Posted on 05/01/2024 6:00:41 AM PDT by 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.
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thx for the ping!!
This will be a limited Garden year for me. I didn’t order my Orchard trees or blueberries in time. I only have two raised beds. I did get my Peppers going inside and they are a good size to put out in a couple weeks. I didn’t do any Tomatoes but the volunteers have come up and I have way too many.
I can’t decide what type of green bean to grow, all I know is it needs to be non-hybrid. I have some Blue Lake seeds, scarlet runner beans, and romano. I know I’ll grow some scarlet, just for the flowers. And the beans for next year, they won’t cross pollinate with anything.
It is amazing to watch the babies get up the courage to try. This is maybe my tenth or so time of having that opportunity. The parents go from feeding the nestlings voraciously to withholding it long enough to have hunger become an issue. That’s when the babies begin to peer out. They poke their heads out of the hole to observe the world beyond the nest box. Then they pop back in and exercise their wings some. A sibling will take a turn at the view. Eventually the first one decides that he (or she!) wants to really see what the fuss is all about. Then the parents change their call and chatter. They seem to coax them, and sometimes fly back and forth in front of the nest box, to show the kids what to do. It’s a really cool phenomenon.
I purposely placed the nest boxes (we have four) where I can have some view of the entrances from my sunroom window, which overlooks the backyard and woods (mostly woods). It makes it easy to monitor when the eggs hatch, and then another gauge to when it’s time to fly. Also, I can see if there’s any fighting from other birds like sparrows, which thankfully the bluebirds seem to have the upper hand in the last couple of years.
Thank you! I think I love all the different colored birds. They are as fascinating to me as flowers are.
Sounds beautiful!
Your clematis is already blooming? Lucky you! Beautiful flowers! Thanks for sharing and welcome to FR!
It already is, and my garden is just tuning up. I put tons of work and money into my front and back yards, as gardening is a chief hobby of mine. Now all that pruning, fertilizing, watering, etc. is starting to pay off. I wish that FR had its own photo hosting like many websites do, so I could post pics more easily.
Here in Virginia, we could use a happy rain dance.
Whenever I say that, we seem to get rain on end for days! ;)
That sounds deelish.....a must try.
My Olive Brined Peppers are good for those who throw away nothing.
well, now you’ll have to forego your filthy martini......if you want brined hot peppers.
Filthy martini…LOL. Love that!
We tried them on the north side of the house. Too much shade. And the sunny areas we have are only room for the veg garden and a few rosebushes and clemantis. We have 10 acres mostly woods.
OK, either I was hallucinating when I saw little tiny blueberries-in-the-making, or they were stolen by something. Birds, insects, the horrible Oklahoma wind lately, who knows? Am hoping there will be more blossoms to come, and that they’ll produce. Would like to have at least ONE berry, so I can say there was something garden-wise that I didn’t kill. Heh. :-)
Secondly, the sage plant in the front bed looks great, but is getting more and more little tiny holes in it. Anyone have any idea what would target a strong-smelling thing like sage? Ants, maybe? Aphids? I don’t see anything when I look at both sides of the leaves, except more litlte holes. Thanks in advance.
I might try that if we have extra. Thanks. Or I might chop it raw like you. It would be for omelettes only.
Mine are in partial shade, which is what most of my yard has because of all the mature trees here. I only have a couple of sunny spots. I think I would like 10 acres some days, and then I remember how much work this 1-2/3 acres is. I think I would still like to have about 3, but I can’t foresee us moving from this place unless God makes it very clear that we are supposed to move. I need to remember that the grass isn’t always greener somewhere else.
It’s 3:30 & I have been mowing for 2 hours, came in for a shade, limeade & dill pickle break (sugar & salt - hits the spot on a hot day!).
The BIG news - I am mowing the bank! I practiced on some short, steep banks along the driveway where I didn’t have to worry about ending up in a hip deep culvert, just to see how the mower handles. Once I start down, no ‘forward’ pedal at all & it self- brakes until right as the rear tires come off the hill when it speeds up until the rear tires are on the flat, then it stops until I give it forward pedal. Perfect!
The only fly in the ointment is I have to ‘go around’ to get to the top again, can’t go back up the bank. This is time consuming, but not as horrible as having to weed eat the whole thing!!
I still have the back (behind the house to the property line) to do, which is about 2.5 hours. Definitely a “John Deere rear” sort of a day .... butt (pun intended) it looks SO GOOD :-)
And it froze the last two nights... very cool spring here so far. Tomato and zuke tarts indoors under a grow light. Kale and collards seeds in the ground, covered up until warmer today. Can’t wait until we don’t have to buy vegies at the store.
‘Amy Tan’ of ‘The Joy Luck Club’ Amy Tan? I went and looked. Yes, it’s her. I’ve loved all of her books. I’m sure this one will be interesting. Thanks! :)
Wow! She did the illustrations, too!
Beautiful Clematis! I have the ‘Jackmanii’ which is the deep purple one. She’s just gorgeous and so lovely near the porch; you can’t miss her when you’re coming and going. Always brings a smile. :)
I have one trellis that always has ‘Scarlet Runner’ beans on it for the Hummingbirds. They just love the blossoms, and they’re good to eat in a salad, too! They even taste like a bean.
This year I am growing my favorite green pole bean ‘Saychelles’ and more ‘Good Mother Stollard’ which is a dry/soup bean. Brown and white speckled - very pretty. I grew it last year and now I am in love. :)
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