Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, Farewell to Spring

Happy Saturday! It was 109 degrees here yesterday, with the same forecast for today (better than the earlier forecast of 112 to 117). There are fires in the West. Spring seems to be over around here. And Summer Solstice is tomorrow, on Father's Day this year. Here's a little History of Father's Day from the Old Farmers Almanac. Fathers Day has not been around as long as Mother's Day.

How is the last day of spring treating you and your garden?

The photo above, from 40 miles north, is a repeat. But I love those flowers, which are native north of us. There are 71 species of Clarkia native to California. Many of the others are also delightful. And there are fancy hybrids of Farewell to Spring (AKA Godetia) as well.

We have a special offer to start out summer, from Motionview:

I wanted to make this special offer to the AoSHQ Garden Gnomes before opening it up to the general public.

Edible Gardening

We've had some discussion of exotic multiplier onions being grown by members of The Horde in the desert. There is also a Northern version, the Potato Onion.

The origin of shallots and potato onions is uncertain. The earliest clear records of their use come from 12th century France (Fritsch 2003).

Potato onions were once a popular crop in North America, but fell out of favor in the early twentieth century, along with many other staples of the home garden. One possible reason for this is the additional labor involved in harvesting potato onions. Because they grow in a nest that must be divided, they are not as suitable for mechanical harvest as individual standard onions. The storage of bulbs for propagation can also be expensive on a large scale.

Potato onions are grown as a home or small farm product in Europe, North America, and parts of Russia and central Asia. They are grown commercially in Brazil and India (Fritsch 2003). They were grown in Finland commonly until the middle of the twentieth century and 22 varieties have been identified there (Heinonen 2014). Potato onions were reportedly once grown from seed in Russia, which may account for the rich diversity in Northern Europe, where seed production is rare (Leino 2014).

Good information for preppers and those interested in a permanent crop at the link above.

Here is a booklet on Resurrecting Potato Onions,

I really believe there is a bright future for Potato Onions after a century of neglect. But this bright future depends upon acceptance by a wider audience. This audience is not interested in Potato Onions that are "thumb size" as one seed catalog describes them. That audience wants onions that are at least three times their "thumb size." That audience will also be interested in more than just the yellow ones that are currently available. They might like to try the red and white ones mentioned in those old gardening books.

If you were observant, you caught my sentence where I mentioned the white Potato Onions I am multiplying out. Well, let me introduce my next section by telling you I also have developed a red one. Yes, if you were observant, you will note that I currently have all three of the colors mentioned in the old gardening books, and they are no longer extinct, because I have resurrected them. I am working on red, yellow and white Potato Onions that are at least three times larger than any currently offered.

I also believe the future of Potato Onions lies in the hands of home gardeners who are willing to do a little breeding work themselves. In the process they will be able to clean up the viruses and increase the size and assortment of colors of the bulbs.

Update

Some sources say that Potato Onions are the same as Egyptian Walking Onions, but apparently this is not the case.

Potato Onion is simply the common name for one type of multiplier onion. Another type of multiplier onion is the shallot. Potato Onions and shallots both multiply by root division and are classified as Allium Cepa Aggregatum. Egyptian Walking onions, (sometimes called tree onions), are also sometimes defined as multiplier onions, but are classified as Allium Cepa Proliferum. The walking type onions also multiply by root division, but differ from the Aggregatum group by forming bulbils instead of true flowers and seeds.

Potato onions and shallots will apparently cross-breed if they flower at the same time. And Potato onions may also cross-breed with regular onions.

Does anybody grow these? The author of this booklet (in progress) recommends allowing these onions to flower in the event of a flower stalk appearing, and planting the seeds, to eventually obtain better and larger onions. He has done a lot of experimentation, with a lot of variable results in various growing conditions with various strains of onions. He continues to have fun with these plants. Might work for those Arizona onions, too. Who knows?

Reminder that the Old Farmers Almanac Best Days Timetable might get you going during the summer, and that their Planting Calendar could come in handy for fall crops. Add your zip code.

Nostalgic Comments from Last Week

If you didn't check the comments on Sunday, you missed one from President Select Decaf, in reference to an earlier comment by PaleRider. This is a nostalgic weekend for many, and I thought these fit in well:

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.

