Wanted: Deadly, Thorny Shrub

[Vox Humana]

> Nice photo. And here's mine:

I went outside and checked mine. Not even a hint of a thorn. It has remained rather short, unlike the pictures that I have seen in web searches. It has no fragrance and I haven't seen any obvious fruit.

I made the mistake of pruning it when I moved it. The plant was growing a few feet from a red maple and the roots were commingled. Removing it was a big job and it suffered in the process - with significant die-back. My attempts to prune it left it looking worse that if I had done nothing. Oh well, live and learn. I have grown to appreciate plants for their natural form and am a lot less likely to prune solely for aesthetic reasons.

I have often gone to your website for information. I really appreciate it. Do you have any "long shots" of your garden? All I recall seeing are wonderful close-ups and always which that I could get an idea of what your garden looks like. It must be wonderful.

[Salty Thumb]

[e-mail] (J. Del Col) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

probably meant Shy Anne. You give a raggy Anne doll a stick, hide her in a thicket and if anybody tries to make fun of her or just tries to pass by, she whacks them over the head.

[Pen]

Whatever shrub you decide, tuck a little prickly pear cactus under it. Opuntia humifusa is cold hardy to zone 5.

The worse thing for an owner of long haired dogs are burdocks. :) Too bad it's unattractive.

[paghat]

In article , "Vox Humana" wrote:

>

There are long shots scattered through the website, here are a few:

snow-covered cedar in back yard:

cedar at other end of back yard: back yard path from opposite direction, between Alaska Cedar & abutilon, third photo down: from deck into back yard: photo down, paperbark maple in front yard, autumn colors: last on page, Japanese maple viewed from sidewalk, autumn colors: same chokecherry viewed in winter covered with snow, viewed from inside the tree-enclosed front yard: view of that Japanese maple from sidewalk, together with an enormous chokecherry in full bloom: photo down, another Japanese maple, side of house, autumn: with 'Hino Crimson' & muscaris in full bloom, 'Lee's Best Purple' rhody around the corner captured at corner of photo: path from opposite direction & around the corner by the 'Lee's Best': view of the picnic area (lawn) by path by 'Lee's Best' seen from sidewalk, somewhat "framed" by the two Japanese maples red left, purple right: through shade corridor, lots of blooms: pathshadecorridor_may.jpg

A scruffy path at corner of back yard, passing deciduous azalea not in bloom:

's head maple near back door, second-to-last photo: the ratgirl

[dr-solo]

actually... animals dont get used to it. raccoons for instance will make it their duty to topple the thing if they can. problem with water cannons is they cant be used in winter.

opuntia is hardy under the snow. Ingrid

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Vox Humana]

You have some great fall color! I hadn't seen the lion's head maple before. It was stunning.

[Cheryl Isaak]

[Joe Stead]

I noticed that dogs hate walking on metal grates. Also, they dislike anything small sticking up -- even a lot of buried popsicle sticks could deter them.