The Garden Thread - March, 2024

March 2, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a 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.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. 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 Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[FamiliarFace]

Is your magnolia a tulip kind? I have a Bracken’s brown and we don’t have buds yet. Usually they come in late June. The tulip magnolias, however, are earlier. We don’t have them in our current yard.

[FamiliarFace]

I have never been inside an IKEA store, even when they first opened one up. Never had any desire. My daughter loved their stuff for a while, but it was when she was just out of college, and starting life on her own. I don’t think she has much left of it now.

[FamiliarFace]

Now that’s classic!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“The Lean Farmer” by Ben Hartman

I second that recommendation. It’s in my list of books to buy when I find a used copy.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Mine is the 'Royal Star' Magnolia. My BFFs bought it for me to plant in memory of my Dad when he passed in 2020.

"The Star Magnolia is a lovely, small size, winner of several awards. An attractive, multi-stemmed deciduous dwarf tree known as “Royal Star” belongs to the Magnolia stellata species.

In the early spring, clusters of extraordinarily big, snow-white blooms with a faint pinkish tint, 6 in. across (15 cm) emerge from light pink buds. Each flower has between 25 and 30 tepals!

These numerous tepals create a starburst look (thus the name “Star Magnolia”), which is why they are so popular. Leafless branches bear blooms before the oval, bright green foliage emerges.

‘Royal Star’ is a vigorous and fast-growing plant that blooms up to ten days sooner than others. Nevertheless, its blossoms, such as other early-blooming varieties, may be damaged by late frosts."

Her buds are full, but still very compact, so I hope she knows what's she's doing. They're a fuzzy gray-green and remind me of Pussy Willow. So cute!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

There are a lot of household goods that will last a long time and are inexpensive. You should tour it at least once, and go to the cafeteria for Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam! Theirs cost much less than Felix Lingonberry jam that you buy at the store.

[FamiliarFace]

I have heard of the Royal Star Magnolia, and now that I think about it, there is one in somewhere in our neighborhood. I’ll have to keep a sharper eye out on our afternoon/evening walks through our ‘hood. ;)

We like to say we are semi-rural, because we live in the suburbs of the suburbs of Indy, and we have a corn and soybean farm as our “backyard” neighbors (across a small creek, too).

So it looks like a suburb in the front and our backyard is all woods with a creek and farm behind us. We moved when we became empty nesters (moved the nest) and ventured in to a whole new world. The longer we stay, the more we like it. Save for the “progress” the more liberal people want to throw at us from time to time. I would be happy if our little town stayed in the 50’s and 60’s.

[Qiviut]

The soil in my beds is very ‘soft’ because I added leaf compost every year. A wire weeder would work really well. I wish I could move the raised beds and take the soil as well. I am thinking of taking a couple of tubs of soil up every time I take the trailer.

[AFB-XYZ]

Fresh maple syrup, direct from the tree? I’m jealous!

Am going to try to start tomatoes from seed inside the house. Hopefully the gophers and the blister beetles will leave them alone this year.

[FamiliarFace]

I appreciate the idea! The closest one to me now is over an hour away. I’d have to really want to go to that part of the big city. I am very rarely over there. Maybe every couple of years. No offense, but I’ve never had Swedish pancakes (with or without Lingonberry jam) to my knowledge, though it sounds amazing! Maybe one day, I will venture out of my little Midwest town, and travel over that-away. You have motivated me to break down barriers and give it a try. ;)

[FamiliarFace]

*** Fresh maple syrup, direct from the tree? I’m jealous!***

Most all of us are jealous of this! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I am thinking of taking a couple of tubs of soil up every time I take the trailer.”

Before I bought my first farm, I had your basic ‘Ranch in the ‘Burbs’ but I gardened there as much as I was able; just had 2 raised beds.

When I sold that house (in about 15 minutes!) I wrote it into the contract that I could come back the next spring and get my compost pile/bin.

The new owners were MORE than happy for me to take that with me to the farm, LOL!

