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Iris
More of the boulder. The pink lupine is to the right of the boulder
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Spring-2016 Gardening anyone? What do you plant? or not?
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Iris
More of the boulder. The pink lupine is to the right of the boulder
Yes, if you want to keep the heirloom, you need to cut off the Dr. Huey part. You can root a cutting or graft it. It's not too late to root a cutting. If you like double red roses, a much better rose variety is Double Knockout. It's very hardy, blooms profusely, and is very easy to grow. It's available just about anywhere, but you can order from the Internet in early spring for a dormant bare root plant. If you plant the seeds from a rose hip, you are going to end up with all sorts of different roses, not the same one you took the hips from. But, that's how new varieties are developed.
You're right; that's almost certainly it. Thank you.
So, if I understand correctly from the first site you posted, if I want to protect my heirloom bush I need to either weed out the Dr. Huey or take a cutting from an heirloom branch and root it and plant it elsewhere. Is that correct? If so, am I too late to root a cutting this summer? I kind of like the double rose bush, but I don't want to lose my heirlooms, and I could use some more roses out front. Or, since I haven't been dead-heading this bush, perhaps I could collect hips and plant them? Or would I end up with some kind of hybrid that way?
I have a friend who is taking me to a meeting of her gardening club this evening; I'll ask there as well. Since it's local they should have a better idea of growing seasons.
I'm such a horrid cat mommy. I actually locked Jasmine in the bathroom for ten minutes this morning so I could take pictures without the little escape artist getting out. It was horrible! (Never mind that she had food, water, and a litter box; it was still ten whole minutes!And when she got out, of course, she decided it was time for a nap.)
Margret
I understand why they graft hybrid teas; it's practically impossible to propagate them by seed, but I'm surprised to see an heirloom rose being propagated this way.
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Plnted two tomatoes and the woodchuck ate one of them
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My mother dug up a bunch of bulbs from her yard and gave them to me. She has irises, day lilies, and I think some narcissus. Right now they are in open bags and a box in my garage. What should I do with them? Can I plant them now or is there something I should do with them till fall?
I don't have a basement to put them anywhere truly "cool". I think the crawl space stays in the 50s and it's sand under the vapor barrier. The bulbs originally came from my Grandparents backyard so it would be nice to preserve them.
I don't have a basement to put them anywhere truly "cool". I think the crawl space stays in the 50s and it's sand under the vapor barrier. The bulbs originally came from my Grandparents backyard so it would be nice to preserve them.
You're still getting snow?
I think I must have planted my potatoes too early last year. I put them in at the end of May and they didn't do well at all. I wonder if I should try again this year.
I finally put in a hydrangea yesterday. I got a Mountain Hydrangea, which I hope will be tough enough to survive up here. No flowers on it yet, but a few deep indigo coloured buds. I'm looking forward to seeing them open.
Go ahead and plant them now. The iris and daylilies should come up this summer, although they may not bloom. Plant the daffodils, too. They won't bloom this year, but there is no need to hold them until the fall. In fact, daffodils start putting out roots in August, so it's a good idea to get them in the ground now. The only month daffodils are truly dormant is July. If you wait till fall to plant the iris and daylilies, they will die.
My growing season here is just too short. The nights are too cold so most things never get going until we're looking a the first frost. The good news is there are a number of organic farms in a more fertile area that sell produce at less than what I can grow it for.
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I took these photos this morning before I left for work, its my favorite time of the day. 6am when everything is quiet and the grass is wet with dew. The air is still. Just a nice time of the day..I feel the same way about dusk.
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Plant them all now. If the iris are the rhizome type then make sure the tops of the rhyzomes are exposed to the sun - they won't bloom unless they have a good baking.
Sometimes, not always, after mid summer festival snow is not seen until late august at earliest, but very unlikely even then. This and next week are typically time for return of the winter, sometimes we get several inches of snow during these weeks, but on other years it can be that last snow is seen at March and none until at late autumn, it changes year by year so one never knows really how it is going to be.
Today morning some snow was on air when I rode to city, but it never showed up on ground though.
I'm still between the two if I plant potatoes next week or not. Some plants got bitten by freezing temps as leaves are getting yellow and falling down now and despite forecast is telling warmer weather for next week it is not guaranteed.
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I didn't know that about iris! Now I know why some don't bloom! I get lots of leaves but no blossom=gonna clear them off tonight-I should have figured it out-but I know some of the rhizome should be exposed but didn't know about the sun getting to them-that makes sense..I hope I still get some of the purple antique ones that are my favorite. Its starting to rain out now which we still need-hopefully we get a good soaking tonight-to keep the strawberries going. And make everything look pretty.
I will get those in the ground ASAP! Not today. It's in the 90s.
I went out early to water before it got too hot and I'll be back out later to give the potted plants a little more. It's supposed to cool off by Monday. My Aunt has some gorgeous yellow iris growing in her yard!
