Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, June 12

Hi, everybody! Did anybody catch the remarkable photo in last night's ONT of the 100 year old rhododendron with the woman who planted it? Did you recall the earlier warning about rhododendrons in the comments last week, here?

We had a cool few days, for June, here in the Central San Joaquin Valley and we got some garden clean-up done. But the heat is returning. The forecast is for 112 degrees next week. Fun! The commercial melons coming into our markets have been great. Some local strawberries got a reprieve. Don't think they'll make it through next week.

How has your weather been?

The Orchid photo above is from Keena.

A little late here but, SD Botanic Garden had a spectacular orchid exhibit in April where a different curator displayed their huge collection of flowers each week. We went the last week it was there and these are just a few photos from a truly beautiful exhibit!
My only sad was they weren't selling any orchids there which I would have expected and I definitely would have purchased a couple. This is prime Georgia O'Keefe material!
Cheers!
Keena

More Orchids

Critters in the Yard

By-Tor sent in this photo of a tough-guy kitty, not his. He scared off a bird the kitty was stalking, and you can see that the kitty was not pleased.

Have you wondered if there was any follow-up to that surprising video of the brave woman protecting her dogs from bears?

Edible Gardening

I think these are edible sunflowers, anyway:

Thanks for posting the picture of my sunflower seedlings last week. Here they are, planted and growing in the hot Indiana sun. They are about knee high right now.

Note my dog Grrr is rolling around in the background. He also likes the hot Indiana sun. We have a lot of cicadas here right now and the sunflower leaves make a great landing pad!
Thanks so much!
Mrs. Leggy

More Orchids

Gardens of The Horde

For the Horde:
Shots of my favorite flower, the Southern magnolia, or Magnolia grandiflora. Obtained by stealth from a vacant lot. I got one with a bud nearby: the bud took a few days to open but it did finally as well. You can't find these in the florists because they only last about 48 Hours once the flower blooms. So this is my magnolia for the year.

The photo of it in the chair shows how huge these flowers are, the size of a cabbage, and sweetly fragrant.
I just moved back from New York to Chattanooga and am happy as a pig in a holler!
Beverly.

Glad you got to move back, Beverly!

More photos from Iris, whose um, Iris photos we posted earlier:

Hi! I mostly lurk on the garden thread - when I read it is usually after the thread is posted. I love seeing the pictures of the amazing horde gardens and am very glad that amateurs like me are also welcomed!
Attached are pictures of my front yard - I have been planting shade perennials for several years. My house faces north and I have a towering pin oak in the front (not pictured). (I'm in Garden Zone 7a.) In addition to the lack of sunlight, my soil is a horrible clay that I swear turns all additives into clay.

Looks like that work is paying off.

But there are always challenges, right?

You can see how dark it is by the picture from the porch at the back of the plants - they grew forward several feet to find sun. We did not prune for many years so I am slowly trying to return the bushes to their location and get some fullness in the plants. My plan is to fill that area with ferns as I wait for the laurel to grow back. I have tried to add interest by different size, shape, and color of leaves. My husband was a rock collector so the various rocks are from his expeditions. I mixed in river rocks with his prettier rocks to have enough for the edging.

The ways those bushes lean into the sun IS remarkable.

I keep the roaming bands of deer off the hostas via various deer repellants - trying garlic this year.
Thanks for your post - look forward to it every week (even if I'm not there to chat in the comments).
Sincerely,
"Iris"

Anybody got a "keeping deer off the hostas" tip for Iris?

The story of gardening in music?

You've been tryin' to get ahead, but you're losin' ground . . .

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at that g mail dot com place

Include the nic by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ,
unless you want to remain a lurker.

Another Orchid

Posted by: K.T. at 01:15 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good afternoon Greenthumbs

Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 12:17 PM (Cxk7w)

2 Of all the things in my life, the thing I have failed at the most is gardening. I can not get a plant to live to save my life.

