So...who enjoys gardening?

[M.Lynn]

The weather in Atlanta is so nice that my garden has stolen my sewing time. Not a bad problem to have, actually.

[BetsyV]

We took a chance on putting about 1/3 of our tomato seedlings out yesterday, no hardening off, DH was convinced we weren't going to have temps below 45 for the next 10 days. He is taking full responsibility for what happens. Yesterday, the forecast was in his favor. Today, it's calling for below 40 overnight every night from Tuesday on for 10 or 12 days. Guess he'll be draping dropcloths etc every night for the next 2 weeks. We also set out a row of Swiss Chard, which may or may not survive. I still have more seedlings safe in the light table. The issue is the tomato seedlings. The ones left in the light table are about 15" tall already and are butting heads with the shop lights mounted on the underside of the shelf above. I don't know why they grew so fast this year. Yes I do. I put an extra layer in front of the shelves to hold in the heat and light and the ambient temperature in the shelving unit is 20+ degrees warmer than last year. I don't know what to do about the rest of the tomatoes; they really shouldn't go outside permanenently until Mother's Day - that's 3 weeks from now.

Naraway - we tried a community garden plot a few years ago. It was an unmitigated disaster from a disease and pest point of view. The garden is run by a bunch of hyper-organic types who then refuse to keep to some standard of garden hygiene. Organic is fine; I don't want to spray chemicals on my food plants either. But please: if you are not going to allow it, then non-poisonous methods of disease and pest control should be published, encouraged, and - if there is some kind of outbreak - enforced. I hope you have better luck with your "neighbors" than we did!

[naraway]

Hi Betsy,

I actually had very good success with the community garden plot last year.  We have no organic restrictions, they mow the lots if weeds exceed 18" which keeps most seed generation in check, they provide water as part of the fee, and gardeners can get the same lot back as long as they sign up in time, which generates an investment into improving the plots.  I added 10 bales of peat moss last year, with the expectation that I would use that space for a number of years (added lime to it this spring!) as that made it too acidic.  My neighbor on one side had that plot for 12 years, on the other for only 4 years.  The plot catty-corner to me was a new gardener.

The challenges included learning the how to cope with the new bugs as I came from an entirely different region, and learning to cope with the deer.  By mid-summer, I followed the example of others and errected 6 foot deer fence.

I had no problems with, nor did I hear about, anyone pilfering the plots.  We did swap veggies with each other, and traded a lot of knowledge and techniques.  Everyone laughs at my use of hot pepper oil for deer!  That said, sunflowers and peas were a challenge with the deer, and eggplant was a challenge with the bugs.  I ate more radishes and cabbage, froze more beans, and dried more tomatoes and herbs than I ever dreamed could be produced on a 20 x 20 lot!

[QueenBee]

Naraway, sounds like you had fun in that community plot! Good for you.

So, how do the gardens grow? Peter, tax time is past. Are the veggies in yet? Betsy, are the tomatoes hanging on?

I'm still coughing, and it continues to be windy, so getting very little time in the garden. I have no energy, as the temps are going up 7 to 10 degrees per day. It was a bit over 60 on Sunday, 86 today, and the weekend-Yikes!!- will be 91 to 95. Then some new system will plow thru onTues & Wed and drop it back to about 83. Our average this time of year is now 76. I also have a bit more personal insulation these days and it just kills me when it turns hot. Once it gets to 104 I'm pretty good at 90, but not yet.

I'm also having trouble getting to sleep, which means getting up while it's cool isn't going too well either. Sigh.

I bought veggies the day I got sick. They sit in their containers.

How is everybody else doing?

Almost all the roses are done with their first bloom. My coreopsis are blooming. Too early for that. Such an upside down year for many of us.

[Natasha J]

I don't have my roses yet so I have not had anything to do anything outside.  I did buy a hose.    

[BetsyV]

So far we lost only one tomato plant and it wasn't happy from the start. We didn't get the cold, so it's been okay for them. We have rain today rain tomorrow rain sunday so I don't know how I am going to dodge the rain nd muck to plant the onion sets and strawberry plants which have come in the last week. Otherwise, the forsythia is starting to open up; the birds are NOISY in the early morning; the cherry trees are starting to bloom too. At least it's not cold with the rain. Iw ill also be working from home this weekend as I am int he final stages of preparing for our annual partner meeting. No rest for the weary!

