My melampodium has not bloomed as well this year as it did last. It's never clear to me why a plant can do so gloriously well one year and then struggle the next...
Seed starting MAF part 3 5/23/14
I was late sowing seeds this year, so my Satin Red Coreopsis isn't blooming quite yet.
The Zinnias I grew from Joyanna's seed packet are blooming, though. As soon as a few more bloom I'll take a picture so she can see. These were the seeds she picked for the swap before last.
I thinned some more of my Monarda bradburiana patch today (White Bergamot, Eastern Bee Balm) by transplanting the seedlings to other areas. I'm looking forward to seeing them bloom next year.
sally--
All the melampodium seedlings you gave me are doing great. Getting big!
In the past--i have bought them in MP's here and there--but they never made it.
So--I had given up on them. Yours are doing so well. maybe they need to naturally
drop seed and grow.
Silly me! I went to Md. Flower, etc....and bought a bunch of plants. So cheap now--
buy one get one free....All MP's are $1--plus 1-1free.
i know they are trying to clear out the GH for Mums. The big pots of Mum cuttings
already cover about half of it.
SO--today I was walking around, pots in hand, trying to find a place to plant them.
I think I have reached the level of satiation now. What do I have left?
2 pots of huge NG Imps. and 2 pots of root-bound ...(geez...Sr. moment....)
the spreading mini petunias....AHHH! blue Calibaraceas.(sp.)
May have to offer them to Aina--but her beds are full too...
I have too many things in pots already--all over the place....
I am w/o a TV. it is on the blink. Called Comcast--they could not fix it by sending
signals--or whatever they do. They will send out someone on Saturday.
That is too long to go without.....WHHHAAAAAAAAAA....sob...sob...
NO "Bizarre Foods"???? I may go into convulsions........
G.
I have the veggie garden nearly done, and harvested some nice broccoli. My icicle radishes are bolting, so's my lettuce, but I leave it for the finches, they go bonkers for lettuce seed.
I tried leaving radishes to collect the seeds once. It took forever and they were really wild stems, lol. And since I never seem to get good radishes, I've given up completely. Bravo on the broccoli.
I had a brassica of some kind bloom this spring so now I have a ton of babies, all along the shady side of the aspergrass bed. It is a descendant of Komatsuna japanese spinach, possibly with added genes from the few other brassicas I've had here and there. Anyway, I expect a huge crop of tasty greens when the weather starts cooling off .
First cutting of swiss chard, and added lambsquarter to the pot.
I think I will pull up two of my 3 pickling cucumber plants....and plant new ones.
Why??? They have NO flavor--and have these gigantic seeds inside.
Like regular Cukes...all seeds inside...
I already seeded new ones and they are up. Will taste the last Cuke (it looked good)
and decide. Serves me right--planting just any seeds I had....I have so many envelopes
of pickling Cukes....I may have screwed up.
Off the Cuke topic question:
I have a pot of Cilantro growing. WHY? I have NO idea! I don't even like Cilantro!
It has bolted so quickly--and the stem has all different leaves on it. I KNOW they do this..
My question is--what is it called once it bolts? It tastes blah and different...leaves are different...
Is it Coriander???? What?
Thanks--gita
yes Cilantro gone to seed is Coriander. I don't know what you use Coriander seed in though, Is that the spice for chai tea? Yum , its pretty pricey.
I like Coriander and use it with Cumin, Caraway, and Celery seed to make a rub for pork. When we butchered I preferred using Coriander to sage in sausage. What is funny is I don't like Cilantro, I think it taste like soap.
I'm a big fan of both cilantro and coriander. I can't wait for the coriander to ripen!
I grew these begonias from seed. They took forever to bloom!
Dragon Wing and Bonfire.
congrats on those begonias, SSG! You have done an amazing job this year growing things from seed!!
I'm also a coriander and cilantro fan. Ric, from what I understand there is actually a *gene* which determines whether these herbs taste bad like soap to a person or tasty. Sorry to hear you got the 'soap' gene!
