Posted on 03/23/2012 8:53:54 AM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde
Good morning, FRiends and fellow gardeners! Hopefully everyone has received beneficial rain this past week. We've had an additional 2 inches, which was a blessing because just to the south and southwest of us as much as 10 inches fell. While the area needed the rain, it didn't need it all at one time.
Looking forward to reading what you're doing with your gardens and plans this week. Photos will earn you bonus points! :^)
It is too wet for me to do anything in the garden, but I do have lots of raspberry bushes to get planted. Then, the beeyard. They are already capping honey in the supers and I will have a bountiful late spring harvest. Mark and I have 2 cutouts of bees in buildings that are coming up this week, which will make a total of 7 hives in my beeyard. We did a huge cutout 2 weeks ago and Mark added those to his beeyard.
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.
It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
Maybe I will try that one. Sounds like it would cut down on weeding. Do deer like watermelon vines? (Found out the hard way that they love sweet potato vines.)
My dad (who is 89) was telling me some stories the other day about when he was growing up and one of them concerned a neighbor who was trying to keep the deer out of his watermelon patch. Dad says deer like the young, tender vines .....
Well, things are not all well here at the farm with some of our new plantings. Dad loves flowers ... reminds him of all the flowers his mom had planted outside the kitchen door and around the yard at their Shenandoah Valley Farm where he grew up. He is constantly coming home with something new to plant. Saturday before last, he brought home 3 small Donald Lyman lilac bushes (leaf buds with just a touch of green) & two camellia bushes. I planted them for him and everything has been growing great - we noticed the other day that the little lilac bushes had leafed out & looked like they were lovin’ life in their new ‘sunny spot’ homes.
We also have an ‘ancient’ yard .... not much grass really, mostly weeds. We’re in the country and having a grass lawn isn’t all that practical - we can’t really water it and when the dry summer days hit, the weeds stay greener than grass .... you just keep them cut so they don’t ‘bloom’ or go to seed. Dad has this thing lately about spraying the weeds ... so, he got some sort of ‘pasture spray’ and has been putting it on the yard. Yesterday, I noticed that one of the little lilacs is looking very peculiar - curled leaves, a little wilty, etc. The spray evidently drifted and got the little bush. The other two lilacs are also showing a tiny bit of the curl/wilt, but not as bad. I hope these little lilacs can survive - just makes me sick to think they may not make it. BTW, love my dad, but at his age you can’t tell him anything ... if he wants to spray for weeds, by golly he’s spraying for weeds & he’s using whatever he wants to use. We just keep our fingers crossed and pray for the best. :-)
That’s exactly what we’re doing .... he had a cardiac arrest in 2007 & miraculously survived so we’re on “bonus” days. I remember his mom’s flowers, so when he brings stuff home, I help him plant it & those plants are special. I follow him around & try to keep the ‘wheels on the wagon’ - missed the boat on the lilacs, but hopefully, they’ll somehow pull through!
That photo is great!
I can identify! LOL
You have been a busy man and I'm enjoying following all the work you've been doing.
That is a beautiful bush! I need to add a few of those next year ... and a gardenia or two.
Can you imagine how bad the insects are going to be with no winter??? We are already experiencing the white flies like crazy. But the early beauty of the flowers almost makes it worth it.
Sounds like you are jumping in with both feet! I wish you bountiful harvests!
Would you like to be added to the ping list?
I love launches! Been lucky enough to catch several in Florida.
It must be unseasonably warm everywhere! My husband flew up to Big Sky, Montana to catch the end of the ski season and it was almost 60 degrees on the slopes. He said everything was slush.
Hey, Gang! Things are really breaking loose for me up here in Wisconsin - about a MONTH early! We’ve broken ALL sales records for the month of March at my Garden Center; it’s been INSANITY to infinity. I have a CHERISHED day off today...been traveling at warp speed all month so far. :)
I have my small Salad Garden cleaned out and newly planted with lettuces, spinach, & beets and I’m adding leeks (plants) next week, just because I left them on my desk at work in my rush to getthehellouttathere last night...at 8pm. :(
Anyhow, I’ve got all the fruit trees fertilized; my forsythia is pretty much finished, and my Nanking Bush Cherries are looking LOVELY! 1 cherry tree and 1 plum are blooming, and my peaches are ready to bloom. (Too soon! Too soon!)
The dozens of Viburnum I planted down the driveway are budded out; they ALL made it through last winter, which was a miracle as I was planting them up until the last minute last fall! Happy, Happy!
Both my ‘Korean Spice’ and ‘Mohican’ Viburnum have FLOWER BUDS on them, already. *Fingers Crossed*
My lawn needs mowing in the worst way, but I’m not gonna do it! It’s March 24th! Yikes!
Greenhouse is cleaned out; still have to tackle my big garden, but that won’t take long to rake it all to the middle and burn it off.
This afternoon I’m heading out to see Mr. Wonderful to help plant fir trees for windbreaks and deer bedding areas. I’ve already cleaned out his garden; he’s adding raised beds this year - JEALOUS!
Tomato plants and marigolds are started in flats...more to come! I’ve got chicks on order (50!) and they’ll be here at the end of April. The coop is cleaned out and the hens are laying a little bit so far; they’re smarter than we are - they KNOW it’s only the end of March, no matter WHAT the weather is doing. :)
I hear ya with the pond though ... ours was horribly low, but has now gone over the spillway a couple of times.
I've always heard that they are better after a frost.
Fabulous photos! You get extra points :)
Excellent! (well, not the missing the thread part)
I’m mowing every 4 days already.
You will be so glad that you did soil tests! Makes all the difference in the world. I wish you huge harvests! Please share your results when they come in.
I don’t think anything kills the insects down here, although I will say the drought last year must have caused the “love bugs” to move on to better places. I don’t know the real name of these bugs, but I think they plague Florida as well - you never see one, they are always connected.... and cover the front grill of your vehicle in the spring. I can’t recall seeing a pair at all last spring!
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