UPDATE---WHAT'S IT TO YA, MAC POLL

There are now 10 brave souls who have left there entry answers to the four pictures out of over 100 page views. The competition factor is fierce. About 1 in 10 so far have not been intimidated by my Double Dog Dare and ventured forth with there interpretation.

CLICK THE BELOW LINK TO VIEW THE FOUR OBJECTS IN QUESTION AND LEAVE YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS BOX THERE IF YOU DARE

http://sofloridagardening-sanddune.blogspot.com/2009/11/whats-it-to-ya-mac-contest-in.html


Experienced gardeners have a trained eye. I know that there are you out there who at a glance can pick out a hidden Tomato Horn worm at 50 paces. So this should be easy. After all whens the last time anyone ask your opinion. This is your chance to amaze us all with your Art interpretation skill. And remember this is your perception there are no correct answers.


The clock is ticking down and all comments will be published uncut on----


MONDAY NOVEMBER 30 TH

And to all who have left your answers so far they have been fascinating and funny. You are definitely on the cutting edge of greatness.

And if you haven't NOW is your chance. "Iron while the iron is hot "as we say in the South.
So until MONDAY when your answers are revealed in the words of Bob Dylan,

"The answer my friend is floating in the wind, the answer is floating in the wind".

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WHAT'S IT TO YA, MAC- A CONTEST IN PERCEPTION

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Thanksgiving has rolled around once again and for many the cold winter winds. So apart from stuffing your face with Turkey this weekend here is your chance to show the world your critical eye.

Yes, You can rise to the top among your fellow garden bloggers even though it might be to cold to plant anything.

How is that possible you ask. It is really quite simple but requires your participation. Here are four photos of contemporary glass art sculpture by the world famous artist Dale Chihuly. They were displayed at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Coral Gables Florida just south of Miami. All art is judged in the eye of the beholder so your part is to tell me what you think it is based on your life experience. In other words what do you see for 1,2,3, and 4.

Put your answers in the comment section below this post.

I will hold the comment answers until next week so you can't look at anyone elses until then { that means cheat}. Might be fun.
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Picture #1 What is this.....
Come on show us what
you got.








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Picture#2 What do you see this to represent? Bedazzle the cyberworld with your worldliness.





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Picture #3 Set the art world on it's ear with your response.








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Picture#4 Now's your chance to win critical acclaim for your cutting eye for art. What is this?




DON'T BE SHY LEAVE YOUR OPINION FOR PICTURE #1,#2,#3 AND#4 IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW. I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU!

AND TO EVERYONE A HAPPY AND SAFE THANKSGIVING

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EXPERIMENTS IN FRUGALITY

---CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT-

One of the garden experiments that I have tested this year is newspaper mulch.
It just seems right that anything so full of bad news ought to be recycled into something good.
The old newspaper was cut into large strips about 10 inches or so and feed into my paper shredder. I had to cut the strips so the newspaper would fit into the shredder's mouth and not jam her.
This provided bags of shredded paper to work with.

The next step was to grab a hand full of the shredded paper and dunk it into some water.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The water makes the newspaper gump up into a mouldable mess that can then be pressed around the plant.

This seedling was my first try back around May 18th with the new mulch.

The newspaper itself and the dye to print it are both organic and will break down naturally with age.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dye used is not poisonous. I read it myself on the Internet so it must be true.

Here is a fresh batch of wet newspaper mulch applied around the base of this Everglades Tomato.

After it dries some it kind of sticks together in the shape you stuck it down in.

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The newspaper does great to keep water from gouging a hole in the soil when you water the plant it surrounds.

It can be moulded to flow the water toward the plant in the containers center.

The containers that I tried with this mulch have been weed free something I can't say for wood chips . -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All things considered this mulch is great and did all the things mulch is supposed to do.

Here is a picture of the mulch now that has been in use since May.

It has started breaking down and adding itself to the soil . Can we say organic compost. And as you can plainly see in the picture it now has a consistency somewhere between chopped tobacco leaves from a fine cigar and old dog poop.

My opinion is that shredded newspaper mulch does it all ,aesthetics aside. The best part is it does it for free. This falls right along with one of my first rules of gardening---NEVER PAY CASH WHEN IT'S FREE IN THE TRASH.

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A LITTLE MORE GUATEMALA PLEASE

Another helping of some of the plants in Guatemala.



I didn't wander around here as much as I usually do. It was the wet season and raining constantly.



I saw this bloom and really liked it's simplicity. We are talking Shibumi here. Don't know the name of it however.

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I did recognize this one. It is a real Bird Of Paradise in bloom.



Or Strelitzia Reginae if you must know.



Propagated by division 1-2 years to flower. By seed we are talking 3-5 years to flower. I suspect that is why these guys are so expensive.



The poor man's alternative is Heliconia Psittacorum for my backyard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Some type of lilly growing from a bulb. Kinda reminds me of an orange cream Popsicle.





These guys look real familiar like Home Depot plants but I could be wrong.

I don't recall seeing a home depot in Guatemala but there probably is. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A flashy bedding plant planted used as landscaping.



I'm sure that every gardener knows the name of this one.



So sure in fact that I will not insult you by providing the name.



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This is a large Guatemalan tree with red blooms. As you can see it is large, a tree and you can take my word for it that it is in Guatemala. Did I mention it has red blooms.



This large Guatemalan tree's name is on the tip of my tongue. Unfortunately the name is not forthcoming.



So for now and forever hence or until my memory reboots it shall be known as, "El Jeffe Roho Grande".

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