Retailers offer an abundance of garden hose nozzles, but few are butterfly nozzles. Above is the one from Amazon (Radius). If you google butterfly nozzle you may find some others.
The dial-a-spray feature is handy on the common types, but all too often I have to water an area. In the back I have two soaker-hoses running around the perimeter. In the front I have two soaker hoses underneath the mulch. In both cases a regular hose is the third connection for special watering.
The last thing a gardener wants to do is take off one attachment and put on a different one, if it can even be found. Discovering where tools were left is a common headache, unless I happen to step on them. Then I am sorry I found them.
The butterfly nozzle was one featured tool that Mrs. I. bought for me last year. Nothing equals the ease of spot watering, spreading the stabilizer fins, and watering a large area. The Maple Tree Rose Garden needs that kind of treatment, so I bought a second one - $20.
At the moment it is watering the Maple Tree Rose Garden while the soaker-hoses are managing the rest.
Watering Common Sense
Here are some guidelines for watering:
- Water for a long time rather than sprinkling. That encourages the roots to grow deeper for water. The soil is often dryer than we imagine.
- Watering in the morning is better so the plants are not stressed during the heat of the day.
- Ignore that fantasy about water drops "burning" plants in the sun. Soak yourself and leave drops all over your body (in the backyard, please). Email me about the number of burns you receive.
- Stored water (24 hour wait) is better than fresh chlorinated tap water.
- Rainwater is best of all.
- Collect rainwater and use it, especially on the weaker and the newer plants.
- Watch out for pools of water that turn into mosquito breeding grounds. Dump and clean.
- Use larger birdbaths near special plants. They become manured, algae-filled collections fast - ideal for dumping on plants like Butterfly Bush. Algae is good food for the soil, initiated by sunlight fallen on the dirty water. If you think birdbaths are not used by birds and other creatures, clean one every other day.
More Ruffled Collars for New Plants
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| Herman Amberg Preus models the ruffled collar, which some likened to John the Baptist's head on a plate. |
When I get tiny plants in the mail - often as a bonus, I need a collar around them to protect their well watered zones from weeds taking over. The cardboard or newspaper bib also marks the spot to decrease trampling by anyone in the garden.
Several plants have taken root well, so gently pulled some weeds away and opened up several cardboard food boxes from grocery stores. They are rather then, so they work well. I tear out a notch so I can fit it around a growing plant. Then I sprinkle some mulch on it to keep it in place. Nothing attracts insect eaters like a watered, mulched plant.
I mulched the Elephant Ears with tree bark, cardboard, and shredded cyprus. One new leaf burst from its cardboard covered to grow in the sun, so I widened the growing zone. Meanwhile, Bermuda grass shows up wherever it can. I normally mulch weeds with their own departed - as a warning, but I always throw away Bermuda grass.
Many builders there have been
Since the world began;
Palace, cottage, mansion, inn,
They have built for man.
Some were small and some were tall:
Long or wide or low.
But the best one of them all
Jack built long ago.
’Twas built in bygone days,
Yet millions sing its praise.
Just a love nest
Cozy with charm,
Like a dove nest
Down on a farm.
A veranda with some sort of clinging vine,
Then a kitchen where some rambler roses twine.
Then a small room,
Tea set of blue;
Best of all, room—
Dream room for two.
Better than a palace with a gilded dome,
Is a love nest
You can call home.
Building houses still goes on
Now as well as then.
Ancient Jack and Jill are gone,
Yet return again.
Ever comes the question old:
Shall we build for pride,
Or shall brick and mortar hold
Warmth and love inside?
The answer you may know:
Jack solved it long ago.
(Famous as the theme for the George Burns Gracie Allen Show)
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| By Norma Boeckler |
The result of tree bark mulch is to draw Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal there to look for food for their nestlings. I tried to feed them at the base of their love nest - the Crepe Myrtle, but it instantly drew squirrels from across the street.
Yesterday I was looking out the kitchen window when a blueberry stalk seemed to drop down and snap up again. Startled, I wondered if my eye appointment should be moved up immediately. I continued to stare, wondering what happened with no wind stirring up the plants. It happened again. The stalk went down and sprang up again. What sorcery is this? On my tiptoes I saw the bushy tail of a squirrel move away from the plant.
Mrs. Ichabod thought it was hilarious. "Harvested for you? You still need to buy them at Walmart."