If we ever end up back in the Victory Garden age, I will starve.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 12, 2021 12:18 PM (5p7BC)

3 Pitch Meeting Guy compares Marvel to the Lord of the Rings

https://youtu.be/1As7UEZAr8U

Posted by: BourbonChicken at June 12, 2021 12:21 PM (ybIRR)

4 Still wondering what Mrs Leggy does with the sunflower seeds.

Getting peppers and tomatoes starting, squash flowers. Killed a cucumber beetle and nothing on the plants yet.

Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 12:21 PM (Cxk7w)

5 Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 12, 2021 12:18 PM (5p7BC)
This is so sad to hear. You have so much potential for growing plants that we in the Mid-Atlantic can only dream of!!
One example...the flower that starts off this thread...the orchid.
I recall on a trip to Ft Lauderdale, we were biking in the surrounding suburbs and saw a front yard tree that was festooned with orchids growing down its bark.

Posted by: kallisto at June 12, 2021 12:22 PM (DJFLF)

6 I planted potatoes last fall to see if it would help in getting started this spring at the earliest chance.
I also planted potatoes about St. Patrick's day, and they are much darker leaves and lots more foliage.
I am planning to dig them both to see if the taters are in any ways different.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 12, 2021 12:22 PM (ySM85)

7 Here in SoCal, I can't get a lawn started. Everything is burned out all the time and you need to water 20/24 hours of the day to keep things from dying.

Posted by: InCali at June 12, 2021 12:23 PM (ov5G+)

8 And as I like to do was burning pine branches in light rain yesterday and pulled some poison ivy and was burning it with the pines. Was thinking might have got some on face, though no break out was irritated a little all night.

Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 12:24 PM (Cxk7w)

9 I have my first squash blooms. I suspect that the volunteers I let survive are a form of zucchinni since they are putting out long fruit.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 12, 2021 12:24 PM (ySM85)

10 I pretty much never post here. If i can't eat it, to be honest I don't grow it. I did grow tobacco once, and I did consume it so to speak. Anyway, orchids are some of the most amazing plants/flowers out there. I have purchased a few but never have been able to keep them alive. The thing about orchids that amazes me is they also can be made into vanilla beans. Vanilla beans, the legit ones, are pretty much the most sought after, and most valued legal flowers out there. You have to pick them on the exact right day. It is one of those realities that seems fake, just too precious.

Posted by: Quint at June 12, 2021 12:26 PM (gJfTA)

11 some orchids even have monkey faces:

https://tinyurl.com/wb84ax2f

(scroll down to the last image, IMO that's the one that looks most like a little minkey)

Posted by: kallisto at June 12, 2021 12:26 PM (DJFLF)

12 And as I like to do was burning pine branches in
light rain yesterday and pulled some poison ivy and was burning it with
the pines. Was thinking might have got some on face, though no break out
was irritated a little all night.
Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 12:24 PM (Cxk7w)

Try wiping down with baby wipes hourly or so when you are in the poison ivy/oak and try pricking those benedryl gelcaps and smearing the gel over the rash, that seems to work well if you get it early.
Pro-tip, it works on bee stings too

Smoke from the poison oak can really mess everyone up, it is really nasty to breathe

Posted by: Kindltot at June 12, 2021 12:27 PM (ySM85)

13 Aw! Unless it was a little sparrow or something, that little kitteh was just practicing his stalking!

The Saskatoons should be flowering soon - will look on my hike today. Once the delicious berries appear, they go fast. Any bushes within range of the trails will be picked clean. I like to scout out some more remote onces while they're flowering, for future reference.

Also will check on the wild Nanking Cherries. These sweet-tart bush cherries, an escapee from cultivation in these parts, fruit so profusely all up and down the branches, and they grow in thickets, so that even though they are also extremely popular with foragers, you can get some a lot easier. Unlike eastern tree cherries, the Nankings ripen in June-early July.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at June 12, 2021 12:30 PM (Bmy3R)

14 On Mother's Day, I got the grandkids over to sprinkle 3 packets of different sunflower seeds into a small patch recently tilled.

