yellow

As a child, I had never really thought of myself as a yellow person. Sure, yellow was fine. Yellow is the sun. Yellow is sunflowers. Yellow is buttercups.

Still, I never actively sought it. But, apparently, now I am a yellow person, nonetheless.

Now, I am picky about my yellows. I don't like dark yellow. I don't like green yellow. I don't really like the kind of yellow which is really orange but people still call yellow, or tan that people call yellow.

I like a very pure, canary yellow, cream yellow, and buttercup yellow. Why all this about yellow? Well, it occurred to me, that I've started three, no four, trays of yellow flowers in quick succession without thinking about it. Am I craving yellow? Is there a brain chemical that is screaming out "I want yellow darn it!"?

Who knows. But what I do know is that I now have a tray of yellow sunflowers, giant yellow canary zinnias, yellow cosmos, and gold gerraniums. Whazzup with that?

Anyhoo. I did find the answers to some of my questions. I have not found an answer to the hydrangea bushes yet, more out of a considerable lack of research, but I have found that yes, you can grow butterfly bushes from seed, but that they need light to germinate, which means they're barely pushed into your soil medium. Also, apparently, they must be started indoors.

I've also found that apparently butterfly bushes are on the no-no list in many states, for being an invasive weed. Really? I thought, scratching my head. Who'da thunk it, right? I for one would like to have them as weeds. I'd certainly prefer them over tree-of-heaven. Oh my gawwwd I hate that stuff. I use large loppers to chop them down every year, and in some cases a person to push the darn tree while I saw, and still it comes back. Those things easily grow twelve feet a year. In two years they take twenty minutes each to saw.



There are very few plants that I hate. That and poison ivy I'm pretty sure make the two top contenders. *Scratches her arms absently, shivering.*

So one of my two rose cuttings is doing well-the other is wilty, because the stupid forecast predicted it to be overcast and rainy. What happened instead? 90+ degrees and sun=roast cuttings. Like I said, the one appears fine, the other is struggling. I've been covering the one to protect it from the sun, and watering the cutting deeply. So far, it seems to be surviving still. Remember that, fellow gardeners-the two major enemies of freshly planted cuttings- drying out and baking. Shade as neccessary and water well.





Also, another helpful note on roses-if you are wondering why your rose bush is not making any more blooms when it had been previously, and it does not appear to be suffering from being munched by animals or some disease, the answer is simply: More Water. I give each of my rose bushes three, sometimes four gallons of water per week. Really really. Here's a picture of the new growth on my rose bush since I've been doing this.



Okay, so last thing-my new round of gardening questions.

Still on the list:

What makes hydrangeas different colors?

And new questions:

Is it possible to make rosemary topiaries? Can I grow them in containers? How long does it take for them to look like topiaries?
Can you grow hydrangeas from cuttings?
And why can't you grow seeds from hybrids, such as tomatoes?

That's it for today. Happy gardening folks.