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once in a great while, the evil flu comes along and really kicks my ass. Luckily, I'm immune to it most of the time while others around me are suffering, even after getting their yearly flu shots. No flu shots for me: I can't rationalize being injected with a weakened flu virus. And I'm a wuss around needles. But now, I feel miserable; everything hurts, including my hair, and there isn't much of that left anymore. I get cranky and curt with others; not good. Such was the case since last Thursday through Wednesday. I always thought the flu season occurred during the Winter and was a 24-72hr deal; this must be an errant strain or some renegade virus taking a Spring vacation. Lots of people in the region are sick with it, according to medical reports. I've felt like shit all week. The cough syrup with codeine helped ease the raw strep throat, as did my nightly regimen of vino (Cabernet Sauvignon), but rest and aspirin was what I sorely needed. So I took some extra time and slept in last Sunday and Monday. Everything lacked taste; food wasn't food anymore with 101F+ fever. I did manage to keep two hardboiled eggs and plenty of saltines down over the last five days. Feed a cold, starve a fever, starve a cold, feed a fever, or what? I can't remember. Otherwise, cold tap water was the culinary regimen. My knee, involved in a freak accident four weeks ago with a refrigerator door — don't ask — is about 90% healthy now. I don't remember having these problems even 5, 10 or 20 years ago. The idiom — it's the miles, not the years — is probably catching up with me now.
Busiest Spring Yet.
After nine years of this frenetic activity, I should be used to it. This year, it kinda caught me by surprise. Yikes.
Even with being so much more organized — thanks Lynn and Jessica — and so much more plant material readied for use and displayed for sale — thanks Alan & Crews — it's very busy in the evenings and a madhouse on the weekends. Maybe it's just that everyone wants to get out and play in the dirt and the weather isn't cooperating so far. It's still cold and rainy here in Pennsylvania. And with April 27th as our last frost date, we've still got a few weeks to go before it's really safe to install tender plant material in ones garden. But hey, try to tell that to the hordes of gardeners.
We're first working on replacements for plant material which didn't survive last Summer's drought and the second, way-too-mild Winter in a row. Next, we start maintenance of existing customers residences and the installation of newly-designed landscapes — thanks Michelle — which will carry us through August. Soon, I'll be turning down work or booking it for next year.
Our good friends at The Weather Channel are now providing gardeners with a wide assortment of Spring gardening maps, designed to make all our lives easier.
Spring Fragrance, Fall Color.
When there is room for only one more shrub, many connoisseur gardeners turn to the Viburnum.
Viburnums have everything: a wealth of lovely flowers, an unforgettable perfume in many varieties and a handsome form that is dense with dainty, glossy, dark-green leaves. Later in the season, the gardener is rewarded by a bonus — berries in bright colors that last through winter until picked by birds.
The Viburnum is a shrub that should be planted around the deck or next to the entrance to the house to take full advantage of its fragrance. Spring is the best time to plant it, the sooner the better. There is nothing finicky about the Viburnum. It is tough and reliably winter hardy, and new cultivars are disease-resistant. Though there is some variation among the many varieties, most can take full sun or partial shade, though not dense shade.
Viburnums range in leaf size (and hence texture in the shrub border) and also in bulk, though most are large shrubs that require some space. Learn the growth habit before selecting. Consider too that some varieties are deciduous, some evergreen and others semi-evergreen. Some are spectacular in the fall, for example the
Southern black haw (Viburnum rufidulum), which turns a blood red in autumn. Red, yellow and orange berried varieties will be more showy than those with black berries.
As with most all choice shrubs, well-drained soil is essential. Rich organic content will encourage more growth, but it is not indispensable. A slightly acid soil is best, but Viburnums of many kinds prosper in our metropolitan area, with its range of soil chemistry.
One that does exceptionally well in our area is the Judd Viburnum, deciduous and beloved for its strong sweet scent that can fill a suburban yard with plenty left for the neighbors. It is a dense, rounded plant that may reach a height of 15 feet. The bloom is pinkish-white, and the petals form a half globe. The berries are shiny black.
