Warm here too! Great to be able to take pots and soil outside and let the soil spill on the grass...not to mention the warm sun on the shoulders. and toes.
Yardening Spring 2013
Looking for suggestions for some flowers for 2 hanging pots that are hanging directly above 2 containers of tomatoes. Maybe something to attract pollenators since it'll be just a few feet from my main vege beds. The way I have my irrigation set up for this is that the water will run into the hanging baskets and then run out the bottom and down into the tomatoes. I was thinking maybe some mini petunias or some lantana? Any suggestions? These will be the only ornamental flowers I'll have in the back yard where the veges are. I was also considering herbs, but the baskets are pretty shallow and most of the herbs I've grown get large and bushy.
I'd guess that pollinators for tomatoes will also visit mini petunia.
Notice anything???
I'm wondering if the small bees and other pollenators prefer flatter flower heads?
I also want to make sure the flowers don't share any common diseases that tomatoes can get since the flowers will be store bought and you never know what pathegens (sp?) they could bring in. I had a problem with wilt in my tomatoes last year and I've scrubbed their containers with bleach and added new soil.
I'm trying to think of flowers for hanging baskets, with small flowers, but just can't think...when I think of attracting insects I think of garlic chives, agastache...things with many tiny flowers that bring many tiny pollinators. Take a walk in the garden center and see if something jumps out. Alyssum?
Petiunias ARE related to tomatoes. Same family. That might mean they are pollinated by similar insects. And might mean they are prone to the same diseases.
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I have something that might work, Nice little yellow flowers with a variegated green and yellow leaf. I overwintered one in the GH this year. The name escapes me at the moment.
Do animals ever bite through watering hoses when it gets hot? What does that cut look like? One of my hoses has a cut on it, almost like it's from a knife. What kind of animals do this? In my backyard, it could be voles, moles, cats, or raccoons.
Is it a fairly new hose/ My old hose broke over winter with a fairly clean crosswise break. at least THINK its just a break.
Yes, it's a pretty new hose, and the break wasn't at a stress point or anything.
weird
strange
ss in my yard any suspicious cuts or nicks are from Weed Wacker Wayne or his mower! Wayne is the default position for unexplained whys? Between he and I of course "the cats did it" keeps us moving along from another oft rehearsed but boring (after 30= years) blame game.
I did personally witness a racoon bite in to a full two liter bottle of soda left outside the back steps. Of course he had to get it in position and it rolled out into the yard before he trapped it. You can imagine the gigantic hisssssss and his speedie retreat!
I was thinking maybe a nick from a sharp stone that given time expanded into a full blown cut.
HAH, coleup, what an image!
Holly, this is the part of the hose that was connected to the faucet to the hose reel, not the part that I drag around, so I didn't think it got damaged from everyday usage. But like coleup, I'll just blame it on that cats. :)
I filled up a small bowl nearby with water, just in case it was a desperate and thirsty critter.
Definitely had a mind picture of that raccoon and the hissing bottle. Heehee
Ric spent the last couple of days really digging in. Today he worked on the new shade bed. Weeded and mulched the whole area. It's really coming along nicely. Last summer and fall we added quite a few shade loving bushes, The JM that we are getting from Coleup will probably go in there and some hosta and hellebore. I think maybe a Concolor Fir to replace the blue spruce that was taken out last year. Wish I could think of something to plant out along the road. The daffs sure look pretty. Originally I planted vinca out there but it all moved back into the bed and away from the road edge. I had some hosta out there but it didn't last either. Ric would like to replace the old fence but I told him it has character.
Holly and Ric---
Is this the area where Ric cleared out the bottoms of the large Junipers--near the driveway entrance?
It looks awesome!!!! I really mean it!!! Lots of sweat and tears-----but so worth it..
Shade bed--maybe you would like some shade plants?
Please remember--that I have 17 pots of Hostas to give away.
These were from my Pakistani neighbor last fall. She keeps dividing and propagating
everything and I think she just had enough of the Hostas.