They're doing great!

Posted by: Zeera Hunkering down here, Boss at June 12, 2021 12:32 PM (VmWzL)

15 Magnolias. Effing magnolias. They dump a mountain of leaves and the flowers, while quite large, are white, the most boring color in the world.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 12:35 PM (xopIz)

16 "Everything is burned out all the time and you need to water 20/24 hours of the day to keep things from dying."

I remember the base at 29 Palms, the landscaping was rocks that were painted green and arranged in little islands. Has it come to that?

OTOH, our farm just west of Houston is constantly threatened by this squat tree that spreads like a weed (Cedar trees I think?) and just won't die.

Nature has a wicked sense of humor.

Posted by: Hoyt's Paid Turkish Provocateur at June 12, 2021 12:38 PM (83lwH)

17 So, yesterday was traumatic. I look out my kitchen window and WTF?

I go out to my tomato plant and find 3 gigantic caterpillars munching away. I text a friend "Help! Caterpillars are gobbling my tomato plant."

Mercifully, she replied immediately. "Thuricide". After pulling those little "fine gentlemen" off of my plant, I drive first to the Ace hardware. No luck. Okay, drive to Palmetto Farm Supply. Bingo!

btw, the price of Ivermax (ivermectic apple flavored paste) has jumped from $4 in January to $8 now.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 12:41 PM (xopIz)

18 InCali at June 12, 2021 12:23 PM

If you are living where lawns are impossible, plant something possible. We have desert denizens who post in the comments here.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 12:46 PM (BVQ+1)

19 Am I the only one who sees faces in all of the orchids?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 12, 2021 12:47 PM (Q9lwr)

20 Should get our first tomatoes in a day or so.

Posted by: BignJames at June 12, 2021 12:49 PM (AwYPR)

21 " Here in SoCal, I can't get a lawn started. Everything is burned out all the time and you need to water 20/24 hours of the day to keep things from dying."

And the water is poisoned.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 12:52 PM (xopIz)

22
Am I the only one who sees faces in all of the orchids?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 12, 2021 12:47 PM (Q9lwr)

the first guy looks like a Star Wars character.

Posted by: Quint at June 12, 2021 12:54 PM (gJfTA)

23 Pink Floyd album cover.
"The Orchid"

Posted by: AceOfPhrase at June 12, 2021 12:55 PM (ttAum)

24 Love the orchid pictures, wish I could grow them here in the low desert.

We're heading into some warmer weather in the next week (115F scheduled for Wednesday), I don't think I'll transplant anything until the weather calms down. I suspect that will not be until we either get a really good monsoon or late October, hopefully the former.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 12, 2021 12:57 PM (HGTDI)

25 16 OTOH, our farm just west of Houston is constantly threatened by this squat tree that spreads like a weed (Cedar trees I think?)

My tree book says they are most likely eastern redcedars, technically junipers. You're at the very western end of their range. None of the TX junipers or other cedarsgrow naturally near HOU.

We get the CO equivalent here - Rocky Mountain and Utah junipers. Spreading like a weed is what they are best at!

Posted by: Guy Smiley at June 12, 2021 12:59 PM (Bmy3R)

26

Am I the only one who thinks an orchid looks like some space alien's genitalia?

Posted by: Zettai at June 12, 2021 01:00 PM (808AM)

27 Tomato plants are hosting flowers. A few plants have nice small tomatoes. Since they are bigger than cherry tomatoes they might be beefsteak or early girls.

