The "I'm Sick of Winter" Gardening Thread

[Christina]

I know it's too early to call in spring in most places but where I am in California it alternates between beautiful spring days and torrential downpours that last for days on end. Some bulbs start to bloom and then get battered down by the rains and others are just hovering on the edge of blooming. The first blossoms on the fruit trees are opening and today the first crocus opened during a break in the rain. The ground is too wet to work with without compacting it but I did use a break to pitchfork out a patch of mint that was threatening to take over the world. It should be against the law for people to plant mint in the ground unless they sell it for a living. If it ever stops raining long enough it will be a good time to divide some perennials because they'll come apart easily.

I already posted some pictures in NYGG's botany thread (http://www.secularcafe.org/showthread.php?t=94) and these are the other things that are starting:


Plum tree just starting to bloom:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1274.jpg

Some little bulb whose name I've long since forgotten:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1329.jpg

Chinese Forget-Me-Nots:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1333.jpg

Freesia

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/Freesia.jpg

Rosemary

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/res16.jpg

Crocus

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/crocus.jpg


Is anyone else working in their garden yet or have flowers blooming?

[reddhedd]

ME! I've got seedlings started in the kitchen window, and fruit trees ordered.

Nothing much is blooming; we're at the beginning of the warming up. We got a good few days of warmth, maybe a week or so...and things began to poke their heads up through the mulch.

I reburied the myriad bulbs that had begun to show just before this last cold snap (we got snow!!) so I think they will survive...the daffodils, alas, were already blooming, and I didn't have enough mulch to cover their 16" stems. Now I have to wait for next year for a pretty daffodil border.

My neighbor is a new veggie gardener, and put out lettuce and strawberries during that brief warm spell....and they don't fare well buried in 4 inches of snow. She should have listened to me!:)

Your flowers are lovely...they look like postcards; too perfect to ever be in my yard!

[Christina]

I don't post the pictures of the raggedy ones or the messy areas but it's never all neat and perfect at one time. I've never had time before, but I have this unrealistic goal that this summer that I'm going to try to take care of it the way that a real gardener would in a public garden. The areas that I garden in are spread out over an acre or so. It will never be formal and I don't want it to be because it's enough work as it is to keep the woods from taking over. I don't like formal gardens much because they're too stiff.


During the last spell of warm weather I planted a few rows of a couple of kinds of lettuce and spinach. Unfortunately I forgot that this is the first spring for the 2 younger cats and I didn't cover them and they've dug all around. A lot of the spinach is coming up but nothing of the lettuce yet. It may be too soon because I doubt they could dig up all of it in a straight line.

[Lisa0315]

I don't have a yard this year. I imagine I will do some container gardening with annuals this year, but that is about it.

Lisa

[Mung Dynasty]

It's late summer over here so there's lotsa stuff out. Come to think of it, there is even in winter.

[Goldie]

I just.... gaddammmit!
It's been snowing...A LOT all day!
QUIT BRAGGIN'!:angry:

[Mung Dynasty]

:parrot: Sub-tropics ftw.

[Goldie]

Where I live:

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t228/lilcarolyn01/tuffywinter.jpg

[Mung Dynasty]

Well that'd fuck your parrots.

[Cath B]

I've still got a few sprouts and cabbages to use up.

And we had the first of the sorrel a few days ago.

I can crop the fennel a little too.

My big task of late has been distributing compost from a massive stone surrounded compost haep. So the veggie plots and fruit bushes have had their share.

I tackled the greenhouse with the grape vine yesterday. Too late to cut back the vines (too much else going on in my life to get it done in the depths of winter) so I've just cleared away the dead leaves and some of the topsoil and added fresh compost.

[Christina]

My compost is so wet and heavy that I'm going to wait a while to spread it. I also want to get some manure from my neighbor to mix in. It will stink for a while but it's good compost material. I pruned our grapevines last fall so they're bare now but ready to go. This is from last year when they were just getting going:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/grapes1-1.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

I also want to get some manure from my neighbor to mix in. It will stink for a while but it's good compost material.

I've found that manure from herbivores stinks somewhat less than that from my neighbors. ;)

OK, we had a heavy frost this morning, but it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow. We'll try to get a few hardy plants in the ground.

[Christina]

I've found that manure from herbivores stinks somewhat less than that from my neighbors. ;)

Well, at least my poor sentence structure is entertaining at times :).

[Cath B]

My compost is so wet and heavy that I'm going to wait a while to spread it. I also want to get some manure from my neighbor to mix in. It will stink for a while but it's good compost material. I pruned our grapevines last fall so they're bare now but ready to go. This is from last year when they were just getting going:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/grapes1-1.jpg

What a great crop.

If my grapes are half as good as that this summer I'll be well pleased.

[Christina]

There are a lot of vineyards up here so it's easy to get advice that applies directly to growing conditions here. When we bought the place they were massively overgrown and I thought that was a good thing, but we always got lots of tiny little sour grapes. The grapes grow on the prior year's new stalks so I prune it back to those in the fall and remove some if there are too many and go for fewer but larger and sweeter grapes. There are some wine grapes that are always sour so I let the birds get them.

[Cath B]

Grapes are at the northern edge of their range where I am.

They grow outdoors in the South of England but I've only seen them in greenhouses in Scotland.

And they're not that common here.

[Christina]

I wish I could grow bananas here. Even in a steamy greenhouse in 100 degree weather, they won't grow fruit. Avocados do well in town but we get too many freezes up here to take a chance on them.

[Mung Dynasty]

Why on earth would you want to grow bloody bananas? I'll be getting rid of most of mine.

[Christina]

Because I like them.

[Lisa0315]

It will be 70+ here tomorrow. I am going to give my Peace Lily a nice afternoon outside.

Lisa

[Cath B]

Someone not far from my abode had bananas in their greenhouse a couple of years ago . I think it was the first such record for a private, amateur garden in the UK.

We have a banana plant about four foot tall.My husband used to keep it in his office and my daughter currently has it in her flat.

No bananas though.

[Mung Dynasty]

Four feet? :D Twenty feet is what they're supposed to be. No wonder the poor thing isn't fruiting. I doubt it'd get the sunlight hours and heat it needs. They like the tropics and subtropics.

[Christina]

Grapes are at the northern edge of their range where I am.

Napa is generally considered to be the big wine producing area here and that's about 75 miles northeast, but there are grapes grown further down south too. I'm not sure what the southern limit is, if any. I think that one of the local wineries up here is fairly well known because (oddly enough) Nialler mentioned Bonny Doon Vineyards in that stupid Spinoza thread on IIDB and he lives in France.

They're almost ready to pick in this one.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1174.jpg

That's spearmint in the lower left. It's impossible to get rid of all of it but it's my favorite kind of mint and my hands smell good whenever I touch it, which makes it far superior to the soapy tasting mint that someone planted out front. It's good in tea and in some recipes. Mixing it with mango and a little lime makes a great garnish for spicy things like blackened fish.

[Cath B]

Four feet? :D Twenty feet is what they're supposed to be. No wonder the poor thing isn't fruiting. I doubt it'd get the sunlight hours and heat it needs. They like the tropics and subtropics.

Dinnae diss our banana plant!

It's doing very well for our neck of the wood.

Moving to the tropics isnae an option.

[Cath B]

Napa is generally considered to be the big wine producing area here and that's about 75 miles northeast, but there are grapes grown further down south too. I'm not sure what the southern limit is, if any. I think that one of the local wineries up here is fairly well known because (oddly enough) Nialler mentioned Bonny Doon Vineyards in that stupid Spinoza thread on IIDB and he lives in France.

They're almost ready to pick in this one.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1174.jpg

That's spearmint in the lower left. It's impossible to get rid of all of it but it's my favorite kind of mint and my hands smell good whenever I touch it, which makes it far superior to the soapy tasting mint that someone planted out front. It's good in tea and in some recipes. Mixing it with mango and a little lime makes a great garnish for spicy things like blackened fish.