So, I took them, hoping some DG'ers would want them. So far--no one has spoken up.
Each of them is jammed into a 6" pot--they have loads of roots and need to be "liberated"...
PLEASE--anyone???? Gita
Gita,
I meant to leave with a few the other day. I would still take a few, no more than 4.
No Gita, This is out in front of the house where the road runs past the house. To the right of the front walk, there is a good size group of evergreens. In the last few years we lost two of the big trees an Austrian Pine and Blue Spruce. The White Pine needed limbed up as it is so close to the road. The Hemlock and Black Pine are a bit thin at the bottoms on the road side so the whole area was ripe for a new look.
ah! I see the bathtub as a reference point!
OK, Paul---
You will have four Hostas....
There are no leaves showing yet--so i won't know what is what.
Most of them, as i remember, were green. A few had the white in the leaves...
I also have started 3 cuttings of my neighbor's Rhodo I am trying to root.
They are in qt-sized water bottles with the tops on. Never did this--we will see.....
Please don't ask yet--they may not take....and I may want to keep one.
Tempted to start a few cuttings of Olga's Fig tree. A bit early yet--no foliage on it yet...
She cut down to the ground the one i called "The Bush Fig"....I almost cried...
She didn't like it by her shed. It looked wonderful there--to me.
She never gardens--so why cut it down?
Need to add a couple things to my "haves'....
I'm pretty sure I will have a few Coleus to share--and a couple Daturas (both yellow and Purple/white)
Lots of things still in the seedling stage.....time will tell--We still have a month to go.
Gita
Sad about the bush fig... doubly sad since my cutting didn't take. Hope my fig will go gangbusters this year... I've been told I should cut it back by nearly half, both to keep it manageable and to increase vigor. I wonder if bigger stick cuttings would take? I'll give it a shot with a few, anyway.
Gita, if somebody else wants them that is fine. I just was offering up a home.
Yes, Sally the bathtub sat in front of the Blue Spruce that we needed to take down last summer.
Holly, I'd like some of your pink octopus, if you have some for me.
Yes, I do Roses.
Looks great, Holly!!
Gita: I'd take all the remaining hostas if no one else wants them -- I'm filling in the back part of our yard which is currently completely empty. I didn't speak up before because I don't want to take away from anyone else -- we just have tons of space to fill in for plants that don't require any special care. I don't want you to think they are unwanted. But (to the extent no one else wants them), please don't feel you need to drag them to the swap -- I can stop by your place on the drive back -- you are on the way. We have a bunch of NOID hostas -- the old, tough kind, that I was going to divide and put in the back, but I'd be delighted to have more.
Happy--
I will give any Hostas to people that ask The rest will be yours....Thank you....
That is a good idea for you to stop by to pick up the rest. Besides--you can see where I live.
Will you have any time-constraints? Like--to leave early from the swap? We can coordinate--
and then you can just follow me home--if you like. Obviously--I need to be home when you come....
I DREAD, DREAD the congestion around the bridge and getting to I95 that always is there.
And--this will be on a Saturday evening yet!!! Last X-mas--coming home from NJ--this part of
the road took me ONE HOUR--just to get over the Bridge and on to I-95.
Will D-mail you directions later....easy--peezy! Please remind me.
Gita
Happy, if you need more Hosta, I'll bring some of the ones that I'm about to split very soon.
Thank you, Holly,
Gita: Will do. Ssgardener may be driving with me, in which case I will be holding her hostage, but otherwise I have no plans for the day -- I'll be late to the swap though because we're going first to the Green Spring plant sale (Spring Garden Day -- http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/greenspring/events.htm) which is my very favorite gardening event of the year, with both lots of professional vendors with unusual plants, and lots of club sales with cheap plants, and a stunning park and gardens as the backdrop.