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at June 12, 2021 01:00 PM (7EjX1)

28 Am I the only one who thinks an orchid looks like some space alien's genitalia?
Posted by: Zettai

hmm... doesn't that presuppose having knowledge of naked aliens?
Please do not describe said encounter!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 12, 2021 01:02 PM (HGTDI)

29 I planted 3 zucchini in tire stacks, and 14 taters in rusted out water tanks. Taters is rather silly, as even the organics are so cheap at the store, but they do grow easily, and since I just plant a few of the organics that I left to develop eyes its only the water and my labor to mess with them. I can never bring myself to buy zucchini at the store, the cost seems too high for something that gets left on random doorsteps when the hills over produce. (grew up in ND)

I've been pecking away at trying to restore long neglected flower beds because the tulips were awesome with spring rain we had and quite a few hollyhocks volunteered as well. If I were smart rather than sentimental I'd till up the whole mess, cover with layers of black plastic for a couple of years to kill the grass and than start over with about 1/3 of the size. But they were mom's flower beds so sentiment wins out for now.

Posted by: PaleRider is simply Irredeemable at June 12, 2021 01:03 PM (Aashi)

30 Columbines look like one type of flower jumped on top of another.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at June 12, 2021 01:03 PM (Bmy3R)

31 Nice flowers and gardens in the pics ... inspiring.

Seems strange that deer are a problem in town, but they must feel safe there. They mostly have stayed out of my garden (it is fenced, but they can jump it easily enough if motivated). But wow, they have really been mowing down the young soybeans. Fortunately when they chomp the first leaf, the bean still (usually) sends up more leaves.

Lots of peaches, and grapes here this year ... I've been spraying fungicide, so may actually get a crop ... just need to find a laborer to pick and process them. Hollyhocks started blooming, Stella de Oros, and clematis as well.

My long row of annual flowers has a lot of grass ... will try wiping "Round-Up" on just the grass with a hockey stick shaped tube with a chem saturated nylon rope on it. (made for that purpose) The sunflowers outcompete the grass, but not the other flowers.

cheers to the growers

Posted by: illiniwek at June 12, 2021 01:04 PM (Cus5s)

32 I'm on my way out the door but wanted to leave a couple of comments.First I really miss sweating in my garden.Second, kudos to Iris. I know she has been working really hard getting her garden into shape. I keep telling her to tell the flame thrower story.Third, I used a product they sell at Home Depot if I remember correctly called Repel All. It is kind of stinky but it kept the deer off the hostas and other critters too, like rabbits.
Fourth, I loved the Roy Rogers video. He was my first tv crush growing up.

Have a great day everyone.

Posted by: sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 12, 2021 01:06 PM (sd8p8)

33

Tbh, I probably spend much more time than necessary or wise thinking about nekkid space aliens...

Posted by: Zettai at June 12, 2021 01:07 PM (808AM)

34 @29
There is a certain summer adage that one keep his car doors locked in the church parking lot to avoid the sprouting of random Zucchini...

Posted by: AceOfPhrase at June 12, 2021 01:07 PM (ttAum)

35 Our lettuce looks stunted because of the heat. But it looks otherwise strong and without bugs because of the heavy rain.

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at June 12, 2021 01:07 PM (7EjX1)

36 No cicadas here despite stories of inundation all around us.

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at June 12, 2021 01:09 PM (7EjX1)

37 the first guy looks like a Star Wars character.

Posted by: Quint at June 12, 2021 12:54 PM (gJfTA)

Hah! Exactly!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 12, 2021 01:10 PM (Q9lwr)

38 Orchids often look like man eating plants to me.

And pray the squash plants aren't spaghetti squash.

Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 01:12 PM (Cxk7w)

39 Orchids always look like extraterrestrials to me.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 12, 2021 01:13 PM (OU+8W)

40 Ive been reading the Heathcliff Lennox murder mysteries by Mehunin (I know, save it for the book thread right?)
The author goes into an extensive discussion of how some poisonous flowers have been used for murder. That is the case in one of the books. Its interesting in that the poison was delivered as an aerosol powder, similar to how this was done to render a subject not dead, but to put them into a suggestive stupor. Angel Trumpet, Foxglove, and Nightshade, used to make scopolamine.
Fascinating

Posted by: Diogenes at June 12, 2021 01:13 PM (axyOa)

41 "That's gotta burn."