Another locally appreciated cultivar is the compact Cayuga, with exceptionally dense, dark-green foliage. It seldom rises above five feet and does well in constricted space. Its pinkish-red buds open to brilliant white flowers, which exude an unmistakable, intense scent of cloves. The berries that follow in the summer are black.
Both Judd and Cayuga are recommended as replacements for Viburnum carlesii, the venerable Korean Viburnum once very popular but subject to diseases.
Another choice compact variety is Mohawk, which grows no higher than eight feet and blooms in midspring. Some gardeners say Mohawk yields more flowers than all other Viburnums. They start as dark-red buds, opening with white petals marked with reddish blotches. The fragrance is clovelike and very strong.
For connoisseurs drawn to multi-stemmed branching structure and fine-textured leaves, the best Viburnums are Chippewa and Huron. In our metropolitan area, they may keep their foliage through winter, depending on whether they are sheltered from the northwest wind and the harshness of winter.
As with most Viburnums, Chippewa and Huron take three years before they hit their stride. They should be planted in pairs — they cross pollinate to produce an abundance of flowers and fruit.
Chippewa and Huron were developed at the National Arboretum. Their breeder, the late Donald Egolf, also developed the wonderful doublefile Viburnum variety named Shasta, which grows to six feet but is twice as much across, unusual among Viburnums. Moreover, from a distance, Shasta's graceful, horizontal branches may be mistaken for those of a dogwood. It fills out admirably the constricted spaces in front of a town house.
I have 41 varieties of the Viburnum at my Garden Center, and it's one of the largest collections in North America.
Legacy Of Shame.
Clinton's lies to America are the absolute worst thing any President could do. But Bubba did it to us, without hesitation and certainly without conscience.
How can anyone trust him? Simple: he can't be trusted. He's an impeached and publicly acknowledged liar.
Let me repeat that: Clinton's a stinking liar.
Clinton's taught this Nation's Children that it's okay to lie as a basic tenet of living.
Is that what you want your children brought up believeing in? Ummm, not mine, thank you no. I'd rather have them whacked while still innocent, in an auto accident, than be infected by anything the subhuman, Clintonite filth, lowlifes profess as the truth. Seriously. Ultimately, it is better to have all the lowlife Clintonite filth die in a plane crash than waste useful human life on the effort to correct a greatly perverted history of Clintonoid lies.
We're waiting, Bubba and Hitlery. C'mon, get to doing this Nation's real business. whack yourselves for the betterment of society.
Where's Lee Harvey Oswald now that this country really needs him?
The Truth?
It's far past time to hang the son-of-a-bitch, lying, criminal, piece-of-shit Johnny "I'll do what ever you want, Billy" Huang piece-of-garbage, Chinese lackey, lib-Dem criminal, so-called fundraiser.
The lying, son-of-a-bitch needs to go to prison and have a 450lb "lifer" prisoner climb up his sorry ass every night to exact the truth. Ouch, Johhny but you'll look great in a skirt. Don't bend over to pick up the soap, liar. Clinton will send anyone he can to whack you (over 100 acquaintenances and friends and partners are already quite dead and unable to testify...) in the slammer; better to tell the truth to a court and get it on the record before you're murdered.
Hey, Huang, you sorry piece of Clinton-loving shit: there's a 50gal tub of KY Jelly right next to your cellblock. Better take a 5lb tub along with you every night, you'll really need it.
The truth about Clinton? From a Chi-Comm spy, acting in behest of the DNC (Democrat National Party)? Nah. Not a f*cking chance. The Chi-Comm slime never had a better President than the Clintonite scumbag. Traitors to America, every one of 'em.
Kosovo Klowns.
Sure, it's still Bubba's War; he wagged his dog once too often. It's inarguable proof that he's psychotic and sociopathic. What else could all this death and destruction be for? He's still trying to divert the nation's attention from ChinaGate.
There are certainly no clear or definable goals in this war — that's what it is and not a campaign, as shit-for-brains Clinton says — which impact America's interest or security. It's a religious war which has been going on for 600+ years. Anytime an outsider nation gets involved in a religious conflict, major international headaches and political turmoil abound.