[Ann]

Our gardening is not going well. Nothing is in nor will it be in before May 21 as we can get frosts until then. Even later and have seen some snow in June, July, August and September. I am going to do mainly pots this year as we are in a new home. Down the pathway I will put marigolds. We want to do the basic landscaping as this place goes up for sale next year.

I will be starting my marigolds this weekend and I do buy my plants for my pots. I don't have a greenhouse for starting plants.

Ann

[ManWhoSews]

Well, hopefully the wacky weather is done.  I'm taking a chance if not, by putting in my tomato plants already.  I figure if my tree peony is open on April 30th (a full month ahead of schedule) then I can put tomato plants in the ground and put in lettuce, spinach and arugula seed.   The peony doesn't usually open (this is the tree type) until first week of June.  And my strawberry plants are all flowering now too.  It was 83 here yesterday and should have been 63.   

All very strange to see if you are a gardener.   

Ann, a greenhouse is my one big fantasy as a gardener...   I have a mini-one to start seedlings, but that's probably all I'll have unless I get a windfall.   Get so envious when I drive by a house that has one of those beautiful english-style ones sitting near it.

[karent]

I certainly hope the wierd weather is done for us, too, Keith.  These weekends alternating 80 degrees, and then snow, and back again are just ridiculous.  Our official last frost date is May 10, and it's been in the 80s for several days running, but I still don't know.  I may wig out this weekend and try putting out some things, but I'm wary.

I want a greenhouse in the most desperate way.  Unfortunately, this house is sitting on top of a bluff, rocky and not the least bit flat.  The only flat piece of lawn, in fact, is where the septic tank is located.  Otherwise, it is hilly and woods.  Some friends have a greenhouse that I covet uncontrollably.  It is about 15' by 15', and the lives in it after work in the evening.  He is an opthalmologist who makes a literal fortune doing Lasik surgery all day, so I guess he needs his "escape"...... (Actually, he really is a decent guy, I shouldn't be sarcastic.)  He grows about every kind of basil, and his poor wife pawns basil off on everyone she knows, to the point that it is funny.  Keeps us all pesto-ed up, for sure.  I think I would like to grow tomatoes and orchids.  Perhaps when I am a cranky old lady, I'll get me a little purse dog and a greenhouse, and keep all the neighbors in tomatoes!  What fun that would be.  K

[Jeanne]

You can build a greenhouse on a south facing hill like you would build a walk out basement.  In fact having the north wall all or partially underground can be a real energy saver.  When you need maximum light in a greenhouse, during winter, you really aren't getting much light coming in the north wall or even the north facing roof.  I attended a workshop last summer and toured a demo greenhouse that some Ag Engineering students had specifically designed to conserve energy.  The north wall was solid, concrete block, lined with black 55 gallon drums filled with water (solar collectors).  The south facing wall was solid from the ground up to about 3 feet and insulated; any light that comes in below 3' will shine under the benches so usually isn't helping a plant grow.  The structure was long maybe 50-60', east to west and narrow 18-20' north to south.  They had grown tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and herbs all winter and only had to add supplemental heat a few nights in January and February.

[karent]

Hmmm, that's a thought.  The only place that I could even consider placing a greenhouse would be backed up to the basement, and facing southwest.  I figured it would be way too hot, plus it would still be a feat to manage to keep it off the septic tank.  Food for thought, though.  K

[ManWhoSews]

Well, it's time to start sharing pics what we're growing, right?  Here's my tree peony, bad shot, over-exposed, but you get the idea:




This is a month early...  usually isn't open until the first week of june, this year has over 40 blooms on it, some are still not open yet.  Sorry about the grill in the background...   

[mardel]

Beautiful Tree Peony Keith. 

I used to have a gorgeous yellow one , until the roofers dropped a box of shingles on the still dormant tree and broke it, then the men residing the house the next year tromped all over what was left.    Oh well.  It usually bloomed in June here, and so far most things are later than usual here so far.  The Forsythia is still just in its prime, the daffodils are still coming up, barely at peak.  We have had a very cool spring.


Thank you all for this thread, it at least keeps the gardening spirit happy.  All my gardening plans to reclaim this yard look they have gone out the window due to other obligations this year. 

