The 2023 Gardening Thread

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NY cat man

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I have quite a few going, some have been planted in the garden already, others are going to a friend and I'm starting some more. Is Michele growing the annual or perennial? I finally gave up on lavender a couple of years ago.
Perennial
 

NY cat man

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With our latest extended session of wet and dreary weather, the tulips, while they are fully budded out, steadfastly refuse to open up for pictures. The onions are up, and the potatoes are in their containers, so fingers are crossed there. Also, last year I planted milkweed seeds, but only got 4 plants to actually sprout. Well, this year, each of those 4 is showing multiple new shoots poking above the ground, so maybe they will develop seed pods. One can always hope.
 

NY cat man

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After a solid week of cold- it never got out of the 40s- overcast, and wet- we're over 3.5" of rain above average- weather, the sun came out today, and so did the flowers
The tulips are out in force
IMG_2316.JPG

So are the English daisies
IMG_2318.JPG
The Queen of Night tulips aren't quite ready just yet
IMG_2313.JPG

The daffodils are pretty much spent, but those in the more shaded beds are still hanging in there
IMG_2310.JPG
And Grumpy, our feline lawn ornament, appreciates the sun, too
IMG_2314.JPG
.
 

Winchester

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I just did my fourth cutting of asparagus. Our neighbor came over when he saw me outside and told Rick he was tempted to come over and ask him if he could cut some asparagus. I handed him what I cut and he was tickled. More will be ready to cut on Monday.

Peppers are in and Rick is working on tomatoes now. Potatoes are up; of the 20 tubers he planted, we have 16 plants and it looks like another couple are trying to break through the soil. Peas look good as do the onions. When he's done with the tomatoes, he's going to throw the red beet tape into the soil. Then work on poles for the pole beans before he get the beans into the ground. We still have some strawberries to plant, too. The squash plants. And then the corn.

I do what I can, but he says that the garden is his Shed. When he works there, he is at peace and life is good. He would just rather I stay away as it's his place and that's OK. His Grandpa was the same way; that's where he went and everybody knew that he was in his happy spot.
 

NY cat man

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I finished widening the main planting bed, so now I have room for a row of bean plants on either side of the tomato trellises, the beets that I planted in cut-down litter buckets are up, the butternut squash seedlings are in the ground and the cucumber seedlings are nearly ready, the onions are up, and I have the carrots planted. Now, all I have to do is cross my fingers that we don't get any more frosts.
 

MoochNNoodles

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When I posted pictures of the flowers I got last month there was a tray of pink petunias along with 2 purple/blue and one white. My idea was to have my front planter have just a couple pops of pink and I put the rest in pots in my baco imagine my surprise when I came home from vacation to find this:
4A31BFC3-F3DA-4293-BAAF-4005B4F95F74.jpeg


One red; smack dab in the middle! :lol: I could try to swap it with one from the backyard before they get big. I just don’t want to damage the roots too much.
 

susanm9006

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When I posted pictures of the flowers I got last month there was a tray of pink petunias along with 2 purple/blue and one white. My idea was to have my front planter have just a couple pops of pink and I put the rest in pots in my baco imagine my surprise when I came home from vacation to find this:
View attachment 449650

One red; smack dab in the middle! :lol: I could try to swap it with one from the backyard before they get big. I just don’t want to damage the roots too much.
I love that red one smack in the middle.
 

CatladyJan

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When I posted pictures of the flowers I got last month there was a tray of pink petunias along with 2 purple/blue and one white. My idea was to have my front planter have just a couple pops of pink and I put the rest in pots in my baco imagine my surprise when I came home from vacation to find this:
View attachment 449650

One red; smack dab in the middle! :lol: I could try to swap it with one from the backyard before they get big. I just don’t want to damage the roots too much.
I love the plant 'stairs' that is an awesome idea.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I found the idea on Pinterest. They had it turned the other way and were using it to keep the bunnies out of lettuce. I like that it matches the stair height.

