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Help Us Get to 1000 Fans on Facebook!

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Hey, are you on Facebook? So are we! But we know we have a lot more fans than our page currently indicates, and we’re counting on you to help us find them. So here’s the deal: help us get to 1000 fans by September 21, and we’ll give all fans a coupon worth 20% off everything on our site. This coupon will be good for ONE DAY ONLY on September 28. There seems to be some debate amongst the CobraHead team as to whether 1000 fans is either too lofty or too modest a goal, so again, you can help us answer that one.

We use our page on Facebook as a forum for gardening discussions. We will be posting questions and solutions to gardening problems, and we invite you to post any garden related questions, solutions, ideas, or discussions you may have. Click here to become a fan!

Tags: cobrahead, facebook
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CobraHead vs. Thistle

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Well, we Wisconsin CobraHeaders finally got our act together and started making videos in the garden. This is one of our first attempts from yesterday. Here, Noel deftly extracts a tap-rooted thistle from his pepper bed.

We will be posting many more how-to videos as we continue to make them. If you have any videos of the CobraHead in action in your garden, we would love to see them! We may even post them here!

Tags: cobrahead, thistle, video
Posted in CobraHead, Gardening | No Comments »

Easy Fruit Fly Traps — Or, DIE, BUGS, DIE!

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Well, it’s harvest time again, and the fruit flies are starting to find their way into the kitchen. They have also managed to find their way back into my worm bin, and I’m not totally cool with that. I don’t think Phil minds too much, but I’m not terribly fond of the little buggers. So now I guess it’s time to set up the traps again.

There are plenty of different techniques for making fruit fly traps, but this one has worked pretty well for me.

Start with a glass (or Mason jar, or any other similar sized container). The one in the picture has a nice stable bottom, which is why I like to use it. Pour a little apple cider vinegar in. I often cut it with a bit of water, but it really doesn’t matter. Optional: you can add a tiny drop of dish soap to break the surface tension. That last part is probably totally unnecessary, but hey, anything to kill the little guys sooner, right?

Next, take a sheet of paper. I usually cut an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet in half. The one in the picture came from a notepad. I don’t actually know if the paper has to be white, but I’ve never not used white (at least on the inside “funnel” part). Curl the paper and tape it into a funnel shape, leaving a small hole at the bottom. I cut the corners to round off the top the funnel — another unnecessary step, but it’s my trap, and I’ll make it how I want to make it.

Set the funnel in the top of the glass. Make sure there’s a gap between the vinegar and the bottom of the funnel. Tape the funnel to the glass to ensure there are no gaps that would let the flies escape. Usually two pieces of tape (one on either side) will do.

I made the trap in these pictures yesterday. This is the trap I keep on top of the worm bin, so yes, Phil has a lot of flies right now. But, as you can see, the trap is quite effective. The trap will last quite a while and will hold a surprising amount of flies, so I only change it out for fresh vinegar and paper when I get too grossed out by it or if the paper gets too covered in frass. I have also read that you can use other things for bait, such as wine, beer or a piece of fruit. I never liked the idea of a hunk of fruit, because it wouldn’t actually kill the flies, just trap them, and it may even allow them to breed more. And I want ‘em DEAD!

Tags: fruit flies, fruit fly trap
Posted in Environmental Issues, Gardening, Recipes | 5 Comments »

Bountiful Bouquets

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I’ve chosen a roommate who will occasionally create things like this:

A few days later this one showed up.

It’s nice to know that the blooms in my terribly overgrown garden aren’t going to waste.

Posted in Gardening | No Comments »

GBBD June 2010

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

I didn’t have much time to run around the garden and take pictures this morning (plus it was just about to rain), but I managed to snap a shot of this lovely bloom on the way to my car.

And yes, it smells great.

Lovely rose. Do you know what it is? Looks a bit like one of the David Austin roses…

# Posted By Monica at Garden Junkies | 6/15/10 8:10 AM

Oooh, is that ‘Abraham Darby’? I just love the Austin roses.

# Posted By Mr. McGregor’s Daughter | 6/15/10 9:12 AM

Happy GBBD! That is one stunning rose. Hope you and the garden are both doing well.

# Posted By LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD | 6/15/10 9:26 AM

Sorry, folks. I have to claim complete ignorance on this one. Here’s how much I know about the flower in the picture above:

1. It’s a rose.
2. It’s yellowish.
3. It has a slightly citrus-y scent.

I’m usually pretty clueless about flower varieties, and I never really paid a whole lot of attention to roses. Now that I have a few of my own, I guess I’ll have to get in touch with our contact at David Austin Roses to see if he can fill me in a bit.

