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| from the FAQ page .... for you newbies ... ken Garden Etiquette 1. I did NOT invite you over to use my bathroom ... SO DO NOT ASK .... because i cleaned the garden for your visit, not the house... take care of this before you get here ... though obviously emergencies occur ...and dont stop at micky dee's to take care of it and then buy the 200 ounce pop because it is hot out there .... and then 2 hours later have to use the bathroom .... i will provide you with enough liquids to survive .... perhaps a tablespoon at a time ... 2. DO NOT walk in my garden beds, unless you have permission. 3. IGNORE the idiot dog, when standing near my beds .... to watch you turn him into a frothing love hound and rip up my labels and plants is truly disheartening ... we have the the middle of the lawn for that ... 4. Either bring a gift .... LIKE A HOSTA .. or any perennial .... or send a thank you note ... i did a lot of work for your visit ... and i want some afterglow ... a note a few days later .. usually gets you another invite w/o question ... and probably a hosta next time ... nothing pricey ... it is the gesture ... not the value ... 5. Leash your children if they are a problem [though they are usually not the children of hosta nuts ... these children have been taught the proper priorities] ... or bring something that will entertain them ... and dont rely on my dog to be the entertainment ... he is an idiot ... see above .... 6. Leash your uninterested significant other ... or insure they bring something to entertain themselves ... or better yet .. leave the uninterested at home ... i hate cutting short a tour with someone who is truly interested because they are distracted by someone else ... and suggest to them that if they have nothing nice to say ... they need not say anything ... 7. Do NOT resort to platitudes in describing the beauties before you. Also, PLEASE do NOT tell me how so-and-so's plants are doing better than mine, for whatever reason. 8. be on time .... i have waited and worked like a dog anticipating your visit .. have some respect ... and calling is not sufficient, because i will be out there an hour ahead sprucing up the garden waiting for you .... and i wont be near the phone ..... i will NOT be upset if there was an emergency ... 9. DO NOT try to surreptitiously purloin a piece of ANYTHING (with that plastic spoon hidden in your pocket) without asking my permission. If you ask nicely, I MAY give it to you-but on my terms. 10. if you can grow one better than me .... be prepared to discuss all variables in your success so that i may figure out what you are doing right that i am not 11. Amendment to #1 with relationship to #5 and #6. If you are going to stop at McDonalds on the way to my garden, leave the uninterested spouse and children there. We will all be happier that way. 12. Do NOT pull the plant marker out of the ground to read it easier, and if you must pull it out, PUT IT BACK WHERE YOU GOT IT FROM. 13. FEEL FREE TO PULL WEEDS .... IF YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE ... I WILL BE GLAD TO PROVIDE ANY TOOLS OR SUPPLIES TO ENCOURAGE SUCH ... IF YOU ARE WILLING TO COME BACK TO WEED .. I WILL PAY YOU IN HOSTA ... 14. if you want the label in the picture .. i will gladly do it for you, and put it back where i want it ... they are placed in a certain manner .. so me and the dog know where to walk when you arent here ... moving them can lead to bloody feet for one or the other of us ... and so i know where the dormant plants are in spring ... 15. Never ask to trade me two undulata's for a plant I just gave my left arm and two grandchildren for. 16. Don't ever ask in front of my spouse "Whad'ya give for that one?" 17. No, that one will never be big enough to divide up and give away. If you really like it, I will tell you where to BUY it. 18. Yes, I am sure you would like some plants to get started since they are so expensive. I know, I because I bought most of mine. 19. No, That one won't get any bigger with more light and fertilizer, it is a mini....we like em' that size! 20. Yes, this is a lot of work and takes alot of time, but it keeps me out of the bars.... and I don't get a hangover from it....Occasionally slugs can be a headache, though. 