Saturday Gardening Thread: First Day of Fall [KT]

Hello, Gardeners and Friends of Gardeners! Welcome to Fall! Fires seem to be calming down some. Floods still underway. Keep us posted on what's going on near you.

Fall Planting

The Invisible Hand and his wife have been doing some re-planting in the front. The Chrysanthemum above reminds us that it is September. Can you identify any of the other plants? More below.

Comments

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1 That hover fly photo is just remarkable. Thanks, gp.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at September 22, 2018 01:29 PM (BVQ+1)

2 Next week: Spiders.

Pass.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at September 22, 2018 01:30 PM (ptqGC)

3 Love the penis flowers. Two of them look like they're peeking over the fence.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at September 22, 2018 01:31 PM (ptqGC)

4 Is this where I channel Nicolas Cage and scream "not the bees" ?

Posted by: Kindltot at September 22, 2018 01:32 PM (mUa7G)

5 You can't beat Tetons in the fall they stand right out

.Lil nip in the air though.

No fall'/autumnal leaves here up NORTH give it two more weeks at least

Posted by: saf at September 22, 2018 01:33 PM (5IHGB)

6 Good afternoon gardening type people. And thanks to KT, as always, for the thread.The photos above are just wonderful. I sometimes save a few to use for sketching practice. (Fortunately, no one else sees these attempts.)

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2018 01:33 PM (V+03K)

7 It is time to dig potatoes. I doubt I have many, but I did water them.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 22, 2018 01:34 PM (mUa7G)

8 Great job and great photos as usual.

Excellent, Ms. KT

Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at September 22, 2018 01:37 PM (WEBkv)

9 My penis didn't flower this year,maybe the Miracle Grow was passed it best buy date,or too much beating about the bushes ..where is a botanist when you need one. Mums the word on the PLANTATION.

Posted by: saf at September 22, 2018 01:38 PM (5IHGB)

10 Do you think that bumblebees are actually flying pandas?

There's a video of a guy petting a bumblebee at the yellow stripey thing link.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at September 22, 2018 01:38 PM (BVQ+1)

11 Mums
Mums
Mums

Posted by: Diogenes at September 22, 2018 01:39 PM (0tfLf)

12 Had lunch with the guy who owns Savannah Bee Company a couple of years ago during TEDx.

He loves bees. I mean he REALLY loves bees. Anyhow, he's a great guy and is working with schools to inform kids of the importance of the critters.

His honey is great, btw.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at September 22, 2018 01:42 PM (ptqGC)

13 Mums

Mums

Mums

Posted by: Diogenes at September 22, 2018 01:39 PM (0tfLf)

They're pretty in the fall, but I'm really allergic to them (if they're inside).

Posted by: Jane D'oh at September 22, 2018 01:42 PM (ptqGC)

14 Welcome to the autumnal equinox. It's about time after the steam bath of a summer we've had.

No sign of fall color yet. Maybe in a few weeks or a month. We are seeing a color shift, however. The greens are not as deep or rich and there's the start of a thinning out of the foliage.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2018 01:44 PM (V+03K)

15 Thanks for that guide to yellow stripey things. It's handy to know when to just leave them alone, when to swat, and when to run.

Posted by: hogmartinsmom at September 22, 2018 01:45 PM (8xZLz)

16 He loves bees. I mean he REALLY loves bees.

Like, sexually? How does that even work?

Posted by: Insomniac at September 22, 2018 01:47 PM (NWiLs)

17 15 Thanks for that guide to yellow stripey things. It's handy to know when to just leave them alone, when to swat, and when to run.
Posted by: hogmartinsmom at September 22, 2018 01:45 PM (8xZLz)

And sometimes you just have to break out the flamethrower.

Posted by: Insomniac at September 22, 2018 01:50 PM (NWiLs)

18 some beautiful fall pics ... it was 96 here a couple days ago, but will barely touch 80 for the next ten days, and was 49 early this morning. Finally.

