The 2019 Gardening Thread.

[foxxycat]

Between all the rain we've had, the cicadas, and the birds trampling my garden to eat the cicadas, my flower garden is pretty well trashed for the year. To add insult to injury, some critter (probably deer) ate my hostas and my coral bells. All that's left are the stalks and stems.

Woodchucks love coral bells. I didn't know they like Hostas. Woodchucks mow down my yard at times too.
Also woodchucks don't like wide open spaces. They tend to stick to coverage by hiding in the back of yard. I try to keep things clipped short so they cant use it as cover. I read something about how they tend to go to tje garden by slipping behind shrubs and things...so i try to not give them areas to use as cover while going to eat my plants.
I also notice that they slow down eating our plants by July. I think they eat like crazy now because they have babies and by July I think they are big enough to forage on their own. You can get some windmills and stick them in your yard. The whirling and vibrations from it deter moles, voles and woodchucks dont like them either.

 

[foxxycat]

Here are some of those 8 packs I've got to get into the ground. Wave petunias and marigolds. Those will go into ground on Sunday as well as some tomatoes. My rock phosphate came in so I will toss a small handful into the hole where the tomatoes go.

The board pictured is plywood that I painted with deck staining so they can handle the water.

Pictured here is a Roma tomatoe plant in my rock garden. It's only 12 inches deep so not sure if they will like it here.
It was sort of curled up and not happy but they seemed to be stretching out again.

I planted the Cayenne pepper plant in this pretty bowl

The Dahlia is still happy.

Here's the summer Pik tomatoes that will go by the road. I ran out of pots when I first transplanted them and drilled holes out of this container and stuck 6 tomato plants in it. The other ones in it are already in my patio picker box from Lowes. These are the remaining 3 plants. They seem pretty happy here!

You can see some of the other tomato plants in the background. The table size photo wont load, says it is too big.

This was taken from my car this morning. I just love this corner garden. And I enjoy sitting under this tree reading a book.

So out of almost 500 plants total I've only got 30 tomato plants and about 30 petunias left. I gave away some and sold some. The flea market was not as profitable due to 2 other people selling plants BUT many people said my plants were the healthiest. And they all wanted cherry tomatoe plants. Next year I will definitely get a lot of 50 cherry tomatoe or patio pick tomatoes since many people like to put them in containers. It was overwhelming at first but it all worked out.

My zinnias are in the ground and almost ready to open. This was taken last week. I need to get more recent photos.

And last picture, Honeybee sitting on the tire garden watching a critter-this was before her haircut

 

[maggiedemi]

I planted the Cayenne pepper plant in this pretty bowl

That is the most beautiful plant so far on this thread.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

Woodchucks love coral bells. I didn't know they like Hostas. Woodchucks mow down my yard at times too.
Also woodchucks don't like wide open spaces. They tend to stick to coverage by hiding in the back of yard. I try to keep things clipped short so they cant use it as cover. I read something about how they tend to go to tje garden by slipping behind shrubs and things...so i try to not give them areas to use as cover while going to eat my plants.
I also notice that they slow down eating our plants by July. I think they eat like crazy now because they have babies and by July I think they are big enough to forage on their own. You can get some windmills and stick them in your yard. The whirling and vibrations from it deter moles, voles and woodchucks dont like them either.

We do have groundhogs but they've never bothered my plants before.

I'll take a picture. It would be funny if it weren't so annoying!

 

[rubysmama]

rubysmama The middle picture is called Bachelor's buttons. They self seed every year and seem to be low maintenance.

Thanks. I'm not sure if I actually like them or not, but they bloom early, so I guess I'll keep them. They didn't like the wind and rain though, and I had to stake them up, as they got all floppy.

I broke down and ordered 20 large pots on Amazon to put 20 tomato plants in these pots while I take the next week to set up those huge pots to grow them. I also thinking of getting some 5 gallon buckets from Lowes, take the portable drill home and drill 3/8" holes underneath and grab some stones on the side of the road to fill the pots inside then plant the tomatoes in the gully in dark blue Lowe's pots.

