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Saturday Gardening Thread: Favorite Things [Y-not, KT, Weirddave]

Y-not: Good afternoon, gardening morons and moronettes!

LavenderBee1.JPG

Welcome to your Saturday Gardening Thread, brought to you by Julie Andrews:

Today's thread is inspired by a question I had from a member of the horde who is contemplating a move from the Midwest to Southwest. He wanted to know what flowers grew well in my area of Utah, which led me to think about my favorite plants from the different parts of the country where I've lived.

Seemed like a good topic for a lazy Saturday afternoon. I'd love to hear which plants you like best from where you live, especially if they speak to you of "home."

I've mentioned before that I'm in Zone 7a at roughly 4,500 feet. At that altitude, the aspens in our neighborhood (and in my yard) do well. (I believe they prefer even higher altitudes, but ours are large and healthy.) So if I had to pick one plant that says "Utah" to me, it would be aspens.

Aspens.JPG

Here are my other favorite plants from my travels:

Southern California, Zone 10a

StarJasmine.jpeg

We were blessed with an abundance of fragrant trees, shrubs, and vines in California -- it's very hard to choose just one. If pressed, I think I'd go with jasmine. We had a particularly impressive vine growing on the pergola outside our master bedroom -- so delightful.

Indiana, Zone 5a

PoisonIvy.jpg

Poison ivy! OK, just kidding... although that would be appropriate. Our home in Indiana was on a hill that was covered with poison ivy... as my (highly allergic) husband sadly discovered!
On to my "favorite" plant, I remember there being a lot of lovely peonies in our neighborhood, including in our yard, so I guess I'll go with them.
Peony.jpg

Texas, Zone 9a

Azaleas.jpg

There are many great choices from Texas, but I'd probably go with azaleas, which make Houston absolutely glorious in the early Spring.

Massachusetts, Zone 5b

LilyOfTheValley.jpeg

I'd probably go with Lily of the Valley, which I always associate with my grandparents' house and my mother, who grew up there.

Illinois, Zone 5b

WashingtonElm.jpg

That's a tough one. I was living in the city and spending a lot of time in the lab, so I didn't pay much attention to the plants back then. The University of Chicago had a lot of nice trees, including the one above, an elm planted in honor of George Washington.

Vermont, Zone 4a

Maple.jpg

Is there any other choice but the sugar maple?

Maryland, Zone 7a

dogwoodtreespringflowers.jpg

No doubt about it, the flowering dogwood. Runner up would be magnolia.

How about you? Tell us your location (past or present), including hardiness zone, and then the one plant that says "home" to you.

And now, without further ado, here's KT:

Being Green

The drought continues. It is not that easy being green around here. Our problem is a little different from the one that prompted existential musings on the part of Kermit the Frog.

I once knew an older gentleman named Kermit, from a Toastmasters Club. His typical response to "How are you" was "Fine and Dandy". Of course, he did not have to struggle with being green. But I think that this particular gentleman would have been "fine and dandy" even if he WERE green. Sometimes perspective matters. If Kermit can be happy being green, maybe I can learn to embrace my non-green surroundings.

Sometimes reality matters, too. Even before the drought became as serious an issue as it is now, I knew that I could not grow a big garden this year. One of the first plants I decided to skip was watermelon, for two reasons: (1) I have never been much good at growing them and (2) they take more water than some crops.

But I managed to buy a really excellent watermelon for the Fourth of July. I thought I might get some pointers from The Horde on growing them in the future -- say, if a big El Nino replaces our current drought with flooding. Not that watermelons can live in standing water.

Why not throw in some advice on another green-skinned fruit, the Winter Melon? I have never grown them successfully, either.

Old Fashioned Watermelons with Seeds

My first experiences with watermelons in the garden involved accidents. One year my mother planted both roundish Lemon Cucumbers and Sugar Baby Watermelons. She accidentally picked baby melons as cucumbers for a while because she was not sure what the cucumbers should look like. Later, neighbor kids accidentally helped us out by picking almost-ripe melons. No watermelons that year.

Fortunately for us, members of a farming family who came to our home fairly regularly to practice for musical events later supplied us with great watermelons. The sandy loam on part of their farm was perfect for watermelons, and they knew just when to pick them.

I seem to have continued the family tradition of watermelon failure as an adult. When we had access to enough land to grow watermelons, Mr. Bar-the-Door dreamed of growing giant invite-all-the-neighbors-over Black Diamond-type watermelons, but our attempts have been disappointing so far. Often we have had problems growing watermelons on clay soil. Even when we got a few undersized melons, we had difficulty deciding when to harvest them. The rules about brown tendrils or leaves next to the melons don't seem to work in our garden.