21. Addendum to #1. I did NOT even invite you. You were here when I got home from work and said you didn't think I would mind, since you are related to so and so downtown, and they know me. I DO mind. 22. Addendum to #3. Leave YOUR idiot dog home. Don't tie a beagle on a 6 ft. lead to my gazebo to destroy my Blue Mammoth Hosta while you are on the other side of the house and your dog is going nuts because you just disappeared from his view!! 23. If you don't know a thing at all about Hosta, don't ask for an invite, and then view my Liberty Hosta, which was 6 eyes last year, and say.."Well, I have that one--but mine's huge!!" 24. Do NOT tell me what I "should" OR "shouldn't" do or plant. I love talking about my gardens when someone says "have you ever thought about..." because it's interesting to share ideas and experience. However, I garden for my own pleasure and appeal, so I don't really care if you find something not to your liking. And please don't ever say: You should plant some marigolds. (No, I should not...they don't happen to be a favorite of mine and your barrelful is utterly boring.) You should run those bricks farther down. (No, I want it to transition into a woodland path at this point and you don't even have a garden path, so just go sit down some place and get out of my sight for a while.) You should try some of that colored mulch...really brights up the place. (Are you crazy?...I've seen your yard) 25. And DON'T waste my precious TIME, having to explain the history of each and every HOSTA to YOU, only to tell ME that they LOOK ALL ALIKE. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by steve_mass 5b (My Page) on Fri, Dec 14, 12 at 18:22
| I'll be right over. Where's your bathroom again? Steve |
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| 26. Don't come to tour the gardens if it's raining like crazy? Maybe pick a better day...LOL, Don |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Fri, Dec 14, 12 at 19:20
| for men ... out behind the row of green giants .. i dont want to see it ken but i dont care what the neighbors see. . lol
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| I thought to let the guys do it on your compost piles. |
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| ken- and you told me 'I' have a lot of grass? lol Certainly I would never tell you that you need more gardens and Les lawn. :) Les |
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- Posted by almosthooked none (My Page) on Sat, Dec 15, 12 at 13:33
| My goodness Ken ! How much of a lot do you have ? Besides the large lawns and the beautiful trees and the hosta , when do you have time to shop for more? Or is this what winter is all about? Beautiful( I would really not want anyone pee on my compost pile or my trees either. :)) |
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| Ken - I love the thin conifer standing like an exclamation point to the right in that last picture.What is it? How old? How tall will it get?(Can I get a piece if I bring my own shovel - oh, sorry, reread the rules...lol.) Jan |
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- Posted by tsugajunkie z5 SE WI (My Page) on Mon, Dec 17, 12 at 18:57
| Dang, I knew there was something I was supposed to read before seeing your place. The last pic looks like some folks didn't make it to the arbs and did a number on your pine instead- lol (thunbergii in spring, I trust?). tj |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Dec 17, 12 at 19:36
| my yard is 500 feet square.. aka 5 acres ... no more shopping.. budget ran out ... but i used to live in suburbia.. where i did run out of grass ... the yellow upright is juniper gold cone.. and it has a second name.. which escapes me right now ... absolutely stunning in spring ... junkie.. you brought beer.. you make your own rules.. lol .. and the browned tree is mini mounds.. which i suggested was a better version of thunderhead ... the pic is from 2009.. i dont recall why it burned like that ... ken |
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| haha if somebody (male) wants to pee on the edge of my woods, I say do it. Keeps the deer guessing! Just don't let anybody see you! |
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- Posted by hostahillbilly Zone 4 (My Page) on Tue, Dec 18, 12 at 0:22
| We give a lot of tours (ummm, garden walks?) here, several a month in season, and it always amazes me how tardy most folk are. In the bigger picture, folk in general don't seem to be as 'prompt' as I was taught to be, ESPECIALLY Doctors and Dentists n so forth, as regards my appointment with THEM. /PetPeaveOff I still find I like and enjoy the visitors anyway. Guess we're awfully lonely out here in the sticks, teehee, hh |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Dec 18, 12 at 8:10