40 years ago I worked on a little organic farm for a bit, and the farmer had see some bees swarming so we went out and found them all on a branch. We cut off the branch, tried to put them in the hive cox, ended up scooping them in by hand, but they are docile when they swarm around the queen.

Bees are on my to do list here, but it is a long list. Bees on my head ... not on the list. cheers to all.

Posted by: illiniwek at September 22, 2018 01:51 PM (Cus5s)

19 Boy howdy, Horde!

Posted by: SteveOReno, I self-identify as a Moron at September 22, 2018 01:52 PM (51kHQ)

20 Is his name STING....asking for a B friend...Buzz off and suck honey...if only.

Posted by: saf at September 22, 2018 01:52 PM (5IHGB)

21 Bees are on my to do list here, but it is a long list. Bees on my head ... not on the list. cheers to all.

Posted by: illiniwek at September 22, 2018 01:51 PM (Cus5s)

Do bee do bee do

Posted by: Insomniac at September 22, 2018 01:54 PM (NWiLs)

22 Not much color here in Central WA yet. Some things are starting to turn. Maybe tomorrow on the field trip to Moses Coulee will produce some photos.
I'm hoping the larch trees start soon. The tobacco and millet in my yard is starting to reseed itself. I didn't take care of either except for watering. I wanted to see what, if anything developed naturally. Next season though, it'll be properly cultivated and cared for. Growing my own pipe tobacco and birdseed is kind of cool.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at September 22, 2018 01:58 PM (wgCUV)

23 When we were looking for a rural home last year, we stayed in a vacation rental and got to know the owners pretty well. The told us they were thinking about raising bees because, apparently, in Texas you can get an agricultural exemption from property taxes for beekeeping. Not as big an exemption as you get for grazing cattle, goats, or sheep, but those weren't options for them anyway.

Posted by: Art Rondolet of Malmsey at September 22, 2018 01:58 PM (S+f+m)

24 Autumnal Equinox has brought sun fluffy clouds and patches of intensely blue sky. Thanks for the photos. I planted the cold frames this morning, they will provide spinach and lettuce through the winter and until greens are growing in the garden beds in late April. I too will be harvesting potatoes over the next few days. We hope to put 4 or 5 bushels into cold storage.

Have a great autumn, the best time of the year.

Posted by: colfax mingo at September 22, 2018 02:00 PM (tCvhJ)

25 nice snek.

Posted by: Dr. chavez THE hugo md. phd. at September 22, 2018 02:02 PM (KP5rU)

26 My autumn joy sedum is reddening and a few of the Maple leaves have turned and fallen. But mostly the last two days of high winds knocked every dead branch but one - no doubt waiting for me to stand underneath it. I took a bag of branches and another bag of leaves to the garden waste site.

I found out just this year that I am entitled to free wood chip mulch from the branches in the spring. Yay!

Posted by: NaughtyPine at September 22, 2018 02:03 PM (/+bwe)

27 Thanks for that guide to yellow stripey things. It's handy to know when to just leave them alone, when to swat, and when to run.
Posted by: hogmartinsmom at September 22, 2018 01:45 PM (8xZLz)

And sometimes you just have to break out the flamethrower.
Posted by: Insomniac at September 22, 2018 01:50 PM

Insomniac has peeked in my garden! Wasps EVERYWHERE. Plus bumblebees, which I sorta like.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at September 22, 2018 02:05 PM (/+bwe)

28 I've always found bees to be interesting. Probably helps that I'm not alergic in a dangerous way to bee stings. If Mrs. JTB and I were younger and in a more rural setting, I would seriously think about keeping bees. The many benefits of honey in nutrition and other health matters is fascinating. (Yes, I am a nerd.) And their place in gardening, especially valuable with heritage plants, is neat.

Of course, it helps that Sherlock Holmes palnned to retire and keep bees.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2018 02:05 PM (V+03K)

29 >>>Hover bees are neat even if they are "just" flies.