PaleRider is simply Irredeemable

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.

President Select Decaf

There's something nice about seeing plants from relatives in your garden. And passing along starts of indoor plants to those you love can also be rewarding. Good candidates are Christmas or Easter Cacti and Hoya.

Do you have a plant that was passed along from a family member?

Trees

Having trouble identifying this.

Atlantic White Cedar vs Eastern Red Cedar... or Northern White Cedar?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Dr. Varno

P.S. I'm in N.Georgia if that's any help.

Well, Horde?

These spring bloomers are easier to identify. From the Cousin Connection, a last glimpse of a lilac from earlier this spring. Plus, a magnolia - blooms destroyed by wind the following night. This tree was planted in honor of the loss of the first dog she and her husband cared for.

Let's go to Florida

KT,
Here are some more pics of Sarracenia's, Drosera's and Drosera flowers, as well as 1 pic of a Rose Pogonia Orchid that showed up as a hitchhiker in my Bog along with several other hitchhiking terrestrial Orchid species I have found. Hope you like them. Tony Litwin

See the bugs?

Flowers from The Horde

Hi, I saw some beautiful pictures of peonies a week or so ago and thought I would send in these.

I brought them in and put on my dresser for them to get a little sun. I have never seen a peony open up and become the white one on the right. It's my screen saver.

Thank you for the great gardening advice, pictures and commentary.

Sidney

The colors remind me of the Farewell to Spring at the top of the post. But they are bigger, of course.

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.

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 There are 71 species of Clarkia native to California.

--------

There used to be. The productive ones all packed up and moved to Tennessee.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 19, 2021 12:34 PM (fLVm1)

2 Gardening thread:


Weed it
and reap

Posted by: ghost of hallelujah at June 19, 2021 12:35 PM (sJHOI)

3 i'm trying to keep my zucchini plants and tuscan melons alive....the past two weeks have been brutal.

Posted by: phoenixgirl at June 19, 2021 12:36 PM (CqHIp)

4 I've slowly started doing what PalerRider's mom did with my mom's perennials.

I've already taken some iris and a peony.

Posted by: My Life is Insanity at June 19, 2021 12:37 PM (Z/jzm)

5 Love the flowers! Sadly peonies and irises are done here. I'm hoping my irises seed this year.

Posted by: CN at June 19, 2021 12:37 PM (ONvIw)

6 ghost of hallelujah at June 19, 2021 12:35 PM

Hey! Pretty good.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:39 PM (BVQ+1)

7 Potato onions AKA Egyptian Walking Onions.

I like the sound of that. So much personality. Does anybody know what they taste like?

Posted by: JuJuBee at June 19, 2021 12:39 PM (mNhhD)

8 CN at June 19, 2021 12:37 PM

Trying to grow a new kind of iris?

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:39 PM (BVQ+1)

9 It was 109 degrees here yesterday, with the same forecast for today (better than the earlier forecast of 112 to 117).

Phoenix was forecast to be about 117 this week. Thanks to wildfires putting smoke in the air, it never quite made it.

That's right, Phoenix is so hot it has to use fire to cool down.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at June 19, 2021 12:43 PM (SchxB)

10 It is summer. It is hot. Why is this news?

Posted by: Joe XiDen at June 19, 2021 12:45 PM (/4vfu)

11 Blanco Basura - That's hot! There was a while during an earlier hot spell when we were hotter than Phoenix.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:46 PM (BVQ+1)

12 I have raspberries that have been handed down multiple times. First came from a friend of my mother's ages ago. Mom gave some to my aunt, they turned into a giant hedge, and my aunt gave some to me. They grow like weeds, except they are yummy And I think of my aunt (who has gone to that Great Fabric Store in the Sky) every time I see them.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at June 19, 2021 12:47 PM (fpRbZ)

13 Good luck, Phoenixgirl. Melons should be more tolerant to heat than zucchini, but still . . .

Don't know about the Tuscan kinds. Do they get sunburned?

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:48 PM (BVQ+1)

14 Egyptian Walking Onions are a big favorite among preppers because you can basically put them out and if they take, they're very low maintenance. Also, as the name implies, they are excellent at proliferation. They pretty much taste like other onions and I think the biggest determinant of flavor is the soil in which they're grown.

