Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Many plants are bought for the Memorial day activities at the local cemeteries. Which is a wonderful way of remembering your loved ones.  I would rather plant a tree or shrub for a more permanent memory.  A lot of times people buy plants for a  grave site and then it is thrown away, so why not buy a plant to stick in the ground for a long time with no waste. The weather has been gorgeous this week-end and hopeful for a good day on Monday. We rototiled the soil for Mary's vegetable garden, and picked up more plants at Meadowbrook Farm. Although we have not planted them yet we will enjoy it when it happens. Tomato's, Peppers, Eggplant, and squash are the features this year. We really like going to Meadowbrook Farm. The people are very nice and give you a nice feeling after you leave. We also pick our strawberries there to. Another thing about Memorial Day. We should not consider it just another Holiday, or day off. It is to remember our loved ones and the men and woman who served to protect or freedoms. The very freedom in which I write this blog under. The freedom of speech. So while celebrating your day off, do something to mark the remembrance of all the work done to protect our values and freedoms. I lowered the flags on campus this morning so that felt like I was doing something in their honor.
I stopped buy the Gates of Heaven Cemetery to fix up my parents resting place and as well as my aunt and uncle. They spent their lives together, and now also they rest together. Its nice. As I pulled into the cemetery I noticed the flowers were with out color. No blooms on any of them at the entrance. Well I gave the groundskeepers the benefit of the doubt. And not wanting to get myself all riled up, I figured they planted them and were trying to make it look nice for the biggest week-end of the year, if you work at a cemetery. But while edging and cleaning the stones one groundskeeper came buy on his mower and sprayed grass all over my legs and I had to move quickly out of the way to avoid being sprayed in the face. This is exactly the move that gives groundskeepers a bad name. If that were one of my crew members they would be in serious trouble. Just the fact that it is a safety issue. And the poor judgement with bad customer service might just beckon me into calling or writing a strongly worded letter of my 10 minutes of hell at the cemetery. Oh well.



Roses
There are many different varieties and colors. Some a lot of work while others do well with little or no maintenance. One that I have been admiring and cutting for the vase are a white Nancy Reagan we planted 3 years ago at the Quad parking lot. I really like them and wish we had more. And yet I don't know if I would have the time to care for them but I think it could work. We also have a lot of Knock - Out varieties. A lot of blooms that can last all summer.

The Shore
We spent a couple of minutes on Narragansett Bay yesterday. And just for that couple of minutes it was completely relaxing. No shells though. And a congrats to Frank Pagliaro on his graduation from Portsmith Abbey. And on to Williams. And thanks for making us remember who we really are, Pagliaro, pronounced, (Pal-iaro).

Plant of the Day

Moonshadow  Euonymous. This plant gives year round color and grows in a mounding fashion. You can use it as a boarder in a plant bed or for ground cover. Light pruning will encourage new growth yet hard shearing can create a vulnerability for insects and disease. We have used them in parking lot beds with much success. You can mound the snow on them and they recover nicely in the spring. The yellow and green in the leaf texture give you plenty of options when using this plant in a wide range of landscapes.

News/Politics

Dear Mr. President,
Please stop the F_ _ _ _ _ _ Oil Leak!!!!   Its been over 44 days, there is no excuse. And quite frankly we do not want to hear them anymore. Your grade for this problem. F. May-be Hilary Clinton was right, who is better equipped to make the tough decision on a issue of national importance when the time comes.

Fineto

I know I still need a recipe for the post. So All I can say is I am working on it.  Mary likes to plant her tomato's a little deeper and cut of the lower limbs. A tip she got from her grandfather Abel Maurer. And it is a  great tip. The plants grow faster an healthier. And with all the rain last season many plants had a fungus as well as ours. So this year I will save some grass clippings and place them under the plants to stop the rain from dripping on the soil and splashing on the plants. That's where the fungus comes from, the soil, and anyway you can stop it from hitting the plant is a benefit. Also lime will help greatly. That's all for now, the future will bring short stories of Tony and Kay, Jim and Marie.

                                                                          Good Luck,
                                                                                 E.P.

P.S. Don't forget to get your Italian Ice at Albano's Market.
To bad about Dennis Hopper, I liked him in Speed. What the hell happened to Peter Fonda?