Beautiful grapes. Mmmm.

[Lisa0315]

Dinnae diss our banana plant!

It's doing very well for our neck of the wood.

Moving to the tropics isnae an option.

Cath, I do not know your orientation. I am straight. However, I tend to blur the lines when someone uses a Scottish accent. Please be careful of that in the future. I may not be responsible for using you sexually if you don't.

Lisa

[Garnet]

:evil:

[Ray Moscow]

We got a few things planted yesterday.

We had a bit of winter return today -- it rained, then sleeted on us while walking this afternoon. It's supposed to be below freezing tonight, then warm up a bit.

[Christina]

It's finally clear out today and without going outside I can see that a few more things are blooming. I'll go out and take pictures when it warms up a bit. It should hit at least 70. I'm going to divide some perennials and transplant them and spread some compost later, and wander around and see what else I can do until the soil dries out a bit. The ground is decomposed granite with a deep layer of leaf mulch under the trees so it's the perfect time to dig holes and pry the rocks out.

[Cath B]

Ground very soggy today with snow, sleet and rain.

No gardening!

[dancer_rnb]

It's starting to get too hot already. Had to turn the air conditionin on.

NO! Winter's gone. No No no No No!:argh:

[Christina]

I did a little gardening today but I spent most of it either reading or working on tearing the carpet out bit by bit. I have a few more things blooming or getting ready to today.

Forsythia:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/March6Forsythia1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/March6Forsyrhia2.jpg

Flowering Crabapple (I think):

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/March6crabapple.jpg

Yellow Freesia with some tulip bulbs pushing up:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/March6Freesia.jpg

Some kind of pink daisy-like flowers:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/March6pink.jpg

[Cath B]

Lovely pictures Christina.

Sunny here today so I'm hoping to get outside today.

The flowering currant is now flowering.

As indeed it should be.

Magnolia in bud.

[hecaterin]

It's just past summer. I planted an oleander today.

[Christina]

I like Oleander because they get so large, flower for so long and take very little care. The only downside is that they're very poisonous so make sure that there are no horses that can nibble at it or water for the leaves to soak in that a pet might drink.

My quince is just starting to open a bud but there doesn't seem to be a lot of them this year. I might not have fed it enough this winter.

[dancer_rnb]

Will water the strawberries today, then reapply cat repellent.

[Christina]

It's nice out but I'm so wiped out from ripping out all of that carpeting and the vacuuming, mopping and dusting that went along with it that I'm too tired to move. I think that today's gardening will consist of sitting with a cup of coffee in the sun and looking at it.

[Minty]

Have done nothing in the garden yet this year **hangs head in shame**

[Cath B]

Weeded herb patch today.

Lots of work still to be done.

[Christina]

If it warms up a little more I'm going to do some more weeding today and if not I'm just going to haul and spread some compost. A few more things have started to bloom.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1044.jpg

Some sort of mallow:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/mallow.jpg

The first rosebud is opening:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/ApricotRose.jpg

[dancer_rnb]

The rain is washing away the cayenne pepper. Anyone have any other suggestions on how to keep the damn cats out of my raised bed?

[dancer_rnb]

Wait! I have all these clippings from my climbing roses!:evil:

[Garnet]

My solution involves trip wires and explosives.

Bad for the garden. Very bad for the cats.

[Christina]

That's not a bad idea. My cats made a mess of my lettuce. The spinach seems to have escaped their notice but the lettuce is a mess and the rows are barely recognizable. It's going to be up in the 70s and maybe even 80s next week so I should get a good sense of what is going to sprout where. It was clear but kind of cool and windy most of the day but I got some weeding done.

If I had thought about it I would have used row covers.

[dancer_rnb]

Christina,

It's bad enough when it's your neighbors' cats, but to own them yourself!:evil:

[Cath B]

Clearing ivy where it's become intrusive.

Clearing paths.

And continuing to dig uo the annual weed meadow.

[Christina]

Christina,

It's bad enough when it's your neighbors' cats, but to own them yourself!:evil:

If they were my neighbors' cats I'd be even more annoyed because I don't love or want to tolerate them. My older cat never does things like that. They didn't show any interest either until after I turned and loosened up the soil and planted the seeds, of course. They seem to have lost interest again now that the rain has pounded it down and it look like everything else.

Today's little gardening chore turned into a major production. All I wanted to do was move an African daisy plant that was getting too big for the space it was in and because ever since we had a bunch of trees come down in a storm they get most of their sun from that direction now and the blooms face away from the garden. So, first I went and started digging a hole where I wanted to move them to and hit the expected big rocks that had to be pried out and some roots to hack out. I've only dug about 8 inches down and I hit chicken wire. Not only is there a big gopher cage buried down there, but small tree roots are all wound through it. It took me forever to dig the thing out and then it was still so heavy that I couldn't lift it out of the hole and I had to dig all of the dirt and roots out first. Finally I got that done and went on to dig up the daisies, and realized that they had gotten so big that the only way I was going to be able to get them out was to stand pretty much inside a lilac bush with my back facing a miniature lemon tree with thorns so that every time I leaned back on the shovel I poked myself in the butt. On the other side were some of the overgrown canes of a huge groundcover rose that are supposed to be going down the hill so that wasn't safe either.

I'm done for the day. They better like it in their new home.

[Cath B]

I saw a pair of robins in the garden this morning.

I have never seen baby robins here so I'm hoping for some this year.

The frogs are busy croaking and spawning in the ponds.

today I've been digging up last year's annual meadow, clearing some ivy (though not where there might be nests) and weeding the borders and the path.

[Garnet]

I'm trying to get motivated enough to go out a do some raking. Maybe just clear part of my flower bed of winter debris.

[Christina]

It's overcast and in the 50s so I'm not doing anything out there today. Joe did my work for me and reorganized the maze of hoses that have proliferated around here. Now I have the right lengths with the right water pressure wherever I need them. Things are so spread out here that it takes at least 4 long hoses to reach all of the areas that I have to water.

[Cath B]

Where does all that water come from?

Is there plenty of it?

[dancer_rnb]

......

The frogs are busy croaking and spawning in the ponds.



Doesn't the first disallow the second?:evil:

[Christina]

Where does all that water come from?

Is there plenty of it?

We get a lot of rain here in the mountains. It's not at all uncommon to get over 100 inches in 4 months during the winter. That feeds an aquifer that is also fed by undergrounds springs, some of which come all the way down from melting snow in the Sierras. There are creeks all over the place and we don't need them as a water supply so most of them run down to the ocean and the largest one is used for water by the nearest city. That creek runs right behind my land at the bottom of a steep gulch and there are old water pipes running up to the developed part of the property and a hand pump outlet at the end. It's pretty cool looking and that's the way that they did it in the olden days. I'm not sure when they started drilling wells here instead. Anyway, once at the end of a 7 year drought it was serious enough to take drastic measures and only water the garden with gray water. Otherwise we have plenty up here. If we didn't I could never have a pool, never mind a lot of things to water.

[Goldie]

We just had sub zero weather. :(

I am sick of winter, but it just won't go away.
As soon as I can, I am moving.
I can't take it anymore.

Plant something fragrant for me.

[Cath B]

We get a lot of rain here in the mountains. It's not at all uncommon to get over 100 inches in 4 months during the winter. That feeds an aquifer that is also fed by undergrounds springs, some of which come all the way down from melting snow in the Sierras. There are creeks all over the place and we don't need them as a water supply so most of them run down to the ocean and the largest one is used for water by the nearest city. That creek runs right behind my land at the bottom of a steep gulch and there are old water pipes running up to the developed part of the property and a hand pump outlet at the end. It's pretty cool looking and that's the way that they did it in the olden days. I'm not sure when they started drilling wells here instead. Anyway, once at the end of a 7 year drought it was serious enough to take drastic measures and only water the garden with gray water. Otherwise we have plenty up here. If we didn't I could never have a pool, never mind a lot of things to water.