LOL.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 01:14 PM (xopIz)

42 I was weeding in the garden and spotted what turns out to be a green sweat bee - Augochlora - with her legs filled with yellow pollen, I suspect from my squash.

I was happy to see her but I rake my garden all the time so I have to fret about closing in the nest.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 12, 2021 01:18 PM (ySM85)

43 "My tree book says they are most likely eastern redcedars, technically junipers. You're at the very western end of their range. None of the TX junipers or other cedarsgrow naturally near Houston"

Ah thank you, and yes it's in Rosenburg. I should know the name but I've been away in MD behind enemy lines for too long.

Posted by: Hoyt's Paid Turkish Provocateur at June 12, 2021 01:19 PM (83lwH)

44 Wow! KT, that opening shot of the orchid is amazing. ALL of the floral photos today are great, but that one is the Grand Prize ... thanks for another great column.

Posted by: Dr_No at June 12, 2021 01:20 PM (mu5GU)

45 Weird commercial taunting that I "just won't believe our pain reliever came from a plant. A PLANT!"

Hello, aloe vera.

Kids these days...

Posted by: Hoyt's Paid Turkish Provocateur at June 12, 2021 01:21 PM (83lwH)

46 And as I like to do was burning pine branches in light rain yesterday and pulled some poison ivy and was burning it with the pines. Was thinking might have got some on face, though no break out was irritated a little all night.
Posted by: Skip

Good thing ya weren't nekkid !

Posted by: JT at June 12, 2021 01:23 PM (arJlL)

47 Hi, everybody! Did anybody catch the remarkable 100 year old rhododendron with the person who planted it in last night's ONT and remember the warning in the comment thread here?

No; what warning ?

Posted by: JT at June 12, 2021 01:24 PM (arJlL)

48 So, yesterday was traumatic. I look out my kitchen window and WTF?

I go out to my tomato plant and find 3 gigantic caterpillars munching away. I text a friend "Help! Caterpillars are gobbling my tomato plant."

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 12:41 PM (xopIz)

Hornworms? They can eat the whole plant in no time. I spray BT and spinosad every week (alternating) to kill them when they are babies before they do damage. In 2008 a handful of hornworms ate my entire tomato garden to the ground... all 8 plants gone in less than 24 hours. Broke my heart.

Posted by: G. Gnome, Pickled Watermelon Rind Queen at June 12, 2021 01:24 PM (OQcPl)

49 Hiya KT !

Posted by: JT at June 12, 2021 01:24 PM (arJlL)

50 JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 12:41 PM

Thuricide should work great on tomato horn worms. Don't use it on plants where you are trying to nurture caterpillars. Like monarch caterpillars on milkweed.

There is another kind for mosquito larvae.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 01:25 PM (BVQ+1)

51 " Spreading like a weed is what they are best at!"

Yah it's crazy. Few years ago a neighboring farmer must have passed away or something because his land went untended. In one year the entire farm was turned into jungle terrain.

Posted by: Hoyt's Paid Turkish Provocateur at June 12, 2021 01:26 PM (83lwH)

52 It's been a mild spring in this area. Earlier in the week we had some real heat in the 90s but the rain the last two days (2.5") cooled things off. Not bad.

Posted by: JTB at June 12, 2021 01:28 PM (7EjX1)

53 G. Gnome, Pickled Watermelon Rind Queen at June 12, 2021 01:24 PM

Thuricide (what JAS is using) is a brand of BT. Your control schedule sounds good.

Sorry you lost your tomato plants so fast.

Incidentally, tomato hornworms show under black light at night.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 01:28 PM (BVQ+1)

54 Hiya, JT!

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 01:29 PM (BVQ+1)

55 Incidentally, tomato hornworms show under black light at night.
Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 01:28 PM (BVQ+1)

Yup. It's creepy when you find one.