[Ann]

Beautiful peony tree, Keith. Snow is going fast but the rains have come and it is soggy everywhere. The creeks and rivers are almost overflowing so any gardening is on hold.

I want a greenhouse also and envy people who have them. But if we are moving a couple more times in the next few years, we will not be buying one and leaving it behind. I am too cheap to do that. I do buy my flowers from the local nurseries and Walmart and start the easy things indoors. We haven't had a vegetable garden for a few years due to me being so busy. And it won't happen this year either. When we relocate to better climes, we will start again.
Ann

[ManWhoSews]

I've been meaning to ask, but keep forgetting:   Is anyone else out there a plant or seed "thief"?   

I don't mean you steal pots from porches or anything bad but whenever I see a plant that has seeds dried on it or something I can pinch off a start without hurting it... I try it.  Of course, I don't do this except for public places  like at a park or museum grounds... places where I know it's not a big deal.  I once even stopped my car to get some dried zinnia seeds from a Burger King garden because the reds were so bright, I wanted some seed.  You know they would just be pulled out and thrown away, so I didn't feel too bad.  I've gotten some great plants this way, even some rare ones, like from the seed pods of a Carolina spice tree from our local art museum.   I told on myself to the grounds keeper and he said "don't worry, i do the same thing, nobody really cares."    Now I have about 7 trees, each about 6 foot tall growing near my vacation cabin south of here.  The blooms are chocolate brown and smell really great.  They were very easy to germinate, too.

This backfired on me once.  I got what I thought was an unusual roadside flower seed in Tenn.  The seeds germinated and I planted them in a garden along my fence.  They nearly took over the area.  Took me forever to get rid of them and after looking them up, I realized that I'd promoted a very healthy WEED, called Cup plant or Rosinweed.  Oops.

On a diff. note, I transplanted some baptista austrailius (Indigo) last week.  Thought I'd warn anyone thinking about  adding this perennial... make sure you put it in a spot that you know it will be forever.   I didn't know better and put them in a place that ended up being too crowded as they can get about 3 foot round when mature.  Took me 2 hours to move two plants!  Chopping, digging with a pick axe and cutting roots with parrot snips, up to my shoulder in dirt below the root ball to get at them.  These babies take ROOT and don't want to give it up.  I moved them to a huge area outside of my privacy fence and when I move away, they are staying.   

[Ann]

Keith, I steal seeds also. That is how I got my rose and pink poppies that grow to about 2 feet. I grabbed them from the school flowerbed when I left that district. They are double blooms. We also stole seeds from our flower beds when we sold as we knew the people wouldn't care as they don't garden. I would love a Carolina Spice tree as it sounds really neat but it won't grow up here due to the cold, hard, tough, ugly winters up here.

My husband encouraged a plant in our flowerbed and loved how it filled a hole. When the stupid thing didn't bloom but got seeds on the plant, he realized it was a weed but didn't know the name until a friend told him. He also noticed another weed out in our feed lot and found out it was a noxious weed and we spent every year after that pulling it out, spraying it, etc. as you can be hounded by the weeds inspector if you have it on your property up here. We had it almost cleaned up and the neighbours up the road have let their get out of control so we will be back at square one this year. UGH!!

Ann

[QueenBee]

I've been meaning to ask, but keep forgetting:   Is anyone else out there a plant or seed "thief"?   

Who? Me? Never    Right.....am I the only one who carries little pocket sized garden snips in their glove box? Never know when you might need to *liberate* something. I used to get quite a lot at the University, but I would get a groundskeeper to give me the ok. To them, it was less to clean up. They have beautiful rose beds , and I have lovely vases. I also collect seeds and cuttings from the neighborhood; cuttings with permission, seeds if the the plants are into the public right of way. Actually we do a lot of sharing; I have several friends who are Master Gardeners so it gives me a leg up on propagation and free plants.

[blue mooney]

Guilty....I don't feel bad about gathering a few seeds without permission, but do ask before taking cuttings.

My favorite plant from pilfered seed is a datura. Yes, they are also considered weeds, but when I see those huge fragrant flowers I try not to hate it for being easy.

[DragonLady]

I embarrass my children to death on walks, because I'm a seed thief.

I bought an empty spice rack, and have been storing the pilfered seeds in it.  I only take them from public places, and try to get mostly wildflowers and native stuff. 