| but hillbilly.. do you let them in the house??? i suppose with your operation.. you have a chem potty hanging around ... yeah.. i enjoy them too .. its for the glory ... the friendship.. etc .. there are idiots everywhere.. and unfortunately.. we spend more time witching about them.. rather than remember all the good folks ... who all kinda just blend together.. in the glow of friendship ... in the garden .. i am sorta waxing poetic ... better find something else to do .. before i break down and cry.. lol ... [that will be next week when the kids are home from school.. lol] ken |
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- Posted by brucebanyaihsta (My Page) on Tue, Dec 18, 12 at 22:42
| Having toured hundreds of different gardens worldwide for the past 50 years and Ken's gardens at both sites, I respect his requests more than he will know! Thanks again Ken for all your garden hospitality over the years! I do like when people are driving by on a long distance trip and recall your name/garden and spontaneously call for a driving break! They may use my potty, refresh and get garden inspired while knowing they only have a short time to visit. What probably bugged me the most about my garden visitors over the years was a couple visiting my Delaware garden that was more in awe and wonder about the wood pile design of my three year firewood supply which ringed my garden beds; who designed the "wooden wall", how did they build it etc. We heated our home with wood at the time and had plenty of wood to build walls or piles as we called them. My 3 sons purposely stacked it crooked to get their Dad mad, but that wall/pile did have some artistic flair! Back in the 1980's we had a family situation where a garden visitor liked a plant in my Mom's garden enough to come back after a tour and steal it later that evening. He was too obvious as to his desire for a piece of the plant while she had not decided to give any away yet. Someone who will remain unnamed went over the next day to visit the "inappropriate" hosta collector and threatened that if Pauline's plant wasn't returned by the next morning there would be a murder in the greater Detroit hosta society history, this one related to a stolen hosta clump. The threat was sufficient that the clump (one of her seedlings) was returned promptly. Funny how word got around not to steal any of Pauline's plants! Bruce |
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- Posted by gogirlterri 5 IL (My Page) on Wed, Dec 19, 12 at 9:25
| Ken, your Garden Etiquette sounds sexist to me. What am I to do if I visit your garden? Do ladies NOT have a need to pee? :> Theresa |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Dec 19, 12 at 13:20
| oh i dont know.. woman are usually smart enough to take care of such things in advance.. its the guys who are idiots ... and think.. oh.. a tree line.. outta sight.. outta mind.. like we all dont know what the heck your are doing back there ... crimminey .. are you 3 years old ... the worst was the rural cow inseminator ... i say .. give me a minute to tell wifey you are coming in.. and he looks at me like i am insane.. and says.. what the heck for.. you have a polebarn ... apparently.. when you do what they do ... with a plastic glove that fits to your shoulder ... and cows do what they do in barns.. then a polebarn is just a large toilet ... needless to say.. i was.. and to this day am.. horrified ... he was back out.. faster than i could stop blabbering.. but.. but.. but.. ken |
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- Posted by gogirlterri 5 IL (My Page) on Wed, Dec 19, 12 at 20:40
| Huh? Theresa LOL |
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| Please clarify - Ken -- you have all those hostas and all those conifers, and COWS TOO??? What else have I missed? (I do remember a pic of a small pig in the sand box.) Jan |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Dec 22, 12 at 11:37
| no.. he was a hosta friend .. way back when.. one of the first to try to do TC at home ... once he succeeded.. he was done with it.. lol .. said it was a PIA ... since he had no interest in selling.. or having hundreds of one kind .. and no ....i do NOT have cows ... lol .. MOOOO!!!! ken |
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- Posted by kasha77 7 (kathysuleski@yahoo.com) on Mon, Dec 31, 12 at 12:55
| And I thought I was the only one who thought that way about people who stopped over to see my gardens. How about the hill billy toothless woman who wanted me to give her a shovel so she could help herself to whatever she wanted from my beds? She ignorantly wandered all over my private yards like it was a nursery, with no regard to my privacy. I closed up shop after that one! |
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