Posted by: G. Gnome, Pickled Watermelon Rind Queen at June 12, 2021 01:30 PM (OQcPl)

56 Love the photos people sent in. Especially the orchids. I'm always amazed at the huge variations of orchid flowers, their shapes and colors.

Posted by: JTB at June 12, 2021 01:30 PM (7EjX1)

57 The thuricide instructions say every 5-6 days.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 01:31 PM (xopIz)

58 I talked to my forester last week. I have some long leafed pine and turkey oak. Next to make a plan to monetize it.

I wouldn't mind clear cutting. I would replant afterwards with pines. Forester says that would take almost all the proceeds but we can get a grant that will mostly cover that.

Posted by: blaster at June 12, 2021 01:37 PM (Yoq4u)

59 Thanks for including that Roy and Clint video. What fun remembering those westerns I grew up with. There's a brief shot of Dale Evans sharing a saddle with Roy. She was always such a pleasant lady but in her younger days she was a real hottie.

When Clint Black first broke onto the charts, a lot of people thought he looked like a young Roy. In the video they really do look like they could be father and son.

Fun stuff!

Posted by: JTB at June 12, 2021 01:38 PM (7EjX1)

60 Love the photos people sent in. Especially the orchids. I'm always amazed at the huge variations of orchid flowers, their shapes and colors.
Posted by: JTB at June 12, 2021 01:30 PM (7EjX1)

This.
And orchids are fantastic.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 12, 2021 01:38 PM (axyOa)

61 Oh I consider talking the forester as farming. So I farmed last week!

Posted by: blaster at June 12, 2021 01:39 PM (Yoq4u)

62 Clint Black sounds like George Jones to me

Posted by: Hoyt's Paid Turkish Provocateur at June 12, 2021 01:39 PM (83lwH)

63 I'm hoping I won't be limited too much by all the shade at our new house. Front yard is west, so it automatically gets only 1/2 day. South side of the house has a lot of tall trees. East side has a row of structures from the house behind us. At first, I was disappointed to have that view and then I realized it helps muffle the train whistles. But it takes awhile in the mornings for the sun rays to clear the buildings and trees on the east side.

For veggies, I figured I would supplement the light, so I bought an outdoor LED grow light thingy. It's too bright to look at directly and only uses 150 watts.

Posted by: Emmie at June 12, 2021 01:43 PM (tcsxg)

64 Incidentally, tomato hornworms show under black light at night.

So do scorpions, look twice before you grab.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at June 12, 2021 01:47 PM (SchxB)

65 Flax is blooming. Beautiful blue blossoms. I think it is an annual, but it readily reseeds itself.

Posted by: Ronster at June 12, 2021 01:54 PM (ABY9A)

66 Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at June 12, 2021 01:47 PM

I think some black widow spiders do, as well. We have had black brown and spotted widows here. And multi-colored adolescents.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 02:00 PM (BVQ+1)

67 PET NOOD

Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 02:01 PM (Cxk7w)

68 Magnolias. Effing magnolias. They dump a mountain of leaves and the flowers, while quite large, are white, the most boring color in the world.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at June 12, 2021 12:35 PM (xopIz)
************
You probably wouldn't like my house. Lol. I have 2 little gem magnolias, 2 teddy bear magnolias and 6 white crape myrtles.
I do have a lot of azaleas that aren't white and are hot pink and purple though.

Posted by: redridinghood at June 12, 2021 02:01 PM (NpAcC)

69 We have some of those Southern Magnolias growing around here. They require some space.

I always thought that they looked like they would need more water than some other magnolias.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 02:03 PM (BVQ+1)

70 I've never grown flax bit have seen photos of the flowers. They are indeed gorgeous. I'm surprised they aren't used more in art with that delicate blue, the subtle striations on the blossoms, and the crowns. Add that beauty to such a useful plant and it's amazing: linen, flax seed oil, infusions of the roots, cordage, etc.