Our (legal) friend from Mexico decided one year that we needed to "give air" to the roots of our little watermelon plants at about the time they first bloomed. He dug a narrow trench several inches deep with his finger, several inches from the row of plants. This did not seem to help the plants. Maybe it helps Mexican watermelon plants.

We still dream of someday growing and harvesting a really great watermelon. I became familiar with some interesting cultivars through the Willhite Seed Company in Texas, They bred a lot of big old-fashioned watermelons, specializing in orange and yellow ones.

1108-watermelon-orangeglo.jpg

Orangeglo Watermelon

They later started breeding hybrid watermelons and muskmelons. We discussed this seed company's travails with a new watermelon disease, Watermelon Fruit Blotch, in an earlier episode of the Saturday Gardening Thread. The real problem was actually our litigious society. I think this company remains a good source for seeds, especially for small growers. Don't expect fancy packaging, though it was once possible to buy large quantities of seed canned at their facility.

Big melons like those bred by Willhite can be lots of fun in the South, but in the North, small to medium-sized watermelons are more practical. An open-pollinated melon of interest for northern gardeners is Blacktail Mountain, bred by Glenn Drowns of Sandhill Preservation when he was living in the mountains of Northern Idaho. He started its development when he was 17 years old. The watermelon list at the Sandhill link above also includes the distinctive Cream of Saskatchewan, which reportedly originated in Ukraine.

My piano teacher always stored a few Winter Queen Watermelons on her cool back porch from a late harvest -- by farmers. She was a flower gardener and did not grow her own watermelons. The melons had sweet, light pink flesh and big seeds. Sandhill carries two similar watermelons for storage, King Winter and Wintermelon. Gardening Morons and Moronettes in the desert may wish to try Red Seeded Navajo, which has a reputation as a storage melon. Or you could try yellow-fleshed Desert King, reputed to hold well on the vine.

There are some enticing F1 hybrids among old-fashioned watermelons with seeds, too. Sweet Beauty is a small oblong melon. I can believe that its plants are vigorous, but I have my doubts about 3 foot tall watermelon plants. Had anyone grown this one?

I am still waiting for someone to develop a watermelon that turns yellow at the peak of ripeness. The open-pollinated ones I have tried have been disappointing. Has anyone in The Horde tried Diana?

DavesMelons.jpg

Where do seedless watermelons come from?

Last fall, Y-not snapped a photo of some Autumn Crocus flowers. These plants are the original source for colchicine, a chemical used both to treat gout and to double chromosomes in plants. In nature, most watermelons are diploids, with two sets of chromosomes. Plant breeders like to double the chromosomes of many types of plants to get tetraploid versions, which can still make viable seeds.

In order to breed a seedless watermelon, you need to cross a tetraploid female with a regular old-fashioned diploid male parent. The resulting triploid hybrid is sterile. Because both the pollen and the female parts of the flower are sterile, the triploid plant must be crossed with a normal diploid plant in order to stimulate fruit formation. North Carolina State University has an interesting article on the challenges of breeding and growing seedless watermelons.

MadScientist.jpg

This is a job for a Mad Scientist
And for some more methodical scientists, too.

The costs of developing suitable parent lines (plus the considerable costs of crossing them for seed production) makes the seed for seedless watermelons expensive. The plants are also more challenging to grow than regular watermelons. Commercial growers typically plant one diploid "male parent" plant for each two triploid "female parent" plants. Both parent plant types will produce watermelons, but only those from the triploid plants will be seedless. It may be difficult for home growers who are growing just a few plants to get adequate pollination of the triploid plants if bees are not especially active.

It is important to have garden space if you want to try growing your own seedless watermelons. Watermelon plants are space hogs. It is probably a good idea to get seed from a seed house that tests its cultivars in home garden conditions. Or, you could choose an AAS winner that has been pre-tested.

Around here, immigrants from Southeast Asia and their families grow even great big watermelons on sturdy, tall vertical trellises. They tie the melons in slings as they grow larger. This is one option for increasing pollination success of seedless melons by increasing the number of plants you can grow.

cac39d2f98fb9e8a58f3ef0a28bcc055.jpg

Growing watermelon vertically

Winter Melons

Asian winter melons are actually gourds. They are not sweet like a melon. They have attractive yellow flowers intermediate in size between those of cucumbers and squashes. They generally grow on rampant vines and need quite a bit of heat. I tried growing them one year in our hot-summer climate and did not get any mature fruits. Maybe I planted them too late. Their seeds resemble watermelon seeds.

The waxy coating on more mature fruits makes them an ideal storage item for winter. Among their many uses is the famous Winter Melon Soup, served in the elaborately carved shell of the fruit on fancy occasions. But this labor-intensive step is not necessary.


