Flowers (annual and perennial)

Cleome, a No Problem Flower

“What’s that unusual plant?” is a question that almost always indicates someone has just spied the cleome blooming in my garden. I enjoy watching their eyes widen when I tell them they are “spider flowers.” Cleome common name captures how the whiskery blooms seem to explode from the top of the stems. I can always count on these fanciful flowers to add an element of surprise to my garden.

If you want an easy source of big, beautiful swaths of color, cleomes are a fast way to get there. A few years ago, most cleomes were found growing in the back of the border to accommodate their tall and lanky (5-6 feet) height which I still grow (the purples are best). But these days, there are several new varieties that are more compact in form. These newcomers are sporting a host of fresh colors creating a renewed interest in these old fashioned annuals.

Proven Winners Senorita Rosalita Cleome One of the newest cleomes to make its debut is Senorita Rosalita. Along with a memorable name, this annual is out to prove that less is more. While many of the other cleomes share a list of common traits: spiny stems, foliage with a pungent aroma and flowers that ripen into seedpods that freely reseed themselves; Senorita Rosalita® (2-3 feet), is odorless with sterile flowers that don’t produce seeds, and has no thorns; all qualities that add to its appeal for many gardeners. Senorita Rosalita’s purple-lavender blossoms are smaller than most cleome and unlike other varieties, are produced all along the stem, not just at the top.

And for a truly diminutive cleome, there’s ‘Linde Armstrong’ with rosy pink flowers atop 12-18 inch plants. This cleome is also thornless and noted for its heat and drought tolerance.

Cleomes will flower from summer through frost.

Best of all they are mostly rabbit, deer, and grasshopper proof.

DIY Projects, Real Estate (Residential)

Good Time to Give the Exterior Part of Your Home a Facelift

Old wood siding, fast becoming a dinosaur in new construction, regularly needs the protection of a new coat of paint, so I bought a Xboost Turbine Wagner sprayer (more power, less time) realizing I do not have to be fancy but just get paint on the bare wood. Plants and shrubs mostly cover the side of my house.

A good paint job can last 10 years. The key is proper preparation. Here are steps to take to make sure your exterior paint job looks great, adds value to your home, and lasts a long time.

Step 1: Get the Lead Out

Do-it-yourselfers are not obligated to follow EPA regulations for lead-safe practices, as professional paint contractors must. But if your home was built before 1978, when lead paint was banned for residential use, you should protect yourself and your neighbors from airborne lead particles.

Step 2: Wash the Exterior

Mildew thrives under fresh paint, which won’t adhere well to dirty, grimy, spore-sporting exterior walls. You can hand-apply the solution with a sponge, which will take forever and many trips up and down the ladder. Or, hire a pro to pressure wash siding—not a task for an amateur, who can damage siding by pushing water under boards.

Step 3: Scrape off Loose Paint

A handheld scraper is usually the best tool for the job, though you can also use a hot-air gun or infrared paint stripper. Never use an open-flame torch, which can easily start a fire and is illegal in most states unless you have a permit.

Step 4: Sand Rough Spots

A pad sander or random-orbit fitted with 80-grit sandpaper will smooth out any remaining rough spots. Take care not to push so hard that you leave sander marks in the wood. To be lead safe, use sanders fitted with HEPA filters.

Step 5: Fill and Repair

Fill minor holes or dings in the siding with a patching putty or compound such as Zinsser’s Ready Patch ($20 per gallon). If you’ve got a major rot problem, summon a carpenter to replace the bad wood. Also, fix drainage problems that cause water to pool and promote rot.

Step 6: Apply Primer

Apply primer immediately after preparing wood siding. White, gray, or tinted primer provides an even base for topcoats to adhere to, and a uniform canvas from which to survey your work. Small gaps in joints and around doors, windows, and other spots where horizontals meet verticals will all stand out in high relief, showing where you need to fill in with caulk.

If you’re painting over bare wood or existing latex paint, then latex primer is fine. But if you’re painting over multiple coats of oil-based paint, it’s best to stick with a new coat of oil-based primer.

Step 7: Caulk All Joints

Spring for the $7-a-tube polyurethane caulks with 55-year warranties, which will stand up to weather better than 35-year caulks that cost less than $3. The average house requires about seven tubes of caulk.

Step 8: Choose the Right Paint

Painting with water-based acrylic latex is so much easier than dealing with oil-based paints. If your house already sports an oil-based paint, which is more durable than latex, you’ll have to stick with it.

Choose finishes carefully. As a rule, the higher the sheen, the better the paint is at blocking the sun’s damaging rays. Satin is fine for shingles or clapboards, but you’ll want gloss paint to protect high-traffic parts of a house, such as window casings, porches, and doorframes. A gallon of premium exterior latex costs $35 to $45.

Step 9: Apply Top Coat(s)

Less is more when it comes to applying top coats. More layers can result in paint flaking off through the years; less paint bonds better to layers beneath.

If you’re going from a white house to yellow or cream, you might be able to get by with one coat. Going from a light to a dark house, and vice versa, usually requires two coats.

Vegetable and Fruits

Cantaloupe vs muskmelon

What’s the difference between a cantaloupe vs muskmelon? One of the great joys of summer has to be fresh cantaloupe, either from the local farmer’s market or your own home garden. But is it cantaloupe or muskmelon? There is technically a difference, but often the names are used interchangeably.

The term cantaloupe refers to two varieties of muskmelon. What we typically call a cantaloupe is Cucumis melo reticulatus, also called the North American cantaloupe. The variety name reticulatus refers to the net-like appearance of the skin, also called reticulated. The other variety, European cantaloupe, Cucumis melo cantalupensis, has ribbed light green skin and looks nothing like what we commonly call cantaloupe.

While both of these cantaloupe varieties are muskmelons, not all muskmelons are cantaloupes. The name muskmelon comes from the sweet fragrance of the ripe fruit. The term musk comes from a Persian word for perfume, and melon is a French word derived from the Latin melopepo, which means “apple-shaped melon”. There are many different types of muskmelons, with a wide variety of shapes, sizes, flesh color and flavor.

Muskmelons, including cantaloupe are native to Persia, which is present-day Iran. The oldest pictoral record of muskmelon appears to be in an Egyptian illustration dating back to 2400 B.C. Historical records give indications that the Greeks grew muskmelon back in 300 B.C. Cultivation of muskmelon spread slowly westward, and by the late 15thcentury, Christopher Columbus carried muskmelon seeds with him on one of his voyages to the New World.

Several environmental factors potentially contribute to a melon’s flavor. While water is essential for plant growth and development, too much will dilute the sugars and dull the flavor of a nearly ripe muskmelon. This too translates to a potentially poor quality fruit.

An ‘old wives’ tale’ still floating around out there is that poor melon quality is related to cross-pollination with other members of the muskmelon family, the curcurbits. This family includes cucumbers, squash, watermelon and pumpkin. While in theory these family members can cross, it is unlikely to happen at random. So if you save and reuse the seeds or allow last year seeds to grow, you may have something else.

The best conditions to grow muskmelon in are full sun, well-drained soil. Plants or seeds should be put out after all danger of frost is past, and the soil is at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Well-drained or even sandy soil is a must, as standing water in a melon patch tends to breed disease.

Whether you grow your own or buy muskmelon at store or farmer’s market, how do you know what a ripe one looks like? For cantaloupes, the skin beneath the netted parts typically appears creamy beige. But for all muskmelons, cantaloupes included, the vine will naturally slip from the fruit when it is ready to harvest. If you find melons for sale that have little stubs of vine sticking out of them, they were harvested too early and probably won’t be very sweet.