Posted by: Bert G at June 19, 2021 12:50 PM (nLknX)

15 My hedges in front of my home froze during the Texas cold snap and I don't think they are going to make it. The only hedges in my neighborhood that looks like they won't make it. I don't know what plant they are but they've been there since the 80's at least. It will take a pretty penny to take them up and replace. I'm going to give it until the start of the next growing season before I do anything. I do have a few new growth leaves on some parts but they have not spread .

Posted by: Just a side note at June 19, 2021 12:50 PM (2DOZq)

16 My garden adventure of the week was accidentally spraying a toad with a little ant spray. Caught it, brought it in and washed it off (water soluble spray - hope it will be OK).

Toad didn't actually seem unhappy to be under a stream of water.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:51 PM (BVQ+1)

17 the mystery evergreen is probably oriental white cedar.

See, I thought it was an arbor vitae cypress, but apparently I was wrong

Posted by: Kindltot at June 19, 2021 12:51 PM (ySM85)

18 Just a side note at June 19, 2021 12:50 PM

Sorry about your hedges. You might try trimming them just a little to see if that stimulates some growth.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:52 PM (BVQ+1)

19 8 I'd like to see what happens. I put in more colors last year in addition to my purples, so with pinks and yellow/ gold nearby, I can see getting something nice. My grandmother did something like this and ended up with some delicate, muted, bicolor flowers.

Posted by: CN at June 19, 2021 12:52 PM (ONvIw)

20 resurrecting abandoned flower beds reminds me of hiking years ago in MI and suddenly coming upon a patch of lilies-of-the-valley ... I knew they had to have been planted there and looked around ... soon I found the remains of a low concrete stairway, and then, nearby, the stump of an old concrete gate post.
some farm wife's front yard garden returning to the wild, courtesy of the DNR.

the front yard garden at Chateau D'Eez is taking hold nicely; Mrs Eez harvested a few salad greens for dinner last night, yay !, and we finally got a bit more than an inch of rain over Thursday night to break a long dry spell that was starting to worry the farmers around here, with more alleged to happen on Sunday.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM (wHoql)

21 I have Egyptian Walking Onions in my garden. When the seed head gets so big it falls over and they walk. They'll take over if you let them. I've been cutting the seed heads off to try to get bigger bulbs the last few years and it works somewhat in zone 5. Shoots are good as green onions and if you dry the bulbs some they last forever indoors. Bigger they get the tougher they get but are handy for when you need just a little onion in something.

Posted by: dartist at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM (+ya+t)

22 Tony Litwin, do you buy or breed your own carnivorous plants?

alternatively do you do tissue culture to propagate them?

Posted by: Kindltot at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM (ySM85)

23 Love the idea of the gardens passed down. I have some mums, the kind that look like yellow daisies, planted in a (very messy) front bed. They're from a planted basket that my parents dropped off on my front porch when they were driving around about ten years ago. After they faded I put them in the ground just to see what they would do, and they come back every year.

My parents both passed on several years go, so the mums are special to have. I try to pinch them back every summer, but they are still too leggy when they bloom in the fall.

Posted by: skywch at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM (Y/Ps0)

24 Potato onions were once a popular crop in North America, but fell out of favor in the early twentieth century ..... Potato onions, AKA Egyptian Walking Onions.

Walking onions?

A-ha! So these were the belt onions that were the fashion at the time!

Posted by: mikeski at June 19, 2021 12:54 PM (P1f+c)

25 Joe XiDen at June 19, 2021 12:45 PM

Because we can post a photo of Farewell to Spring.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:54 PM (BVQ+1)

26 I like the sound of that. So much personality. Does anybody know what they taste like?
-----------
They taste like a stronger tasting onion.

Posted by: dartist at June 19, 2021 12:55 PM (+ya+t)

27 Sorry about your hedges. You might try trimming them just a little to see if that stimulates some growth.
Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:52 PM (BVQ+1)

I will try that.

