lavender

We didn't get up early enough on Monday to spray, but hubby did on Tuesday morning. Our fruit trees are too far away from the house for the hose to reach, but he has a huge spray thing that he filled with water over and over again and sprayed them down. We'll see how it goes, here's hoping!
In years past we sprayed down veggies in the garden early in the morning to save them and it always worked.

Just got a message that the middle school plant sale will be held May 8th and May 10th from 1-5:30.  It's nice that there are young people out there that are interested in gardening. Please, go help them out. They also have some nice plants. This is where I got the heirloom peppers that did so well last year. They are a long, sweet pepper that mature quickly. Ideal for our area and for those of you who garden in a cooler micro-climate as I do. I also got those really tall tomatoes there. They produced tons of tomatoes but I was all tomatoed out by the time they ripened. They are a nice late season tomato though for those of you who want them all season. There are also, annuals, beautiful baskets and a few perennials. That was last year. John didn't say what they have this year. 
 

Just got a message that the middle school plant sale will be held May 8th and May 10th from 1-5:30.  It's nice that there are young people out there that are interested in gardening. Please, go help them out. They also have some nice plants. This is where I got the heirloom peppers that did so well last year. They are a long, sweet pepper that mature quickly. Ideal for our area and for those of you who garden in a cooler micro-climate as I do. I also got those really tall tomatoes there. They produced tons of tomatoes but I was all tomatoed out by the time they ripened. They are a nice late season tomato though for those of you who want them all season. There are also, annuals, beautiful baskets and a few perennials. That was last year. John didn't say what they have this year. 
 

Littlebit was asking about plants for growing in clay soil. The best thing to do, rather than trying to change the soil, is to plant natives that thrive in local conditions. Right now we have a quietly spectacular native tree in bloom. It has a number of common names, june berry, sarvis, service berry, shad blow, shad bush and probably a number of others. It's taxonomic name is  Amelanchier aborea. 
This is the white blossomed tree that you are now seeing in bloom along wooded roads. I saw dozens of them on my way home today. It is the earliest blooming tree in the area and is very easy to grow. Later it will produce a berry like fruit that resembles the blueberry in appearance and can be used in any way that you would use blueberries. They make a spectacular pie if you can beat the birds to them. I like to enhance the slightly almond flavor of the berries with a little bit of almond extract when I make pies of them. 
I wrote an article on them last year when they were about the only blossoms that survived that late freeze. It is here if anyone is interested:
 
http://downtoearthgardenclub.org/2012/05/serviceberry-amelanchier-arborea/
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have 9 houseplants, 2 of which are quite large.
It's hard to say if there are any differences and most likely the differences are long term and undetectable to the human eye but logic seems to show benefits as part of the carbon cycle, plants, algae, and cyanobacteria use light energy to photosynthesize carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water, with oxygen produced as a waste product.  Essentially taking the bad and turning it into clean oxygen while looking pretty.

http://www.healthextremist.com/indoor-plants-that-clean-the-air-and-remove-toxins/

Wood ashes.

You can add compost, peat moss or sand to clay soil to improve the texture.  Gypsum will help break up clay soil, also. The drainage is poor in clay soil but on the other hand it holds water during drought. Roses grow well in clay soil. Also, coreopsis, black-eyed Susans, purple cone flower, asters, day lilies, viburnums etc. Just google plants for clay soil. There are a great many that do well. Stay away from plants that require good drainage.  Even if they make it through the summer the roots will probably rot during the winter. 
 
PS Everything in my yard grows in clay soil. Come look!

I think that you would be ill advised to use coal ash on the soil. While there are some nutrients in it, it is contaminated with heavy metals and other things that are bad for plants. I don't suppose it would kill the tree immediately but it might get it eventually. Coal ash has a high pH and dogwoods like an acid soil. 
Wood ash is just fine and I use it myself. 
I can't think of anything gardenwise that it would be good for.