How to make Winter Melon Soup

A smaller version of the Winter Melon is known as Mao Gwa, Hairy Melon or Fuzzy Gourd. A few people who are partial to serving it with glass noodles call it The Hairy Godmother. The fruit is often used at a younger stage than Winter Melon, while it is hairy rather than waxy. Wear gloves, as the hairs are sharp.

Willhite sells an Indian second cousin of the gourds above (different genus), the Tinda Gourd. It is picked small, when it resembles a green tomato. I have grown this plant on a fence, where it is attractive. You can substitute the fruit for summer squash in recipes, though it should be peeled or scraped. It can be stuffed. Try some nice Tinda Masala.

Hope you have a great time in the garden this week. Maybe you can join me in a dream about growing something new in the future.

Thanks, KT! Now, here's Weirddave:


As the calendar turns, we find ourselves in mid July, so I thought it was an opportune time to remind everyone of something that often gets overlooked in the heat of full summer: The importance of exercize.

By now your garden has probably sprouted, the plants are thriving and starting to bear fruit or flowers, and everything seems to be going well. The mistake that many home gardeners make, however, is forgetting to give their plants proper exercise. Without it, plants become logy and weak and may not stay healthy into the fall months.

Walking.jpg

Just out for a stroll bro

Walking your plants is an excellent way for them to get their healthy exercise and for the two of you to really bond as omnivore and foliage. While it is important to not over do things, you should not be afraid to set a pace that really allows the plant to stretch it's roots. The rule here is the same as for humans in the gym: no pain, no gain.

Many people find walking boring. That's understandable. Have you checked to see if there are any local plant dance classes? The local YMCA here in Baltimore offers many wonderful programs for plants, with various skill levels from beginner to expert. If you do decide to experiment with plant dance classes, make sure to find a location that offers free trials, different types of plants prefer different schools of dance. It would be a shame to pay for a full semester of ballroom lessons if the potato you have prefers disco. Use your money wisely.

Dance.jpg

Step..two..three..kick!

Those of you familiar with rule 34 will not be surprised to find that there is a small but active community of folks out there who insist that plants can get all the exercise they need by mating with humans. Those of you unfamiliar with rule 34 should count your blessings and move on to the next paragraph. The National Association of Humans Sexing Trees Yearly ( N.A.H.S.T.Y ) is one of the chief proponents of this. Let's just say that the results have not always been pretty.

Hybrid.jpg


Move along, nothing to see here. Really.

In any event, whatever activity you chose, please chose one and stick to it. Your plants can become neglected and droopy if they don't get proper exercise. I know that it's a lot of work when summer activities like beach, vacation and road trips are calling, but as gardeners we are called upon to be good stewards of the produce entrusted to our care. Don't let your plants down.

Sad.jpg

Look how sad he is! He needs exercise!


Y-not: To wrap things up...

NiceMelons.jpg

Nice melons!


What's happening in your garden this week?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:04 PM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 The Great Vegetable Rebellion

Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 11, 2015 01:07 PM (TF10X)

2 Geebus

You two take the rest of the year off

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at July 11, 2015 01:11 PM (OtFSb)

3 Sorry. You three.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at July 11, 2015 01:12 PM (OtFSb)

4 Here in VA I love the crepe myrtles. Dogwoods are beautiful, too, but aren't in bloom as long. Mimosas are gorgeous as well but a little past peak bloom now.

Posted by: Truly St. Cyr at July 11, 2015 01:14 PM (mza6/)

5 Love the photos, Weirddave.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 01:18 PM (qahv/)

6 Crepe myrtles ARE very pretty.

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:20 PM (RWGcK)

7 Holy content Batgirl!

I associate my Michigan childhood with the scents of pine trees, lily of the valley, lilacs, peonies, mown grass, and apple blossoms from the acres of orchards surrounding us.

From Hawaii, plumeria and the intoxicating night-blooming flowers.

Of Maryland, it's cherry trees and magnolias.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at July 11, 2015 01:21 PM (jR7Wy)

8 That reminds me... Geraldo Rivera says we need to have more illegals in order to have safer communities.
Posted by: Bretzysdude
-----------------

Spent the morning trimming the Virginia Creeper on the back of the house. This photo was taken almost a month ago, so things were much more overgrown than the picture shows. That stuff grows fast.
http://tinyurl.com/npkonyd

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 11, 2015 01:21 PM (9mTYi)

9 My weed crop was pretty good.

Posted by: DC at July 11, 2015 01:22 PM (TzeLs)

10 That is a fancy bee up top, Y-not. BTW, I am allergic to lavender. Not seriously allergic, though.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 01:22 PM (qahv/)

11 8 - Okay..., I am clueless as to how those illegals made it into my Virginia Creeper.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 11, 2015 01:22 PM (9mTYi)

12 F a garden. We have another heat wave and it's all going down. Except for the lettuce I'm growing indoors. At least I can grow pigs and eggs here.

