Volunteers You Can Count On

Zeedman

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Just a couple updates.

The apparently hybrid volunteer strawberries really are everbearing; they are still bearing, even now. In fact, these are some of the best berries all year:
20231002_143507.jpg

As you can see, the seeds detach easily... I try to shake some loose in the garden or yard before I eat them. They are little red hand mines. 💥 Imagine if we could breed big strawberries whose seeds just fell off.

I've been closely watching the the volunteer ?ground cherry? in the garden (since I am apparently unable to kill it :rolleyes:). I hoped to further define its identity, beyond its appearance as part of the genus Physalis. Very short, spreading plants - with special emphasis on spreading, which they do incredibly well. The very small berries inside the husks don't appear to ripen very rapidly though, and do not appear worth cultivating (or tolerating). They remind me of the time I mistakenly planted Chinese Lantern in one of DW's flower gardens... it spread so quickly that it took 3 years for us to completely eliminate it.
20231004_131707.jpg

If this pops up in your garden, kill on sight before it spreads. Think of it as more of a disease than a plant, and treat it appropriately. It was apparently brought to my fence line by birds... I can't imagine what they see in it.
 

digitS'

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The Porters:

IMG_0766.jpg
They ripened! Pretty good for an 80 day variety. Adapted to Texas climate, the seed companies tell us. I suppose that there are parts of Texas like here.

They always do well and I have grown them for about 30 years. Buuttt, that is starting them indoors about 3/1, up-potting and finally setting them outdoors 3 months later.

I don't remember a Porters volunteer ever ripening before. There were 2 other volunteers in the squash patch – one had flowers, the other a few, hard and tiny tomatoes. A cherry descendant, no doubt. I say "were" because I ran over them yesterday with first the lawnmower and then the rototiller. Porters was saved and dodged around with the machines. I even brought it some water in a bucket ;).

Steve
 

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