Sounds like a wonderful place.

Looks it too judging by your photos here and in another thread.

One day I'll maybe learn to reduce image size and post some photos of my own.

But that'll need to wait for a wet spell when I'm not getting outside.

[Christina]

Posting images is easy, even if you don't resize them first. I use Photobucket and it will resize the images as it uploads them. They're still a little bit too big and stretch the page, but lpetrich has taken care of that and now they automatically get resized here when you post them. If you want to be talked through it just send me a PM.

[Cath B]

Many thanks, that's kind of you.

Though I'm something of a procrastinator so they may still take a while.

[Cath B]

I planted two rows of onion sets yesterday.

I hope to give the lawn its first mow of the year this afternoon if it keeps dry.

[Christina]

I've pulled a small mountain of weeds in the last 2 days. I finished about 300 sq ft out of about 1000 but they were the parts with the most weeds or that have the most groundcover to pick through. The rest is all easy weeding from here because the beds have been established longer so they get fewer weeds. The weather has been beautiful and in the 70s for the past few days.

Our ornamental plum tree is in full bloom. At least I thought it was ornamental but last year for the first time it grew a few bitter little plums. I'm not sure what it is. These are from an earlier year because I'm too lazy to go take new pictures.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1324.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/100_1312.jpg

[Goldie]

I've gotta share this coversation I had with my 7 yr old granddaughter, "Bumpy."

"Nana, am I on spring break?"
Yes
"So when I get back from my mama's will it be spring?"
No...it will still be cold and grey. But, spring is coming soon. See that little bit of green grass on the hillside? In a few weeks, it'll all be green.
"When I get back are we going to the Grand Canyon?" (She'll be back Sunday)
No, honey. We can't go to Grand Canyon until summer...when you are done with school.
"Oh. So we're doing 4 things this summer."
Four things?
"Yes." She starts counting on her fingers. "We're going to the Canyons, we're going to Silverwood, we're gonna gard..."
Gard? We're gonna gard? Wha...?
"Yes, Nana! We're gonna gard! Remember? We are gonna gard with flowers and squash."
Oh! (DOH) You mean were going to grow a garden.
"YES! We're gonna gard, aren't we? You said we would."
Yes...but it's called gardening. You garden you don't gard. You are saying the word wrong.
"Oh. I thought you were saying we couldn't grow a garden." (relieved)

Gawd, that kid knows how to gardening and just LOVES it. The other day she found one of those seed and plant catalogs and took a big ole sharpie and started circling flowers and plants that she wanted to grow in our garden. I had to X out the corn and all of the fruit trees. I told her she'd have to wait until we bought a bigger place for that. (We are still renting and our garden is actually on city property.)
She can hardly wait.
I am so happy that she's found something that she can love doing for the rest of her life. She's so good at it...out there everyday dead-heading and watering and making sure everything is cared for and looking good. :)
What a goober.

Bumpy in last summer's garden
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t228/lilcarolyn01/labordayish08050.jpg

[Cath B]

I love all this gardening enthusiasm. :)

I'm wanting to plant veg seeds today.

Loads of daffodils out now. And red tulips.

[Lisa0315]

I bought fresh flowers last night for my dining room table. Pink and cream tulips with some kind of purpley stuff as an accent. Does that count as gardening? :D

Keep in mind that I used to grow Old English roses and Hybrid Teas. I do not have a yard now. I will probably do some container gardening this spring and summer.

[Christina]

I went out to the pool last night and something had destroyed my tree rose (that's a regular rose grafted onto stronger root stock and trained into a standard). It was beautiful and had flowers that changed from a pale pink to peach as they opened. The trunk was snapped right in half. I can't imagine how that happened. Now what will grow is whatever variety that the root stock came from. I stuck the top end of the trunk in water but I've never tried to regenerate a rose that way. I'm bummed because it was at least 10 years old and beautiful.

[Lisa0315]

I went out to the pool last night and something had destroyed my tree rose (that's a regular rose grafted onto stronger root stock and trained into a standard). It was beautiful and had flowers that changed from a pale pink to peach as they opened. The trunk was snapped right in half. I can't imagine how that happened. Now what will grow is whatever variety that the root stock came from. I stuck the top end of the trunk in water but I've never tried to regenerate a rose that way. I'm bummed because it was at least 10 years old and beautiful.

My mother is an expert on roses. Let me ask her if it can be saved or regrafted.

Lisa

[Christina]

Thanks :). I've started clones of small perennials before and rooted regular houseplants but I've never tried anything like that, or ever grafted anything. Joe has done grafting when he was into Bonsai so if that's what it takes he can help me.

[Lisa0315]

There is nothing that can be done that I know of. What would have to happen is the trunk put out canes and I dont really think it would. She is right that the root stock will put out but it will probably be single petals and wispy like a wild rambler. However, tell h er to call Jackson Perkins and see what they say. You can get a phone number off the web.

I can imagine how heartsick she is. A ten year old tree rose. I would be fit to be tied.

[Christina]

Calling J&P is a good idea because I got it from them in the first place. The root stock is exactly as she said - a wild looking pink rambler with single petals.

[Garnet]

The temperature dropped to 17 degrees here last night. I'm glad I didn't get daft and try to plant the wild flower seed I bought.

[Lisa0315]

Yeah, here, we wait until Easter weekend. It is generally past the time for a hard frost after that.

This thread is really making me itch to have my own yard again. I talked to a mortgage company yesterday, and I think I will be able to buy a house again in a year.

I just want a little cottage with a small fenced in yard. Nothing fancy but with enough space for when my grown kids and future grandkids come to visit.

Lisa

[VoxRat]

Happy Vernal Equinox, y'all.

I live on a farm, but I'm not responsible for any of the agriculture. I'd love to do something interesting - grow barley and make beer would be interesting. (Regrettably, I don't think hops do well here).

As it is, there's a little herb garden that I have to start thinking about... I got as far as growing cilantro last year. This year I'm planning to get a little more into it. But I have to first clear out all the crap that's been there forever for no good reason, replace it with stuff that would actually be interesting/tasty, and figure out what will survive the non-human animals that will want to compete in the harvest.

I have no knowledge or experience in gardening, but the cousins I live with do; maybe I can learn.

[Christina]

I almost went to the garden center this morning to buy vegetable starts but I decided to wait another week or two and think about what I want to plant and where this year. I have much more space dedicated to flowers than vegetables. I already have a few kinds of lettuce and spinach planted and they're coming up. I can keep them going until early May but after that it will be too hot. I can plant tomatoes, cilantro and basil in the same bed because the lettuce will be done before they get big enough to shade it out. I have two raised beds at the top of that hillside that I'm working on and I'll plant cucumbers, green beans, peppers and eggplant in those. I can plant some squash and a pumpkin directly into the ground near them and let them trail down the hill and see how they do. They take up too much space in a bed. I usually don't bother with corn because it takes up a lot of space for a relatively small yield but there may be room up at the top with the rest of the vegetables. I only want to plant native things that don't need to be watered on the lower parts.

It's easy to learn, VoxRat. The first lesson is that it's worth putting in a little extra effort up front before you plant anything because it will save you lots of time and headaches in the long run. We can help you if you want.

[Goldie]

You can propigate woody plants by using root hormone, Christina, but I seriously doubt you'll be able to save that tree unless you quickly re-grafted it. Then, it would take a long time to get back to anything normal.

Sorry. When that sort of thing has happens to me, it makes my stomach turn.
Deer are awful hard on plants, even the ones they don't eat. I had transplanted a beautiful quaking aspen (native) and had it for about 7 years when it died because a buck ringed the trunk. (A buck will take his antlers and rub a small tree clear around, removing all of the bark. This usually kills the tree. )
I might have been able to save it if I had noticed it right away, but I'm not even sure of that

ETA: We plant in May...up north it was at the END of May. We don't have much of a growing season. Here we get an extra few weeks than we did when we lived higher up.