I really have never had a year like this, been growing a garden for a long time.

Posted by: traye at July 11, 2015 01:23 PM (prF0A)

13 We're coming into the Scorched Earth season here in Galveston. With a bumper crop of mosquitoes.



Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at July 11, 2015 01:23 PM (RzZOc)

14 Personally, I like Iris, though they don't bloom very long, they are my favorite flower.

Posted by: Ronster at July 11, 2015 01:23 PM (vQqVr)

15 That is a fancy bee up top, Y-not. BTW, I am allergic to lavender. Not seriously allergic, though.
---

Oh, man, that must be difficult in SoCal where it seems to grow like a weed!

That lavender is in a side bed of our yard, near a bedroom window. Smells so great in the summer! Bees love it, too.

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:25 PM (RWGcK)

16 I miss the quaking aspens in Utah. And the blue spruce.

Posted by: Turd Ferguson at July 11, 2015 01:26 PM (VAsIq)

17 One thing about my farm is something blooms literally all year and I love it.

Posted by: traye at July 11, 2015 01:26 PM (prF0A)

18 Personally, I like Iris, though they don't bloom very long, they are my favorite flower.
--

Me, too. I love them. Nothing more extravagant than a bouquet containing irises because of their short "life."

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:26 PM (RWGcK)

19 The hanging watermelons are wild!

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:27 PM (RWGcK)

20 that recipe vid got me to take off my pants, good job

Posted by: The Dude at July 11, 2015 01:28 PM (SyKbw)

21 I love your regional choices, Y-not. I like sweet violets as a representative of Utah plants, because they provide fragrance so early in the year.

But aspens are spectacular in the mountains.

Interesting how many plants called "Jasmine" are not related to actual Jasmine. I had a neighbor in Southern California who had a "night-blooming jasmine" once. The fragrance was sometimes too much.

Star Jasmine is one of the more delightful ground covers in the world if you are not allergic to it. I am not. It grows around here, too.

I also love the fragrance of the Yellow Jessamine. Wayside used to sell a first-rate double one.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 01:28 PM (qahv/)

22 "Personally, I like Iris, though they don't bloom very long, they are my favorite flower."

Go for a reblooming iris variety... twice a year is better than once.

Posted by: Phil at July 11, 2015 01:29 PM (39FGM)

23 Aspens are awesome, Turd. Ours are tall enough that we get the full benefit of the leaves rustling from our bedroom window. Sounds just like the ocean.

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:29 PM (RWGcK)

24 >> that recipe vid got me to take off my pants, good job

TMI, Dude!!! lol

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:30 PM (RWGcK)

25 I'll have to look for the sweet violets, KT. I'm sure I've seen them, but not realized that they are fragrant.

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:30 PM (RWGcK)

26 Go for a reblooming iris variety

I didn't know such a thing existed.

Posted by: Ronster at July 11, 2015 01:31 PM (vQqVr)

27 Lilacs! I forgot lilacs.

Back in a few.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 01:32 PM (qahv/)

28 "I didn't know such a thing existed."

Yes'em they do. I have a white one called Immortality that is just the bees knees. You get the normal flush of blooms in the spring, and a second one in late summer/early fall.

Posted by: Phil at July 11, 2015 01:34 PM (39FGM)

29 Posted by: traye at July 11, 2015 01:23 PM

It's been an odd year here, too. My snap peas managed to produce a bit before the really hot weather hit, but less than past years.

My beets and radishes, which had been reliable in years past, both struggled. Radishes bolted and beets are sickly.

Lettuce, arugula, and herbs have done well, as well as some over-wintered onions and shallots. Oh and my pepper plants (bell, pardon, and Thai chili) are coming on strong. I *think* my tomatoes are starting to kick in, but only a few toms from the early variety so far.

Posted by: Y-not at July 11, 2015 01:36 PM (RWGcK)

30 Some sweet violets are more fragrant than others. Little pink Rosina is very fragrant, and there are a few taller cutting violets that are fragrant. Parma violets are more tender, but they are very fragrant.