Yes, I support the troops but not Clinton the lying, raping, son-of-a-bitch, draft dodging, lowlife scumbag. Now that we're there, we've got to win it. Give the military control of the situation and get the filthy, stinking Clintonites out of the loop. They f*ck up everything they touch or are involved with.
The official lies have started long ago, from the Clintonites.
The Clintonite Cretins can't even estimate the short-term cost to date, let alone apply tactics and stratedgy. They're helpless and hopeless scum.
Remember, the US and NATO are going to have to rebuild the entire region at a cost of tens-of-trillions-of dollars over the next 50 years.
Gore The Bore.
Jeeez, I hate to even think about this shit so early in the year. It ruins what's left of '99 for those of us who want to air out the closet of Clintonite criminal activities and escapism.
AlGore is a lying criminal. His '96 campaign finance activities are closely protected by the sexually-compromised and legally-challenged Janet El Reno bitch. She's subverted legitimate investigations of both AlGore and Clinton to prevent their investigation and prosecution.
After claiming no controlling legal authority and I created the InterNet, everyone knows Gore to be the flip-side of Danny Quayle, the Republican idiot.
Neither AlGore nor Quayle will be elected in 2000. Both are relegated to the idiot status shelf for history to examine and ridicule.
Readin', Writin' and Death.
When the news erupted Tuesday afternoon on The Net, I was horrified but not surprised. It's happened with all too much frequency over the past three years.
What does a community — let alone an entire country — do to stop it, or cope with it after it's happened?
Profile the potential troublemakers, segregate them from their peers, re-educate if possible; if not, terminate with extreme prejudice prior to such an incident. f*ck the ACLU commie, fascist, socialist filth. If they get in the way, jail them too.
Just listen to the liberal filth whine worldwide; for the idiotic actions of some punks, they want the US to ban all guns. Hmmmm, I don't f*cking think so, commie morons. Parents are responsible for their children's actions. Period. Put the onus and the penalty on the parents; soon, the world would see a major sea change happen in the US' usage of weapons. But politically, that wouldn't fly. It would require guts — something politicians lack at birth and never develop — to propose, let alone enact such a coda. The 2nd Amendment would be sorely taxed.
Execute Them Immediately.
Why should the serial murderer of 11 people even be considered for life imprisonment? He should be executed immediately upon conviction, no appeal.
It's been a slow week in the US, with no one executed. I'm disheartened at the inactivity when there are still 3,700+ pieces of murdering, raping, child molesting and treasonous filth still languishing on Death Rows all over the Nation. We're spending $16billion a year to keep those scumbags alive, when we should execute them promptly. Their victims are still dead, aren't they? Hell, yes. So why are the subhuman criminals still alive?
This piece of shit needs to die for sexually torturing, mutilating and Killing a young boy and then eating his body parts. Actually, a liberal judge and jury are letting him off because they consider him insane. Well, the victim wasn't insane and was horribly murdered, and is still dead. Justice served? Don't f*cking think so. Give me 30 seconds with the subhuman filth and I'll exact the correct punishment. A .357 Magnum 178-gr hollowpoint does amazing things to the human skull.
Whether a person's insane — do the names Charles Manson, Son of Sam, John Hinckley, Ted Kraczynski et al ring any bells? — shouldn't matter; they did the crime and must pay for the crime. Incarceration for life isn't the answer. Execution is. Why does subhuman filth need to be kept alive when innocents are dead? Of course the criminal knows what s/he did.
For instance, this piece of shit murdered two capitol hill police officers and wounded civilians; they say he's incompetent to stand trial, that he can't understand the charges against him. What the f*ck does it matter? He was filmed Killing the two cops. There was never any denying the crime. Pretty open and shut, but he skated on the incompetency defense.
I hate slow weeks.
The First Tree.
Because I'm in the horticulture business,
a story like this is interesting and important. To know what happened hundreds of millions of years ago is astounding, even if horticulture isn't one's livlihood. Understanding our origins helps to fill in some of the many blanks which we all have.
Americans Saying Poems They Love.
A most worthwhile Website to bookmark and re-visit on those laconic days.
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