Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / August 2008

Three years ago my 30 year old Franklinia started self pruning.  Ended
up with a Y that split in time.   This was the only plant  I every had
that was registered somewhere.  I¹d get snail mail about every five
years.  I Think it was from John Bartram gardens.

My --Stanhopea saccata-- is blooming nicely.  The tag says the flowers
smell like cinnamon.
They reek of mothballs to my nose.
BTW,  my mother and sister in Apopka, FL are OK.  They got over 15

I'm new to this group and hope to get some advice for my problem.  I'm
converting a derelict corner of my garden into a play area for the
kids.  Basically leveling it out and mulching with bark so the slides
and sandbox can go on top.  But, it seems the cat used the area for a

I am growing asparagus for the first time (from 1yr-old crowns) and I'm
thinking that the bed is getting a bit out of hand with some 'spears'
over 6ft tall and all 16 crowns producing vigorous shoots growing at
all angles! (Do they need staking?) I have resisted the temptation to ...

Are Oregano and Marjoram, Italian and French names for the same thing?
I have both, bought from the same source by mail order and apart from a
slight colour difference they appear same/similar,  although I can't
comment on taste as I haven't yet used them.

The local grocery has a compost recycle bin,
for food scraps etc.  Even the plates and utensils
go in there.
I was wondering, what constitutes 'composting'?

I've read the FAQ, I accept it's hard to reliably stop neighbours'
cats pooing in your garden. Cat's are like children, one's own are
lovely, other people's....
Anyway, I want to redo the surface in part of our garden. When we

My corn patch is surrounded by a wire fence but it hasn't kept the
raccoons out. I don't see any holes under the fence so I don't know how
they are getting in. Can raccoons climb wire fences?
I caught one last night in my trap and moved him to some conservation land

I don't know who is into growing something different in the veg
garden, but if you are then have a look at www.realseeds.co.uk  or
their news letter  at   http://www.realseeds.co.uk/Newsletter08.html
I'm growing "OCA" ~(Latin name: Oxalis Tuberosa) and the plants are

Only 122 days to Christmas.
Sam

What I want is to get something on my plate which looks like a pile of
spaghetti. Cold ideally but hot would be fine. Jane Grigson says boil it
whole for 30-40 mind then cut it open and voila spaghetti but I am having
trouble separating the spaghetti-ish bits from the skin and ...

I have seen this on a BBC programme called "Tomorrow's World" back i
the late 70's or early 80's.
I saw it first used as the contents of a storage heater to be used in
Truck (for when the driver sleeps in the cabin).

Some of my roses have been infected with thrips - you can see the effects on
the lightly colored ones, esp. the white ones.
One in particular keeps on getting a bad case of rust.
Its currently winter now in Melbourne Australia.

I know that I can buy seeds (not talking about onion sets), but I've got two
onions that have produced nice 3" flower heads that seem to still be
blooming. What I'm wondering is how long should the flower heads be kept for
the seed to viable? I mean should the flowers all die and ...

I want to freeze a lot of green beans and have them crunchy when thawed out.
Any way to do this? If I blanch them then freeze them will they be soft?
  Thanks,
        Jimmy