City Folk. Go Figure! Refusing a pile of Black Gold! ;)

[MomwithHope]

Beautiful magnolia! We woke up to an inch at least of snow covering everything.

[Pollard]

Only IKEA somewhat close to me is 100 miles away, smack dab in the middle of St Louis. I might shop their website.

I live in the land of hills, springs, trees and cows. For shopping for household items, there’s Dollar General and Walmart.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Beau has been ‘sugaring’ for 4 years now, and finally has it down to a science. He boils it down outside over wood on a special pan that has ‘chambers’ in it. He makes some really good Maple Syrup, though at times leaves me with a sticky mess of a kitchen on the final boil down. ;)

Once he gets the electrical finished in the barn remodel, that won’t be a problem. I can set him up down there with a used electric stove. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I can’t believe we haven’t gotten more snow this winter!

The boys start their HS State Basketball Championships this Thursday, and we usually get the final round of snow then, but so far only rain is predicted.

The only thing good about Spring snow is that you know it’s not going to last!

I have VERY green grass, lots of stuff in bud and lots of Robins hopping around right now. I’ll take it! :)

[Pollard]

Oh boy. $910 worth of automation gadgets for $350 on ebay.

The X600M(M for meteorological) would give me a nice weather panel with compass for wind direction, record gusts, calculate wind chill, heat index and dew point and track lows & highs for temp/humidity.

I already plan on getting a rain gauge sensor and would get total accumulation over any period of time I choose. Barometer and Solar Radiation panels could be removed.

Maybe it will still be there when I have money to spare after the tunnel is done.

---

Grabbed some lime from Ace for the raised beds yesterday and a few packets of Ferry Morse seeds from walmart this morning. Basil, Chives and a salad mix that's supposed to be container varieties. When it gets too hot outside, I'll try those inside. By then, the grow lights will all be freed up. They say 1 gallon+ container. I'm thinking the bottom 6-8" of a 5 gal bucket would work nicely.

[Pollard]

Ha, ha, ha. The salad mix I bought is called Mesclun, French term for salad mix. I looked it up because I didn't know the history of it. Here's the wikipedia page.

Yes, please don't accidentally ingest a hallucinogenic when you go for a salad.

[FamiliarFace]

That’s what we have here. The next town over is a suburb of Indy, so it has most of the lower end retail places. Rarely do I need to go to the high rent district in real Indianapolis.

[Pollard]

I could use some advice on soil for potato and carrot growing in large pots.

General potato growing guideline. http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scenec6be.html

Prefers well-drained, light, deep, loose soil, high in organic matter. Unlike most vegetables, potatoes perform best in acid soil with pH 4.8 - 5.5. (Scab is less of a problem at low pH. If pH is more than 6.0, use scab-resistant varieties.) Needs plentiful, consistent moisture.

Sometimes grown in barrels or stacks of old tires filled with compost.

My soil is about 5.2 pH so I've had decent luck growing them. Blueberries grow wild here and they like low 5s for pH. Just picked up some lime for my raised beds so I can raise the pH and grow things that haven't done well with this low pH. Carrots are one.

From their carrot page. Prefers pH of 6.0 to 6.8 but can tolerate 5.5 to 7.5.

Seems like you need two different pH levels. A sweet spot might be 5.8?

Spinach, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, swiss chard, carrots, onions and leeks are all things that do bad with my low pH. I can plant seedlings and two months later, they may still be alive but haven't hardly grown and some like spinach, beets and leeks, haven't grown one inch. They all need 6+ pH. Carrots are tiny and pale. Even lettuce and peppers don't do great.

Guides to 58 garden vegetables. (Each profile contains a detailed description and growing instructions, site and soil requirements, varieties, and solutions for managing pests and diseases.) http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/sceneb771.html

I could have some mineral deficiency that's affecting things as well but the easy and obvious thing is raising the low pH. If I can get it up one point to 6.2, that should be good for most things. Going to get a DIY pH test kit first, mix compost with unknown pH in, test pH and then lime.