No, I'm sorry, anything that produces maggots is vile, evil. Especially if they're "rat tailed" maggots.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at September 22, 2018 02:08 PM (/qEW2)

30 I hear many transgendered insects are committing Insecticide..........maybe the stripes make them look fat?

Posted by: saf at September 22, 2018 02:13 PM (5IHGB)

31 Looks like a big ol' bouquet of chrysanthemums up top for Fen and her husband on their anniverary!

Posted by: m at September 22, 2018 02:14 PM (S+f51)

32 91 degrees yesterday, 65 degrees today. Ah, fall!

Posted by: Ann at September 22, 2018 02:22 PM (RdjB2)

33 I was on a class retreat yesterday at a CYO camp in Brown County, Indiana. Gorgeous place. Southern Indiana is hilly and covered in rich forest land. A beautiful place in the fall. I was surprised by how many leaves were falling down there. The only leaves that seems to falling around Indianapolis are from cottonwood trees.

Posted by: Mrs. Leggy at September 22, 2018 02:24 PM (WY9Hg)

34 Thanks for that guide to yellow stripey things. It's handy to know when to just leave them alone, when to swat, and when to run.
Posted by: hogmartinsmom at September 22, 2018 01:45 PM (8xZLz)

Hi mom. Please don't share the story about that one time in your backyard when the world's largest hornet hovered next to my head and I shrieked and threw myself into a pile of weeds and it turned out that it it was actually a hummingbird because all the cool kids will tease me mercilessly if they ever find out.

Posted by: hogmartin at September 22, 2018 02:32 PM (y87Qq)

35 Our crepe myrtle had a nice bloom a few weeks ago but there were a lot of the round buds that never opened. Well, they are opening now. Looks like we will have a second blossoming at least as nice as the first one. Don't know if this is a feature of this crepe or if we are just lucky. I have no idea what the cultivar is. It was a tiny, pencil size stem in a gallon pot, end f season sale, when we brought it home a few years ago. That it has survived is either a tribute to our gardening skill or proof that God REALLY likes crepe myrtles. Probably the latter.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2018 02:35 PM (V+03K)

36 hogmartin at September 22, 2018 02:32 PM
Heh.

Posted by: KT at September 22, 2018 02:39 PM (BVQ+1)

37 35, JTB - Do you get aphids on your crepe myrtles? I ask because crepe myrtles actually grow pretty well here in the Pacific Northwest. The University of Washington botanical garden has one that must be 30 ft. tall. But I hear that aphids are a big problem. Is this true?

Posted by: Skookumchuk at September 22, 2018 02:41 PM (CeJUf)

38 It is so nice dealing with gardens and plants and seeds and beauty and so forth instead of the steady diet of news that leaves me enraged. There's a life lesson in there.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2018 02:44 PM (V+03K)

39 Amen, JTB. Although I must admit that when I was weeding a planter this morning, I kept thinking of the weeds as Democrats so that I could maintain my enthusiasm for eradicating them. Kind of a fusion of gardening and the real world.

Posted by: Art Rondolet of Malmsey at September 22, 2018 02:46 PM (S+f+m)

40 Lots of leaves falling around here. Probably as much due to drought as Fall weather. Still picking some red tomatoes from the vine. Hope that keeps on for a while.

Posted by: Ronster at September 22, 2018 02:46 PM (rW4va)

41 37 ... " Do you get aphids on your crepe myrtles?"

We haven't had that problem in our northern Virginia back yard. Don't know if that applies in other parts of the country.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2018 02:47 PM (V+03K)

42 Winston,
I'd like to know your tobacco seed source.
Thanks in advance.

Posted by: MarkY at September 22, 2018 02:48 PM (ZyYLI)

43 41. Thanks. The long-range plan is to rip out nearly everything in the front yard and start over - maybe to include a crepe myrtle. I'll take my changes on the aphids.

Posted by: Skookumchuk at September 22, 2018 02:52 PM (CeJUf)

44 Because it was brought up, I looked it up...

Croton is an extensive flowering plant genus in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. The plants of this genus were described and introduced to Europeans by Georg Eberhard Rumphius. -Wikipedia

Spurge? Euphorbiaceae? Rumphius?