Roses -- I'd love them and can use them, but I know hostas can be a pain to transport because they are large. Don't feel you need to do this, but if you are otherwise going to pitch them I'd be happy to take them. So this is a want, not a need!
Since it isn't a holiday weekend the bridge area shouldn't be too bad at that time of day. Hopefully I won't have to eat my words. Heehee.
lol. being out in the garden sure puts me in the mood to divide some of those clumps...and take cuttings of some of the more woody type bushes or as I like to say "Let no pruned branch go un stuck!" Lots of talk on Swap chat thread, but not every one is a swapper this time around.
Last fall Gita passed along a number of fig cuttings she had started from her neighbor's bushes .Some didn't make it thru their first winter, so is it time to start again?
Here is the correct link to tutorial called "From Twigs to Figs"
http://figs4fun.com/basics.html
At the Farmers Market opening last Sat one of the farmers had Brown Turkey fig trees that were a good 4' tall. He said he took cuttings last year (Didn't ask when darn) and has over wintered them in his 45-55 degree greenhouse. The twigs of figs he used were finger thick and about 16 inches long to begin with. He said if I bought one that I should keep it in the garage until temps stayed in the 50's.
Also said I could keep it in the 3gal pot until roots started coming out the bottom, then either pot up or plant. He says they need "protection the first two years in the ground and then they should be ok. Said Brown Turkey most reliably hardy around here and that it will get big, so keep it trimmed back short enough to be able to harvest the figs!. Put that almost invisible deer fencing over the bush to keep birds away from the fruit. He described his method of winter protection but I'm not sure I remember correctly. Will ask next week. Brown Turkey gets both those early figs on old wood and the new season figs on new wood cause each tree he had had one or two figs on it.
Hey Sally, we have a "Garlic Man" maybe we'll have a "Fig Man", too!!!
This message was edited Apr 13, 2013 7:48 PM
Judy--
That is an excellent link you posted on rooting Figs...I read about 2/3 of the way down--every line.
Will have to continue tomorrow.
Sure seems that my way of rooting was nowhere near what this man was talking about.....
Re me getting more cuttings. You have to realize that this in NOT MY tree.
I will have to ask Olga how she feels about me cutting off a bunch of tips on this tree.
There is no more "Bush Fig"--which I found out was the Turkey Fig after she had it cut down.
Since Olga is NOT a gardener--a lot of her "possessiveness" of this big tree is a love/hate relationship.
She hates it because it's branches are right up against her house and the kitchen window.
She loves it--because it was her husband's tree--he took care of it every year.
Her kids and grandkids will never allow this tree to be cut down. It represents a "legacy" their
Father and Grandfather left. Besides--this tree actually came from Spain--another reason.
Olga cannot harvest the figs that are any higher up than she can reach. No one else comes to help.
She also used to make the best Fig Jam. Two days of work. She does not feel like doing it
any more. She still grieves for her husband--and will do nothing to help herself get on with life.
Used to be that Soriano (the husband) would pick all the figs and then give them away to all their
friends. Now--they are welcome to come and pick their own--a bit different.....
I walk over--pick a bunch and eat them. Sometimes, I pick a plate-full and give them to her to eat.
As far as what critters damage the ripe figs the most--it is ants and wasps.
As soon as the fig is ripe--they go in there 9from the bottom) and eat out the insides.
The figs split open and show rot--and no one will ever eat them again....
The "window" WHEN to pick a ripe fig is VERY narrow.......
I will see what i can do for you all.........Gita
Been yardening so much I haven't posted much. I just finished a 25' raised bed for strawberries, it has it's own drip watering system and a permeable fabric cover. Also busy watering the GH 2x daily, cleaning beds, and fixing the patio before someone breaks their neck.
PHEW!
What type strawberries?
Been pulling variegated Vinca to rescue woodland plants.
Seascape and Ozark Beauties, I also got some Purple Passion Asparagus from Landreth Seed Co. The oldest in America. They specialize in heirlooms. I'm ordering some fingerling potatoes also.