[Christina]

We've got that plastic black deer fencing that is virtually invisible against the trees surrounding the whole back of the developed part of the property. If we didn't, I'd be running a salad bar and the coyotes would follow the deer in. That happened in the last place that I lived and waking up to a pack of coyotes taking down a deer in your front yard is not fun. I never knew that deer screamed before that.

[Goldie]

We've got that plastic black deer fencing that is virtually invisible against the trees surrounding the whole back of the developed part of the property. If we didn't, I'd be running a salad bar and the coyotes would follow the deer in. That happened in the last place that I lived and waking up to a pack of coyotes taking down a deer in your front yard is not fun. I never knew that deer screamed before that.

Yup. I've seen them run young deer, ragged, in deep snow. My husband chased them off and guarded the deer until it could get itself together. I know the coyotes need to eat, too...but there's no shortage of feed for them around here.

Coyotes were always near our place, but they never bothered anything. It was the weasles who got my chickens. Little bastards!

[VoxRat]

... The first lesson is that it's worth putting in a little extra effort up front before you plant anything because it will save you lots of time and headaches in the long run. We can help you if you want.That little extra effort - it's mainly in planning, thinking through how it's going to develop, what needs how much space... that kind of thing? Or is it in preparing the ground? Or both?

[Lisa0315]

That little extra effort - it's mainly in planning, thinking through how it's going to develop, what needs how much space... that kind of thing? Or is it in preparing the ground? Or both?

Definitely both!

[Cath B]

Planting seeds today

cauliflower
rocket
lettuce
leeks
radish
marigold

Also cut up the green compost where I'll be planting beans and peas before too long.

While I was out there a neighbour came over with nine tomato plants for me so that was very friendly of him.

I've promised him some rhubarb when it's ready.

[Christina]

Vox, I meant both. If you're going to plant directly into the ground then you need to consider things like gophers and moles. If you have them you probably want to lay gopher wire under raised beds. If you have clay soil you probably should mix in some sand and compost, if you have sand you'll need compost and probably some planting mix and if you're lucky you just need to loosen it up and turn it before you plant anything. You need to at least understand enough about what you plant to know what temperature ranges it can stand and how much sun it needs and can take. It's hard to know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline unless you have it tested or through trial and error, but mistakes like that can usually be fixed with some plant food.

If you plant seeds, the package will give you the general directions. I always plant perennials and shrubs too closely when they're small and then end up moving them when they get larger. It would nice to avoid that, but I never do.

[Goldie]

The 3 most important things in gardening:
1. compost
2. compost
3. compost

If you have clay...only add sand if you intend to add LOTS of compost, otherwise you'll get cement.

The locals here, near my city garden, thought I was nuts planting where I did. But, I ammended the soil for all it was worth. The neighbors were amazed. I think they thought I was a kook. i intend to keep amending and planting annuals and perenials. That way, when I move, I'll leave something to remember me by. Something beautiful. :)

It's amazing what you can grow in a small area if you amend the soil/ begin with good soil and water well.

[Brianna]

The 3 most important things in gardening:
1. compost
2. compost
3. compost

If you have clay...only add sand if you intend to add LOTS of compost, otherwise you'll get cement.

The locals here, near my city garden, thought I was nuts planting where I did. But, I ammended the soil for all it was worth. The neighbors were amazed. I think they thought I was a kook. i intend to keep amending and planting annuals and perenials. That way, when I move, I'll leave something to remember me by. Something beautiful. :)

It's amazing what you can grow in a small area if you amend the soil/ begin with good soil and water well.

yeah all that brush christina is clipping should be composted. <3 compost bin. i need to start a new one.

[Notta]

I have blueberries and thornless blackberry bushes waiting to be planted. My son bought several varieties of hot peppers to grow (we're trying to make our own hot pepper sauce), tomatoes, cantaloupes, and quick-growing watermelons. I'm going to add some bib lettuce, too.

Planting around my home will have to wait until late April/early May. I can't wait! I'm going to embark on a multi-year project to replace my overgrown and over-planted flower beds from the previous owner with fruit bushes and vegetable patches.

[Brianna]

My son bought several varieties of hot peppers to grow (we're trying to make our own hot pepper sauce), tomatoes, cantaloupes, and quick-growing watermelons. I'm going to add some bib lettuce, too.


Like salsa?

Wear gloves or do not rub your eyes.

[Notta]

Like salsa?

Wear gloves or do not rub your eyes.
Last year I grew Scotch bonnet peppers and wore both gloves and a respirator mask as I blackened the skins and chopped them up. I needed both to handle them properly!

[Christina]

yeah all that brush christina is clipping should be composted. <3 compost bin. i need to start a new one.

I compost virtually everything, but the point of cutting brush is to prevent wildfires from spreading quickly and to get ladder fuels out of there. What's too small for firewood either has to get burned, chipped or hauled away to the landfill because it would take years and years to compost and in the interim it's a fire hazard. Having a lot of wood chips laying around isn't a good idea because fires create winds that can blow them all over like little coals, including on to your roof. Fire danger is real here. Once you've had a huge wildfire come within 2000' of your house you start looking at things a bit differently. There are other environmental concerns when you live in the woods.

It may be a terminology thing. "Brush" doesn't get clipped. It gets hacked down with a chainsaw or loppers. Weeds and foliage get "clipped" and composted.

[Goldie]

I compost virtually everything, but the point of cutting brush is to prevent wildfires from spreading quickly and to get ladder fuels out of there. What's too small for firewood either has to get burned, chipped or hauled away to the landfill because it would take years and years to compost and in the interim it's a fire hazard. Having a lot of wood chips laying around isn't a good idea because fires create winds that can blow them all over like little coals, including on to your roof. Fire danger is real here. Once you've had a huge wildfire come within 2000' of your house you start looking at things a bit differently. There are other environmental concerns when you live in the woods.

It may be a terminology thing. "Brush" doesn't get clipped. It gets hacked down with a chainsaw or loppers. Weeds and foliage get "clipped" and composted.

True. The brush would have to be ground to a pulp to compost properly.Even straw takes forever to compost because of it's waxy coating, which is why I always used hay for bedding for my chickens. It composts easilly.

[Cath B]

... for my chickens...

You kept chickens?

My daughter (who lives here) is getting chickens soon!

Good thinking about hay composting quicker. I'd been wondering where we're going to find room for more compost heaps.

How many chickens did you have?
What breeds were they?
Why did you stop keeping them?

[Cath B]

Vox, if you're wary about starting to garden you could take a look around your neighbourhood and go for plants you like which are thriving nearby. If they do well in other gardens they are likely to do well in yours too.

You could try being more adventurous when you're a bit more confident and experienced.

Allowing your gardening memes and the extended phenotype of your garden to evolve rather than a lot of initial planning may be an approach which suits you better. If you take this route it may be best to avoid expensive plants which will be tricky to transplant when they get bigger.

[Free in Freeport]

Oh HELL YES I'm sick of winter!! It was 19F (-7c) when I walked the dogs yesterday morning. I'll soon find out what it's like now. It will be 2-3 weeks before we can plant.

[Christina]

I've never sat down and planned out my entire garden, or even most of the flower beds. I just keep making new ones and moving things around and cramming things in wherever there's room. This year I'm thinking about sticking some vegetables into amongst the flower beds wherever there is some room. They're pretty too. Today I think that I'll start thinning the lettuce and spinach, trying to fix the mess that the cats made in there and then planting the basil.

[Cath B]

I worked hard today, which left me feeling good even though I accomplished a lot less than I planned.

I decided I needed more compost where the beans will be going which meant shifting a top layer of semi compost to a different abode before I could reach the good stuff underneath.