I've heard that too. I just use other herbs to make salsa, like parsley and basil. I had the funniest dream last night all my herbs were eaten to the stem. LOL I must be expecting a lot of caterpillars.
That is quite a dream, Ric! With the right caterpillars, I would be okay with that--LOL!
I just stripped about 16-20 sq.' of unused space by the GH. I used Dave's method, using a sharp flat shovel. Most of it was volunteer wild grasses and clover, with a few other things. It worked absolutely great, especially in that good soil. I simply had to gather up the mess with a digging fork and toss it into a cart. I was concerned about losing soil, but very little stayed on since we are rather dry here.
That is a lot of work stripping that much turf! I had gotten a flat shovel to strip turf when needed, but it hasn't worked well for me. I don't know if it's the wrong shovel, or whether I just don't have the body strength to make it work for me.
Here's a link. I hope you can access it on ATP. He shows 2 people but I did it alone with no pblm.
You may need to sharpen your shovel a bit, or bring it along to the swap, and I'll show you how.
http://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/dave/1925/Daves-Super-Easy-Two-Person-Weeding-Technique/
Yeah, it worked.
This message was edited Jul 12, 2014 10:17 AM
thanks for the link, Ric--very cool. I definitely was using the wrong shovel. I was using one with a flat *end* not a pointy end. I can see how it would be really useful--quickly gets the plant while leaving the soil.
I'd love to get my shovel sharpened--thanks so much for the offer! :-) I'll bring my pointy-ended shovel with me to the swap!
yep, get Ric to demonstrate sharpening, demonstrate it reall good....then get him to whitewash the fence tee hee
Ric--I will bring my shovel too...OK?
Now you will have to teach stepping stone making--and also how to sharpen
a shovel. Anything else??????
Your BIG, beautiful, generous, soul may be overdoing it a bit.
Pick your "battles".....so you can enjoy the swap too.
G.
AhahAhaha Gita and Sally you are both such a riot! :-D. Sounds like quite the novella--a cross between wiley Tom Sawyer and femme fatale! And hear i thought we were talking about 10 minutes learning about flat shovels! AhHahaha! :-)
Ric: What about plants that re-grow from their roots? Do you end up having a lot of re-growth using the slice-just-below-the-surface technique?
And one more vote for a tool sharpening seminar led by Ric. Actually, I'd love a whole seminar in garden tool maintenance. I keep our tools in horrible shape.
I've been using bleach wipes and long periods of time in the hot sun for sterilization, but those are probably not the best techniques... :-( What do others do for sterilization?
I never sterilize anything--not tools--not pots--not even when plant seeds .
I have no disease issues at all--just a few bugs now and then.
I do have mildew on leaves--like my lilac--but that seems "normal" to me.
G.
I'm like Gita, I figure nature will let health predominate.
My basic shovel was five bucks from Lowes at least six years ago. Makes it hard to worry about tool maintenance when a five dollar tool is going strong after six+ years of abuse
My sturdiest trowels proudly display the Franks logo, I think my best hand pruner also came from there eons ago
...and BOTH of my 100' hoses also bear the Franks logo. I miss Franks!.....
NOT the people in charge there! They were real fruitcakes....
The hoses have been in use for 18 years. Now--that is a good product!!
I came to HD from 5 years at Franks. Ran the best Houseplant dept. of all there.
g.
Poor Franks, they went belly up selling good quality stuff. That's amazing, their hoses are lasting that long.
I believe Franks went belly up because of the BIG Craft stores that were just
becoming popular around that time. Like Michaels and AC Moore.
Over time--Franks slowly eliminated a lot of their Craft supplies and went to
nice Lifestyle merchandise instead. They really did have nice stuff.
However--it was pretty $$$$.
Being just a, more or less, local company--just around Baltimore / DC area--
limited places in MD--it did not have the support larger companies do.