Posted by: Just a side note at June 19, 2021 12:55 PM (2DOZq)

28 OK, I was wrong twice

Posted by: Kindltot at June 19, 2021 12:56 PM (ySM85)

29 Sabrina, loved reading about your heirloom raspberries and your aunt the fabric lover

Posted by: skywch at June 19, 2021 12:57 PM (Y/Ps0)

30 skywch at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM

You might want to divide those special mums and plant part of the clump somewhere else. Sometimes mums poison their own roots over time, I guess to give new offshoots a better start or something.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 12:58 PM (BVQ+1)

31 KT, that is good to know; I'll do that. Thanks!

Posted by: skywch at June 19, 2021 12:59 PM (Y/Ps0)

32 Good Morning Horde
I need to send in some flower photos soon. Mock oranges are starting to fade, all three of my yucca's are going to bloom and my clematis is starting out nicely.

Weeding continues. Sheesh. Bumper crop of Salsify this year. not as much bind weed, yet, knot weed is down as is button weed. Canadian thistle is doing well.
Oregon Grapes are healthy as well.

I do have a question for the all knowing Horde. I have at least three Burdock plants growing. I didn't plant them so I'm blaming the birds that feed here. I'm told that the roots are edible. Has anyone ever attempted this feat? One of these plants is a monster. I'm in central WA and the master gardeners here are of little help since they've all been in hiding from the 'Rona.

Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at June 19, 2021 12:59 PM (FtJ1S)

33 23 one of my uncles removed a lot of plants from my grandmother's yard, and a cousin's son has them now ( he inherited the house). It's nice to know they and whatever came from them are still loved. He divides the rhizomes periodically so they were not lost.
They also took and extended her red and white currant plants as well as a smaller rose or two.

Posted by: CN at June 19, 2021 01:01 PM (ONvIw)

34 Those Drosera plants (Sundews) have to be careful not to entangle pollinators coming to visit their flowers!

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:02 PM (BVQ+1)

35 I have a buddy whose mom came from Calabria, Italy and brought an odd kind of oregano with her. When it goes to seed it blows everywhere and pops up in places it wasn't planted every year. He started planting it on her grave years ago and it's everywhere in the cemetery now. Kind of a cool tribute to his ma I thought.

Posted by: dartist at June 19, 2021 01:02 PM (+ya+t)

36 Family heirloom flowers - lost opportunity. In the mid-1800s our family owned a hotel on a plank road between two cities. The women planted vegetable gardens to feed the lodgers, baked bread in an oven outdoors, and maintained a flower garden filled with roses. The old hotel was sold in the 1940s when my great grandmother died. Her daughter transferred those roses to her home in a nearby town. The daughter became the head of the local rose society. Her backyard looked like a British cottage garden. Unfortunately when she passed away, her sons did not take clippings or save any of the plants before those of us away at college could retrieve them.

Posted by: Mrs JTB at June 19, 2021 01:08 PM (7EjX1)

37 dartist at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM

Interesting! The guy who is writing the booklet says that they don't go to seed often (could he be in a different climate)? and that when they do, he plants the seeds instead of harvesting the onions, to get bigger onions the next year.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:09 PM (BVQ+1)

38 My mother and my children and I pass plants around all the time. I have rhubarb and hostas from Mom, a fiddle leaf fig from my daughter, and I've given them all roses from a giant rambling bush that I split up.

I've also given the kids grapefruit plants that I started from seeds, spider plants, and aloe. They all are so prolific that I have to split them frequently.

Posted by: April at June 19, 2021 01:09 PM (OX9vb)

39 Mrs JTB at June 19, 2021 01:08 PM

That is a sad story. Now there are rose societies which would have made them heroes for allowing them to save those roses.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:11 PM (BVQ+1)

40 What is an arborvitae? A plant you can drive down the street and see in every other yard? Is this a serious question or am I too dumb to read the question?

Posted by: Jimco Industries at June 19, 2021 01:12 PM (buTO7)

41 sock_rat_eez at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM

Lilies of the Valley are tough. They are considered to be invasive in some places. Interesting story. Thanks.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:13 PM (BVQ+1)

42 Made it here.
Lots of vegetables starting, oregano taking over, wish I could use it all. But anyway worse off is sweet peppers which have a good starting pepper but plant is not growing at all. Would it be better to pick that lone pepper? My first pepper hot or sweet never ripen anyway.