[BetsyV]

I only take seeds from my own stuff, for the most part. I have taken seeds in the woods from native plants but only from those not endangered. I would love to have trilium established in my yard but it is a protected wildflower and it is illegal to remove the plants, cut the flowers, or take seeds in the fall. Besides, i don't have the right micro-evironment for it. It loves the damp north woods, highly acidic soil, and I live in the suburbs west of Boston. <sigh> And I will never be able to convice DH we should move NORTH after retiring. He's already cold from October to May.  I woudld go in a minute.

I haven't had much luck getting anything to germinate. maybe when I retire next year I will have time to take classes at the New England Wildflower Society.

Keith I have a substantial baptisia australis next to a, darn what's its name, I think blue-eyed grass but somewhere in my brain is the latin name. They fill a difficult spot between the back steps and the fire escape at one of our small apartment buildings. I was over there today, and the baptisia is nearly a foot tall and the grass is about half that. They grow to about the same height, 3 1/2 feet, and thier flowers are complementary shades of blue. On the shady side of that house I have the native baptisia which has a smaller leaf and flower, which is pale yellow. Your peony is really lovely, BTW.

I planted more tomatoes today, eggplants and peppers, more chard, beets, more leeks, broccoli, and a Japanese green - Komatsuna. I am out of room almost which means probably no melons or winter squash this year. I really need more room, 12 x 35 isn't enough. I put 25 strawberry plants in a flower bed. We may have one more night when we have to cover things and keep our fingers crossed, but I think we are past our last frost for this year. Tomorrow I transplant the marigolds, viola, ornamental peppers, and basil into pots/window boxes for the summer.

[Natasha J]

My roses have arrived!  I am already hooked on them.  I brought them home Friday afternoon and first thing Saturday morning I was back at the nursery looking for and buying another.  Now I have 7.  I just have to wait for "yard boy" to dig the holes.         

[Jeanne]

I embarrass my children to death on walks, because I'm a seed thief.

My children, all three now adults, still talk about their mother stealing seeds.  But my favorite way to embarass my children was to pull the weeds in planter beds in public places like while waiting for a table in a restaurant.  Isn't it written in the parent's guidebook that we are suppose to embarass them?  It must build character or something.

[Liana]

Ooh, I tend to pull weeds at times like that.  My DH thinks it's terrible.  I just can't stand a weed 3 feet tall sticking out of a group of bushes when I go by.  I do try not to "help" others too much. 

I keep telling myself "Maybe it's not a weed, just a flower I don't recognize."  Meanwhile, I have my "favorites" I can recognize at 30 paces, even while very teeny, and it's hard to resist.  No one wants a velvetleaf, I just know it!    


Edited to add that my own mother's favorite trick was straightening pictures or other things hanging on the wall in public places.  I will never forget the time she and her sister decided a small curio shelf was crooked in a restaurant, and tried to fix it, only to find that it was hung so as not to be straightenable, and the manager had to come and rescue them, and the knick knacks.   My DB was along, and about 13 yrs. old at the time.  He was so mortified!  That was really the funniest part.

[QueenBee]

My roses have arrived!  I am already hooked on them.  I brought them home Friday afternoon and first thing Saturday morning I was back at the nursery looking for and buying another.  Now I have 7.  I just have to wait for "yard boy" to dig the holes.         

What! You didn't have "yard boy" pre-dig the holes? Better get that man out there so your roses can stretch their feet!

Liana, the shelf story is hilarious. It took me about 10 years to stop merchandising stuff when out shopping after being in retail management for years, first a gift store, then clothing. Everything in the closet is faced the same way and my drawers? Everything is precisely folded to fit "just so".

Today was tough in the garden....had to cut down an old friend. Community cleanup is the 15th, so I can put lots out. The biggest of the birch trees didn't make it thru the winter. It had been fading for a few years, since the newest neighbors, the clueless ones, took out a large pine that shaded it's roots and gave it afternoon shade in summer. Then last year they took out a nandina hedge, taking the last of the root shade and disturbing them in the process. Last years 110+ weather and Januarys hard freeze were the last bit. Normal life here in the valley is 15 years. We called it Methesulah; this tree was planted 30 years ago. I was actually crying a bit as I was cutting. I'm thinking buttons for some small limbs, or some sort of twig furniture. It was a fine tree.