I left Franks in the fall of 1997. Tried to get hired by HD to work in Garden--
but it was the wrong time of year for Garden Hiring. I tried many times.
Finally--I was hired bu HD in March of 1998 to work in the GH. (my choice).
I don't remember the year that Franks, officially, closed down. Anyone?
G.
I don't remember but I'm sure you're right, maybe there was some mismanagement, but Michaels was probably taking off, and others were adding crafts, and killed FRANKS
The Managers at different Franks' were so bizarre!
I could tell you hysterical stories.
But--perhaps the had NO upper management to guide them--and they
did the best they could.
This example is really crazy. One day someone would be just a co-worker--
and next day they were an assistant Manager.
One was a druggie--I know. One was a floozie female that looked like she
belonged on "The Block".
There was just NO respect between anyone--of anyone.
As usual--slowly I assumed a lot of responsibility that should have been a manager's job.
Like ordering supplies for the Houseplant dept. Well--I WAS the head of it..
and my Dept. was the best among all the Franks stores.
G
My favorite-ever garden "digger" came from Frank's -- a triangular head on an 18 inch handle. For me it's like an extension of my arm, can't imagine gardening without it! Frank's is also where I first came across "Hot & Spicy" Oregano as well as "Lime Basil.' I miss it!
The cucumber seeds I tried at the beginning of hte month must have been too old, or maybe the slugs ate them before I saw them. Anyway, I sowed some 'Picklebush' seeds into little pots (away from slugs) on Sunday, and can you believe they've already germinated? Guess they love this hot weather! I'll let them grow for a week before I put them in the ground, and hopefully they'll be too tough to be easy snacks then... I'll chop some mint to throw along the row also, to confuse those little bunny noses.
Jill and Gita, did you know that 2014 is The Year of the Cucumber?
"According to the National Garden Bureau, cucumbers are native to India where they have been grown for almost 3000 years. But it is very likely that cucumbers have been eaten by humans for much longer. Excavation at the Spirit Cave site on the Burma-Thailand frontier in 1970 uncovered seeds of cucumbers, beans, and water chestnuts that, according to radiocarbon dating, had been consumed in 9750 B.C.
Of course, cucumbers are a staple of our modern diets, and are one of the top five most popular vegetables for gardeners. To celebrate our long history of growing and eating cucumbers, the National Garden Bureau has designated cucumber "Vegetable of the Year." "
I am not happy with the taste of some of my cukes. Flat!
One of the plants' cukes had immense seeds inside--hey--these are pickling Cukes!
I am ready to yank out at least one of the plants. Just have to find the guilty one...
By now--they are climbing my shed--twining around my MG trellis in front
of the shed--and invading the tomato cages....
Can't complain about them growing....not overly much fruit--but it could be all this rain.
I have a new batch all ready to be planted. They are about 3" tall already.
Can't wait too long to decide to yank--or not to yank.
I think the most forward one is the bad one...
G.
Here they are...3 plants
Coleup, what a great tidbit of info! :-)
Cucumbers are one of my daughter's favorite veggies, so I am growing our first one at her request. (I'm not personally a cucumber fan.) My poor scraggly plant finally looks like it's taking off. Maybe we'll even get a cucumber out of it! :-)
The watermelon plant is flowering now--I'm going to be very curious to watch this one grow.
Cucumbers are hungry, thirsty, sun basking plants that can 'go bitter' when they are stressed. Here is what the National Garden Bureau has to say about their Plant of the Year: Cucumber.
Might have to do some hand pollinating and feeding to get one or a bunch for pickling!
http://ngb.org/year_of/index.cfm?YOID=36
coleup---
that link never opened.
What do cukes like to be fed??? Sour cream and Dill w/ a touch of vinegar??
;o)
I didn't know that mint deterred bunnies. I'll try some right now to see if they'll stay away from my Virginia Sweetspire. They did a number on those shrubs last year before I noticed what was going on.
I don't know if it's more that they don't like the smell of mint or if it confuses their little bunny noses, but I do know I grew snow peas in my mint patch one year, and the bunnies didn't take a single nibble.
