Freethought & Rationalism Archive

godfry n. glad · 05-30-2003, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Lone Ranger
Well, there are snowshoes in the continental U.S., as far south as the southern Appalachians in the East, in fact, and the mountains of Oregon in the West. But they aren't exactly common in the semiarid Palouse. My fieldwork is primarily in the Selkirk Mountains of northeastern Washington.

The Selkirks! Ahhh..... Now, _that's_ my kinda country. My wife and I visited and enjoyed the country just north, in BC, around Nelson. Up around Libby is pretty nice, too.

Again, thanks for the info. I was under the mistaken impression that the snowshoe wasn't found until closer to the Arctic Circle. Chalk up another factoid....

We keep a captive French...<ahem> Freedom... Angora rabbit in our backyard. My wife is a spinner/knitter and he's the livestock....well, aside from the several sheep and muskox or two, spread across North America. He has a hutch and run of most of the small grassy area that passes for a lawn at our humble domicile. Bunnies are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for....although our Binny (from Binford 2000 Fibermaster! - his full name), sure ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. I think stupidity was bred into him with the docility.

Quote:

The Palouse has its charms, not least its low population density, but I'm a tree lover. I miss forests something fierce, and take every opportunity to go up into the Rockies or the Selkirks, or the Blue Mountains. The Palouse is a good place to live for a few years until I've finished my doctorate, but I wouldn't want to live here on a permanent basis.

I hear ya, bud. I'm with ya all the way. By the by, if you get a chance, don't miss the forest in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia...in October...Wow. But then, _you_ might like it better in April-May.

Quote:

You said it, brother! I love cities, absolutely love them! You couldn't pay me enough to live in one, mind you, but the more people who live in cities, the more wilderness there is for people like me to enjoy.

LOL! ."By Jove, I think 'e's got it!"...now...where the heck is that "high-five" smily?

Quote:

Sadly, I've seen far too many examples of just such things. If I was king of the world, I'd ban off-road vehicles. I've seen many a fragile habitat devastated by dirt bikes, four-wheel drives, etc. It's sickening.

I'd just declare open season on 'em. Didja ever carry a "varmint gun"? That's what they're for.

Last time I went for a hike on Larch Mountain, my party met a trio of morons riding dirt bikes down the footpath we were trudging up. Their lack of mufflers made the damned things so loud that, without ear protection, it felt like my brain was literally being rattled. They tore up the path and kicked up a huge plume of choking dust. Needless to say, they weren't supposed to be anywhere _near_ there. There are times that I wish I'd been armed....that was one...but now I'm glad I wasn't.

It's come to the point that I can't go out into the woods anymore but that I meet up with somebody who pushes my blood pressure into the danger zone. So, I don't go. I take solace that I'm just one less urbanite fouling up the more "pristine" areas.

Also, you can take some small, cold comfort that _most_ of those who purchase vehicles that are designed and built to take "off-road" wouldn't think about doing anything that might scratch the paint, smudge the chrome, or soil the bed...they own it for the "image" or the highway intimidation factor (HIF).

Quote:

"Take only pictures, leave only footprints" -- a motto I try to live by.

Cheers,

Michael [/B]

Hear, hear! True words of wisdom.

Again... Why is there no "high five" smily? Well... You get the picture ...heh...pun intended.

Best,

godfry

godfry n. glad · 05-30-2003, 09:54 AM

Okay...

I've been a bad boy and hijacked Gurdur's thread...

So, to do penance, I'll regale you with what I think is an amusing story...which will hopefully point the thread back to where it started out.

When I placed my order for the additional iris I purchased this year, one of the varieties was a reblooming, all-white self known under the name "Immortality." I bought five.

So, I purchased five Immortalities...I'm guess I'm set for the long haul.

There was an attractive variety called "Stairway to Heaven", too, but I didn't want to be accused of "buying a Stairway to Heaven."

