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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 5, 2018 13:42:54 GMT
Have fun. Don't catch any forests on fire.
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Post by questa on Aug 6, 2018 10:12:34 GMT
Here's a little coincidence ~ right after reading all the posts above, including Questa's about letter writing, I logged off anyport & went onto to other reading on the internet ... and immediately came upon this: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/03/experience-writing-french-pen-pal-81-yearsYou want coincidence, Bixa? Last night I was reading the story on the net about the couple who had stolen a very expensive painting and kept it for years, undetected, until they died. You posted tonight the name of the artist in 'Famous people' Post by bixaorellana on 7 hours ago Willem de Kooning I hadn't heard the name for 20 years
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2018 13:56:04 GMT
ou want coincidence, Bixa? Last night I was reading the story on the net about the couple who had stolen a very expensive painting and kept it for years, undetected, until they died. You posted tonight the name of the artist in 'Famous people' .. Willem de Kooning I hadn't heard the name for 20 years I haven't had it happen in while, but I've had entire days where every thing that happened and everything I saw or read seemed to link up like a chain.
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Post by Kimby on Aug 25, 2018 16:46:21 GMT
My sisters and I are taking a trip together! Going to St Croix USVI in December. Haven’t been to the Caribbean since our parents took us on chartered sailing cruises many years ago.
We’re paying for it with our parents’ money, now that they’re both gone. It will be special!
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 25, 2018 17:01:14 GMT
Has the area recovered from Hurricane Irma?
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Post by Kimby on Aug 25, 2018 18:57:41 GMT
St. Croix missed the brunt of Irma and is fully operational now.
The NEXT Caribbean hurricane will be of more concern...
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 25, 2018 22:47:19 GMT
You girls have fun and be sure to take tons of pictures.
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Post by Kimby on Aug 25, 2018 23:09:10 GMT
🙂
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 25, 2018 23:33:16 GMT
And don't get burnt in the sun!
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Post by Kimby on Aug 26, 2018 2:56:10 GMT
Yes, mom! Though it will be December.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 26, 2018 3:24:30 GMT
I was in Cuba mid-November of last year and the sun there was quite burn-y.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2018 21:30:32 GMT
Seeing my hoya carnosa that came to me all the way from Missoula, Montana several years ago blooming it's heart out with no signs of letting up!!! "She" love love loves it here outside year round except when there is any sign of a freeze and then in she comes. I get so much joy seeing this plant and always think fondly of the lovely person who took the time to send it to me out of the goodness of her heart. (I do get nervous when I leave town and always give explicit instructions to my husband or whomever is tending my plants that special care be given to this plant "or else"!)
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Post by whatagain on Aug 28, 2018 19:44:05 GMT
I have planted 2 trees with my son - one I even gave it a name and called it Yggdrasil. I also take special care of those two.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 28, 2018 19:48:14 GMT
Oh that is lovely and of course the name is perfect.
What kind of trees are they?
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Post by bjd on Aug 29, 2018 5:19:40 GMT
In a back corner of our garden, behind a shed which we want to change, there is a small beech tree growing. Obviously a child of the large beech tree next door, although the neighbour's one is purple-leaved and this one is green. Anyway, I noticed it because I saw that the surrounding laurel (laurus nobilis )bushes were pushing it down, so we cut back the laurels (which grow like weeds here), tied the beech to the fence to straighten it out, and in 15 or 20 years we will have a nice big beech tree.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 29, 2018 14:53:19 GMT
Oh, that is wonderful, Bjd. It may even grow faster than you think, since it has pent-up energy from being repressed before. Anyway, a lovely thing to have in your garden.
The other day someone posted a Sicilian song on facebook. In part of the video the singer was standing in front of a huge tree. To my amazement, I recognized where it was. I have a leaf off that very Laurus nobilis from the video in my jewelry box. They don't grow like weeds where I live!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2018 0:46:59 GMT
Your trees sound heavenly Whatagain!!!
I only know of one species of mimosa that grows here. There was a huge, huge specimen that grew just behind our property line and it bloomed magnificently. Hummingbirds came and nectared off of it's blooms and it threw off a faint lovely scent. The owner of the property cut it down for no apparent reason other than perhaps he thought it was a liability as it was so close to our fence but it was no bother to us and I wish he had consulted with us. Some years back a disease/fungus or something caused a dying back of many of the large mimosas and they are only making a come back in the past ten years or so. I don't have the room to put in another but, I sure do miss that tree.
Laurel nobilis will grow into fairly large trees here and there are several in my neighborhood that I have free license to go and lob off large limbs whenever I wish. I did have one some recent years ago but an over enthusiastic "helper" killed it as he thought it was a trash tree.(a very sore subject I might add...).
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 31, 2018 0:55:15 GMT
That is so nifty that both those trees bear something edible. What a good idea to extend the blooming season of the mimosas by using different types. All those fruit trees are treasures. Wow. I guess the eucalyptus are for shade. Is your house in the middle of all the trees? I use this: www.wordreference.com to look up foreign words, but it didn't do me much good this time. It says that néflier is loquat or medlar, which are two different things. I've always wanted to see and taste a medlar, although loquats are very nice too. As far as figues -- is it the kind that Adam and Eve used the leaves for clothes, or is it the kind that grows on a cactus? Medlar: Loquat: Fig: Prickly pear:
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Post by questa on Aug 31, 2018 4:43:31 GMT
Is mimosa an acacia...sets pods of seeds after flowering, usually yellow tone flowers. I am thinking it is what we call wattle and is Oz national flower (1 species) I remember this discussion before, but Wattles can be big, small and ground cover. In pots or ground. Could you get a half wine barrel and grow a 2 metre one of your own? they grow fast but have a healthy life span...about 15 years.