Sometimes I feel as though the only gardening I do is fiddling with the compost.

But it interests the botanist in me.
What did this bit of goo used to be?
Hmm, so this bit of thingy takes longer to decompose than this thingy.
Y'know the kind of thing...

[Christina]

I just finished the end of the really tedious weeding which was getting all of the tiny grasses and weeds out of a "lawn" of woolly thyme ground cover. My fingers are freezing but I'm very happy about how quickly I can get it done now. When we first bought the place it was a sea of weeds and it would take me 2 days to hand weed all of that part. I've stayed on top of pulling them before they go to seed since then and there are fewer and fewer every year. Now it takes about 45 minutes. The only things I have left to weed for the first time are the easy flower beds and then it's not much work to keep up after that. It's still a bit too cold at night for most vegetables to do anything but sulk so I'm going to hold off on those for another week or two. Once my fingers warm up I'm going to work on the lettuce and spinach bed and maybe plant some basil there too.

[Cath B]

..."lawn" of woolly thyme ground cover.

I'd love one of them!

How big is it?

I'd like a chamomile lawn too.

[Christina]

It's about 15' by 25' or so. I love it. Trying to have a regular grass lawn in a place like this is impossible and thyme smells so much better and when it blooms it's like a carpet of pale purple flowers. On a hot day just walking across it raises the scent in the air and it's tough enough to handle all of the animals running around on it. Even better, as far as I can tell gophers and moles don't like it.

[Christina]

I went to the garden center to get veggie starts but it was too early for them to have cucumbers or eggplants. I got seeds for those, and then for some cosmos, sweet peas, nasturtiums, a few kinds of sunflowers, Canterbury Bells and probably some I'm forgetting. Now I can't find any of my starter trays so I'm going to have to make something or start them all in little pots. If the cats hadn't turned my lettuce bed into a hodgepodge instead of straight rows I could have planted the basil and started all of the flowers there but now it will be too confusing to figure out which is which. The other vegetable beds are down on the hill out back and I don't want to forget about them and not water them enough. Then I have to figure out where to plant the sweet peas because anything that something can climb on already has vines and I want them close enough to the house to smell them all the time.

[Christina]

There is nothing that can be done that I know of. What would have to happen is the trunk put out canes and I dont really think it would. She is right that the root stock will put out but it will probably be single petals and wispy like a wild rambler. However, tell h er to call Jackson Perkins and see what they say. You can get a phone number off the web.

I can imagine how heartsick she is. A ten year old tree rose. I would be fit to be tied.

This is so weird. I stuck the stalk in some water and I just looked at it and it's growing new shoots all over the place. It isn't developing any roots, it's just sucking water up through the trunk. I wonder how long it will do that for before it realizes that it's supposed to die now.

[Lisa0315]

There is nothing that can be done that I know of. What would have to happen is the trunk put out canes and I dont really think it would. She is right that the root stock will put out but it will probably be single petals and wispy like a wild rambler. However, tell h er to call Jackson Perkins and see what they say. You can get a phone number off the web.

I can imagine how heartsick she is. A ten year old tree rose. I would be fit to be tied.

This is so weird. I stuck the stalk in some water and I just looked at it and it's growing new shoots all over the place. It isn't developing any roots, it's just sucking water up through the trunk. I wonder how long it will do that for before it realizes that it's supposed to die now.

:dunno: :D

[dancer_rnb]

Lisa, I believe there is something called rooting compound or rooting hormone. You might try getting some and adding to the water.

[Lisa0315]

Lisa, I believe there is something called rooting compound or rooting hormone. You might try getting some and adding to the water.

Not me...:D I just asked my Mom how to help Christina.

[dancer_rnb]

My strawberries (three plants) in my strawberrry pot are starting to bloom.
The seven in my garden with the rose bush trimmings over them are also doing better
now that they are not being dug up or berried :evil: by cats.

[Christina]

Lisa, I believe there is something called rooting compound or rooting hormone. You might try getting some and adding to the water.

There is, and my partner might still have some from when he was playing around with doing bonsais. If not and he thinks that this trunk has a possibility of rooting I'll get some. It can't hurt to try.

[Cath B]

It's about 15' by 25' or so. I love it. Trying to have a regular grass lawn in a place like this is impossible and thyme smells so much better and when it blooms it's like a carpet of pale purple flowers. On a hot day just walking across it raises the scent in the air and it's tough enough to handle all of the animals running around on it. Even better, as far as I can tell gophers and moles don't like it.

Fantastic!

[Christina]

Lisa, I believe there is something called rooting compound or rooting hormone. You might try getting some and adding to the water.

We had some here so I have it sitting in it now. It will be interesting to see what happens with it. The graft well above where it broke, so I don't know which kind of rose it will bloom if it lasts that long, and if by some miracle it does root, I don't know which one that it is until it blooms.

[Ray Moscow]

We did a vegetable-gardening course yesterday at our local RHS centre. It was really interesting. It turns out that we were doing a lot of things right already, but quite a few not so right.

[Christina]

I've been looking at the Master Gardeners Certificate program and it's a lot less expensive than I had thought. It's about 15 weeks of Saturday classes and most of them are about an hour away at the other end of the county or in Monterey. It looks like it gets started in January. It might be worth all of the driving because the subject list looks great to me:

Introduction to Horticulture and Plant Physiology
Soil, Water, and Fertilizers
Plant Problems, Diagnosis and Diseases
Vegetable Gardening
Plant Insects
Fruit Tress
Pesticide Safety and Efficacy
Weeds
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Annuals, Perennials and Ground covers
Ornamental Trees and Shrubs
Turfgrass and Disease
Vertebrate Pests

I can probably acquire the same amount of knowledge by reading but sometimes it's fun to learn in a group. The volunteer work requirement to complete the certification sounds easy and fun but I don't care about having the certificate anyway.

[sohy]

I took the Master Gardener course about 8 years and then I totally lost my interest in gardening. I'm not saying that's why, I'm just sayin'. I'm lucky these days if I am motivated enough to take out the violas on my front porch that have been blooming all winter and replace them with something else for the spring and summer.

[Christina]

I'll decide if I want to do it when it gets closer. If it wasn't for all of the driving during winter storms I'd register in a heartbeat but as I look closer at the agenda I'm seeing that a lot of it appears to be at an introductory level and I'm not interested in paying for that. Sohy, when you took it was it aimed at new gardeners or more experienced ones?

[Cath B]

I've just picked some forced rhubarb for a rhubarb crumble.

The first of the year - I get a real kick out of eating home grown seasonal food.

I've also been weeding and mulching around the young quinces which my husband grew from seed to make a quince hedge.

[Christina]

I have a small quince in a pot and a few flowers have opened already. Hopefully this isn't it for the year and it will bloom more later. A whole hedge of them must be beautiful.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/March25012.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

I've been looking at the Master Gardeners Certificate program and it's a lot less expensive than I had thought. It's about 15 weeks of Saturday classes and most of them are about an hour away at the other end of the county or in Monterey. It looks like it gets started in January. It might be worth all of the driving because the subject list looks great to me:

Introduction to Horticulture and Plant Physiology
Soil, Water, and Fertilizers
Plant Problems, Diagnosis and Diseases
Vegetable Gardening
Plant Insects
Fruit Tress
Pesticide Safety and Efficacy
Weeds
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Annuals, Perennials and Ground covers
Ornamental Trees and Shrubs
Turfgrass and Disease
Vertebrate Pests

I can probably acquire the same amount of knowledge by reading but sometimes it's fun to learn in a group. The volunteer work requirement to complete the certification sounds easy and fun but I don't care about having the certificate anyway.

The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) offers a similar cerification programme. We're thinking about taking some more courses there.

You learn a lot just talking with experienced garderners.

[Christina]

You learn a lot just talking with experienced garderners.

