baymule
Garden Master
What a fantastic garden you have! Lovely!
A Seed Saver's Garden
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ducks4you
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Thanks! I planted them thickly as a cover crop last Fall. Came up this Spring, flowered and went Right to seed. I pulled them out and have them on a 4' x 6' tarp to dry out. Probably won't do ANYTHING with them until later in the Summer, but I will try the pillowcase method and plant in the Fall again...but earlier, bc I love turnips!
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heirloomgal
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Thank you @baymule! Your garden is awesome too! And I love the story about Pearl 🥰
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heirloomgal
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I have always encouraged my children to take an interest in growing things, and helping with tasks in the garden. My 10 yr old daughter seems to really be catching the gardening bug; she started these bunny tail grasses from seed in early March indoors. She managed never to let them dry out enough to die, to bring them in and out at night during hardening off, and to do the transplanting and watering all on her own. No reminders from mom. Pretty proud of her consistent effort, which is the hardest part. She was pretty elated today to discover that her first bunny tail had appeared.
Having a dickens of a time with my 'Scimitar' peas, these guys have the weakest climbing tendency I've ever seen. I extra supported them with twine so as not to be on the ground, and inflicted some collateral damage in the process. We'll see if they make it in the end. If they aren't able to climb soon, I'm afraid they never will.
Found my 2nd albino pea this year. I guess it isn't a really rare mutation.
I had my daughter plant these carrots for me. I made sure she knew to sow lightly so we don't have to thin so much later. She did pretty well, but the seed packet spilled part of the way through her planting and she couldn't find where the seeds went. Now we know! Spreading DH's coffee grinds I've been collecting since March to spread with the carrots in the hopes of further thwarting that blasted carrot rust fly. The only pest that really is a problem in my garden (aside from Japanese beetles on my lilies). I also planted radishes with them, 'Helios Goldens', because they really cover the carrot scent too. I usually plant 'Rat Tail' radishes instead, but I wanted to try a new radish. I hope it works as well.
Trying a new spot for a few tomatoes, behind the hothouse. Gets a bit of shade at end of day, but they don't seem to be minding. There was a near frost for two days this week (4 degrees), very unusual for this time of year, but the tomatoes seemed fine. My neighbours tomatoes, sadly, didn't fair as well.
Gardens....always a show of both life and death.
Perennial bee magnet par excelllence. Butterflies too.
This is one of my best annuals, 4 o'clocks. Their scent is heavenly, and I LOVE wonderfully scented flowers. These come in yellow, white & pink flowers. But just as great is the fact that I dig up the long tuberous root of these in the fall, store them in winter, and they come to life so fast when re-planted in spring. I planted this one at the end of May, and it's already 3 feet tall. I think it will bloom soon. It never needs to be deadheaded, and the flowers only open around....4 o'clock. Hard to imagine an annual flower I like more. And it produces hundreds of seeds in a season too.
Haven't grown a tomatillo and years, and was advised to cage or stake it as they apparently can be a bit beastly, so I found some cages this week. Curious to see how much this one might try to 'misbehave'. It's greened right up since planting; I find it to be quite a pretty, dainty little plant. For now...
Having a dickens of a time with my 'Scimitar' peas, these guys have the weakest climbing tendency I've ever seen. I extra supported them with twine so as not to be on the ground, and inflicted some collateral damage in the process. We'll see if they make it in the end. If they aren't able to climb soon, I'm afraid they never will.
Found my 2nd albino pea this year. I guess it isn't a really rare mutation.
I had my daughter plant these carrots for me. I made sure she knew to sow lightly so we don't have to thin so much later. She did pretty well, but the seed packet spilled part of the way through her planting and she couldn't find where the seeds went. Now we know! Spreading DH's coffee grinds I've been collecting since March to spread with the carrots in the hopes of further thwarting that blasted carrot rust fly. The only pest that really is a problem in my garden (aside from Japanese beetles on my lilies). I also planted radishes with them, 'Helios Goldens', because they really cover the carrot scent too. I usually plant 'Rat Tail' radishes instead, but I wanted to try a new radish. I hope it works as well.