Posted by: Skip at June 19, 2021 01:14 PM (Cxk7w)

43
dartist at June 19, 2021 12:53 PM



Interesting! The guy who is writing the booklet says that they
don't go to seed often (could he be in a different climate)? and that
when they do, he plants the seeds instead of harvesting the onions, to
get bigger onions the next year.
---------------
Maybe a climate thing but every year the seed heads on mine look just like the 2nd pic down in the booklet. Tons of them, I should try eating them.

Posted by: dartist at June 19, 2021 01:15 PM (+ya+t)

44 Spring ends, but the day-lilies start. I like seeing them.

Posted by: t-bird at June 19, 2021 01:16 PM (B2mhs)

45 Last evening Mr. JTB and I were talking about finding some quality wild rice. We have vague memories of someone on AOS mentioning a farmer/producer/seller. By any chance does anyone remember that information? Maybe it was in a post? Thanks.

Posted by: Mrs JTB at June 19, 2021 01:17 PM (7EjX1)

46 I once grew an onion that would produce young ones at the top of its' stalk. Don't know the name.

Posted by: Ronster at June 19, 2021 01:20 PM (CU9ZG)

47 I completely agree phoenixgirl, it's just a tad hot (gotta leave room for 122F!) right now.
The Tea Rose was drooping this morning so it's getting the long and slow right now. I'll follow up on the cactus that I transplanted because it was plump and now looks like it is heading towards desiccated.
Glad I didn't put in a late garden after we bought this place!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 19, 2021 01:21 PM (J8Tc4)

48 39 that is sad, and a serious rose group would know how to move the larger plants.

Posted by: CN at June 19, 2021 01:26 PM (ONvIw)

49 Last evening Mr. JTB and I were talking about finding some quality wild
rice. We have vague memories of someone on AOS mentioning a
farmer/producer/seller. By any chance does anyone remember that
information? Maybe it was in a post? Thanks.
-----------
Years ago we'd get wild rice from Indian shops in Wisconsin. It was against the law for anyone else to pick it. I'd bet you can find it online somewhere or ask MisHum or Grammie, they'd know.

Posted by: dartist at June 19, 2021 01:26 PM (+ya+t)

50 Mrs. JTB, on the wild rice information, is it here?

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/384509.php#384509

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:29 PM (BVQ+1)

51 I bought a ladder

Posted by: DB- just DB at June 19, 2021 01:32 PM (iTXRQ)

52 KT and Dartist, Thank you. Perfect!

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at June 19, 2021 01:32 PM (7EjX1)

53 DB - 6ft, 8ft, 10ft or extension 12ft, 16ft, 20 ft?

Posted by: Skip at June 19, 2021 01:33 PM (Cxk7w)

54 I need to buy some more Farewell to Spring seeds. Unlike previous years, they did not reseed themselves. Fortunately, the seeds are pretty cheap on Amazon.

Posted by: 40 Miles North, Seminal Agent at June 19, 2021 01:33 PM (uWF4x)

55 My family is huge in passing/keeping plants in the extended family. It is sort of our thing, immediately following the funeral service to descend on the departed's home and dig up a tuber or take a cutting. No one bats an eye - it's what we always have done.

So, I have multiple iris', peppermint/spearmint, roses, hollyhocks and loads of forgotten named plants. But we do know that that one was at the corner of the barn.

Gives me a sense of family long after they are gone.

Posted by: Tonypete at June 19, 2021 01:35 PM (Rvt88)

56 What would be the past tense of weed eat?

Posted by: Doodad at June 19, 2021 01:35 PM (SnLSx)

57 It's called Little Giant

aluminum stepladder, 375# capacity

I have cathedral ceilings and skylights and need to reach them for cleaning

Posted by: DB- just DB at June 19, 2021 01:35 PM (iTXRQ)

58 We've wanted walking onions. They're a staple amongst permaculture enthusiasts.

Alliums are biennials, just like the brassicas. Meaning: seeds in second year (except garlic, and rapini. Always one in every crowd.) Overwinter your onion with some nice roots attached (or cabbage, our turnip, or beet, or chard), replant in the spring, get a seed head, and seeds. A lot of good advice and instructions in books, on YT, blogs, etc.

I overwintered a chard plant, it's currently 6 feet tall (inedible) and making seeds. Planted some beets, kohlrabi, and turnips from the store I happened to get, they're flowering now.