My tomatoes are getting tall! I think I'm going to try feeding my pepper plants in a couple days. Last year I ordered 3 mariachi pepper plants from burpee and enjoyed them pickled so I ordered them again. With our wet start to spring I had them in my kitchen window longer than I intended. They don't seem to be growing much. They are producing flowers and even some peppers; but not putting on as much height as the other peppers. I remember them all being about the same size last year so I don't know what the problem is.
My tomatoes are getting tall! I think I'm going to try feeding my pepper plants in a couple days. Last year I ordered 3 mariachi pepper plants from burpee and enjoyed them pickled so I ordered them again. With our wet start to spring I had them in my kitchen window longer than I intended. They don't seem to be growing much. They are producing flowers and even some peppers; but not putting on as much height as the other peppers. I remember them all being about the same size last year so I don't know what the problem is.
Yes, I only found out last year! You need to plant so that the whole top surface of the rhizome is lying on the top of the soil and the roots are underneath into the earth. And they need to get some good sun. Iris are my favourite flowers, I love all types.
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try Epson salts for peppers. you feed them twice I remember-I think now that they have flowers is the first feeding then again when the fruit is growing but I could be wrong. you can try putting down black plastic around them-they like It HOT.
I will get those in the ground ASAP! Not today. It's in the 90s.I went out early to water before it got too hot and I'll be back out later to give the potted plants a little more. It's supposed to cool off by Monday. My Aunt has some gorgeous yellow iris growing in her yard!
My tomatoes are getting tall! I think I'm going to try feeding my pepper plants in a couple days. Last year I ordered 3 mariachi pepper plants from burpee and enjoyed them pickled so I ordered them again. With our wet start to spring I had them in my kitchen window longer than I intended. They don't seem to be growing much. They are producing flowers and even some peppers; but not putting on as much height as the other peppers. I remember them all being about the same size last year so I don't know what the problem is.
I found this link that explains the magic of Epson salts http://homeguides.sfgate.com/epson-salts-tomato-pepper-plants-58011.html
Tomatoes growing good because they too like it hot but both need a good deal of water but don't overwater the tomatoes or the leaves turn yellow and drop off. Someone who lived in Poland and he grows all kinds of tomatoes explained to me about watering- 90 degree days=every day 80 degree days every other day 70 degree days every third day 60 degree days every 4th to 5th day. It seems to help me figure out when to water.
you can stick your finger in the soil about an 1-2" down and if the soil is bone dry down an inch then its time to water-if it clumps a bit-still moist enough is how he told me. he said we don't want to over water as it suffocates the roots. Who knew? but obviously some days its so hot out in the sun that my plants wilt-my false sunflowers and tomatoes do this when the temp is 85 even if I do water so I wanted to invent some kind of shield to keep them in the shade a few hours but never came up with anything-of course its been super windy so again we have to water more than usual-the wind dries out plants faster than no wind. Sometimes I cant tell how much water to do but I do know it takes a good hour of sprinkler to get the water to soak in 1". I have a broken rake handle that I use to scratch the surface of the dirt to check the water content as I hand spray=tried so many sprinklers and all it does is make big puddles where I don't want the water or waters the grass instead of garden. so yes I spend an hour or two just watering at the end of the day when we get no rain for days and its hot.
also remember not to use pesticides in your gardens or it will harm the bees-roundup has been found to cause bees to die off-if you have insects that you want to get rid of-look into organic options like soapy water or caster oil mixtures sold by Bonide. I use lady bugs and preying mantis or nematodes. also any garden scraps you can bury in the dirt to make compost-you want earth worms=they aerate the soil and make compost for the plants to use-so add any organic mulch but be careful of horse poop=full of weed seeds. cow poop is better. I use shellfish compost or other seaside type compost sold at the local nursery here. Its more money but it seems to work better-its fluffier in texture and not too rich. cow poop is too rich and I find I need to mix 50/50 sand with it to get it to not be too rich. so I stick with other types of compost. peatmoss is another good option-wet it down prior to pulling it out of the container otherwise its like a powdery brown cloud and you will wear it more than the garden will.
Just my two $.2 and don't kill dandelions either-bees like the flowers-and if you pull the plant out-it aerates the soil due to the deep roots. I have a few more photos to add. I also need to add compost this year-its been 3 years since I have amended the soil but I use clean soil for my pots-so the soil in the flowerpots get scratched in around my gardens-so they get some nutrients often. I get tons of bumble bees and humming birds due to my flowers-can't wait until july when the plants are 4 to 7 feet tall and I can sit under them to shade myself from the hot sun and hear the buzzing of the bumble bees..my favorite thing about the summer...bees and hummingbirds!
Wanted to share updated photos!
my main flower patch
veggie garden. Lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, stringbeans, and tomatos
Lettuce is balling up!
and my pretty daisies. they were in the ground, dug them up and put them in the pot. was worried it wouldn't grow.
my main flower patch
veggie garden. Lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, stringbeans, and tomatos
and my pretty daisies. they were in the ground, dug them up and put them in the pot. was worried it wouldn't grow.