You're keeping busy! Just reading all that tires me out.

Between all the rain we've had, the cicadas, and the birds trampling my garden to eat the cicadas, my flower garden is pretty well trashed for the year. To add insult to injury, some critter (probably deer) ate my hostas and my coral bells. All that's left are the stalks and stems.

How depressing.

And the yellow daisy flowers several messages up-thread are Doronicum caucasicum, aka leopard's bane.

Oh, thanks.

I almost have a tomato to pick! It's a cherry tomato and I'll probably pick it tonight or tomorrow.

Will the family all be getting a piece?

Or a trip to one of those frozen yogurt places where you add all the toppings yourself and they charge you by weight.

Sounds yummy. And possibly expensive.

And last picture, Honeybee sitting on the tire garden watching a critter-this was before her haircut

Awww, beautiful.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

[QUOTE="catapault, post: 4942918, member: 40447"

And the yellow daisy flowers several messages up-thread are Doronicum caucasicum, aka leopard's bane.[/QUOTE]

I love those. We call them daisy fleabane. They're a perennial wildflower here.

Here are some pics of my early blooms before everything went south. I'm leaving Wednesday for a 2 week vacation to Oregon to visit my daughter so I'll probably come back to Woodland Meadow!

 

[WoodstockGirl]

Here's one of my poor hostas. These poor guys have been by my back fence for years and nothing ever bothered them.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

Duplicate post, sorry.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

Gardener nerd alert!

I was at Wal-Mart a little while ago and was look8ng at the gardening kits that were marked down to $3 from $11.99. I had one in my hand and the nice man working there said, "Hold on a second!" and comes over and scans it. Then he says, "That's now $1."

I bought 5 of them. Two gladiolus, two perennial garden and one sunny garden. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with 130 gladiolus, but I don't need an excuse to by plants! And every bulb and root I've ever bought at Wal-Mart grew.

 

[catapault]

There are a zillion daisy type flowers - think asters, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, etc etc etc.

Daisy fleabane is, technically speaking, an erigeron, not a doronicum. Fleabane has small white or lightly tinged lavender flowers in a cluster at the top of the stem. It is native to Pittsburgh area.

Doronicum has large sunny yellow daisies and is not USA native.

Common names are an issue and cause problems.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

It was hard to tell the size of the heads from the picture.

 

[nurseangel]

I am enjoying all the beautiful pics!

I've had two ripe tomatoes on my Big Beef plants and something has eaten round holes in both of them! They are unsalvageable. Big, perfectly round holes. The first time I've ever seen this type of damage, and the hornworms aren't out yet? Any clues? And what should I do? I am pesticide-free because I don't want to hurt the bee and beneficial insect populations.

 

[WoodstockGirl]

I am enjoying all the beautiful pics!

I've had two ripe tomatoes on my Big Beef plants and something has eaten round holes in both of them! They are unsalvageable. Big, perfectly round holes. The first time I've ever seen this type of damage, and the hornworms aren't out yet? Any clues? And what should I do? I am pesticide-free because I don't want to hurt the bee and beneficial insect populations.

Cutworm, maybe?

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Something is eating my roses. Many leaves have little holes all over them. I sprayed them tonight.

DH finished mulching around the new bushes and built my planter today. I need to get a picture uploaded. It looks great! You can walk down the back steps without tripping over all my flowers too.

 

[rubysmama]

Here are some pics of my early blooms before everything went south.

That was so beautiful.

Here's one of my poor hostas. These poor guys have been by my back fence for years and nothing ever bothered them.

How horrible. Hope Bambi enjoyed the salad.

I am enjoying all the beautiful pics!

Have you checked out the Flowering Trees Where You At forum? Lots more pics there.

I've had two ripe tomatoes on my Big Beef plants and something has eaten round holes in both of them! They are unsalvageable. Big, perfectly round holes.

Oh, no.

Something is eating my roses. Many leaves have little holes all over them. I sprayed them tonight.

Oh, no, again. Hope the spray helps. I love roses, but they always die on me. My last one, like yours, had every leaf devoured, until it was just branches left.