Posted by: Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:36 PM (Rbu5d)

59 Under $100 at Lowe's

Posted by: DB- just DB at June 19, 2021 01:36 PM (iTXRQ)

60 talking about finding some quality wild rice. We have vague memories of someone on AOS mentioning a farmer/producer/seller. By any chance does anyone remember that information? Maybe it was in a post? Thanks.
Posted by: Mrs JTB

From the tribe that harvests (truth in advertising: I'm a distant member of the Ojibwe tribe).
https://is.gd/xhj7Pm

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 19, 2021 01:37 PM (J8Tc4)

61 7...Does anybody know what they taste like?
Posted by: JuJuBee at June 19, 2021 12:39 PM (mNhhD)

Onions.

Posted by: Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:37 PM (Rbu5d)

62 Little Giants are neat don't have one. But see them by specialty contractors like alarm guys.

Posted by: Skip at June 19, 2021 01:38 PM (Cxk7w)

63 Phoenix girl, have you put them under shade cloth? Deep mulch helps, too.

Posted by: Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:39 PM (Rbu5d)

64 dartist at June 19, 2021 01:15 PM

Maybe I should have read more pages from the booklet. He says that the Egyptian Walking Onion (which is probably the kind you have) makes little onion bulbils at the top of the stalk, like you and Ronster must be talking about.

But there are other types of multiplier onions that make true seeds. He is working with those. Those are the ones that he says don't go to seed often. He has developed some really big multiplier onions by planting out seeds. But the onions get tough when the seed stalk forms, so he eats the onions that didn't form seed stalks.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:39 PM (BVQ+1)

65 AZ deplorable, Thank you. Appreciate the information.

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at June 19, 2021 01:39 PM (7EjX1)

66 One that still annoys me: The farm orchard had 12-15 different varieties of apples which we took great care of and enjoyed immensely. This is why big chain apples to me are almost inedible.

After the old folks died, one of my cousins bought the orchard portion and ripped out every. single. tree. before any of the other 13 heirs could retrieve or save a few.

No one talks to him any more.

Posted by: Tonypete at June 19, 2021 01:39 PM (Rvt88)

67 Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:36 PM

Beets will cross-pollinate (on the wind) with chard and with several kinds of weeds. Careful. Once I let red and white beets go to seed and cross-pollinate. The resulting pink beets were fabulous.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:42 PM (BVQ+1)

68 32... I have at least three Burdock plants growing. I didn't plant them so I'm blaming the birds that feed here. ...
Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at June 19, 2021 12:59 PM (FtJ1S)

They are biennials. Year one you will get a "rosette" of leaves. Dig the root in the fall .
A lot of info on YT.

Do not let them go to seed next year, unless you want them all over your garden. Every where.

Posted by: Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:45 PM (Rbu5d)

69 Winston, Burdock is something eaten in Japan, they call it Gobo, and you can get it at H-Mart.

There should be information online about preparing it, the stuff in your garden, that is.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 19, 2021 01:45 PM (ySM85)

70 >> What is an arborvitae?
I just looked it up. To me, it looks like a bushy Italian Cyprus.

Posted by: 40 Miles North, Seminal Agent at June 19, 2021 01:45 PM (uWF4x)

71 Wild rice note: I didn't know it was parched before sale. I don't know if it will grow after the treatment.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 19, 2021 01:46 PM (J8Tc4)

72 To me, it looks like a bushy Italian Cyprus.
Posted by: 40 Miles North, Seminal Agent at June 19, 2021 01:45 PM (uWF4x)

Is that what they call it in Italy?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at June 19, 2021 01:46 PM (Irn0L)

73 I've been living in a most unusual town for the last 2.5 years. It's an irrigated farming area in the desert, with farms, orchards and vineyards right in town and just outside it.

Local produce is starting to show up in the farm stands and the farmer's market and producers are excited, saying the spring/early summer weather has been perfect from bloom time until now and they expect a wonderful tasting bumper crop of everything this year.

I sit on my front porch and watch tractors drive by, it's awesome, and so is the produce. There are 29 wineries too, can't beat that if you like wine.