Trying a new spot for a few tomatoes, behind the hothouse. Gets a bit of shade at end of day, but they don't seem to be minding. There was a near frost for two days this week (4 degrees), very unusual for this time of year, but the tomatoes seemed fine. My neighbours tomatoes, sadly, didn't fair as well.
Gardens....always a show of both life and death.
Perennial bee magnet par excelllence. Butterflies too.
This is one of my best annuals, 4 o'clocks. Their scent is heavenly, and I LOVE wonderfully scented flowers. These come in yellow, white & pink flowers. But just as great is the fact that I dig up the long tuberous root of these in the fall, store them in winter, and they come to life so fast when re-planted in spring. I planted this one at the end of May, and it's already 3 feet tall. I think it will bloom soon. It never needs to be deadheaded, and the flowers only open around....4 o'clock. Hard to imagine an annual flower I like more. And it produces hundreds of seeds in a season too.
Haven't grown a tomatillo and years, and was advised to cage or stake it as they apparently can be a bit beastly, so I found some cages this week. Curious to see how much this one might try to 'misbehave'. It's greened right up since planting; I find it to be quite a pretty, dainty little plant. For now...
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Zeedman
Garden Master
Except maybe for "Parsley"?
baymule
Garden Master
YAY for your daughter and her bunny tail grass! That is wonderful that she did all that and gave the plants such care!
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heirloomgal
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Spent a long while today giving the garden a good soak, as it hasn't rained in a bit, and there was no rain in the long term forecast. 20 minutes later....thunderstorm. And then a rainbow. I felt a bit better when I saw that it was only a short storm. Water is quite expensive here, despite the vast amounts of it that we have, and I try to be as frugal with it as I can. When I read that one of my fave gardeners, Bob Flowerdew, who lives in the UK, says 'hosepipes' have sometimes been banned for watering gardens, I'm just thankful that I can use my hose!
And on the subject of hoses, I thought I'd post a picture of my 'hoe'. When I bought this 3 yrs ago it changed my gardening habits in a big way. I 'occasionally' (wink wink) would put off weeding when it seemed an enormous task, especially if the weeds had gotten really ahead of me. Having a relatively young family, it's easy for me to get behind in the garden. The hoe changed that because now I could do A LOT of weeding in a short time, NOT bend over or squat and not extend much effort. Weeding could be done much faster and easier, with very little hard work. It's now much more like sweeping a floor. Same energy requirement. I keep it very sharp, as a hoe is supposed to be a knife on a stick. I think part of why hoeing is not popular here is no one sharpens their blade. Dull, there is so much more effort involved I don't think it would be worth the money for the hoe. It's more like whacking at weeds. When I go about with my sharp hoe, it takes out weeds like a hot knife on warm butter. This is my #1 favourite gardening tool. No reaching, pulling, yanking, on my knees labour.
My elderberry tree/shrub. It's starting to send out some flowers now; many people make cordial out of the flowers. But I've never been able to sacrifice them as it's too young and small a tree, and I like to collect the berries. There is only a few cups to get at this size, and the birds will clean the bush fast if I'm not quick to harvest or cover the plant. I'd like to learn how to prepare the berries as I think they have some excellent health benefits and the jam is delicious. I use store bought elderberry syrup to keep colds away in winter, and it really works for me.
Largest pea leaves I've ever seen, on 'Oregon Giant'. Just huge. I've heard rave reviews about this pea variety and I'm looking forward to trying it myself. Apparently it's one of the best snow peas out there.
Black currant bush starting to form berries too. I quite like the berries, though they are very strong & medicinal tasting. I have never harvested much from these as I've moved them around the yard too much, and now the birds are getting them as the berry production is finally increasing. I finally got some netting, sorry birdies! I love black currant jam, and would like to learn to use the berries in desserts.
My daughter's other gardening project - get a pineapple to grow. She twisted off the top of one, and planted it in ground soil in a pot. I wasn't sure that would work, but low and behold, it started to form rootlets, and grown tiny new leaves in the centre. She happy danced for 10 minutes when she discovered this pineapple might actually root up for her. We'll see.