There are some native violets (plus a common ground cover in So Cal from Australia) that are not fragrant. But the native ones are host to some of the Fritillary butterflies.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 01:37 PM (qahv/)

31 Julie Andrews?

https://youtu.be/bwc1Kbv9dVY (sfw)

Posted by: Blanco Basura at July 11, 2015 01:39 PM (bZQB+)

32 What part of Va, Truly?
Norfolk, Va Beach myself.

Posted by: Chi at July 11, 2015 01:40 PM (LgYH9)

33 Last year was the very first year I had success growing watermelons. They were from seeds I had tossed out there while eating watermelon the previous 4th of July. Every time I tried going back to 1966 it was failure city. This year I have a mix of wild and planted, wild is of course bigger, better vines so far with at least one 5" melon.

Anyone have thoughts on stopping blossom end rot on my tomato plants, this year? I have tried sulfur, ain't working or I really need to stomp on it and increase the amount used for next year.

My favorite is Honeysuckle, early mornings you can smell it all over the back yard and sitting on the porch.

Posted by: Gmac- 'all politics in this country now is dress-rehearsal for civil war' at July 11, 2015 01:40 PM (4CRfK)

34 Confederate Jasamine has always been a favorite of mine. http://tinyurl.com/ptzwfwa

Alas, we are too far north for it. Outlawed now, I understand.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 11, 2015 01:41 PM (9mTYi)

35 Oh yeah, I live in North Alabama, hot with humidity to match the temperature area.

Posted by: Gmac- 'all politics in this country now is dress-rehearsal for civil war' at July 11, 2015 01:41 PM (4CRfK)

36 GMAC, spray calcium solution on your plants. It worked for me, but YMMV.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at July 11, 2015 01:41 PM (jR7Wy)

37 19 The hanging watermelons are wild!
------------------------------
I did that one year. It works well.
save all the mesh bags you can get from onions. They keep expanding as the melons grow, and let all the sunlight through.

Posted by: Chi at July 11, 2015 01:43 PM (dX0Lo)

38 heh. Asian melons in a sling. Ana Puma probably has manga to share.

I am growing watermelons for the first time this year. Well, the first time on purpose, I spit seeds in my garden plot about 15 years ago and wound up with melons but they didn't account to much.

With luck, this year I should get some. I suspect I will have to reduce watering to keep them from getting too chilly and keeping them from maturing. In the past, growing cantaloupe I did better by watering only once or twice a week.

I am, however, in a battle to the death with bindweed. I have resorted to using the spading fork to turn up the dirt where they pop up so I can pull out all the fleshy white roots. I am afraid it will win in the end.


Posted by: Kindltot -even more unwashed at July 11, 2015 01:44 PM (3pRHP)

39 Posted by: Gmac- 'all politics in this country now is dress-rehearsal for civil war' at July 11, 2015 01:40 PM (4CRfK)

It's a lack of calcium... add some gypsum to your soil next year, or processed egg shells. For existing plantings, calcium nitrate is easy enough to apply.

Posted by: Phil at July 11, 2015 01:50 PM (39FGM)

40 We're in zone 7A as well but nowhere near your altitude. The last few years have been especially good for crepe myrtle and dogwoods. Mrs. JTB and I take walks around the neighborhood just to look at the gorgeous crepe myrtles; some like our 3 foot baby and others over 20 feet tall and loaded with blooms. Even in this heat and humidity, it's worth the walk.

I'm trying to revitalize a neglected lilac that in years past could fill the back yard with its fragrance. I hope to get it back to that state.

Posted by: JTB at July 11, 2015 01:54 PM (FvdPb)

41 What's happening in my garden? Weeds. Every day I stare at them as they grow larger. I had the best intentions today to get out there and tackle this chore but feeling unmotivated and overwhelmed.

Posted by: Cheri at July 11, 2015 01:59 PM (ZFPMM)

42 Kindltot, it seems the bindweed will always win. Once it gets established it's almost impossible to eradicate. I keep a watch out for the stuff and only have to kill 1 or 2 plants a year.

Posted by: Ronster at July 11, 2015 02:00 PM (vQqVr)

43 Gmac, if your ph is too low, use lime, calcium carbonate, if ph is ok use calcium sulphate, gypsum. Farm store will have both.

Posted by: traye at July 11, 2015 02:01 PM (prF0A)

44 I'm going to tweet pix of my junk to that melon girl! What could possibly go wrong?

Posted by: Carlos Danger at July 11, 2015 02:06 PM (fY+fw)

45 We are having a mini heat wave, temps in the 80s. So far, this Spring and Summer have been cooler and wetter than normal, which I like very much.

Posted by: Ronster at July 11, 2015 02:07 PM (vQqVr)

46 I got somethin' a growin' right here!On Pedophile Islewe pickthe young tender. C'ya in the White House serfs!! Haw!

Posted by: Chappaqua Bill at July 11, 2015 02:14 PM (fY+fw)

47 Flowers are so frivolous. Instead, fertile land should be used to grow food crops to feed third world nations. That's why whenever I pass a flower garden or florist's shop, I always sneak inside and lick the flowers, as an act of civil disobedience.