Western Colorado, mountain desert area, it's an oasis of green with vertical sandy bluffs right on the edge of town. The MereWife has all kinds of stuff growing in barrels watered by our small irrigation system that most houses in town enjoy. $75 a year and unmetered, water your lawn and plants as much as you like. Produce straight from the fields at little stands and the local grocery has local beef too, love it!

Posted by: Meremortal at June 19, 2021 01:46 PM (Bwqq4)

74 Tony Litwin, I went through a carnivorous phase for about a dozen years or so (live in S Alabama so they are easy to manage). Bogs are local in this area.
One of the 1st plants I bought from some bog arboretum was a drosera binata. Think I paid $5 or $6
for a small pot as pictured. Plant ended up in a 30" bowl and spanned 3' or so. Very dense. I set plant up on a pedestal for a centerpiece for years. Very impressive. Also as plant got older, there may have been a dozen branches with each stem. This is only carnivorous plant I've kept. On a small pot at present.
Nice to see your pictures.

Posted by: R Hill at June 19, 2021 01:48 PM (iViqu)

75 I have some snow drops, iris, a forsythia (which I've managed to propagate), and some "hens and chicks" from my late parents' house.

Posted by: Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:50 PM (Rbu5d)

76 dartist at June 19, 2021 01:15 PM



Maybe I should have read more pages from the booklet. He says that
the Egyptian Walking Onion (which is probably the kind you have) makes
little onion bulbils at the top of the stalk, like you and Ronster must
be talking about.



But there are other types of multiplier onions that make true seeds.
He is working with those. Those are the ones that he says don't go to
seed often. He has developed some really big multiplier onions by
planting out seeds. But the onions get tough when the seed stalk forms,
so he eats the onions that didn't form seed stalks.
----------
I think it's great someone tries to save those old time plants. Heirloom tomatoes compared to whatever is called a tomato in winter is a good example to me.

Posted by: dartist at June 19, 2021 01:50 PM (+ya+t)

77 Posted by: Meremortal at June 19, 2021 01:46 PM (Bwqq4)

Shut up, that place sucks. /s

Posted by: Infidel at June 19, 2021 01:52 PM (dYrVA)

78 Arborvitae I think are a variety of bushes, I use them for trees in my miniature games, they grow everywhere in my yard.

Posted by: Skip at June 19, 2021 01:53 PM (Cxk7w)

79 When we moved to Tempe (1987) from Auburn CA I gave a 3 to 4ft wide Staghorn fern to my brother in Santa Barbara. We used to 'feed' it whole bananas.
He's still growing it; but, it hasn't gotten any bigger.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 19, 2021 01:54 PM (J8Tc4)

80 67...
Beets will cross-pollinate (on the wind) with chard and with several kinds of weeds.
...
Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 01:42 PM (BVQ+1)
Yep. Great advice.
I made sure the chard flowered before I put in the beets.

Glad you got a new beet type!

Posted by: Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:56 PM (Rbu5d)

81 As always: thanks for the GT KT!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 19, 2021 01:56 PM (J8Tc4)

82
Having trouble identifying this.
Atlantic White Cedar vs Eastern Red Cedar... or Northern White Cedar?

Any help would be much appreciated


Looks like some variety of weasel. You can trust my knowledge, I'm a Moron.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 19, 2021 01:57 PM (n+4am)

83 Well, back to hilling the potatoes.
Nice spending my lunch break with you all

Posted by: Flyover at June 19, 2021 01:59 PM (Rbu5d)

84 R Hill at June 19, 2021 01:48 PM

Great story. That is an interesting look for a Drosera, I think. The way it branches. I also like the names of the Drosera and Sarracenia hybrids. Carnivorous plant breeders with a sense of humor. Sometimes a slightly morbid sense of humor.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 02:00 PM (BVQ+1)

85 JJ WITH HOBBIE NOOD

Posted by: Skip guy who says NOOD at June 19, 2021 02:01 PM (Cxk7w)

86 Shut up, that place sucks. /s
Posted by: Infidel at June 19, 2021 01:52 PM (dYrVA)
________________

It was either there or Portland.

Posted by: Meremortal at June 19, 2021 02:02 PM (Bwqq4)

87
And yeah, 109 degrees here in Fresno sucks ass. Especially since I was out in the shop all day yesterday. Metal building, and my space is on the west end, so that whole wall just radiates. I put up foam insulation sheets next to the workbenches which helps out, but it still sucks.