Year of the Cucumber, huh? I like that! :-)
Gita, does seed size have anything to do with pickling vs. slicing cukes? No matter what kind, mine get big seeds if I leave them on after they start getting "fat." My FIL noticed that when he grew cukes up his fence, they would stay slender and get longer & longer until they touched the ground, and then they'd start getting fat & seedy.
I've also found marigold works well to keep the nibblers away!
Jill--
I think, in general, pickling Cukes have smaller seeds-almost like the
long English Cukes. All the P-Cukes i have grown so far were OK.
I have to assume that I picked up a packet of seeds that were a different brand.
I have about 4 different envelopes...I don't like the ones with the mega seeds.
I am just not sure which of my 3 "hills" it came from. I think the first one....??
Picking the Cukes when they are 'just the right size" is the trick.
Once they mature and show yellow--they are, pretty much, going to seed.
Your FIL may have had the Cukes called "straight...something". Reg. long cukes.
Like the ones in stores.
Overall--I have to admit that I grow cukes and tomatoes just for fun.
My yellow Pear cherry tomatoes are really starting to bear piles of fruit.
I pick them and put them in a bowl...grab one now and then..That bush is HUGE!
Just FYI--this bed faces East. Gets fill sun until about 3PM. Seems enough....
I will have a load of Cherokee Purple tomatoes--all at once. Guess i will share...
Eat some---Take a few fresh seeds.... etc. Maybe I will make a slew of BLT's???
G.
Gita, I bolded an interesting part from the National Garden Bureau site on the Year of the Cucumber. It does take a while to load but here is link again
http://ngb.org/year_of/index.cfm?YOID=36
"Sex and a Choice of Bloomers
Some plants produce two different kinds of flowers on the same plant—male and female. This is true of squash, gourds, cukes and watermelons. The sex of the flower is important since only female flowers produce the fruit. Male flowers produce pollen. You can easily recognize a female flower, because it has an ovary - looking like a tiny cucumber at its base when it blooms. Male flowers have no ovary: the flower is attached directly to a short stalk. A cucumber plant might be flowering prolifically, yet not set fruit since the flowers may be all male. Gardeners are offered a choice of the male/female flowers on cucumbers they wish to grow. The choices are monoecious and gynoecious.
Monoecious [muh-nee-shuhs] cucumbers produce male and female flowers on the same plant. All open pollinated cultivars are monoecious. Some hybrids are monoecious. The advantage to the gardener is that the pollen and the fruit producing flowers are on the same vine. The gardener can sit back and let the bees pollinate. The disadvantage is usually a later, slower production of fruit.
Gynoecious cucumbers produce predominantly all female flowers. All flowers have the potential to bear fruit. The advantage is a higher and more concentrated yield. The disadvantage is that there must be a plant nearby which produces male flowers to pollinate the female flowers. When you choose a gynoecious cucumber, there will be pollinator seeds in the seed packet. The pollinator plants produce the pollen for the “all female” plants. Remember that stress during the growing period can create gynoecious varieties to produce male flowers.
In cooler or rainy weather, bees may not be present to carry out pollination in monoecious and gynoecious cucumbers. If so, and your plant produces a female flower, simply insert a cotton swab into one of the mail flowers and twirl it around, which will coat it with pollen, then dab the pollen onto the stigma (extruding central part) of the female bloom. This will ensure its pollination.
Another solution is for a gardener to plant gynoecious cucumbers that are parthenocarpic. A parthenocarpic cucumber produces only female flowers that do not need pollen to set fruit. This results in higher yields. The plants can be grown under row covers to protect them from insects and still produce fruit. The disadvantage is that if the female flowers are pollinated, the fruit can be misshapen with a lump or curve. To minimize cross pollination, gardeners could grow only parthenocarpic plants in their garden.
Each type of cucumber has advantages and disadvantages. The choice is left for the gardener, based on his or her desired yield and use."