Posted by: Ariana Grande at July 11, 2015 02:15 PM (F1Z8f)

48 Sorry about your weather problems, traye.

You got the blossom end rot advice right: You need both calcium and a suitable pH so the roots can absorb the calcium. Sometimes it is weather-related, too. I got a few tomatoes with BER, but only over a short time period.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 02:17 PM (qahv/)

49 you can do better

http://is.gd/IEFAQq

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at July 11, 2015 02:17 PM (Cq0oW)

50 Foliar calcium works very well for blossom end rot. I used it last year and had not one tomato go bad. Prevents the leaves of you pepper and tomato plants from growing out misshapen and curling, also.


Posted by: huerfano at July 11, 2015 02:18 PM (bynk/)

51 Sounds like round two of thunderstorms rolling in...

I'd guess we just got 3" of rain in an hour?, street is a river. 2 cars stalled already trying to drive through it. Maybe 10"or more of water at the curb, at least 2" or more cover the peak of the asphalt.

At least I have an excuse not to mow the lawn!

Posted by: Chi at July 11, 2015 02:22 PM (80DTH)

52 Y-not, if you don't know what sweet violets smell like, you can get some violet-flavored candies from France through Amazon, using Ace's Amazon thingy.

These little candies seem to be made by layering violet-flavored sugar over an anise seed, sort of like a hailstone being formed on an ice crystal in a thundercloud.

http://tinyurl.com/pym5mwm

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 02:24 PM (qahv/)

53 Chi yeah I wish I had an excuse not to mow the lawn. ugh.

Posted by: chemjeff at July 11, 2015 02:31 PM (2XMpf)

54 Wow, Chi. That's the kind of storm they are now predicting for California sometime in the next few months.

Nice watermelon tips at 37.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 02:33 PM (qahv/)

55 Here in Minneapolis Zone 4a, my expensive grafted tomato plants are doing great, finally. They were really slow off the mark, but they're making up for it. Perhaps they were setting good roots, as they are supposed to do.

The potatoes. . .well, the barrel potatoes are doing very well. The ones we planted in the ground? You know, the ground with all of the horse barn sweepings tilled into it? They are taking over the garden. I have seen potato plants before, and they didn't spread out like melons. Some of them are on their second round of flowering. They're a little scary, all three varieties.

I promised Y-not a few paragraphs and photos of them. I will get to that this week, I promise.

Posted by: Gordon at July 11, 2015 02:35 PM (///9r)

56 Sweet violets are pretty much only fragrant up close. Like in a nosegay or tussie-mussie. Or in my Mom's short heart-shaped vase with a channel for little flowers.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 02:37 PM (qahv/)

57 On topic: my garden's been getting rained on a LOT.

Off topic: Y-not, I'm planning to come out your way the last weekend of Juky and would love to have a mini mome with you and other Horde members in the area. I'm already in touch with LizLem and hope to find other available people as well.

Are you in the Yahoo group?

Posted by: Mindy at July 11, 2015 02:40 PM (P4sGF)

58 I was wrong. Just saw neighbors playing in the street...
grown man standing by my mailbox, water up to his knees.
guy riding a beach cruiser down the middle of the street, water up to the center of the wheels - 26" wheels = 13" of water at the crown of the road!

Maybe more than 3" rain in an hour??


KT - I may have a pic of the watermelons around here somewhere. I'll look.

Posted by: Chi at July 11, 2015 02:41 PM (z1mje)

59 KT, uptwinkles for the words "nosegay" and "tussie-mussie". I've heard them used twice in my life, once by C.S. Lewis and once by the evil but charismatic Martha Stewart.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at July 11, 2015 02:43 PM (jR7Wy)

60 My favorite thing about gardening in Southern California was winter gardening. I once worked at a place where a sizeable flower bed (near where the bigwigs parked) was planted every winter in Ranunculus and Iceland Poppies, underplanted with primroses and sweet alyssum.

Wow.

And there were Winter Elegance sweet peas climbing 10 feet up the tennis court fence.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 02:45 PM (qahv/)

61 Zone 8a. Fav flowering plant is gardenia by far.

And now I want a yellow watermelon so much

Posted by: Lea at July 11, 2015 02:48 PM (CNtIe)

62 Favorite Utah edibles from the garden: young green beans (try Fortex), tomatoes and apricots.

Favorite Central Valley edible from the garden: Early Sugarshaw Hybrid Melon. Seed no longer available.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 02:50 PM (qahv/)

63 Bindweed. Horrible. You might try cutting it near the ground and carefully (and immediately) painting the cut ends with concentrated Roundup. If there is not anything too precious growing near where you are dabbing with that artist's paint brush.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 02:53 PM (qahv/)

64 Mmmmmmm.melons.

Posted by: BunkerInTheBurbs at July 11, 2015 02:57 PM (bA+CL)

65 Bad ads (from the sidebar)

Inside job. It's the hamsters, they've sold us out.