I think they're just making up names. When I hear classical music station DJs, sometimes I think the same thing. "That was the Gdnazki Orchestra conducted by Plebni Ochberitch, performing Brazitti's 'Dans Migramplegh.'" (starts symphony, takes nap)

Croutons are a good rotation crop for spaghetti plants and dental floss bushes.

Posted by: mindful webworker's professional tips at September 22, 2018 03:08 PM (E78bp)

45 This is that in-between time: wondering if the autumn salad greens will grow, drying the herbs, and thinking about the new seed catalogs.

Posted by: JTB at September 22, 2018 03:14 PM (V+03K)

46 reposted from the previous thread:

'Mrs f'd is mad at me because I said moving our poor little apple tree closer to our Crabapple wouldn't make any difference. I said "what is it lonely" and she said something about "cross pollination". I think the poor little apple tree doesn't like the soil where it's at. It's pretty thin and then red clay underneath. The Crabapple tree is doing fine where it is though, soil is a little better there. So is there anything to this cross pollination stuff?'

Since I posted that earlier I suggested that we just get another apple tree and plant it close to the Crabapple.

Posted by: freaked at September 22, 2018 03:14 PM (UdKB7)

47 When I hear classical music station DJs, sometimes I think the same thing. "That was the Gdnazki Orchestra conducted by Plebni Ochberitch, performing Brazitti's 'Dans Migramplegh.'" (starts symphony, takes nap)
Posted by: mindful webworker's professional tips at September 22, 2018 03:08 PM (E78bp)

It's all just acid downtempo house dancecore remixes of Stump's "Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz (from 'A Tribute to Zdenko G. Fibich')" anyway. They're just hoping you won't notice.

https://tinyurl.com/d867ytg

Posted by: hogmartin at September 22, 2018 03:19 PM (y87Qq)

48 I did post in that other thread that as far as I know, crab apples are good for cross pollinating. It will only affect the seed, the apple itself will be the type of the tree it's on. The fruit part we eat is like the womb, or ovaries ... part of the tree that is bearing.

so a tree grown from seeds of a cross would be a cross, but it might be hard to tell which ones got crossed till after they grow.

Posted by: illiniwek at September 22, 2018 03:23 PM (Cus5s)

49 1 Thank you! I have lots of bug pics. If you like em, I'll keep em coming.

Posted by: gp at September 22, 2018 03:27 PM (mk9aG)

50 Lil nip in the air though.

Just like Pearl Harbor

Posted by: JT at September 22, 2018 03:30 PM (mBbsP)

51 No I don't get aphids on my crepe myrtle but occasionally a white blooming algae on my fiscus and a slight wine stain too....!!

Posted by: saf at September 22, 2018 03:30 PM (5IHGB)

52 "so a tree grown from seeds of a cross would be a cross, but it might be hard to tell which ones got crossed till after they grow."

She's got the idea that the scrawny little apple tree will bear fruit if it was closer to the Crabapple. They are about 400 feet apart now. I think the apple tree just doesn't like where it's at, but digging it up will probably kill it. I don't even think it's the right time of year visit?

Posted by: freaked at September 22, 2018 03:30 PM (UdKB7)

53 is it not visit.

Posted by: freaked at September 22, 2018 03:31 PM (UdKB7)

54 Thanks KT! Great job as always!

Posted by: Weasel at September 22, 2018 03:33 PM (MVjcR)

55 His honey is great, btw.

Posted by: Jane D'oh

Big bewbs ?

Posted by: JT at September 22, 2018 03:34 PM (mBbsP)

56 having a closer apple tree might help indeed ... crabs have a wider time for pollinating I think ... but you could plant another apple that pollinates around the same time, then you get fruit from both of them.
this is a chart of when different apple trees pollinate. you might plant another kind that pollinates close to the one you have, if you know what it is. If you don't know maybe compare when it has blossomed to when the others have blossomed maybe.

https://www.acnursery.com/apple_pollinizer.pdf

Posted by: illiniwek at September 22, 2018 03:43 PM (Cus5s)

57 From Idaho's Treasure Valley:
The boring stuff: Still picking the last few green beans, but cutting out a few dead plants. Still checking on 2nd round of cantaloupe, no new ones ripe yet. Still getting a good fall crop of red raspberries. Still getting a small number of cucumbers (they are going to a friend's chickens - she calls our weekly dropoffs "Meals on Wheels"!). Still harvesting chamomile flowers when I can. Still picking tomatoes, but they're slowing a bit.

