for humans and other plants!
  • Bindweed isn't dependent on pollinators - leave the minutest slip of root in he soil and it quickly grows into a network of underground runners and more bindweed plants.

    Fought it and failed for years at our old address - here I am now eying with trepidation the bindweed growing in the neighbour's garden/wilderness .
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Before the Great Blitz (when I had the garden completely dug over) it was bindweed central. I had the corner from which it was ramping out covered in membrane and gravel. It still creeps out under cover behind the cotoneaster, but I have my eye on it and it doesn't get far.

    My next door neighbours, who don't understand gardening, put up tall fencing inside the existing boundaries, thereby creating corridors in which, I suspect, it is massing for attack.
  • PomonaPomona Shipmate
    Bindweed isn't dependent on pollinators - leave the minutest slip of root in he soil and it quickly grows into a network of underground runners and more bindweed plants.

    Fought it and failed for years at our old address - here I am now eying with trepidation the bindweed growing in the neighbour's garden/wilderness .

    Fun fact, this is also how sweet potatoes can be propagated by putting the root end in water - they are fellow members of the morning glory family. They have pretty white or lilac flowers with darker purple centres. It's tricky to grow sweet potatoes in the UK as they need a long growing season and consistent warmth, but you can grow them as a trailing house plant.
  • On the other hand, Jerusalem artichokes are the gift that keeps on giving. Once you've got a few plants going you never get rid of them because you can never manage to dig up every tuber, and the plants keep coming back year after year.

    There's a few guerrilla Jerusalem artichokes around that I surreptitiously planted.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Is bindweed the same as convululus? With a trumpet-like white flower. Apparently it came to NZ in the soil of other, wanted plants. I wish those early settlers could have been more careful (but considering they brough possums and rabbits on purpose I guess ignorance was bliss).
  • PomonaPomona Shipmate
    Huia wrote: »
    Is bindweed the same as convululus? With a trumpet-like white flower. Apparently it came to NZ in the soil of other, wanted plants. I wish those early settlers could have been more careful (but considering they brough possums and rabbits on purpose I guess ignorance was bliss).

    Yes, the usual problematic bindweed is also quite often called convululus here too.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Annoyingly Morning Glory, which is the civilised version of bindweed, won't grow at all hereabouts (too far north). Also wood avens absolutely gallop everywhere, but the geums (same family) struggle.
  • ArielAriel Shipmate
    Bindweed is a pain. My former allotment was full of it and no matter how hard I tried it could never be completely eradicated.

    Still, could be worse. I was reading about Japanese Knotweed yesterday and am now eyeing every plant in my garden suspiciously. Not that I have any reason to believe I have it but apparently this pernicious evil even survives molten lava.

  • NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
    I always think of the climber with the white trumpet-like flowers as bindweed and its prettier relative with smaller pink flowers as convolvulus. We have the former all over the garden and it's a constant battle to keep it from strangling everything.
  • There's a story in one of Neil Munro's "Para Handy" books in which a crew member feigns sickness in order to get out of working. He claims that he's suffering from "galloping convolvulus". (See Chapter 3, "The Malingerer", in https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0700591h.html
  • Huia wrote: »
    Is bindweed the same as convululus? With a trumpet-like white flower. Apparently it came to NZ in the soil of other, wanted plants. I wish those early settlers could have been more careful (but considering they brough possums and rabbits on purpose I guess ignorance was bliss).
    "But some climb anticlockwise, the bindweed does for one
    Or convolvulus to give her proper name"

  • Mint is another one that is best kept out of the ground, as the roots will spread everywhere and mint pops up in unwanted places. It's safest to grow it in a container, set on an impervious base, such as a paving slab. Unfotunately, it doesn't much like being in a container, so needs replacing every couple of years.
  • EigonEigon Shipmate
    My gran's neighbour once apologised publicly to the local council, because his father had introduced bindweed to the local area in the days when it was thought of as a pretty garden plant, rather than a pernicious weed!
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    Mint is another one that is best kept out of the ground, as the roots will spread everywhere and mint pops up in unwanted places. It's safest to grow it in a container, set on an impervious base, such as a paving slab. Unfotunately, it doesn't much like being in a container, so needs replacing every couple of years.

    Best to just give up and accept a mint lawn.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    Best to just give up and accept a mint lawn.

    Mint and Basil lawns have a wonderful upside. When you mow, the aroma is delightful!

  • Ariel wrote: »
    Still, could be worse. I was reading about Japanese Knotweed yesterday and am now eyeing every plant in my garden suspiciously. Not that I have any reason to believe I have it but apparently this pernicious evil even survives molten lava.

    Japanese Knotweed is one of the few plants classified as hazardous waste in England & Wales (IIRC, another is Giant Hogweed, and I'm not sure now if there was a third). Can't recall if Scotland introduced the same bit of environmental legislation or not. When I was working for the Environment Agency, many years ago, one of my colleagues made herself very unpopular with a construction site by pointing out that there was Japanese Knotweed growing there. The stuff is ...robust...
  • DafydDafyd Hell Host
    edited May 2023
    Himalayan balsam?
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    Mint pops up all over our community garden. This morning we picked a very sizeable bunch, and mint syrup is now in preparation. This is a tasty way of disposing of it, but it is pretty much a weed.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited May 2023
    I remember my dad having trouble getting Herbs That Are Not Mint to grow, because the mint would always expand to fit the allotted space (and several unallotted spaces too).

