The 2023 Gardening Thread

[betsygee]

I usually stick with California native plants for ornamentals in our yard, but I saw this South African plant in the catalog and couldn't resist getting one--I always love the dark 'brown' or 'black' flowers. I noticed yesterday that it was blooming!

Each flower only blooms for one day and they're supposed to smell like vanilla custard. I haven't gone plant huffing yet--I will report back on the scent.

Ferraria schaeferi
‘Dark Chocolate’

 

[betsygee]

I got a close up of the ferraria this morning while I was sniffing them. Is that gorgeous or what. And they DO smell like vanilla!

 

[Winchester]

Beautiful!

We have almost 60 pea plants poking above the ground so far. And the onions look good.

 

[Boris Diamond]

It's been a while since I've grown garlic. It explodes our of the ground, doesn't it? The onions look good and I will take a few soon. And plant some more.

I've started 60 peppers just to make sure I have what I want. One supplier's Del Diablos are up after 6 days! Some of the other pequins are up, but none of the Bod'e peppers. Not that surprising, but I will feel better when I see some of those little green plants poking their heads out of the dirt.

 

[susanm9006]

I don’t know whether this would be considered gardening but we were dry enough for me to scrap the top layer of muck and leaves off of the garden beds. Lots of perennial shoots coming up. I don’t want them to rot but we still arent out of freeze danger yet so I didn’t get rid of everything. Yesterday I used by new Ryobi cordless reciprocal saw to cut up all the big branches that fell over the winter months. So much easier than hand sawing. It may not be green out there yet, but at least a neater brown.

 

[NY cat man]

It has been so wet and cold that I haven't been able to do any planting, but I finally got the beds worked up, and the seedlings started, as it will be another month before they can safely be put in the ground. I have tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, butternut squash, and green bell peppers sprouting, and Pontiac Red and Yukon Gold potatoes, as well as sweet yellow onions waiting for the ground to get warm enough when last I measured it, it was only 40 degrees.
The dwarf crocus are about done, but the daffodils and fumewort are in full bloom, and the tulips are not far behind.

 

[DreamerRose]

I am amazed. My frizzle sizzle plant is blooming. I never expected that. I will try to get a picture soon.

 

[Winchester]

Rick got the Kennebec potatoes into the ground yesterday. He's debating whether to rototill the garden this year or simply do it by hand.
The peas are doing beautifully; he wants to add the bonemeal this weekend because it's supposed to rain Sunday. I can see the onions in the raised beds now from the house. They're growing well.

N NY cat man Where do you put your seedlings? In your basement?

 

[betsygee]

I am amazed. My frizzle sizzle plant is blooming. I never expected that. I will try to get a picture soon.

I had to look that up, it looks like an amazing plant!

 

[NY cat man]

Rick got the Kennebec potatoes into the ground yesterday. He's debating whether to rototill the garden this year or simply do it by hand.
The peas are doing beautifully; he wants to add the bonemeal this weekend because it's supposed to rain Sunday. I can see the onions in the raised beds now from the house. They're growing well.

N NY cat man Where do you put your seedlings? In your basement?

Yes. I have them in trays, setting on heat mats, with a timer to control grow lights once the seedlings emerge. It's not ideal, but it's what I have to make do with. A greenhouse would be nice, but given space limitations, that's not happening. I did build a couple of tiered benches for holding containers for the potatoes and onions, and maybe the beets, too. A while back, I saw a video about growing potatoes in 5-gallon buckets, so I'm going to give it a try.

 

[susanm9006]

Just amazing what the warm temperature does. Yesterday the grass was brown and no buds on the hedge. I woke this morning to mostly green grass and buds on the hedge so big I could see their green from the house. No time to lose so I transplanted some bigger shrubs this morning - much easier to dig out in still damp soil. Tomorrow I am going to try thinning out the perennials.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

My planter full of grape hyacinths is finishing up. I want to save the bulbs and put them in the ground for next spring. I’m just not sure how best to do that yet.

 

[DreamerRose]

My planter full of grape hyacinths is finishing up. I want to save the bulbs and put them in the ground for next spring. I’m just not sure how best to do that yet.

The foliage will die down in June or July, so that's the best time to lift the bulbs. Replant right away. No reason to store. Grape hyacinths multiply by seed as well as by dividing, so plant them somewhere where they can spread. In a few years, you will have a carpet of blue hyacinths.

 

[DreamerRose]

I had to look that up, it looks like an amazing plant!

Someone here on this thread suggested planting it in a whale pot, so that's what I did. The curling stems look like the whale is blowing. They are tricky to grow though, being dormant in the summer. This is my first year, and the stems grew very long and flopped over.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

The foliage will die down in June or July, so that's the best time to lift the bulbs. Replant right away. No reason to store. Grape hyacinths multiply by seed as well as by dividing, so plant them somewhere where they can spread. In a few years, you will have a carpet of blue hyacinths.

Thank you that sounds easy! I’m thinking around the septic covers just off my patio. I have a bird bath in the middle. The soil is only about 6-8” deep so hopefully they will do ok.

 

[DreamerRose]

That's fine. Grape hyacinths don't have very deep roots. Plant them about 2 inches down.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I went out and potted a few things. It lifted my mood a lot. I discovered my window boxes for my petunias are cracked or in danger of cracking. I’ve had them for a while so I’m not too surprised. I guess I need to stop by a garden center tomorrow. (Gee darn…)

Also; my lilacs are blooming.

 

[NY cat man]

I went out and potted a few things. It lifted my mood a lot. I discovered my window boxes for my petunias are cracked or in danger of cracking. I’ve had them for a while so I’m not too surprised. I guess I need to stop by a garden center tomorrow. (Gee darn…)

Also; my lilacs are blooming.

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Color me envious. Sunday, it hit 86 degrees, while today it was 42 and snow flurries. Yay. It's still too early for anything like you have, although a couple of brave dwarf tulips are starting to open, at least partially.

 

[DreamerRose]

I went out and potted a few things. It lifted my mood a lot. I discovered my window boxes for my petunias are cracked or in danger of cracking. I’ve had them for a while so I’m not too surprised. I guess I need to stop by a garden center tomorrow. (Gee darn…)

Also; my lilacs are blooming.

View attachment 448028View attachment 448029View attachment 448030View attachment 448031View attachment 448032

Your flowers are beautiful. I especially like the multicolored petunias in the first pic. Never saw any like that before.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Color me envious. Sunday, it hit 86 degrees, while today it was 42 and snow flurries. Yay. It's still too early for anything like you have, although a couple of brave dwarf tulips are starting to open, at least partially.

We are definitely at the “everything covered in pollen” stage of spring. I really should be preparing the beds for planting!

Your flowers are beautiful. I especially like the multicolored petunias in the first pic. Never saw any like that before.

The top picture is these:

I’ve been taking pictures of the tags to refer back to. I’ve never seen Calibrachoa like them either! I wasn’t really planning to get flowers but if I didn’t get them now I know they wouldn’t be there in a few weeks!

I found the wave petunias at Walmart when I went for potting soil. I grabbed the last 2 of that light purple. I don’t always have the best self control in garden centers.