It's Fall Sale Time!

Quilt Show!

If you are in need of inspiration, look no further!

 On Saturday we are starting our first ever Quilt Show! We have over 75 quilts, all made by local artists (wonderful customers and friends :), that will be on display for all of us to enjoy! They will be up from September 1st through the month of October! So, be sure to come down, grab a warm drink (compliments of Andrews!), and stroll around for some serious quilt inspiration!

(Quilt by Shirley Matthews)

Daily Inspiration: Rare Blooms

Have you ever seen a cactus bloom?

I'm used to seeing our little cacti (barrel, paddle, etc.) bloom, 

but I've never seen the big cacti bloom in person! So exciting!

Peruvian Torch Cactus

(Echinopsis peruviana)

A fast-growing, columnar cactus native to the western slope of the Andes in Peru.

(Don't mind my reflection in the window. This cactus happens to be surrounded by a bench and a bunch of other cacti- so, I took the easy route and took the picture from outside the window!)

On the left arm there are two more blooms getting ready to open! They measure 8-9 inches long!

Mushroom Quandry

Mushrooms are something that we indoor gardeners sometimes have to deal with. 

 I found this in one of my houseplants last week...

Mushrooms in potted plants can be tough to get rid of, so I thought I would share a few tips with you!

1. Remove the caps. 

By removing that caps as soon as possible, you are removing their method of spreading spores. This will hinder mushroom growth in that pot, as well as keep spores from traveling to other pots. 

2. Soil Patrol. 

You can do one of two things: scrape the top two inches of soil off and replace it, or you can remove the soil completely and start with fresh stuff. 

3. Fungicide Drench.

Thoroughly drenching the soil with a fungicide can help eliminate mushrooms, though it isn't guaranteed. If all the fungus isn't killed, the mushrooms will be back.

4. Change conditions.

Mushrooms thrive in moist, humid, and warm conditions. If you can moderate the amount of humidity, water, and warmth your plants get, it can help reduce and/or eliminate mushrooms. Unfortunately, houseplants do much better in humid, warm conditions, so changing the conditions would be the least recommended plan of attack. You don't want stressed houseplants! Stressed houseplant lead to a lot bigger problems! 

5. Lastly... If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! 

Some people will just let the mushrooms grow- even adding little fairy garden ornaments and such to create a whimsical forest garden.

When I found the mushrooms, I scraped some soil off, replaced it with new, and did a fungicide drench. Hopefully that will take care of the problem! 

Vole Patrol

No matter how deep my love for gardening goes, I will have to admit that there are a few really unfortunate things you have to put up with. It's just part of it. My most recent 'unfortunate' is voles. Have you ever dealt with them? If you haven't, be thankful. They have moved into my garden...en mass. They look like mice, but instead of being just a slight nuisance (like mice), they leave lovely, little mini-gopher mounds, they girdle and kill plants, and possibly the worst thing is that they burrow through the yard leaving devastation in their wake. 

I had noticed that some of the edges of my grass were starting to look puny, so I watered and watered with no improvement. I finally got down there to see exactly what was going on, and found the starting of a burrow, and continued to follow the burrow for a good 30 ft! This wasn't the only one I found. At this moment my yard is host to 10 different burrows! 

Let me know if you have a sure-fire way to kill these buggers! For now, I have set up a trap line (thanks to my husband who sets all the traps for me- I'm not talented in that department), I've used lots of MoleMax- a vole repellent, and have set out bags of Havoc. So far, we've dented the herd by about 8, but where there are 8, there is probably 100. 

That is my sad story. At least we have lots of beautifully blooming plants this time of year to distract me!

Here is an example of a yard with vole damage...

(not my yard... image from http://www.volecontrol.com/Images/snow_melt.jpg)

and here is a vole...

(don't be fooled by it's cute face!)

(http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/forest1/FOLDER01/Bank_Vole_2.jpg)