I need to get a picture uploaded. It looks great!

Looking forward to the pic.

You can walk down the back steps without tripping over all my flowers too.

That's always a good thing.

 

[NY cat man]

Here's the first blossom to open on our clematis. The plant is 8 or 9 years old, and blooms all summer long if I keep deadheading the spent flowers.

 

[posiepurrs]

Gardener nerd alert!

I was at Wal-Mart a little while ago and was look8ng at the gardening kits that were marked down to $3 from $11.99. I had one in my hand and the nice man working there said, "Hold on a second!" and comes over and scans it. Then he says, "That's now $1."

I bought 5 of them. Two gladiolus, two perennial garden and one sunny garden. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with 130 gladiolus, but I don't need an excuse to by plants! And every bulb and root I've ever bought at Wal-Mart grew.
View attachment 289032

I hit Walmart yesterday. The big packs like you show were $8. I did pick up smaller ones for $2.50 and another slightly larger for $5.The $5 one is Bletilla striata, the others are mixed poppies, Tennessee Dutch iris, ostrich fern, Durango lily, and 2 kinds of hosta-Olive Bailey Landon and Patriot. Even if not all come up since it was clearance, I don't think I will lose any money.

 

[foxxycat]

I am enjoying all the beautiful pics!

I've had two ripe tomatoes on my Big Beef plants and something has eaten round holes in both of them! They are unsalvageable. Big, perfectly round holes. The first time I've ever seen this type of damage, and the hornworms aren't out yet? Any clues? And what should I do? I am pesticide-free because I don't want to hurt the bee and beneficial insect populations.

tomato worms are the culpretes

How to Kill Tomato Worms
looks like a mixture of cayenne pepper with dish soap and water from a quick glance.

you can also try Neem Oil but don't spray it on flowers as it will affect bees. I got some neem oil and need to attach to the hose sprayer canister thingy.

I dug in the rain a bit yesterday afternoon and before that, finished the strip garden by the road. Got 4? 5? tomato plants in the ground with the rock phosphate in the hole. So let's see if it actually helps.

The neighbor gave me this shell for a raised bed 8' x 4' so going to put it on the side strip garden where all the daisies are blooming..I got about 3 x 3 foot area dug up...just a long tedious project. Hope we get some hotter weather soon or the effort will be for naught!

 

[foxxycat]

Left work early yesterday to gulp, buy more bagged dirt-I figured out a way to make a bag of potting mix last-I took some of the garden soil I have in my driveway, some wetted peat moss, a cup or 2 of sand and some bagged dirt-mixed it together and it seemed to be working ok. I added the sand because the mixture was cracking when it dries=it's too rich so the sand helps it a bit.

I managed to get almost all the Remaining Roma tomatoes into pots-I still plan to put them in the ground but for now they will sit in pots on my deck/yard in full sun. I still have 10 tomato plants in their tiny 4 inch pots that need to be put into the ground.

Later today plan on leaving work early and work some more on the long strip where I will put the raised bed frame a neighbor gave to me. Looks like weekend going to be hot so I will set up my umbrella to work under. Still have a few more pots to plant petunias in as well. Wish I had more hours in the day so I can dig up more dirt to plant my flowers. I wanted a complete border around my yard but then it will be annoying to keep weeded..have 2 areas in the shade I can pitch fork over to add new loam and plant petunias there as well. Need a week off to finish these projects!

The tire gardens are doing good-have to set up fencing to keep the darn wood chucks out-so need some kind of staking metal poles or something to use-have deer netting-was just going to use 3 poles around the tire area to keep the bugger out-then staple some wood to the bottom to keep it against the tires and keep wood chuck OUT. So far the cat has been hanging around down there so no sign of wood chuck. If we are home all the time then the bugger stays hidden. They don't like us around the yard-need a scare crow! Oh I have an owl statue I could put down there....

 

[NY cat man]

When you put up the netting, you may have to make a trench so you can bury it 6 to 8" in the ground to keep the 'chucks from digging under it.