The following wattles are listed in order from the smallest (2m) to the largest (30 m) by height (a useful characteristic for selecting a wattle for your garden or property):
Acacia aspera (Rough Wattle) Native to New South Wales and Victoria
Small spreading shrub 2 m high. Phyllodes 1-4 cm long and 1-4 mm wide, covered with rigid hairs. Flowers bright yellow, appearing from Jul-Nov. Moderately frost hardy. Suitable for planting in most parts of southern Australia and useful for small gardens.
Acacia drummondii (Drummond's Wattle). Native to Western Australia. Rounded or erect shrub up to 2 m high. Leaves bipinnate. Flowers in spikes up 1.5-3.0 cm long, bright golden yellow, appearing Jul-Oct. Moderately frost hardy. Suitable as a garden shrub for temperate regions.
Acacia gracilifolia (Graceful Wattle). Native to South Australia where it is confined to the southern Flinders Ranges.
Usually a spreading shrub 1-2 m high. Phyllodes long and narrow, about 5-15 cm long and 1-2 mm wide. Flowers in globular heads, bright golden-yellow, appearing Aug-Oct. Not expected to be frost hardy. An excellent garden subject on account of its graceful habit and superb flowers. Suited to most parts south-eastern Australia.
Acacia acinacea (Gold-dust Wattle)
Native to South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
Small spreading shrub 1-2.5 m high. Phyllodes narrow or round, 1-3 cm long and 0.5-1.0 cm wide. Flowers in small globular heads; usually deep yellow. Masses of flowers in spring. Moderately frost hardy. Suitable for small gardens in south-eastern Australia.
Acacia argyraea (no common name). Native to Western Australia, Northern Territory
Tomorrow, Sept 1st is wattle Day, celebrated throughout the country.
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Post by bjd on Aug 31, 2018 5:14:52 GMT
Your pictures are not quite it, Bixa, if I'm correct about Whatagain's trees. Figs are not Barbary Figs, like in the picture above. Those grow on cactusy plants. There are loads of fig trees around in southern France, giving either green or purple figs at this time of year.
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Post by bjd on Aug 31, 2018 5:20:25 GMT
Sorry, that's a bit too big. And the "neflier" around here is the medlar. I don't much like them, with 3 large pits in a smallish fruit. But quite common too. Most mimosa trees here are the yellow flowering ones in early spring, but there is another kind called albizzia, which has silky pink flowers in summer. I dug one out of some stones under my clothesline and put it in a pot. They grow really fast.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 31, 2018 14:59:15 GMT
Bjd, I showed one picture of a real fig and another of the "figue" from cactus so he could choose and also gave descriptions of each. Are the pictures not showing on your end?
The pink fluffly flower you show is what I called a mimosa all my life. It wasn't until I was on this forum that I learned about the yellow mimosa/wattle. I think the first reference I remember was how the flowers are grown in the south of France and sold in Paris to show that Spring has arrived.
Pee ess ~ in Google Images, if you hover your mouse over each thumbnail picture, the dimensions will appear so you can pick the size you want.
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Post by bjd on Aug 31, 2018 15:14:03 GMT
Thanks for the advice, Bixa. I just copied "image information" so the photos came out huge. There didn't seem to be a sizing option but I will look again.
Those pink albizzias only grow in the south of France. Well, the yellow mimosas too but the yellow ones, which start blooming in late February or early March, are the ones sold all over France. I find they smell nice outside but are totally overwhelming in the house. Albizzias bloom in summer -- they are just coming to an end now.
What you posted as a fig are called "figues de Barbarie" and only grow in really warm places. You must have seen them in Sicily.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 31, 2018 15:52:29 GMT
This is what I posted as a fig. The color in the picture is too intense, but these are real honest-to-goodness figs (Ficus carica). The other picture (prickly pear) was posted to show what the translation site said could be a figue.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 3, 2018 14:40:46 GMT
Hmmm, I am not seeing anything.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 3, 2018 18:20:14 GMT
Ahhhhh ~ no wonder Bjd thought I was only showing prickly pears!. It shows up for me, so I had no idea others couldn't see it.
Fixed it ~ see above, please.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 3, 2018 19:09:54 GMT
Yes, there it is!
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Post by whatagain on Sept 4, 2018 6:32:35 GMT
My fig tree is the one bjd pictured. The néflier is the one with the yellow fruits which are quite good actually but have a big nucleus. So not a lot to eat.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 4, 2018 16:51:12 GMT
I love those figs more than words can say. Yes, I agree about the néflier/loquats, more seed and skin than tasty flesh. Here is a recipe for what I did with a bumper crop of them. It no longer has photos, but if you go to #31, there is a description.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 4, 2018 18:06:06 GMT
The exclamation "des nèfles!" in French means "worthless!" and has existed since the 17th century. Unfair, but I suspect that it might be a reference to the fact that there is not as much to eat as one would prefer.
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