That's the part that appeals to me about it. What I'm most interested in is organic pest and disease management. I've picked up most of the rest through reading and trial and error but a lot of the organic products that I've tried for pests, rose mildews and rust don't work very well. I'm willing to share with the bugs and the black spot but not to the point where they take over.

[Cath B]

I have a small quince in a pot and a few flowers have opened already. Hopefully this isn't it for the year and it will bloom more later. A whole hedge of them must be beautiful.


Lovely picture.

The hedge quinces are still too small to flower.

Our mature quince bush, the source of some of the seeds, is already in flower.

Up until not so long ago I was eating quince jelly my husband made in autumn '07.

[Christina]

My quince is young too so it just started to flower a little last year. I've never had quince jelly before. Is that mostly a British thing or have I just missed it? I never buy jams or jellies because they always have so much sugar added that it ruins the taste of the fruit for me. I only eat fruit pies that I make at home for the same reason. Fruit is sweet enough for me without the sugar.

The madrone trees are in full bloom now and you can smell them wherever you go on the mountain when the sun hits them. Later in the Fall the berries will draw flocks of band tail pigeons to feast on them.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/March25003.jpg

[sohy]

I'll decide if I want to do it when it gets closer. If it wasn't for all of the driving during winter storms I'd register in a heartbeat but as I look closer at the agenda I'm seeing that a lot of it appears to be at an introductory level and I'm not interested in paying for that. Sohy, when you took it was it aimed at new gardeners or more experienced ones?

Most of the class members were very experienced and I did learn a lot about things that I really wasn't that interested in doing, like growing fruit trees, or choosing the right turf, for example. It was pretty interesting as it was taught by a variety of teachers from the U of Georgia extension campus. It was a long drive from my home. I must have been very bored that year.

I never finished the volunteer work. They promised me there would be plenty of opportunities that wouldn't involve heavy work. I have arthritis in my hands and am limited in what I can do. They lied. Most of the work involved digging. I ended up doing some data entry for one of the extension office people. When that was over, I gave up trying to find something I could do.

[Cath B]

My quince is young too so it just started to flower a little last year. I've never had quince jelly before. Is that mostly a British thing or have I just missed it? I never buy jams or jellies because they always have so much sugar added that it ruins the taste of the fruit for me. I only eat fruit pies that I make at home for the same reason. Fruit is sweet enough for me without the sugar.


Quinces are rarely used in British cooking nowadays, least ways anywhere I've been. I've never eaten any except at home.

They were used more extensively a few hundred years ago but I've not really looked into the recipes they used (maybe DMB would know).

I've made quince jelly too. It's got a distinctive slightly perfumed taste. My friend google informed me that quinces were traditionally eaten as breath fresheners by newlyweds in some cultures.

Ancient Greeks associated the quince with fertility, and it played an important role in wedding celebrations where it was offered as a gift, used to sweeten the bride's breath before entering the bridal chamber, and shared by bride and groom. These associations have resulted in the quince becoming known as the "fruit of love, marriage, and fertility."

http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingbasics/p/prof_quince.htm

[Cath B]

Today I planted brussel sprouts, manges tout and broad beans.

I fixed last year's supports for the legumes too.

[Christina]

That's interesting, Cath. I tried both rose and violet jelly in France and I didn't like either of them. It was a bit too much like eating perfume for me. I like things that are spicy like nasturtiums in salad but not sweet-scented ones so far.

I didn't do anything in the garden today but Joe did my weed whacking for me so something got done without me. I love the smell of fresh cut weeds.

[Cath B]

Planted a row of spinach and a row of chard and moved some strawberries.

I'm going to ask my brother to put some photos on this thread when he visits in two or three weeks time.

[Christina]

A few new things are starting to bloom. Some of these are older pictures but they still look the same.

Another rose:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/PinkRose.jpg

The first alstromeria are opening up:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/PeruvianLily.jpg

A few more bearded iris:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/yellowiris.jpg

[Brianna]

Still snowing here.. .

[Cath B]

Plans went somewhat agley today!

I found my pond somewhat depleted of water and realised that by leaving the end of a hose in it overnight I had inadvertently created a syphon!

The pond was well in need of a clean so my daughter and I set about emptying it completely!

The pump was working very slowly so that took all day!

Fish in a large bucket and we clean tomorrow.

Apart from that we enjoyed a lunch of the year's first garden asparagus.

[Christina]

I did that with a hose once and emptied out half the pool overnight. Luckily it was wintertime and the rain filled it right back up again.

[Christina]

Has anyone ever grown blueberries?

[Cath B]

Has anyone ever grown blueberries?

My husband planted some last year (at least, I think that's what they are).

I didn't notice any fruit but perhaps the birds did!

They are looking very healthy so I'll keep a better eye on them this summer.

Incidentally, they were sold as "blueberries" in the garden centre but are a not the same species as the British blueberry, Vaccinium Myrtillis, also known as bilberry, blaeberry (by my husband's family), whimberry (by my family), whortleberry and more.

Cleaning the pond of stones, deeply rooted plants and lots of gunge was hard work though made very much easier by the help of a friendly neighbour.

I've now left my daughter replanting the lilies.

[Christina]

I've let the pool get a bit on the green side during the last round of rains because it was overflowing so continually that it was pointless to try to keep the PH balanced or the chlorine levels up. I'm going to dump a few gallons of bleach in there today to see if I can get by without having to do a super-shock treatment to stop any algae from growing.

I'm going to have to read up on blueberries. We have wild raspberry, blackberry and ollalaberry growing all over the place but I don't know what kind of conditions blueberries need.

[dancer_rnb]

Still snowing here.. .

I'll be envying you in a few month, when everything is burnt brown.......

[nygreenguy]

It's not weird at all! It's what plants do! Some will root in just water but others require some auxins and to be planted. You tell me what it is and I can tell you exactly what you need.


There is nothing that can be done that I know of. What would have to happen is the trunk put out canes and I dont really think it would. She is right that the root stock will put out but it will probably be single petals and wispy like a wild rambler. However, tell h er to call Jackson Perkins and see what they say. You can get a phone number off the web.

I can imagine how heartsick she is. A ten year old tree rose. I would be fit to be tied.

This is so weird. I stuck the stalk in some water and I just looked at it and it's growing new shoots all over the place. It isn't developing any roots, it's just sucking water up through the trunk. I wonder how long it will do that for before it realizes that it's supposed to die now.

[Christina]

It's a tree rose, which is a regular rose grafted onto sturdier root stock and trained into a standard. It broke off about midway through the trunk of the root stock well below the graft. The trunk is about an inch thick and woody. I have it sitting in water and Joe put in some rooting solution that he uses on bonsais. So far it's hanging in there and even has a tiny bud but there's no sign of root growing out of the bottom yet.

Do you think it's better to have it in a black jar or a clear one, and does temperature matter much?

[nygreenguy]

It's a tree rose, which is a regular rose grafted onto sturdier root stock and trained into a standard. It broke off about midway through the trunk of the root stock well below the graft. The trunk is about an inch thick and woody. I have it sitting in water and Joe put in some rooting solution that he uses on bonsais. So far it's hanging in there and even has a tiny bud but there's no sign of root growing out of the bottom yet.

Do you think it's better to have it in a black jar or a clear one, and does temperature matter much?


So, your original graft failed and you are trying to save the scion? (the twig in water?) You need to have the right concentration of rooting agent, you cant simply just pour some on. The wrong concentration will actually prevent it from rooting! What exactly is the rooting compound? (the active chemical)
Im thinking it should be IAA (indole-3-acetic acid) or IBA (indole butyric acid). Also, if this is in water, the rooting compound will degrade pretty rapidly.

So, we still need a list of info to investigate this further!

