The 2022 Gardening Thread

[CatladyJan]

Coneflowers - I love the red ones the most.

 

[posiepurrs]

Well here in So. IL I'm already pruning my coneflowers and harvesting seeds, should have more blooms before fall. I just pruned my blue sea holly and maybe I'll try those from seed.

Sea holly will self sow too so if you dropped any seed you will have an abundance of plants. My patch doubled in size last year due to self sowing. You can grow crepe myrtle in Illinois? I love it, but haven’t found any hardy here in Massachusetts.

 

[CatladyJan]

Sea holly will self sow too so if you dropped any seed you will have an abundance of plants. My patch doubled in size last year due to self sowing. You can grow crepe myrtle in Illinois? I love it, but haven’t found any hardy here in Massachusetts.

Uh Oh, I will have to go out and pick up the clusters I dropped since it's a raised garden bed and I only have so much room. Yes, we are in zone 6a. I took the liberty and googled and found this: Crape Myrtle Varieties for Cape Cod – Crocker Nurseries

 

[MoochNNoodles]

CatladyJan I love the cone flowers!! I bought a Warm Summer blend from Burpee in seeds this spring but it was too late for me to get them started so I'm waiting for next winter. I read a lot of the reviews and they suggested starting in the refrigerator; which I've never done, but I copied it down. I really hope I can get them to do well. They are so pretty!

 

[posiepurrs]

Uh Oh, I will have to go out and pick up the clusters I dropped since it's a raised garden bed and I only have so much room. Yes, we are in zone 6a. I took the liberty and googled and found this: Crape Myrtle Varieties for Cape Cod – Crocker Nurseries

The Cape is zone 7, while I am zone 6, borderline 5 depending on the winter. That is why I used to tell my customers they had to protect their macrophylla hydrangeas. On the Cape they are beautiful, but flowers buds can be killed here without protection.

 

[NY cat man]

Here in WNY, we are in zone 6a, while a few miles away, and closer to the lake, it is 6b. Still, there a lot of plants that I would like to grow, but it wouldn't be practical.

 

[nurseangel]

My outdoor garden is melting in the heat. We did plant a dogwood tree, though we should have waited until fall. Now I am working on my indoor plants/garden. I have recently bought a lemon bush, three dragon fruit cacti, three air plants, and a money tree. DH bought me some minature red roses, and I hope to keep them alive inside until cooler weather. I went a bought supplies for the lemon bush today. And if you are wondering what a lemon bush is, so am I. I bought from a new (to me) nursery and that is the way it was listed. The limes and other citrus fruit were described as trees. Apparently, this blooms the first year, it's already pretty large, and that's good. I have had bad luck with citrus trees in the past.

N NY cat man , I would give up my outdoor garden and paint myself a green yard for snow! Soft, fluffy snow.

 

[CatladyJan]

CatladyJan I love the cone flowers!! I bought a Warm Summer blend from Burpee in seeds this spring but it was too late for me to get them started so I'm waiting for next winter. I read a lot of the reviews and they suggested starting in the refrigerator; which I've never done, but I copied it down. I really hope I can get them to do well. They are so pretty!

I was lucky to get a lot of plants on sale last year and they have spread a little more this year. Yes, the article I'm reading suggests cold stratification as well. Lots of seeds need to go through that. When should you plant CONEFLOWER seeds? (so they survive)

 

[CatladyJan]

Couple of questions for all your garden enthusiasts:
1. Do any of you have ghost lillies Grow Spider Lily For Its Colorful Flowers That Bloom Midsummer to Fall Mine are in bloom, just haven't been able to take photos.
2. Have any of you in the colder zones or 6 and above tried winter gardening? Seed Starting 101: A Guide to Winter Sowing in Milk Jugs I've been tempted but with winters getting warmer I chickened out. Maybe I'll try just a couple.
3. What's the humidity like in your area - here we call it soupy sometimes you can go outside and see the moisture around the street lights in the summer.

 

[NY cat man]

My outdoor garden is melting in the heat. We did plant a dogwood tree, though we should have waited until fall. Now I am working on my indoor plants/garden. I have recently bought a lemon bush, three dragon fruit cacti, three air plants, and a money tree. DH bought me some minature red roses, and I hope to keep them alive inside until cooler weather. I went a bought supplies for the lemon bush today. And if you are wondering what a lemon bush is, so am I. I bought from a new (to me) nursery and that is the way it was listed. The limes and other citrus fruit were described as trees. Apparently, this blooms the first year, it's already pretty large, and that's good. I have had bad luck with citrus trees in the past.

N NY cat man , I would give up my outdoor garden and paint myself a green yard for snow! Soft, fluffy snow.

The novelty of snow would wear off rather quickly after experiencing a few of those multi-foot storms off of Lakes Erie or Ontario. Which is why I ready my snowblower each September, because you never know........

 

[CatladyJan]

 

[CatladyJan]

I just stumbled across this video about getting Coneflower seeds glad I did because I was wondering how to harvest those sharp little flower heads.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

My mother stopped by today and wanted to go see how DD’s watermelon plant was doing. I’ve been watering close to dark so I haven’t really looked well. Its a good thing she did because she found one hiding among the weeds! Which she also started to pull for DD. Grandmas really are the best! I had DD put some newspaper under it for now.

 

[NY cat man]

No flower pictures today, except tangentially. Rather, a couple of critters that I spotted today
The praying mantis made her return to her old haunts.

And I came across a Pearl Crescent butterfly, also in the black-eyed Susan

There was another butterfly as well, but I couldn't get a photo of it. It was pale yellow, with small black spots at the wingtips, and it was roughly the size of the Pearl Crescent.

 

[CatladyJan]

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Does anyone know the name of this crop? I see it every summer around here. It looks so much like corn but it’s very short for that and the top isn’t like corn. I managed to get a picture while DH was driving.

 

[Boris Diamond]

View attachment 430621

Massive horn worm! There was only one in my garden this year. I've had up to 70 on three tomato plants!

 

[CatladyJan]

Does anyone know the name of this crop? I see it every summer around here. It looks so much like corn but it’s very short for that and the top isn’t like corn. I managed to get a picture while DH was driving.
View attachment 430623

Looks like corn ?

 

[CatladyJan]

Massive horn worm! There was only one in my garden this year. I've had up to 70 on three tomato plants!

Very massive and more than one

 

[NY cat man]

Does anyone know the name of this crop? I see it every summer around here. It looks so much like corn but it’s very short for that and the top isn’t like corn. I managed to get a picture while DH was driving.
View attachment 430623

Sorghum, possibly?