[BetsyV]

Rene Marie

birch makes fine furniture if the tree was large enough to make planks out of. I think the wood is sweet so you should let it dry pretty well and under cover before making anything out of it. It rots fast because the bark is waterproof or at least nearly impervious to water. Buttons of course wouldn't matter so much. It's the preferred wood for pegs, dowels, other small things that do best with a tight tight grain.

What kind of birch was it? My favorite is paper birch, the birchbark canoe tree and they do not have a very long life unfortuntely. River birch, silver birch, gray, yellow, black birch are all lovely, though.

I guess I just like all trees, having grown up more or less surrounded by them. And hills.

[Natasha J]

Speaking of trees...this is the tree in my entry courtyard.  I have 2 bigger ones in the back yard.  The doves have nests, the hummers and bees love the flowers and I love the shade. 



And a closeup

[QueenBee]

Natasha, Love the tree, love the courtyard! What variety is that? It reminds me a bit of the oleander that grows plentifully around here.

Betsy, it makes me giggle when you share about wood. It's cool that you know so much about it. These are European White Birch. We could cut planks for doll furniture. Maybe a cottage look set for Summersets' daughter's American Girl doll. This has the papery white bark, but at 30 plus years, the biggest trunk is only about 7" to 8" dia. It still survived more than twice the normal life span here in the valley. And there are more....this was the last of the original trees, but there is a whole little forrest of *babies* that sprang up about 15 years ago, with some more recent. They are thriving and need to be thinned a bit.

I need to be working out there this weekend, but its after 1:30 pm and I'm still in my jammies. We're trying to work out logistics to get to Oregon for Dad's memorial service next week, or decide to skip it and go when his ashes are being scattered in the river. I can't fly and it's 11 hours straight drive time if all goes well. On California highways, that doesn't happen.

My brain is being pulled at least six ways.

[Natasha J]

I think it is a relative of the Desert Willow.  The leaves are not the same but the flowers are very similiar.  It will bloom all summer but the hotter it gets the fewer flowers there will be.  http://www.desertusa.com/magjan98/jan_pap/du_dwillow.html

[Jeanne]

Neat tree.  I thought the flowers looked a lot like the Catalpa tree blooms.  The link you posted said it was it in the Bigoniaceae family and that is the same family as the Catalpa.

The hard freeze we had here the week before Easter killed most of the new leaves on the trees and shrubs.  The secondary buds are just now breaking on some of those plants.  Within a week or so we should be able to see what survived and what did not.  I am concerned about several young Japanese Maples on campus.  Some of them were pretty stressed from last summer and the freeze just finished the job.  The Crape Myrtle leaves just budded out this week.  My students and I spend most of today pruning the dead off those plats today.

We had planned to visit my mother on Sunday but she lives in northwest Missouri and while their farm is high and dry all but one of the roads going into Carrol County are under flood water.

[LauraTS]

Hey all, I just spent some time reading this thread and feeling lazy 

After reading Barbara Kingsolver's new book on eating locally, I started thinking about gardening again, or at least doing more than I am right now. We always had a garden when I was a kid, so it's not that I don't know how, but moving across the country and living in a much smaller, rented space (than where I grew up) sure makes it different. We have a lemon tree in one corner of our little backyard, and an apple tree in the other; I make applesauce and apple butter like crazy in the fall. Other than that I've got some rhubarb in a container on the porch (took 3 tries of cuttings from mom to finally get some happy) and the usual decorative plantings edging the lawn; oh, and a volunteer strawberry plant in the front of the house. If/when I ever own a house, there will be *no lawn* - what a waste of water in most places, and it never gets used. All of our neighbors have 'gardeners' that descend on the neighborhood with their mowers and gas blowers (no sleeping in on Tuesday mornings here!) despite the fact that the lawns are miniscule. We, alternatively, bought a cheapy push mower (the totally retro no-motor kind) and save $ off our rent every month by taking 10 minutes to mow the lawn. (Our landlord won't let us change the yard significantly, or I'd have gotten rid of the grass already.)