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Your garden is beautiful! That lettuce looks good enough to eat.
You've really done something with a patch of weeds.
Draco, it's gorgeous! Great job!
BTW, if anybody is interested, if you're having problems with blossom end blight on your tomatoes, sprinkle a bit of powdered milk on the ground around your plants, once they're established. My BIL told me to try it on my tomato plants. For the past two years, I have had to deal with blight on my tomato plants and I swore I wasn't planting any tomatoes this year. (Actually, we still don't even have the garden tilled yet and I don't know that we're going to.)
He says that tomatoes need calcium and that blossom end blight can be caused by lack of calcium. The sprinkling of the milk powder wil add calcium to your plants. Just a little tip for you.
I may plant a couple tomato plants in pots and keep them on our back deck. If I do, I'll sprinkle some milk powder around in the planter. Just to see.
BTW, if anybody is interested, if you're having problems with blossom end blight on your tomatoes, sprinkle a bit of powdered milk on the ground around your plants, once they're established. My BIL told me to try it on my tomato plants. For the past two years, I have had to deal with blight on my tomato plants and I swore I wasn't planting any tomatoes this year. (Actually, we still don't even have the garden tilled yet and I don't know that we're going to.)
He says that tomatoes need calcium and that blossom end blight can be caused by lack of calcium. The sprinkling of the milk powder wil add calcium to your plants. Just a little tip for you.
I may plant a couple tomato plants in pots and keep them on our back deck. If I do, I'll sprinkle some milk powder around in the planter. Just to see.
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I will have to try that-my two tomato plants are doing good. They have grown another set of leaves and one has blossoms on it. I have powdered milk so will do that tomorrow. Thanks for the tip!
I have more photos but they are on the phone. Will post them in a bit. Got some pretty colors. Seems like every month I have a different layer of colors depending on what it is.
Draco=AWESOME!! I LOVE IT!
This morning watered my dried up strawberries. We need rain. its so dry. Only had 15 min this morning-so at least gave them some water. Its only 77 today so they should be ok. Tonight I have water the rest of the gardens. and get eaten by mosquitos. I need to scrape the dirt off the iris rhizome. And my wild petunias are getting bigger. Most are still only 2 or 4 leaves in the ground right now-but I have two that have 6 and 8 leaves-I gave them water this morning too. Jon keeps threatening to pull them up because they are growing in the walk way. I said just pull up the grass and violets. I have to put down landscape clothe but I am too lazy. gonna try this fall if I don't work as much as I am now.
I have two cardinals that have been hanging around my yard-they were squawking last night at dusk when I was watering my potted plants. Ok will post more pictures. Still need to weed,
I have more photos but they are on the phone. Will post them in a bit. Got some pretty colors. Seems like every month I have a different layer of colors depending on what it is.
Draco=AWESOME!! I LOVE IT!
This morning watered my dried up strawberries. We need rain. its so dry. Only had 15 min this morning-so at least gave them some water. Its only 77 today so they should be ok. Tonight I have water the rest of the gardens. and get eaten by mosquitos. I need to scrape the dirt off the iris rhizome. And my wild petunias are getting bigger. Most are still only 2 or 4 leaves in the ground right now-but I have two that have 6 and 8 leaves-I gave them water this morning too. Jon keeps threatening to pull them up because they are growing in the walk way. I said just pull up the grass and violets. I have to put down landscape clothe but I am too lazy. gonna try this fall if I don't work as much as I am now.
I have two cardinals that have been hanging around my yard-they were squawking last night at dusk when I was watering my potted plants. Ok will post more pictures. Still need to weed,
Thank you everyone!
Great advice about the tomatoes! Mine are growing nicely- getting some flowers already on it- as well as the rest of my vegetables.
I hate weeding. I am constantly pulling out weeds or plants from the previous people (that I don't want). I am having a hard time with the clovers
Great advice about the tomatoes! Mine are growing nicely- getting some flowers already on it- as well as the rest of my vegetables.
I hate weeding. I am constantly pulling out weeds or plants from the previous people (that I don't want). I am having a hard time with the clovers
You can also put lime on your tomatoes. Lime has calcium carbonate in it, which will give the tomatoes all the calcium they need. You probably only need the lime if you have acidic soil. Here in the midwest, our soil is alkaline, so we don't need it. How do you know whether your soil is acidic? Look around at native plants. If you have lots of conifers, you probably have acidic soil. If you want to go to the trouble, you can send a sample to your county extension agent, and they can test the soil for you. Basically, if your tomatoes don't have blossom end rot, you don't need any calcium.
@Draco - After you weed, put some Preen down. Preen will keep the weed seeds from germinating. When you have a lot of flower beds, this is the only way to go as it's too time consuming to be weeding all the time.
@Draco - After you weed, put some Preen down. Preen will keep the weed seeds from germinating. When you have a lot of flower beds, this is the only way to go as it's too time consuming to be weeding all the time.