# Posted By Anneliese | 6/15/10 7:08 PM

Posted in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, Gardening | No Comments »

GBBD April 2010

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Remember back in September, when I requested help identifying all the plants in my new yard? Well, now that the snow is all melted (I hope), and temperatures are warming up, I’m going to need your help again.

I’m not entirely clueless when it comes to ornamental bloom identification, but at this point, more plants than not are beyond my breadth of knowledge. Like this thing, for example:

Here’s a closer view of the flowers on it:

Do please tell me what this stuff is, because I seem to have a lot of it:

Again, here’s a closup:

And please, please, please tell me what this little bloom is. My first thought was “tulip” but it’s certainly not like any tulip I’ve ever seen.
UPDATE — I’ve been informed this is a Fritillaria meleagris.

And a view looking in:

These two are a little closer to how I normally picture a tulip:

I seem to have a number of different hyacinths (at least, I think that’s what they are):

These were more of a peach color, but the color washed out when I took the photo:

I’m told this is a forsythia (I took this picture over a week ago, but I think it’s still OK to post it today):

And then there are the daffodils.

I think the remarkable thing about my daffodils is not how many of them there are (many — just take my word for it), but how many different varieties there are.

So there you have it. More to come next month! Please help me out with identification and post your answers in the comments below. Thanks!

your checkered tulip flower is a Fritillaria- can’t help you with the others!

# Posted By Carri | 4/15/10 3:53 PM

Thank you! One mystery solved!

# Posted By Anneliese | 4/15/10 3:59 PM

Hi Anneliese – looks like spring has sprung for you.

Maybe Bergenia cordifolia for first mystery..the pink bloomer. Second one looks like Japanese spurge/groundcover Pachysandra.

What an absolutely killer daffodil in the last photo! Talk about your large cups…

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

# Posted By Annie in Austin | 4/15/10 4:13 PM

Yep, it’s Fritillaria meleagris, or ‘checkered lily’, and isn’t it just the cutest? My mom always called the white, pink and blue flowersd with the grassy foliage ‘scilla’, but I have heard them called Spanish bluebells too. What could be more fun than discovering what you have inherited in a new garden?

# Posted By ricki-sprig to twig | 4/15/10 5:03 PM

You are on an adventure in your new yard … lots of new to you plants. What fun! Lots of wonderful bulbs.

# Posted By Snap | 4/15/10 6:12 PM

Yup, the “hyacinths” are scilla aka Spanish bluebells, or Hyacinthoides hispanica. I think the first picture is bergenia, as someone already mentioned. It’s also called “piqsqueek” because of the name the leaves make when rubbed together. Love all your daffodils – my favorite spring flowers!

# Posted By GardenJunkie | 4/15/10 8:15 PM

I second Annie’s opinion that the first plant is a Bergenia, also known as pigsqueak. Rub a leaf quickly between your fingers to hear the pig noise. The second is Pachysandra, probably the Japanese one. And I agree with Carrie & Ricki about the Fritillaria meleagris. They are cool little flowers. The Hyacinths are in decline and will probably never look like bottlebrushes again. They just aren’t good perennializers. You do have a wonderful assortment of Daffodils. I love the pink-cupped one. Sorry I can’t ID it, but I bet the last one is the old standby ‘Ice Follies.’ I think there’s a law that everyone has to grow them.

# Posted By Mr. McGregor’s Daughter | 4/15/10 8:30 PM

Thanks everyone, I knew I could count on you!

I have a big mass of flowers that I recognized as scillas, because they are exactly like the ones my mom has outside her back door. After a quick Wikipedia search, I’m guessing they’re Siberian squill. They certainly spread further and further into the lawn each year.

# Posted By Anneliese | 4/15/10 11:20 PM

You certainly have a wide variety of daffodils!
The hyacinths are just that. They only have the full beehive look the first spring or two, after that, they look more loosely flowered like these in your picture.

# Posted By Sylvana | 4/16/10 3:27 PM

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GBBD January 2010

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Not a heck of a lot blooming in Wisconsin in January, but this lipstick vine in our sun room has been putting out a fair bit of color lately. This isn’t the only blooming plant in the house right now, but it was the only one worth photographing.

Now head on over to May Dreams Gardens, the home of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. There you can find bloom day submissions from all over the country and many places outside the country, too!