    TBH the only uses I can think of for it are putting a sprig or two in the saucepan when boiling new potatoes, or decorating a properly dressed Pimm's.

    I'm not a fan of mint sauce or jelly; I love lamb, but prefer it flavoured with rosemary and garlic.
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    Piglet wrote: »
    I remember my dad having trouble getting Herbs That Are Not Mint to grow, because the mint would always expand to fit the allotted space (and several unallotted spaces too).

    TBH the only uses I can think of for it are putting a sprig or two in the saucepan when boiling new potatoes, or decorating a properly dressed Pimm's.
    Mint juleps and mojitos. Yum!

    And many American Southerners will put a leaf or two in their iced tea. My parents had mint growing near the back porch for that very purpose.

  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Piglet wrote: »
    I remember my dad having trouble getting Herbs That Are Not Mint to grow, because the mint would always expand to fit the allotted space (and several unallotted spaces too).

    TBH the only uses I can think of for it are putting a sprig or two in the saucepan when boiling new potatoes, or decorating a properly dressed Pimm's.

    I'm not a fan of mint sauce or jelly; I love lamb, but prefer it flavoured with rosemary and garlic.

    It's not either/or.
  • ArielAriel Shipmate
    Mint tea is the other main use I can think of. But it has to be the right sort of mint: there are many different varieties with different flavours and not all are suitable.

    Someone left a bottle of cucumber and mint presse in the office kitchen once because she didn't like it. I thought it was lovely - slightly sparkling and perfect for a hot summer day.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    My mother once picked a small piece of eau de cologne mint from the gardens at Wellington Zoo as a momento of a visit we made while her father was staying with us. She put it in water when we got home and carefully nurtured it, planting it in her garden once the roots looked strong enough.

    She spent the next 20 years or so digging it up. The roots even went under the house and came out the other side. :angry:
  • PomonaPomona Shipmate
    Eau de cologne mint is one I haven't tried but it sounds lovely - and it's supposed to be a good insect repellent. Apparently the reason cats are attracted to catnip (which is in the mint family along with lemon balm) and like rolling around in it is because of the insect repellent aspect.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    Time to C somebody else to TH, I feel.

    TICTH eedjits who annotate library books. :rage:
  • Firenze wrote: »
    Annoyingly Morning Glory, which is the civilised version of bindweed, won't grow at all hereabouts (too far north). Also wood avens absolutely gallop everywhere, but the geums (same family) struggle.

    Morning Glory has to be handled with care as it contains a hallucinogenic compound similar to LSD
  • Huia wrote: »
    My mother once picked a small piece of eau de cologne mint from the gardens at Wellington Zoo as a momento of a visit we made while her father was staying with us. She put it in water when we got home and carefully nurtured it, planting it in her garden once the roots looked strong enough.

    She spent the next 20 years or so digging it up. The roots even went under the house and came out the other side. :angry:

    Mint is best kept in a large pot buried in the garden
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    I remember my dad having trouble getting Herbs That Are Not Mint to grow, because the mint would always expand to fit the allotted space (and several unallotted spaces too).

    TBH the only uses I can think of for it are putting a sprig or two in the saucepan when boiling new potatoes, or decorating a properly dressed Pimm's.

    I'm not a fan of mint sauce or jelly; I love lamb, but prefer it flavoured with rosemary and garlic.

    It's not either/or.

    Sacrilege! Don't pollute fresh dug new potatoes with mint -- it masks their earthy sweet taste. Firs dig on Sunday was succcessful and very enjoyeable!

    Don't know about Pimms but lamb yes - we had lamb chops with the new potatoes, broad beans and spinach. A spring blessing
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Time to C somebody else to TH, I feel.

    TICTH eedjits who annotate library books. :rage:

    Or show their ignorance by correcting grammar that was correct.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Huia wrote: »
    My mother once picked a small piece of eau de cologne mint from the gardens at Wellington Zoo as a momento of a visit we made while her father was staying with us. She put it in water when we got home and carefully nurtured it, planting it in her garden once the roots looked strong enough.

    She spent the next 20 years or so digging it up. The roots even went under the house and came out the other side. :angry:

    The scent of the eau de cologne mint helps restore a good humour should you come across a defaced library book........
  • NicoleMRNicoleMR Shipmate
    TICTH the fact that the plumbers who are supposed to be here fixing the faucet in my bathtub are not here yet despite telling the super about an hour ago that they were "on the way", The super is making enquiries
  • DafydDafyd Hell Host
    Mint sauce always makes me think of Asterix in Britain.
  • ArielAriel Shipmate
    5 minutes in the garden cutting a stray piece of cotoneaster that's trailed over the fence into next door's garden and I have an itchy rash on both arms. I also now have tick bites and a mosquito bite around my ankles from yesterday and must now wear jeans and socks in the garden whatever the weather.

    This isn't going to stop me gardening, but it is annoying in this weather and I can only surmise the ticks have come from visiting cats. In the five years I've been here, this is the first time I've experienced them.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Ouch - poor you!
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    There comes a point in the summer - usually about end July, but it could be earlier on account of The Heat - when I don't go into the garden without a good dousing in Jungle Formula. I am an invisible bitey insect magnet.
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