Heh...

godfry

godfry n. glad · 06-04-2003, 09:04 AM

Well, the tall bearded iris are nearly gone. My delphiniums have started blooming and the roses are getting under way.

I've one floribunda (it bears multiple blossoms at the same time on a single stem) that's in full bloom with clear pink blossoms and all the rest, save two, that have one bloom each and many, many buds to follow.

Here in my fair city, roses are an obession. Portland _is_ the Rose City, a title it reluctantly shares with Pasadena, California. The International Rose Test Garden is located within Portland's Washington Park. The city celebrates the "Rose Festival", a blatant civic excuse to draw sailors and tourists to spend money in the city. (Every year, the US Navy, Canadian Navy and the US Coast Guard are invited and ships line the downtown riverfront, 75 miles inland from the open sea...prompting local wags to refer to the Rose Festival as the time of year when the US Navy swims upstream to spawn.)

We have the complete months-long selection of "Ambassadors" (which, until three years ago, were referred to as "Princesses"), one from each of the city's high schools, which culminates in the selection of a "Queen of Rosaria" and a "Grand Floral Parade" where the winner and her court are paraded about the city, along with a train of floats, bands, and compost-producing horse organizations. It's a lot like the pagan fertility rites....which has always left me wondering why they don't go the whole distance. I mean, we _do_ have the smouldering volcano caldera not 30 miles north...

Anyway, some years back, I succombed to the rose insanity and I had over 40 varieties of roses on my tiny property. I've since throttled back to just over 20. I got tired of fighting all the fungal diseases. Black spot...Powdery mildew...Rust...Aphids.... It's almost a litany amongst rose growers. Yeah... Already this year, I've got an infestation of black spot. Spray. Soil treatment. Mulch. Pick up dead leaves. The rose grower is a slave to their bushes. I opted out of much of it and went to low-maintenance iris.

'Course..... Roses have a rebloom over five months, while iris tend to do their thing over 2-3 weeks in May and that's it (they're a lot like tulips that way). The problem then becomes trying to find something to interplant.

Then, I've got a delphenium that now tops 7 feet tall and has yet to bloom. I can't even tell from the buds what the final color will be. Damn, I've gotta see if I can get somebody with a digital camera over to get a picture when it does bloom.

So... Gurdur...

How goes your garden? The bulbs are long done, so I'm assuming you've got new additions to your fluers collection...

godfry

RevDahlia · 06-04-2003, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gurdur
----> RevDahlia:
I hardly know you, but I suppose you deserve one just for your user-name --- but like Strawberry, you'll have to wait till my dahlias come into bloom.

For [b] me? [/b} Swoon!

Envy envy envy for those with the green thumbs...

Gurdur · 06-04-2003, 03:26 PM

I'll be replying to all here soon.

In the meantime, please see here.

mouse. · 06-09-2003, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by godfry n. glad
Hmmm... I disagree with your assessment, but agree with your recommended course of action.

I consider "invasive" to be a term that is in relation to other plants, so in my eyes "any plant" is not invasive. Some species are far more invasive, and often at the cost of other plants. In the United States, it has often been introduced plant species that have thrived, while native species have been crowded out, choked out or otherwise marginalized. Witness the spread of English Ivy, kudzu and that ol' standby, the dandelion.

Now the lil' ol' violet that you nominated is pretty pushy. In my garden, it has expanded at the expense of the woolly thyme and other, more "genteel" groundcovers. You're right, though...to maintain the look I desire, I have to "show them who is boss"...though... at times, I despair. Usually after I see new violet starts in the midst of my recently planted Corsican mint or lemon thyme. I don't know who is showing whom who is boss....

Kinda like trying to control a mouse population.....

Best,

godfry

Don't plant elder then thugs r us is apt. Or summach, nice tree shame about the suckers.

