The 2019 Gardening Thread.

[MoochNNoodles]

I went out about 8:30 tonight to make sure all my potted plants didn't need water and to refill the bird feeder. It was beautiful out! So I weeded crab grass from the rocks around my rose bushes. I can't stand crab grass. It's been so hot that no one wants to do yard work; let alone weed out front where the afternoon sun beats on the house. But man that stuff just grows no matter what! I didn't get it all because it was a little too dark to see around the base of the bushes and I didn't want to get stabbed. But it looks much better out front.

I've picked a handful of cherry tomatoes now. I should have some bigger tomatoes in the next few days. I don't remember which variety it is thats almost ripe.

 

[foxxycat]

A while back, someone asked about hens and chicks. Well, here is one of Michele's.View attachment 290595 Also, our Delphinium, called Million Dollar Blue, is really putting on a show.View attachment 290596 The tomatoes are also developing nicelyView attachment 290597 And if anyone can tell me just what this thing is, I would appreciate it.

I don't recognize that flower=how high does it grow? Sun or shade? wet or dry conditions? Sand or loam dirt? It almost looked like a clover flower but the spikes don't look familiar to me. I thought I remembered some perenial that makes these balls that look like puff balls?

Maybe someone can chime in.

Love the hens and chicks! I still have that box of chicks to plant-it's been in the shade and kept wet every 3 days and hopefully this weekend if I get caught up I can stick them in the rocks.

This weekend worked on pulling up more of the weed infested side garden in full sun. Dumped a few loads of dirt in place, separated some ground covers for my girlfriend up the street, some vinca and this yellow flowered thing that looks cactus type foliage, holds up well to drought and full sun surprisingly.

Repotted those 6 packs of annuals to survive this weeks hot weather.

Tonight need to spray the new tick killer I bought, Wondercide. it comes premixed, it just gets hooked up to the hose, says treats 5000 to 8000 square feet which isn't much considering how much woods is out back-but I can at least treat our exterior buildings and gardens. Says won't harm bees but I won't spray it on flowering plants just in case. Most of the bloody ticks live with the pine trees and brush etc.

I want to finish digging out that 8 4 foot spot. I only have 4 feet by 3 feet to go-then carry over the frame, plop it down, fill with dirt, mix in peat moss and finally plant the rest of the sun loving plants I have in small pots.

Then on to the garden in the shade-that all needs to be dug up and hauled off. That's July's project.

 

[catapault]

N NY cat man the thingy you wanted someone to I.D. for you, looks like a green haired Cousin It - it is an allium, probably crow garlic, Allium vineale It is a weed, a thug, and one of its thuggish characteristics is that instead of a flower head it makes a head of tiny little baby onion bulbs. With a little green leaf sprouting from each bulblet. Fall to the ground and each little baby bulb makes a new onion plant, ready to do it all over again. When I see this in my garden I dig it up, wrap well, and bury deep down in the garbage to wait for trash collection.

 

[NY cat man]

N NY cat man the thingy you wanted someone to I.D. for you, looks like a green haired Cousin It - it is an allium, probably crow garlic, Allium vineale It is a weed, a thug, and one of its thuggish characteristics is that instead of a flower head it makes a head of tiny little baby onion bulbs. With a little green leaf sprouting from each bulblet. Fall to the ground and each little baby bulb makes a new onion plant, ready to do it all over again. When I see this in my garden I dig it up, wrap well, and bury deep down in the garbage to wait for trash collection.

After reading your post, I went out to the garden and dug up every one of them that I could find, and yes, there was a bulb that smelled like garlic. There are, I think, more of them, but they are in the lawn, and get mowed down regularly, so they don't have a chance to flower.

 

[maggiedemi]

each little baby bulb makes a new onion plant

Why is that bad? Are they not the type of onions that you can eat?

 

[NY cat man]

Why is that bad? Are they not the type of onions that you can eat?

I just read up on the stuff, and apparently it is toxic, so I wouldn't recommend eating it.

 

[DreamerRose]

Chives is almost as bad. It doesn't make bulblets, but it scatters its seeds everywhere. And they all SPROUT. My garden club has stopped selling them for that reason. I cut the flowers off and pull up any I see growing elsewhere. I do like the chives, so I keep the original clump.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

My Grandpa used to grow chives in a little boxed off area. I guess that's why!

My mother's neighborhood was a farm field at one point. I believe her house is about 25 years old; maybe a few less. But you still find some kind of oniony weed growing in the yard in the spring. There will be patches of green that look sort of like the shoots on your picture N NY cat man . If you pluck one it definitely smells like onions. For a while they had a company coming around to help the lawn but it sure didn't get rid of those.

I picked 2 tomatoes this evening. It was dark so I still don't know which variety they were. I'm thinking tomato sandwiches for lunch tomorrow! They aren't the biggest; but they'll do!