Posted by: Man from Wazzustan at July 11, 2015 03:00 PM (uPxUo)

66 er, melons, tomatoes and grapes.

I will hold off on the roundup until later.

This is the site of the old burn pile and two years worth of compost heaps, so I am doing ok. I got the thistles mostly eradicated.

Posted by: Kindltot -even more unwashed at July 11, 2015 03:08 PM (3pRHP)

67 Thanks everyone for how to stop the blossom end rot.

I ordered some from Amazon and going by my feed n seed store in just a few.

Posted by: Gmac - Gmac- Pulling in feelers in preparation... at July 11, 2015 03:10 PM (4CRfK)

68 Just looked out the window and saw a squirrel on my bird feeder. We don't have squirrels around here. Wonder where that jerk came from.

Posted by: Ronster at July 11, 2015 03:11 PM (vQqVr)

69 Roundup tip for confined areas where you don't want it to spread onto valued plants.

Use a poultry marinade hypodermic. Pump a few CCs of it into the stem of whatever you're wanting to kill, and killed it shall be.

A lot less risk of a friendly fire incident, so to speak.

Now then. I wonder. D'ya think Roundup would work on hippies?

At least Hitlery proved that Roundup works on the Media. No, not the chemical. The braided nylon.

Someone needs to do a GIF of that Reporter Herding, with the old theme song from Rawhide dubbed in as a soundtrack.

The Blues Brothers version, please.



Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at July 11, 2015 03:16 PM (RzZOc)

70 Kindltot, don't let any bindweed seeds form while you are waiting.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 03:16 PM (qahv/)

71 I can't grow a plant worth a damn.

But I can damn sure kill 'em!



Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at July 11, 2015 03:18 PM (RzZOc)

72 Great Roundup idea, Jim. Do the neighbors ever get suspicious?

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 03:22 PM (qahv/)

73 14" of rain since May 30.

Garden is screwed. Save for the cucumbers growing on a trellis along the highest end of the plat.

More rain forecast for tonight and Monday.

Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid at July 11, 2015 03:47 PM (AxDuC)

74 KT, the one neighbor who noticed, borrowed the syringe. *chuckle*



Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at July 11, 2015 03:51 PM (RzZOc)

75 By the way, our go-to guy for disposal of leftover hobo remains, David the Good, has a new video out. You know him for his very useful book Compost Everything (available on Amazon), and his blog about creating a food forest.

The video is "13 Tips, Tricks, and Lessons from Homesteading an Acre" and seems to be a bargain at $4.99.

http://tinyurl.com/ngl68up

Posted by: Gordon at July 11, 2015 04:22 PM (///9r)

76 After a warm sunny June, we were hit with a lot of marine layer and I was busy at work and didn't really pay attention to my squash so today I had to rip all of them out because they were really infested with the white powdery mildew. I am planting some more in and this time I will watch them carefully and use Serenade to prevent this
Got a bunch of peppers, Japanese eggplant and tomatoes today. Cukes are slowing down a bit.
My beans just aren't doing well this year either. I think I probably am under watering them because of this damn drought.

Posted by: keena at July 11, 2015 04:37 PM (RiTnx)

77 I'm in eastern Ontario, zone 5b, and the most characteristic plant I think of around here is lilac. Everyone's got it in their yard (including me!), it's in the parks, along bike paths, and even grows wild near the power line. I love all kinds of lilac, and always hunt for lilac-scented room sprays ( they aren't that common).

I'm late here because I finally got outside to pick the black currants. What a haul! I must have between 7 and 8 lbs! Best black currant crop ever. Stemming them and picking the dried blossoms of the ends is a long, dull job, and I'm taking a break right now.