1)What is the rooting compound and whats the concentration.
2)Do you want to re-graft?
3)When was the original graft, and how was it made? (how exactly was it cut)

[Christina]

No, the original graft is fine. I bought it as a tree rose about 10 years ago so it's at least that old. The graft is at the top of the trunk and it broke about a foot below it. The trunk itself is from the root stock, which is a different and hardier rose. I'll have to ask Joe what he put it in, but I doubt he'll kill it because he's been doing it with bonsais for years. I've never grafted anything so I'm not sure about that, but it will be worth a try if no roots grow as long as it doesn't mean potentially killing another rose.

[nygreenguy]

No, the original graft is fine. I bought it as a tree rose about 10 years ago so it's at least that old. The graft is at the top of the trunk and it broke about a foot below it. It still seems odd unless it was a storm or something!
I'll have to ask Joe what he put it in, but I doubt he'll kill it because he's been doing it with bonsais for years. Well, that is interesting because bonsais work in a different way than other plants. In bonsais you are more trying to stunt growth than to accelerate it. I wonder if they use the same rooting compounds though....


I've never grafted anything so I'm not sure about that, but it will be worth a try if no roots grow as long as it doesn't mean potentially killing another rose. If you ever want to graft, I could explain it all pretty easy. Its also REALLY easy to practice! Your rootstock might be a little big now, and I'm sure it will die without its upper parts, or does it have some of its own?

So, let me know what you REALLY want to do, Im still a bit confused!

[Christina]

We had a huge storm before that but it's weathered 10 years worth of those. It's possible, but also possible that one of the cats jumped on it from the fence and bent it too hard. It's strange because I doubt that I could have cut it with hand pruners because it was too thick.

Not that I want a derail onto bonsai, but he was starting from wild tree cuttings and either grafting or rooting them. Trimming the roots to retard growth has to wait until it has some. He had over 50 at once point and they were amazing.

I'd like to save the rose and I'm not sure if the best way is to try to root it or graft it so I can't tell you what I really want to do. I can replace it with a regular bare root one of the same variety for $20 and train it into a standard again over the next 10 years or just buy a new one but I hate wasting a perfectly good rose if it can be saved.


The St. John's Wort that's the groundcover all around the driveway area opened it's first bloom today. It's a good ground cover because it shades out weeds and spreads fast but can be pretty invasive if you don't limit how far it can get.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/000_0084.jpg

[nygreenguy]

I'd like to save the rose and I'm not sure if the best way is to try to root it or graft it so I can't tell you what I really want to do. I can replace it with a regular bare root one of the same variety for $20 and train it into a standard again over the next 10 years or just buy a new one but I hate wasting a perfectly good rose if it can be saved. Well, you could easily root it, or graft it again to the original rootstock or get new rootstock.

Im curious as to its girth? It seems pretty small still. If its less than 3" in diameter, grafting should still be easy. Or, I would suggest a 3% IAA quick dip and a planting in some well drained soil, like peat with a sand base for support.

[Cath B]

... planting in some well drained soil, like peat with a sand base for support.

Interesting that you should cite peat.

In the UK folk concerned with environmental impact shun peat tend to be highly critical of gardening centres which sell it (the vast majority do).

My husband considered this ridiculous, reckoning that it was a plentiful local resource.

I remain uncertain. I tend to avoid it in accordance with the current environmental creed, but wonder whether sensitive use (avoiding peat localities with an endangered ecosystem) is less environmentally damaging than shipping in bulky coconut something-or-other from overseas (the usual alternative).

It'd be interesting to hear the US perspective. Perhaps you have a lot more peat!

[Christina]

The only things I've ever used peat for are some peat moss I tried way back when as a ground cover and it broke down too fast, and those little peat containers for planting that starts come in when I was first learning how to garden. There's a general sense that you shouldn't use it because of environmental concerns that it's becoming scarce and destroying wildlife habitat but I've never tried to verify that.

[nygreenguy]

Yes, peatlands are being destroyed, all over the world.

They still make the best potting mix!

[Christina]

I thought that you had never tried to garden? Did I miss something?

[nygreenguy]

I thought that you had never tried to garden? Did I miss something?

I haven't, but I'm still a botanist and I have taken plant propagation courses. A lot of gardening really just boils down to plant physiology!

[Christina]

A lot also boils down to local conditions, soil types, amount and timing of rainfall, etc. It probably takes both book knowledge and experience to really nail things down. I just have the experience but not the studying.

I've never asked you this before but what does your job entail on a daily basis? It sounds interesting. The only ones I know work at UCSC doing research.

[Cath B]

This discussion prompted me to do a bit of googling and I found the Kew Gardens website (http://www.kew.org/ksheets/peat.html) reassuring about the use of coir in peat free compost.

"Potting composts"

Growing media (often called "potting composts") are used for plants which are grown in containers such as tubs and window boxes. The most popular alternative to peat as a growing medium is coir (pronounced "koya"). Coir is the protective fibrous layer surrounding the hard shell in coconut fruits (Cocos nucifera). The fibres are used to make ropes and mats. During the fibre stripping process, the pulp surrounding the coir fibres is removed as a waste material. In Sri Lanka, western India, the Philippines and other areas where coir is produced, this residue causes considerable disposal problems and is generally left in piles, occupying valuable land.

The residue is a crumbly brown substance. It is used in potting media as a bulk ingredient to increase moisture retention and porosity. Staff at Kew have found it to be suitable for bedding plants, germinating seeds and for propagation of cuttings, though in some cases the fertilizer or watering regime has to be modified carefully.

However, a "Which" report gives peat-free the thumbs down.

[Christina]

I usually make soil for raised beds out of a combination of compost, sand, regular dirt from the property and some perlite to retain water and I sow the seeds for cool weather crops like lettuce and spinach directly into the ground. I usually start the rest of the seeds in containers. Sometimes I buy big bags of planting mix when I'm out of dirt or else I'd start digging random holes all around the place. I used to use vermiculite sometimes too but I read conflicting things about the health hazards and asbestos contamination.

[Cath B]

I usually make soil for raised beds out of a combination of compost, sand, regular dirt from the property and some perlite to retain water and I sow the seeds for cool weather crops like lettuce and spinach directly into the ground. I usually start the rest of the seeds in containers. Sometimes I buy big bags of planting mix when I'm out of dirt or else I'd start digging random holes all around the place. I used to use vermiculite sometimes too but I read conflicting things about the health hazards and asbestos contamination.

I'll probably try that myself once my current compost bag's run out.

[nygreenguy]

A lot also boils down to local conditions, soil types, amount and timing of rainfall, etc. It probably takes both book knowledge and experience to really nail things down. I just have the experience but not the studying. A lot of plant propagation takes skill, especially grafting! You would be surprised to see how many different types of grafting can be done, its amazing! I, unfortunately, dont have a steady enough hand to do much of it.

I've never asked you this before but what does your job entail on a daily basis? It sounds interesting. The only ones I know work at UCSC doing research.
My job is making fancy coffee for stuck up long island brats. My research right now is the effects of mutagens of pollen of many species. Its only been done of 3-4 species before, and I alone am doing 5! This means I spend my lab time looking at a microscope counting germinated pollen and measuring the length of their tubes. Oh, and taking lots of pictures.

[Christina]

Thanks, that sounds interesting.

Joe grafted all of the viable shoots above the original graft back on to canes from the original root stock that's still in the pot. The horticulturist that specializes in roses at J&P said that it was highly unlikely that the woody stalk would ever generate roots in water, but the grafts have a decent shot of surviving if they're done by someone with a lot of practice. Joe has done hundreds and says that he thinks that these ones have a good chance.