I've been feeling a little nostalgic for a good BLT with a homegrown tomato like my Gram used to make for supper in the summer. I hope I can make us some one of these days!

 

[foxxycat]

My Grandpa used to grow chives in a little boxed off area. I guess that's why!

My mother's neighborhood was a farm field at one point. I believe her house is about 25 years old; maybe a few less. But you still find some kind of oniony weed growing in the yard in the spring. There will be patches of green that look sort of like the shoots on your picture N NY cat man . If you pluck one it definitely smells like onions. For a while they had a company coming around to help the lawn but it sure didn't get rid of those.

I picked 2 tomatoes this evening. It was dark so I still don't know which variety they were. I'm thinking tomato sandwiches for lunch tomorrow! They aren't the biggest; but they'll do!

I've been feeling a little nostalgic for a good BLT with a homegrown tomato like my Gram used to make for supper in the summer. I hope I can make us some one of these days!

There's nothing like a mayo and bacon sandwich if one doesn't mind not having lettuce. tomato and cheese sandwiches are good too.

 

[foxxycat]

Anyone know anything about a hibiscus tree? Coworker says leaves turned yellow. I think that's overwatering right?

Opps the above comment was supposed to say mayo tomato and bacon sandwich. Duh.

 

[DreamerRose]

I'm not sure about a hibiscus, but in general, yellow leaves means the plant isn't getting enough iron. There is plenty of iron in the soil, but if the soil is too alkaline, the plant can't get the iron. So you need to add some acid. Pine bark and mulch is good. I've also used Miracid. I would also think that fresh (not composted) manure would do it too.

 

[catapault]

foxxycat about your coworker's hibiscus - is it all the leaves or just some leaves? At this time of year when plants are vigorously making new growth the old leaves often turn yellow and drop.

When leaves become yellow due to lack of iron (fancy term is they are chlorotic) the veins will remain green and the space between the veins is no longer strongly green, they'll be sort of chartreuse-yellow. Quick fix - water with a little Epsom salts dissolved in water. Miracid is good too. Mulch with used tea leaves but it will not lower the soil pH to make it more acid. Pine needles are very slow to decay and won't change things, neither will mulch. Just think how long pine needles last under the tree, or how long mulch lasts. Water will not dissolve anything appreciable from either one. Definitely avoid lime.

I would advise against fresh manure - it can burn the plants with too much nitrogen.

 

[rubysmama]

Chives is almost as bad. It doesn't make bulblets, but it scatters its seeds everywhere. And they all SPROUT.

Not sure how they got there, but I have chives growing in the crack between the sidewalk and driveway! I've trying pulling, but it keeps coming back. I even tried Path Clear, but still there.

 

[Purrrfectttales]

I've got tomatoes and cucumbers growing on the vegetable end of things. I have geraniums and calibrachoa I overwintered from last year. A bunch of petunias - some bought some grown from seed. I had beautiful peonies and tulips earlier this year. Iris and gladiolus (although SUPER disappointed the deer have gotten into them!) I am no gardening expert at all but I'm trying my hand at various things.

 

[NY cat man]

It's Christmas in July. Michele's Christmas cactus has It's first bloom on it.

 

[NY cat man]

I've got tomatoes and cucumbers growing on the vegetable end of things. I have geraniums and calibrachoa I overwintered from last year. A bunch of petunias - some bought some grown from seed. I had beautiful peonies and tulips earlier this year. Iris and gladiolus (although SUPER disappointed the deer have gotten into them!) I am no gardening expert at all but I'm trying my hand at various things.

Precious few of us here are expert gardeners, but we keep plugging away and every once in a while things turn out all right.

 

[Purrrfectttales]

Precious few of us here are expert gardeners, but we keep plugging away and every once in a while things turn out all right.

I guess technically you can't become an expert without a lot of practice! I must say I need A LOT more practice.

 

[catapault]

rubysmama Use a flame weeder. They are like a Bernzomatic shop torch used for soldering with a somewhat longer tube. Excellent for weeds in non-flammable areas like the crack between driveway and sidewalk or in gravel. You are not trying to incinerate the weeds, just heat them up until the leaf color changes so you know the cells in the leaf have ruptured. Just slowly sweep back and forth. I usually keep a hose near by for just in case scenarios. And, I think you would call this "organic weed control" because it sure isn't chemical.

 

[catapault]

Remember, Purrrfectttales amateur comes from the Latin amatus, amare, to love. Nothing wrong with being an amateur, we're doing what we love.

 

[Norachan]

You're all doing so well! You're putting me to shame.



I haven't been able to do anything for about a month. It's either been raining or it's just about to rain. As soon as the monsoon lets up I'm going to transport the kabocha plants from the compost heap into planters and think about weeding the front garden.

The cat's enclosure is a jungle, but that's what it's meant to be.

The deck looks pretty when the sun comes out.