Hey I'm an in control cute mouse

Corsican mint I love that, and lemon balm.
For a fire hazard buy Dictamus smells heavenly(lemony) but explosive.

mouse.

mouse. · 06-09-2003, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Lone Ranger
Just to be pedantic, though they're often called "violets," the genus Erythronium is in the lily family (Liliaceae). A distinctive feature of the various members of the genus Erythronium is their growth form of having distinctly down-turned flowers, so I suppose that "shy" might be a fitting adjective. (The wild species are mostly white or yellow, not purple.)

True violets (genus Viola) have their own family (Violaceae), and are quite unrelated to the genus Erythronium.

Cheers,

Michael

Well it is the dogs tooth violet so can I have my shy violet back again please Mr lone pedantic ranger

I like Cardiocrinum giganteum can't beat their scent.

mouse.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

05-30-2003, 09:54 AM	#52
godfry n. glad Banned Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: portland, oregon, usa Posts: 1,190	Okay... I've been a bad boy and hijacked Gurdur's thread... So, to do penance, I'll regale you with what I think is an amusing story...which will hopefully point the thread back to where it started out. When I placed my order for the additional iris I purchased this year, one of the varieties was a reblooming, all-white self known under the name "Immortality." I bought five. So, I purchased five Immortalities...I'm guess I'm set for the long haul. There was an attractive variety called "Stairway to Heaven", too, but I didn't want to be accused of "buying a Stairway to Heaven." Heh... godfry

06-04-2003, 09:04 AM	#53
godfry n. glad Banned Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: portland, oregon, usa Posts: 1,190	Well, the tall bearded iris are nearly gone. My delphiniums have started blooming and the roses are getting under way. I've one floribunda (it bears multiple blossoms at the same time on a single stem) that's in full bloom with clear pink blossoms and all the rest, save two, that have one bloom each and many, many buds to follow. Here in my fair city, roses are an obession. Portland _is_ the Rose City, a title it reluctantly shares with Pasadena, California. The International Rose Test Garden is located within Portland's Washington Park. The city celebrates the "Rose Festival", a blatant civic excuse to draw sailors and tourists to spend money in the city. (Every year, the US Navy, Canadian Navy and the US Coast Guard are invited and ships line the downtown riverfront, 75 miles inland from the open sea...prompting local wags to refer to the Rose Festival as the time of year when the US Navy swims upstream to spawn.) We have the complete months-long selection of "Ambassadors" (which, until three years ago, were referred to as "Princesses"), one from each of the city's high schools, which culminates in the selection of a "Queen of Rosaria" and a "Grand Floral Parade" where the winner and her court are paraded about the city, along with a train of floats, bands, and compost-producing horse organizations. It's a lot like the pagan fertility rites....which has always left me wondering why they don't go the whole distance. I mean, we _do_ have the smouldering volcano caldera not 30 miles north... Anyway, some years back, I succombed to the rose insanity and I had over 40 varieties of roses on my tiny property. I've since throttled back to just over 20. I got tired of fighting all the fungal diseases. Black spot...Powdery mildew...Rust...Aphids.... It's almost a litany amongst rose growers. Yeah... Already this year, I've got an infestation of black spot. Spray. Soil treatment. Mulch. Pick up dead leaves. The rose grower is a slave to their bushes. I opted out of much of it and went to low-maintenance iris. 'Course..... Roses have a rebloom over five months, while iris tend to do their thing over 2-3 weeks in May and that's it (they're a lot like tulips that way). The problem then becomes trying to find something to interplant. Then, I've got a delphenium that now tops 7 feet tall and has yet to bloom. I can't even tell from the buds what the final color will be. Damn, I've gotta see if I can get somebody with a digital camera over to get a picture when it does bloom. So... Gurdur... How goes your garden? The bulbs are long done, so I'm assuming you've got new additions to your fluers collection... godfry

06-04-2003, 03:26 PM	#55
Gurdur Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Buggered if I know Posts: 12,410	I'll be replying to all here soon. In the meantime, please see here.

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.