A few more tulips opened up today. The second picture is weird because I was trying to see how close I could get on an older camera.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/whitetulip.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/Tulip.jpg

Another mallow that is a darker blueish purple opened today too.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Flowers/res14.jpg

[Monad]

I've been enjoying the current mild weather and gardening all weekend. Just planted up some Geranium nodosum:

http://ispb.univ-lyon1.fr/cours/botanique/Photographies/Dicotyledones/Geranium%20nodosum.jpg

which I like more for it's lovely shiny fresh leaves and habit than it's small but pretty flowers (like many herbaceous Geraniums I grow it as a weaver between and through other plants to darn everything together)

[Anne]

well, since we are moving, and we will have a different yard (currently filled with evergreens--- I hate killing plants, but dammit--- I want ornamentals and food bearers, not filler!) I am going to try to plant some berry bushes, grapes and container/square foot gardening.

Suggestions?

[Christina]

Monad, I think we call those hardy or winter geraniums here because they survive a frost and regular ones that are often considered to be annuals aren't supposed to (but mine do for some reason). I love them and have some in pale purple that haven't opened yet. Another bonus is that the leaves don't stink up your hands in the way that the others do.

Anne, I don't know anything about gardening in cold climates, but what kind of things do you want to grow in raised beds or pots? The soil preparation is probably the same all over, but local nurseries are a great way to get advice about what does well in your area. Zone maps are fine but they rarely account for micro-climates due to elevation or other local factors.

[Anne]

yeah--- we're close enough to the water that we're a 1/2 zone higher than the rest of the area.

I was just wondering what people suggested...

[Christina]

At least in this climate, berry bushes tend to take over and are very hard to eradicate once established and many kinds have nasty thorns that make weeding around them a misery. If it were up to me I would do them in large pots or put them in an area that you don't mind them spreading all over in. Lettuce, spinach and other greens are usually the first crop here because they do well in cool weather but not baking heat, things like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers aren't ready until mid to late summer and squash doesn't ripen until fall here. I plant cool weather crops like broccoli and cauliflower late in the season after the worst of the heat is over. I harvest herbs all year as I need them but always leave enough for them to grow back.

[Anne]

good to know!

[Christina]

I tend to make double use of some space. While the lettuce and spinach are growing I put the tomato and pepper starts in among them because by the time they get big enough to shade anything out the lettuce will be done. I also stick veggies in among flowering plants when I run out of room because they're pretty too. This year I'm trying to grow tomatoes in those upside down hanging baskets because it looks fun and it will save me a lot of room if they can bear a load of fruit and hold the weight of it. I don't bother with corn because it takes up too much space for too small of a yield, and if you miss harvesting it by even a few days you get a tough, starchy mess instead of nice sweet corn. I grow colored 'Indian corn" sometimes just because it's pretty. I grow a whole lot of basil too because I love pesto and I make enough to last all winter.

[Anne]

ah! What veggies do you put in the flowers?

[Christina]

I've done it with peppers, tomatoes and eggplant before. They'll shade out low-growing flowers but not larger perennials.

You have to think about the pattern of the sun during the different seasons. The most obvious reason is that if you don't you can end up with most of your flower blooms facing away from you instead of toward the area that you want to see them from. You usually want to keep taller plants in the back of borders so that they don't block the sun from the other plants, but then again you might want to use something tall to shade smaller plants from hot afternoon sun. It's something to be aware of because it can affect your design and layout a lot.

[Cath B]

The chickens are here!

Two red, two black, fine looking birds.

David B should be here in about ten days so I'll ask him to post pictures.

We got them on Sunday. They stayed in the coop at the top till Monday midday when three gradually emerged. The fourth stayed put till late afternoon.

Since then they've been getting braver, though one of the reds is always much later than the others.

And today my daughter opened the enclosure at the bottom of the coop to allow them to explore the Big Wide World of our walled garden. They began to investigate gradually and have been going in and out of the enclosure, keeping pretty close.

I think they're great!

[Cath B]

Seed time.

Runner beans, carrots, parsley and leeks.

Meanwhile, the chickens are thriving.

[Cath B]

Also picked and cooked asparagus, sorrel and the invasive ground elder.

[Monad]

Off out into the garden this afternoon (just need some sustenance first). have a lot of plants to repot and move around (my garden is entirely container based though I try to use planting to give it a natural feel)

[Christina]

I had the first fresh baby spinach and lettuce greens in my salad yesterday. The last week has been cool and raining so none of my basil or other seeds have come up yet. I really hope that Joe doesn't forget to water them every day or they'll all die before I get back. I'll leave him a list of what to water and when and hopefully that will work. If he forgets to feed the animals at least they can remind him.

Almost all of my tulips are in full bloom now along with the freesias and one of my azaleas is also flowering. Almost everything else is still sulking from the cool weather.

[nygreenguy]

So...umm....does anyone have fertile fern fronds? (mature spores). I really need to get my hands on some spores and its still too cold here. Id really appreciate it (and I need them asap!).

[Ray Moscow]

So...umm....does anyone have fertile fern fronds? (mature spores). I really need to get my hands on some spores and its still too cold here. Id really appreciate it (and I need them asap!).

You might check with this guy.
http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/3110/speng.jpg


"Do you have any hobbies?"
"I collect spores, molds, and fungi."

[Christina]

My jasmine was in full bloom when I got home last night and the scent is everywhere. There was a freak heatwave while I was gone and my lettuce and spinach (which are cool weather crops here) withered but now it's cool and foggy so hopefully they'll recover. Joe did a great job of keeping all of my other seedlings alive. It's all drippy out so I haven't checked out the rest of the garden yet.

[dancer_rnb]

Expanded my raised bed, added eight bags of garden soil.
Starting to get an occasional strawberry.

[Christina]

All of a sudden it seems like there's a lot to do because I was gone for over a week, but it's really just some things to be deadheaded and grapevines to prune, and of course the endless weeding.

I really hope that the new dog doesn't already have a bad digging habit. Quincy thought working in the garden was a great game and helped me by constantly digging holes as I worked.

[Cath B]

Hope to plant more seeds with David B this morning.

The manges tous are emerging now.

It's very dry and sunny for April so I need to keep watering.

[Cath B]

Less watering needed now as the April showers have shown up.

Manges tous and tomatoes growing well and broad & runner beans sprouting.

[Christina]

It was nice the week that I was gone, but it's been cold and rainy most days since I've been back. I've been eating lettuce and spinach from the garden already but the tomatoes are sulking from the cold. I won't know what kind of fruit crop I'm going to get for a while yet. The cucumber sprouts are almost big enough to put in the ground but the eggplant are tiny still. The basil hasn't even started to come up. All of the flower seeds that I planted are doing well too. I forgot all about carrots, so as soon as it stops raining I'll get some baby carrot seeds in the ground.

The jasmine by the front gate is in full bloom and I can smell it all over. It was great to wash my car right next to it. As usual I have more calla lilies than I want and no matter how many I dig up there are new volunteers in other parts of the garden the next year. It's like that with acanthus too. They keep volunteering in the sun even though the leaves will wilt all summer there. I must drop seeds around when I cut the flower stalks down at the end of their bloom. They're beautiful in the shade but they look terrible when they're all dry and wilty.

[Zygote]

This thread needs music. In honor of his 90th birthday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u90qRE2F7CM&feature=related

[Christina]

I haven't thought of that song in decades. Now it will be my gardening ear worm for a while, but a good one this time. Hopefully the rain will stop long enough today to get my carrots planted, and I want to get some vinca pulled back from where it's encroaching on a flower bed while the ground is still wet. There's always mint to hunt down and pull out too.

[Ray Moscow]

One of the neighbour's cats (we don't know who owns this cat) killed a bird in our garden this morning.

We're escalating the conflict by installing an electronic cat repeller. Pray that I do not have to escalate it further.

[Christina]

I hate it when my cats do that. Tiger was never that interested in birds but the three that started as feral hunt whatever can. It's gross but kind of nice that they keep all of the rodents under control so that mice don't move into the cellar in the winter, but when it's a bird it's more upsetting to me. I guess I'm a species bigot. They don't catch them often and all I can really do is make sure that the bird feeders are completely out of reach.