I'll be too tired to do anything with them by the time I finish, but I think tomorrow I'll be making jam. I can't bear to throw out the skin and pulp by making jelly; jam makes much more and nothing is wasted. Do you think homemade jam will have any use as a bartering tool once the economic system collapses? It's about the only food I produce.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at July 11, 2015 04:45 PM (VBbCO)

78 Chi, sorry for the late reply. I'm in NoVa. But I grew up in VB, on Cape Henry, so I know Tidewater well.

Posted by: Truly St. Cyr at July 11, 2015 04:46 PM (mza6/)

79 The other garden news is that on Wednesday, in the high winds, a branch from our tree fell down onto the neighbor's cedar hedge. He came over and told me and I couldn't believe it, but it was true. I hadn't seen or heard a thing, and the view was blocked by another tree, so who knows when I might have discovered it on my own. It wasn't just a "branch", it was a fork of the tree breaking off from the main trunk! Must be a foot across where it broke, and amazingly it didn't bring our fence down with it. It's just holding itself up on the other side with the branches. Tree guy came today, and it will cost $450 to cut it down and remove it. We'll probably have to replace one or two of the cedars too - they're crushed and invisible under the tree. The garden money pit.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at July 11, 2015 04:50 PM (VBbCO)

80 Wow, Dr. Mabuse,

Do you know what kind of tree it is/was? Maybe we should do a tree segment.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 04:59 PM (qahv/)

81 Dr. Mabuse,

Have you ever tried mixing black currants with raspberries or peaches for preserves? Truly great.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 05:03 PM (qahv/)

82 Zone 8: Lantana and pretty much any holly you can name

Hollies are the sturdy, carefree foundation.
Lantana is the hardy show-er.

Simply foolproof and abundant.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at July 11, 2015 05:07 PM (1CroS)

83 80 KT - I didn't know just what kind of tree it is, but I did a search for the leaves (heart-shaped, and finely serrated around the edge) and I'm pretty sure it's an eastern cottonwood. A tree thread would be great - just identifying the trees we have would be useful.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at July 11, 2015 05:56 PM (VBbCO)

84 Zone 9a
I love jacaranda trees, bouganvilla and jasmine.

Posted by: CaliGirl at July 11, 2015 06:07 PM (BHl9S)

85 The cottonwoods I am familiar with have fairly soft wood. Could be prone to splitting if you allow them to grow with narrow forks in them, I would imagine.

Also, on the black currants: There was once a plum/black currant flavor of Danish Dessert, so I imagine that Europen Plum/Black Currant preserves would also be great.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 06:08 PM (qahv/)

86 Central Texas, 8b and hotter than Hades. My favorite trees are the Live Oaks and the Mountain Laurel which has loads of purple flowers in the spring and smells Purple! I love my Rangoon creeper which puts out loads of flowers every day. They are white/pale pink in the morning and turn deep red by the evening. The only problem is they are a little stinky. I also have a lot of salvias in all colors, very drought and heat tolerant.

Posted by: dreadpirateroberta at July 11, 2015 06:22 PM (eB2N0)

87 I don't recall the source but I've heard cottonwood tree described as 'self-pruning'. Apparently even big branches can split off in storms.

Posted by: JTB at July 11, 2015 06:26 PM (FvdPb)

88 Zone 8a/b here. I love the vivid orange and red flowers on the Pride of Barbados. I also have a yellow and red variety. They are both very showy. They die back in winter and you cut them back to the ground and they come back bigger the following year. Red Turks Cap for attractin hummers. You cut them back also. Esperanza aka Yellow Bells are very pretty too. Bougainville and Plumerias do great here too. The Plumerias I pull up and store bare root in the winter. The best part is all of these plants thrive in the heat and drought.

P.S. If anyone would like Pride of Barbados seeds let me know. They are SUPER east to grow from seed. Basically stick them in the dirt in a sunny area and they will grow. They have a ton of seed pods that are easy to collect since the seeds are pretty large.

Posted by: lindafell de Spair at July 11, 2015 07:20 PM (xVgrA)

89 Lindafell,

I didn't know that Pride of Barbados grows in Zone 8. Might take you up on some seeds someday. Not this summer, though.

Posted by: KT at July 11, 2015 07:37 PM (qahv/)

90 Here is a picture of the Turks cap with its spiraling flowers
http://tinypic.com/r/n6djl1/8

And here is the red/orange Pride of Barbados
http://tinypic.com/r/2rokn0m/8h

Posted by: lindafell de Spair at July 11, 2015 07:40 PM (xVgrA)

91 Let me know KT.

Posted by: lindafell de Spair at July 11, 2015 07:40 PM (xVgrA)

92 34 Confederate Jasamine has always been a favorite of mine. http://tinyurl.com/ptzwfwa

Alas, we are too far north for it. Outlawed now, I understand.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at July 11, 2015 01:41 PM (9mTYi)

Yes we have Confederate jasmine on the trellises bordering Hell Patio of Death. With all the rain this spring I couldn't believe how heavily those sumbitches bloomed this year. Too bad they'll be banned and I'll have to cut them down. I guess I'll replace them with crossvine, which we already have growing at the end of the patio. Hummingbirds are big fans of that stuff.

The other Texans here (hey, y'all!) already mentioned most of my other favorites.

Posted by: stace at July 11, 2015 09:13 PM (CoX6k)

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