Comments on Gardening With Grace: Tarp-itis: The Next Pandemic?

Tarps or not? They do make clean up easier at tim...

2010-01-31T07:09:51.139-08:00

Tarps or not? They do make clean up easier at times.
I like the Clarksia photo...not a plant I see often, though they are always in seed mixes. Beautiful.

I have a bit of tarpitis Grace! I have a much wors...

2010-01-30T21:37:31.370-08:00

I have a bit of tarpitis Grace! I have a much worse case than you do ... why yours is nothing. A green tarp covers a two hundred plus year old shed ... very sad little building that is patiently waiting for me to do the right and necessary thing... restore it! I love the snow as it clings and covers it. I now have a blue one too... lol but that is just because I was caught before I could get my composted manure spread about the garden and I just had to do it... i had to cover it and that is what I found ... oh yes and then there is the one that is covering part of my wood, for the nice metal roof panels were not quite wide enough... all these are covered with snow. So I am safe from more discerning critical eyes (including mine own!) When the snow disappears so the tarps go ... except for the sad shed... I can blame it on the economy! ;>(

Go with a brown tarit looks better then blue.It's ...

2010-01-30T12:29:16.945-08:00

Go with a brown tarit looks better then blue.It's not really a brown you would find in nature, its all glossy, but its better then blue. I admit i have tarps in blue, green, brown and silver. each is a differen size. we mainly use them to cover the 10 yards of sweet peet we get every spring. Fun blog. jim

OMG Grace! One of my biggest pet peeves are elect...

2010-01-29T18:53:31.836-08:00

OMG Grace! One of my biggest pet peeves are electric blue tarps! My hubby always seems to have one draped over or under something. We argue over them and I asked (told) him politely (ok...not so politely) to stop using them or at very least buy a dark green one so it's not so darn noticeable.

When we moved to the country, my one request was t...

2010-01-29T14:06:52.873-08:00

When we moved to the country, my one request was that we refrain from tarp-covered piles of stuff all over the place (knowing we were unlikely to succumb to the minimum eight beater cars in the front yard). Well, I had failed to take into consideration the requisite three or four wood piles in varying degrees of curing. At least they are tucked under low-hanging branches and the tarps are brownish.

aloha, i do love your new photo on the blot, its g...

2010-01-29T11:40:34.484-08:00

aloha, i do love your new photo on the blot, its great...and as your posting shows tarps are everywhere including your garden....but, i do think your using it is acceptable in its application, it is an effective tool when used appropriately and not like actual tent homes here all over hawaii...ack!

Grace, you have identified what my father refers t...

2010-01-29T11:36:24.494-08:00

Grace, you have identified what my father refers to as the "state cover" in Virginia: they were everywhere in the rural areas - impossible to ignore.
I have a theory that the intense cyan color of the tarps is because it is so fade-proof. Think of the number of aged advertising posters in sunny shop windows: all that remains is the cyan colors - everything else has faded out.
Anyway, I like your green tarp just fine where tarps are needed!

Grace it was never an issue with me, but now that ...

2010-01-29T10:47:54.765-08:00

Grace it was never an issue with me, but now that you have pointed it out I must have a talk with my neighbor about his blue tarp covering an old broken down car in the drive way.

Love this post~and the photo of the clarkia is so ...

2010-01-29T05:41:58.268-08:00

Love this post~and the photo of the clarkia is so lovely on this gray day! I have several giant blue tarps that help me move leaves to their decomposing ground. Although I prefer old bed sheets~~which do double duty in the early spring to cover tender flowers when a late frost is forecast. gail

I bet you would have a pink tarp if you could. Hil...

2010-01-29T05:30:50.622-08:00

I bet you would have a pink tarp if you could.
Hilarious stuff... about the funniest blog post I have read in while. :)
Rosey

I like the way you write and look upon you as a go...

2010-01-29T04:35:41.045-08:00

I like the way you write and look upon you as a good role model in garden writing.

Oh, Grace, you are so funny. I just love the 'driv...

2010-01-28T19:33:13.356-08:00

Oh, Grace, you are so funny. I just love the 'drive by shooting' comment. :))

I have NO idea why they have to be soooo blue. Ma...

2010-01-28T18:33:44.078-08:00

I have NO idea why they have to be soooo blue. Maybe so people don't accidentally run into giant wood piles, or boats, or whatever people are trying to hide. No offense but your green tarp...it doesn't exactly fade into the landscape! ha ha! :)

We see quite a few of those blue tarps around here...