If I had limitless space, I'd keep a spring poppy garden. I just love poppies, every kind and every colour. I only have one small stand of pink perennial poppies, and some re-seeding annual large 'red' poppies that come up every year that I got from my stepmum. I just love the delicate petals and those mesmerizingly strange centres. But they need a bit more fussing than I usually give flowers, and space. Plus, they are just so short lived. I'm enjoying right now the few that I have. In a blink, they'll be gone.
And on the subject of hoses, I thought I'd post a picture of my 'hoe'. When I bought this 3 yrs ago it changed my gardening habits in a big way. I 'occasionally' (wink wink) would put off weeding when it seemed an enormous task, especially if the weeds had gotten really ahead of me. Having a relatively young family, it's easy for me to get behind in the garden. The hoe changed that because now I could do A LOT of weeding in a short time, NOT bend over or squat and not extend much effort. Weeding could be done much faster and easier, with very little hard work. It's now much more like sweeping a floor. Same energy requirement. I keep it very sharp, as a hoe is supposed to be a knife on a stick. I think part of why hoeing is not popular here is no one sharpens their blade. Dull, there is so much more effort involved I don't think it would be worth the money for the hoe. It's more like whacking at weeds. When I go about with my sharp hoe, it takes out weeds like a hot knife on warm butter. This is my #1 favourite gardening tool. No reaching, pulling, yanking, on my knees labour.
My elderberry tree/shrub. It's starting to send out some flowers now; many people make cordial out of the flowers. But I've never been able to sacrifice them as it's too young and small a tree, and I like to collect the berries. There is only a few cups to get at this size, and the birds will clean the bush fast if I'm not quick to harvest or cover the plant. I'd like to learn how to prepare the berries as I think they have some excellent health benefits and the jam is delicious. I use store bought elderberry syrup to keep colds away in winter, and it really works for me.
Largest pea leaves I've ever seen, on 'Oregon Giant'. Just huge. I've heard rave reviews about this pea variety and I'm looking forward to trying it myself. Apparently it's one of the best snow peas out there.
Black currant bush starting to form berries too. I quite like the berries, though they are very strong & medicinal tasting. I have never harvested much from these as I've moved them around the yard too much, and now the birds are getting them as the berry production is finally increasing. I finally got some netting, sorry birdies! I love black currant jam, and would like to learn to use the berries in desserts.
My daughter's other gardening project - get a pineapple to grow. She twisted off the top of one, and planted it in ground soil in a pot. I wasn't sure that would work, but low and behold, it started to form rootlets, and grown tiny new leaves in the centre. She happy danced for 10 minutes when she discovered this pineapple might actually root up for her. We'll see.
If I had limitless space, I'd keep a spring poppy garden. I just love poppies, every kind and every colour. I only have one small stand of pink perennial poppies, and some re-seeding annual large 'red' poppies that come up every year that I got from my stepmum. I just love the delicate petals and those mesmerizingly strange centres. But they need a bit more fussing than I usually give flowers, and space. Plus, they are just so short lived. I'm enjoying right now the few that I have. In a blink, they'll be gone.
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flowerbug
Garden Master
four o clocks were one of the first flowers and seeds that i got to know as a kid. the seeds always reminded me of a hand grenade.
and a good hoe certainly does help with weeding but as you've found out it really helps the most when you use it regularly enough. we have a few stirrup hoes here and they're the best way we keep up with all the gardens. i need to get out in all the gardens and give them a quick scrape now that everything is planted and before the weeds start getting seed heads on them.
and a good hoe certainly does help with weeding but as you've found out it really helps the most when you use it regularly enough. we have a few stirrup hoes here and they're the best way we keep up with all the gardens. i need to get out in all the gardens and give them a quick scrape now that everything is planted and before the weeds start getting seed heads on them.
baymule
Garden Master
I believe it’s @catjac1975 that grows a pineapple in her greenhouse and lets it get quite ripe so she can enjoy the delicious smell before eating it.