Luckily, my dad bought me a portable swamp cooler a few weeks ago. Frickin' awesome, between that and the partial insulation, I have a small area where it's bearable to work.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at June 19, 2021 02:02 PM (n+4am)

88 The picture with the light blue seeds is what I knew as Juniper, we had one in our yard and I loved to play with the berries/seeds. It was years before I realized that Juniper and cedar were the same thing.

It's fun to note that those blue Juniper seeds are used in making Gin, they give it it's flavor.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 19, 2021 02:03 PM (rfYv5)

89 It was either there or Portland.
Posted by: Meremortal

Don't tell anyone. I love it here.

Posted by: Infidel at June 19, 2021 02:12 PM (dYrVA)

90 My Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor) is blooming and the native bees are going crazy over it.
It is a tall shrub with creamy white flowers cascading off of it.

In related things, I found a green metallic sweat bee nest in the yard. It looked like a little mud volcano with tiny green bees popping out of it

The sweat bees are not group nesters, but this species (Pure golden green sweat bee) is a sort of communal nester, a group of females will dig a common entry and each one will dig it's own apartment to raise her own grubs.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 19, 2021 02:19 PM (ySM85)

91 Dang, folks. Everything's a cedar or a pine, eh?
It's a Thuja...arborvitae. Looks more American than Oriental.

https://www.britannica.com/plant/arborvitae

Posted by: MkY at June 19, 2021 02:22 PM (Foq6I)

92 You Western slopers must be somewhere around Grand Mesa. Delta, Fruita? I don't know.

Posted by: Ronster at June 19, 2021 02:22 PM (CU9ZG)

93 Reverse the above.

Posted by: MkY at June 19, 2021 02:23 PM (Foq6I)

94 Hello all, sorry so late at it. Trying to get all my outside work done early as it is definitely on the warm end here in AZ. The potato onions are very similar to the I'toi onions. Same clumping habit and on the smallish side, they are fiddly to clean but the are such good producers. I haven't bought onions in months. Still trying to thin mine out. Pulled up some amazing ones today. Large for I'toi's and easier to clean and use. I find that the trick is give them space and the better the soil and more you water them the bigger they get. The will grow in crap soil and survive with very little water but you get out what you put in. Hope you all aren't as hot as we are!

Posted by: Weekreekfarmgirl at June 19, 2021 02:23 PM (yE1WS)

95 IllTemperedCur at June 19, 2021 02:02 PM

It's amazing what some insulation and a swamp cooler can do, even in a metal building. Until the humidity gets too high. Then swamp coolers don't help so much.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 02:25 PM (BVQ+1)

96 Kindltot at June 19, 2021 02:19 PM

Love to hear about those native bees. We have a kind I haven't identified here that burrows in the sand on the north side of our house.

Posted by: KT at June 19, 2021 02:27 PM (BVQ+1)

97 I was gifted Egyptian Walking onions. These are the very first edibles from the garden, often in late feb but usually early march.

They 'walk' by growing bulblets on the top of the green portion. These bulbs also grow green leaves, become heavy and fall, 'walking' away from the parent.

Early spring they offer tender and sweet scallions

Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid at June 19, 2021 03:39 PM (n/szn)

98 Noticed a bunch of my vegetable plants in a set of my raised beds looked like crap. I went up to fertilize them and it looks like the damn drip irrigation is broken. It could only be for about the last 2 weeks otherwise they'd be dead. Another project to work on this weekend.....

Posted by: keena at June 19, 2021 03:55 PM (RiTnx)

99 The peonies are beautiful. I wish I had space for them at my place. My mom passed away several years ago and I still have all of her house plants.

Posted by: sinalco at June 19, 2021 04:08 PM (yODqO)

100 It's definitely not Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). Their fruit is smooth, round, and purple. It looks mostly like an Arborvitae.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel at June 19, 2021 11:17 PM (aXxgO)

101 Seems to be a lot of desert rats on Ace today..... greetings from overheated Tucson. Plan on going to nice cool My. Lemmon Tuesday. Almost heaven in the Tucson heat.....Jasonj

Posted by: Jasonj at June 26, 2021 01:17 PM (4Tpar)

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