Posted by: JTB at June 12, 2021 02:03 PM (7EjX1)

71 Noticed only 1 squash flower,don't you need two at same time?

Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 02:07 PM (Cxk7w)

72 69 We have some of those Southern Magnolias growing around here. They require some space.

I always thought that they looked like they would need more water than some other magnolias.
Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 02:03 PM (BVQ+1)
*************
The Southern Magnolias get to be huge. That's why I bought the much smaller version which are happy with just a regular watering from the sprinkler system.

Posted by: redridinghood at June 12, 2021 02:15 PM (NpAcC)

73 JTB at June 12, 2021 02:03 PM
Blue flax is lovely. It has relatives in yellow, white, scarlet and pink (genus Linum). Scarlet flax is also a striking wildflower.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 02:21 PM (BVQ+1)

74 Skip at June 12, 2021 02:07 PM
If you only have one squash flower, eat the flower.

You can tell if the flower is male or female. Females have a little baby fruit on the end.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 02:23 PM (BVQ+1)

75 Will have to go look. I think that 2 flower types are why all my attempts at pumpkins failed.

Posted by: Skip at June 12, 2021 02:45 PM (Cxk7w)

76 KT. Are in Fresno? We could have a NoMo meetup

Posted by: Karen at June 12, 2021 04:55 PM (mxZhO)

77 8 Skip, if a person is allergic to poison oak, inhaling the smoke from a burning plant can be life-threatening if their airway swells up. Best not to burn the stuff, in my opinion.

I haven't seen my garden since Wed.! - we've been busy setting up and running the state 4-H smallbore rifle and air rifle competitions. I'll be outside this evening and will see what's going on out there; I'll post more later.

I'll be unable to post, Sat. 19th and Sat. 26th. There will probably be a long post the week after that.

Posted by: Pat* at June 12, 2021 06:12 PM (2pX/F)

78 Karen at June 12, 2021 04:55 PM

South of Fresno. Visit Fresno regularly.

Posted by: KT at June 12, 2021 09:48 PM (BVQ+1)

79 From Boise area: Checked on garden beds. Hollyhock plants are over 6 foot, still not flowering! Many Sweet William pinks. Delphiniums starting to bloom (white, purple). Many aphids on lupine stems!, yuk!; hope previously released ladybugs find them. Or, I'll cut them and toss them straight in trash.

Sage and thyme blooming. Radishes are almost too big, all must be pulled, no more planting till fall. Spinach is bolting; lettuce will be soon, since tomorrow's predicted temps are 95-100 F. Most stuff looks healthy. Zero germination on soybeans.

One attack on burrowing critters near corn bed failed; war starts again tomorrow!

29 PaleRider, why taters? - especially since I grow them here in *Idaho*? Because I can grow odd varieties not available in stores. This year, I have German Butterball (they look great) and fingerlings (doing OK).

Posted by: Pat* at June 12, 2021 10:21 PM (2pX/F)

80 The orchid pictures are gorgeous. Hawaii (big island) has a botanical garden with hundreds of orchids growing all over the trees. Totally worth a trip there.

Posted by: S.Lynn at June 12, 2021 11:31 PM (s7tv+)

81 I have a lady slipper orchid similar to the one at the top. Mine is green, yellow and white, no pink. I bought it at a church sale so don't even know it's name. Each late autumn it brings forth a profusion of flowers that last for weeks and weeks.

Posted by: President Select Decaf at June 13, 2021 03:12 PM (RMGKK)

82 But they were mom's flower beds so sentiment wins out for now.
Posted by: PaleRider is simply Irredeemable at June 12, 2021 01:03 PM (Aashi)

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As my mother's health was declining she would bring me plants from her garden to plant in mine. I realize that I now have most of her garden in mine which was her intention all along, that her garden survives even after she can no longer look after it.

Posted by: President Select Decaf at June 13, 2021 03:38 PM (RMGKK)

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