2010-01-28T16:14:29.970-08:00

We see quite a few of those blue tarps around here. I mentioned in my comment to Christine that after the windstorm of 2006 we lost many shingles and ended up with leaks. My husband decided that using those blue tarps would be the thing to use until the roof was replaced that spring. He didn't get what I was so embarrassed about. We live on the street that all the parents drive down to drop off and pick up their kids from school each day. I wanted to put a sign up to say "We're not leaving these up and it was my husband's idea"

There were a lot of blue tarps around the area fro...

2010-01-28T13:10:29.488-08:00

There were a lot of blue tarps around the area from damages to rooftops from Hurricane Wilma. Now you don't see as many. You are right, they should be a different color, but what color?

I love the picture in this post. What a cheerful, bright color scheme.

FlowerLady

tee hee. Thanks for the giggle today Grace. I ow...

2010-01-28T11:18:08.454-08:00

tee hee. Thanks for the giggle today Grace. I own one of those blue tarps too but it's folded neatly in my garage because now I can't remember why I bought it. Maybe you could start lobbying the manufacturers to use less offensive colors ~ or start a petition ~ looks like there are people who would sign it!
I can't get over how green it is there. Looks like another planet compared to what's outside my window right now.
Your clarkia (??) photo is gorgeous. I wish that were blooming here at the moment.

Hi Grace, too funny! I think gardeners have a bit ...

2010-01-28T08:14:21.601-08:00

Hi Grace, too funny! I think gardeners have a bit of artist in them and blue tarps are not art!

Well, there are quite a few months in Ohio where t...

2010-01-28T05:57:12.568-08:00

Well, there are quite a few months in Ohio where the tarp is the only color to be seen in the winter landscape! haha I didn't KNOW they came in colors other than blue! My horizons have been expanded thanks to your blog!

LOL. As people who live by the sea, we value tarps...

2010-01-28T04:15:37.361-08:00

LOL. As people who live by the sea, we value tarps for a variety of things. Protecting boats overwinter. Protecting woodpiles from the ravages of precipitation. Keeping wind and wet out of a construction/reno site. Keeping the tractor warm and dry so husband doesn't have a wet butt when he goes to the woodlot every morning. And we use an old one around the back of the house, screwed to the shingles down to the foundation, where we put straw bales every winter to keep draughts out from around our rock-wall foundation and keep the house warmer. They sure aren't pretty, but they sure do make life easier in the rural landscape.

OK Grace .. I might have to post a case of Tarpiti...

2010-01-28T03:41:46.557-08:00

OK Grace .. I might have to post a case of Tarpitis phopa from my garden .. BUT .. the logical excuse was our deck and shed were torn down to make way for new ones .. and taking into account the Spring rain .. well, what can I say .. we just HAD to do IT ? LOL
But it does seem to be a fast growing virus among western civilizations ? ;-)
PS .. I would never do it again .. I promise .. it is a "guy thing" ?
PPSS .. I love seeing all of this pink .. it just makes me happy : )

We have blue tarp syndrome here in the UK, Grace. ...

2010-01-28T03:15:40.296-08:00

We have blue tarp syndrome here in the UK, Grace. My sister, who lives in Oxfordshire, has spent years planting and nurturing trees and shrubs at the end of her garden to mask a blue-tarp covered shed, which also boasts a huge reel of some kind of blue water piping. Why don't they make them with flowers on, like those covers you get for rotary washing lines? (Because people who can live with an enormous blue tarp in their garden don't really care, I guess.)

It's hard to hide the fact that you have construct...

2010-01-28T02:47:23.750-08:00

It's hard to hide the fact that you have construction problems when you drape those tarps on your home/buildings...we see them here too! YUCK! ( now, here's praying I don't need one)

My husband thinks he can fix anything with a blue ...

2010-01-28T00:06:41.285-08:00

My husband thinks he can fix anything with a blue tarp and some duct tape. I fear what I'll find when I come home some days!

Great post - kept me laughing!

Grace, you always make me laugh when I read your p...

2010-01-27T21:05:04.586-08:00

Grace, you always make me laugh when I read your posts. You have a way of saying what you think but in a non offending way that is comical. And your gardens are so pretty. Truly an inspiration to my somewhat blank slate. Have a great weekend!

Your post made me laugh because it reminds me of m...

2010-01-27T20:41:32.257-08:00

Your post made me laugh because it reminds me of my wise husband's prediction - thousands of years from now we will probably be referred to as the "blue tarp people."

And I agree about the recent rants re "outdoor rooms." Rooms are great, but they have walls!