And while I'm ranting  some moronic former tenant here planted *mint* and *rosemary* in the planting bed in our backyard. It doesn't get cold enough here to kill it, so it just continues to grow until I hack it back again. I've probably dug up over 50 pounds of mint and rosemary in the 4 years we've lived here. Even when you completely dig up the soil you can't get rid of it; there's always a stray something somewhere which'll pop up again. I swear if we just let it be it would get under the house and up the wall and smother us while we slept...

[BetsyV]

I have little tomatoes! YAY! 

Peas are coming in fast and furious - they'll be over in a couple of weeks. Peppers are maturing already too. As usual, we went from cool and rainy to 95 degrees and humid literally overnight this past week. The garden seems to have survived all right. The tomtoes and peppers are finally coming into their own - the eggplants have me  a bit worried, though. Only a few are really thriving.

I need to relax. It's only the first of July, for heaven's sake 

[ManWhoSews]

Good for you, Betsy!  Mine are green and growing, tomatoes love this humid weather...  we've finally gotten enough rain in the last two weeks that I can quit watering for a bit.  Mine look healthier than last year's which just got all moldy and died from too much water because all it did was rain. 

Laura, I've tried for years to grow Rosemary in this yard and can't seem to keep one alive.  Not that I want your problem either, but I'm always jealous of those nice Rosemary topiaries that you see growing in pots.  I buy one and the minute it leaves the garden center it starts dying. I'm usually a green thumb, but there's a few plants that just don't cooperate and that's one of them.  Same with climbing roses... no matter what method I try, they just don't like it.  I can grow bush roses just fine, but not climbers.  And I have a great (bare) arbor just waiting for them which I gave up on and put in clematis instead.  At least it covers it. 

Wondered if any of you gardening types had a pond?  Here's mine...  this is last years pic, havn't taken any this year yet, I'm waiting for the morning glories to cover the fence first...  I have three frogs and 11 goldfish and koi.  There were 5 frogs but two ran off or were eaten by racoons or something...



Oh, and found out yesterday that a robin built her nest right on the top of my privacy fence in the middle of a huge trumpeter vine.  Must be a first year builder, not a smart place or very weather proof.  Now I get scolded all the time I'm weeding or watering.  i'm going to try to get a picture of the eggs, love that color!

I have only one more garden to do, the bog garden, and it's going to need totally redone.  Here's a picture of what it used to look like in it's heyday (spring shot), but it's nothing but weeds and grass now because of the drought.  My iris didn't even bloom this year... too dry:



Well, i guess I'd better get back out there and keep mulching!   

[vtmartha]

What a gorgeous pond, Keith!  We have four ponds of varying size and maturity - the most recent one is frog heaven but I am looking forward to stocking it with Koi, if I can find some large enough to avoid the frogs.  The smallest one has the most potential, so to speak.  It is adjacent to our terrace, off the back of the house.  Right now, it consists of two sunken preformed ponds, the smaller one set to overflow into the larger.  My daughter and friend installed it and we have yet to figure out how it empties itself so completely  .  I like the sound of running water but I can't use a set up like yours as I have no privacy fence, nor a need for one.  I had one professional look at it but he never called me back.

Things are drying up here as well.  The lawn went from lush to sparse very quickly.  I'm using Earthboxes for the second year to grow my tomatoes.  I could never get a good harvest before the frost and these were so productive.

[ManWhoSews]

Martha, thanks for the comps....your pond emptying could be a number of things... If it's got a waterfall, evaporation and splashing alone accounts for a lot of water loss, as well, you need to make sure there's no backflow under the rocks or layers.   Took me a while to realize all the pitfalls of flowing water.   Also, you might want to just let it run out all the way sometime (if you can afford it) to see if it stops somewhere.  I found a hole in my liner that way and was able to patch it.    Other than that, I need to add water about every 5 days to mine no matter what just from lack of rain and evaporation.  As well, the birds love to drink from the waterfall, so they could be taking some too!   

[redhead]

Hi, I haven't been participating on this thread much, but I've been vegetable gardening again this year, and it's going quite well.  My husband says that I am a lot calmer this year with an active and successful garden.  I guess I have to admit that he may be right.  No tomatoes yet, but I was a little late getting them in.  The asparagus did a little poorly this year, and I don't know why, but the early raspberry harvest was good, and I am looking forward to the main season crop next month.  The beans are doing well, and I have picked my first squash, zukes, and banana peppers.  Keith, I love your garden.  I don't have any appetite for landscaping lately.