Weather is now such that it's not worth it at all to do outdoor work early. So maybe I'll be doing my reports in the morning, gardening in the afternoon. (Once it's serious leaf-raking time, I can go out in the morning because I'll generate my own warmth.)

The last batch of tomato sauce was 9 half-pints. We also decided to try 3-bean salad using our fresh green beans and green bell peppers, plus canned garbanzos and red kidney beans - I think the stuff is delicious! I only got 3 pints of that, but we have enough green beans to make another batch.

After we found dead patches of lawn, and patched the worst of them, we decided there was a large patch way in the back that needed help. That bit of lawn was irrigated by sprayers that are now blocked by chokecherry trees, wild rose bushes, and the lower parts of the lilacs. So I trimmed the lower branches of the whole lilac row, and husband installed a new sprayer head between the chokecherries and roses.

I've been wanting to plant yellow or orange crocus on my late cat Ginger Boy's grave mound. I finally weeded a large area around the mound, and planted 20 yellow crocus. May they grow well, and multiply. They'll start the season, and the California poppies will take over in the summer.

I've got chrysanthemums open too, though mine are a light bronze, not the yellow ones pictured above. My 3 plants had differently colored flowers when I planted them, but now all seem close to the same color. It's a mystery...

Posted by: Pat* at September 22, 2018 03:48 PM (2pX/F)

58 PS: I'll be shooting/helping out at a Project Appleseed event next weekend. I might not post, or I might post late on Sunday.

Posted by: Pat* at September 22, 2018 03:50 PM (2pX/F)

59 but yeah, it could just be the soil, if it is that scrawny ... depends where you want your fruit trees I guess. Could try some fertilizer, and water at dry times, keep all the weeds/grass killed underneath it. ... or plant two apple trees in a better place. lots of options ... debate it over a glass of beer or wine.

Posted by: illiniwek at September 22, 2018 03:51 PM (Cus5s)

60 Garden is faiding fast, don't think frost is around the corner but tomatoes are all done for. Did just pick 1 ripe Anaheim pepper

Posted by: Skip at September 22, 2018 04:09 PM (T4oHT)

61 Got a couple dozen tomatoes left on the vines and weather is still nice enough to leave them on.

Might just yank everything out next weekend... get it all cleaned and put away before cold rains begin.

Posted by: JQ at September 22, 2018 04:27 PM (zMzA6)

62 Someone gave the gophers in my surroundings (north of Sacramento) steroids, apparently. They are tearing the yard up. Mounds are appearing next to the house, where I have never had them in 28 years. They backyard is starting to look like the Alps.
The Gopher Getter bait has apparently been neutered and doesn't work like it used to.

What's up with that? Early, wet winter on the way perhaps?

Posted by: Gunslinger at September 22, 2018 05:27 PM (Scth6)

63 'https://www.acnursery.com/apple_pollinizer.pdf'

Sent that to Mrs f'd illiniweek. Thanks!

Posted by: freaked at September 22, 2018 06:51 PM (UdKB7)

64 WOW.

Earlier this afternoon, Milady and I, sitting in the front room, hear what seems to be the world's biggest fly buzzing in through the door. Loud!

Then the buzzing hits a strange low hum and we think, was that really inside, or is it outside (trick of sound)?

Then I see it, just hovering there a few inches above the carpet, long enough to grab one of our Bug Cups™ and catch it and escort it outside.

Looked like a big bee, but I'd never seen one that looked quite like that - not honey, sweat, or wood bee - not a wasp - and we'd certainly never seen a bee that could hover so steadily in one spot for so long.

Then I tune in here and read about Hoverbees. Not a lot of question what we had!

Wow.

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