Posted in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day | No Comments »

Phil’s New Digs

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

About a year ago I set up a worm composting system using the Worm Factory. I was pretty excited about it at the time, and I decided to name it Phil (each individual worm is also named Phil). Because I’ve read that vermicomposting can take a while to really get going, I was careful not to overfeed Phil during the first few months. I don’t think I even added a second tray until two or three months had passed.

When July rolled around, the creator of the Worm Factory offered to let me try their new model, and I happily agreed to trial it.

The new Worm Factory is designed to allow better air to flow through the system. The bottom tray now sits on a booster that creates an air gap all the way around the bottom of the tray, and the lid now sits above the top tray rather than inside of it. I was told I could simply take the old trays and stack them in the new system, but I wanted the tray colors to match.

Transferring Phil into his new digs was also a good opportunity to check on the composting process. Aside from a few paper scraps and minor food chunks like eggshells, the bottom tray was ready to harvest (note to self: do a better job of crushing eggshells before feeding them to Phil). I kept the tray going, though, mostly because I was too lazy to empty it out right then.

Fast forward to January 2010, when I finally got around to harvesting some worm castings (I’m skipping a few months where Phil developed a fruit fly problem, and I left him alone for a while – I now make sure to microwave the scraps I feed him to kill any fruit fly eggs).

I moved the bottom tray to the top of the system and left the lid off. I also stirred the castings and kept the light on to encourage the worms to migrate down to the tray below. I left it like that for about a day or so, hoping that the castings might dry out a bit before I took them out to store them. They were still quite moist when I transferred them to a big bowl, though.

We’ll probably mix the castings with potting soil and use the mix for our indoor potted plants, most of which are in dire need of transplanting at the moment.

Phil’s fly problem has cleared up, and he seems to be chugging along just fine for the time being. I think this year I’ll make it a goal to ramp up production and really put Phil to work.

Posted in Environmental Issues, Gardening | No Comments »

Writing About Writers

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

We attended the Garden Writers Association 61st Annual Symposium in Raleigh , North Carolina, last week. It was CobraHead’s 6th GWA, and our fifth as an exhibitor.

Here’s Anneliese putting the final touches on our booth. The symposium includes a trade show, seminars, speakers, tours, dinners, and awards. It is held in a different city every year, and tours of both public and private local gardens are a big part of the trip

Pictures from the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University. A truly outstanding public garden and arboretum.

These are from Montrose , a former estate of a governor of North Carolina, William Alexander Graham, now a foundation maintained by Nancy and Craufurd Goodwin.

S.E.E.D.S. , is a community garden project in inner city Durham that teaches people to grow food and care for the earth. The young people are paid interns and the food grown is sold at the facility. They were harvesting sweet potatoes while we were there. The second shot is of a green roof project constructed on the site.

On Sunday our tour had a mis-adventure as our bus slid off a driveway and got hung up.

Touring the Wal-Mart garden center in Mt. Olive was not on the agenda, but here’s the group at the big box waiting for a replacement bus. The bus mishap put a damper on the last day’s fun as we missed several of the scheduled stops, but overall, the trip and trade show were excellent.

Next year the symposium is in Dallas and the organizers promise another excellent show. GWA is as close to a vacation as Judy and I get since we started CobraHead. So we are looking forward to the gardens of the big D.

Posted in CobraHead, Events, Gardening | No Comments »

Bloom Day! Or: How I Learned What’s Growing in My Garden

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

About a week and a half ago, I bought a house. It’s my first house, and I have to admit I’m a bit intimidated by it. Just the idea of home ownership and the responsibility that goes with it is intimidating enough, but on top of that I had to go and buy a “fixer upper”. The house needs new windows, new wiring, more insulation, an additional bathroom, new paint in every single room, floor refinishing, and a couple of new basement steps. Did I say basement? I meant hole in the ground.

As daunting as those repairs may seem, I think I’m even more afraid of the yard.

It’s not a very big yard, but you wouldn’t know that by walking through it. The previous owner of the house spent the last fifteen years turning the yard into his own personal botanical garden. There are plants everywhere, and the less than quarter acre corner lot has an incredible amount of privacy. It’s really a lovely little yard, but when it comes to maintenance, I don’t even know where to start. The fact that I don’t even know what half the stuff is doesn’t help. This morning, I decided to go out there and take pictures of everything that’s blooming right now (I didn’t include everything here). I know what some of these flowers are, but not all. By all means, please enlighten me. While you’re at it, feel free to stop by, grab pair of pruners and get to work.