I went back and sure enough; there were no blooms on the red one when we planted it. DS and I had a sketch of what order we wanted the colors in that I’ve already tossed. But I’m second guessing myself which tray it came out of. Either way; I was not expecting red. :lol: I guess we’ll keep it as a reminder to embrace the unexpected!:lol:
 

NY cat man

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My front yard flower garden is coming back from hibernation. My latest addition is upgrading my lawn with "Zoysia" grass plugs.
I've about given up on a grass lawn, so I'm going to overseed it with white clover and be done with it.
On another note, my potatoes are up! When watering this morning, almost all of the containers had plants breaking through the surface, so it's a case of so far, so good. The cucumber seedlings are nearly ready to go in, too.
One thing I discovered is to never use those peat pellets to start plants again. Supposedly, you can just plant the whole thing, but not necessarily. I found that in quite a few cases, the plant roots couldn't penetrate the fabric containing the pellet, and I had to remove it before putting the plants in the ground. I had better luck using those red plastic cups, as when I removed the seedlings, there was much better root development. Live and learn, I guess.
 

NY cat man

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An addendum:
Last year, Michele got some common milkweed seeds, and after going through the entire procedure, only 4 actually sprouted. When planted, each produced a single spindly stem. It's a different story this year. The least of those 4 plants has 7 shoots, while the others range from 11 to 17 shoots. Now, to see if the butterflies show any interest.
 

rubysmama

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An addendum:
Last year, Michele got some common milkweed seeds, and after going through the entire procedure, only 4 actually sprouted. When planted, each produced a single spindly stem. It's a different story this year. The least of those 4 plants has 7 shoots, while the others range from 11 to 17 shoots. Now, to see if the butterflies show any interest.
I also planted milkweed seeds last year with similar results. And this year, though they're not as far ahead as yours, I'm seeing sprouts already. So fingers crossed we both have monarchs find us this summer. :butterfly:
 

CatladyJan

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I've about given up on a grass lawn, so I'm going to overseed it with white clover and be done with it.
On another note, my potatoes are up! When watering this morning, almost all of the containers had plants breaking through the surface, so it's a case of so far, so good. The cucumber seedlings are nearly ready to go in, too.
One thing I discovered is to never use those peat pellets to start plants again. Supposedly, you can just plant the whole thing, but not necessarily. I found that in quite a few cases, the plant roots couldn't penetrate the fabric containing the pellet, and I had to remove it before putting the plants in the ground. I had better luck using those red plastic cups, as when I removed the seedlings, there was much better root development. Live and learn, I guess.
We have tried zoysia sod to fill in one area and it's pretty much gone. I've sowed grass seed and more grass seed and tons of white clover and I still have more weeds.

I break open the bottoms of the peat pods and even the cardboard trays when I put my seedlings into the ground.
 

CatladyJan

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N NY cat man and rubysmama rubysmama I do hope you both have the opportunity to see Monarchs this year since you are both so far North.
I was reading up last year and discovered there are 4 generations in a year for the Monarchs and when I start getting caterpillars is late August to September so I assume mine are the 4th generation that hopefully makes it back down south.
 

rubysmama

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N NY cat man and rubysmama rubysmama I do hope you both have the opportunity to see Monarchs this year since you are both so far North.
I was reading up last year and discovered there are 4 generations in a year for the Monarchs and when I start getting caterpillars is late August to September so I assume mine are the 4th generation that hopefully makes it back down south.
My neighbour who gave me the seeds usually sees the monarch caterpillars in late August, so they must also be the fourth generation.

EDIT:

Here's my Milkweed
IMG_5599.jpg


And tulips
IMG_5579.jpg


And a couple blue / purple spring flowers.

Lungwort
IMG_5624.jpg


Forget Me Nots
IMG_5611.jpg
 
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MoochNNoodles

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So beautiful rubysmama rubysmama !

I’ve got 2 areas in my lawn where no grass survived the winter. Its bare sand! Not even weeds are growing there at the moment. I’ve done so much watering after the septic replacement tore up the yard. Part of me doesn’t care if its weeds as long as its green.

Maybe the fumigation killed the grass too? My lillies didn’t survive but they were right next to the house. My irises on one side are less but still there. The grass is dead on one side but the literal bare spots are not right up on it. And it was a gas used so I don’t know that it should have harmed things farther away.:dunno:
 
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