Saturday Gardening Thread - Spring Ahead

Happy Spring to everyone! Ready to turn those clocks ahead (if you're not in Arizona?

Don in Kansas started getting us ready for spring on February 20:

After a brutal January, it looks like we're heading for an early spring. The daffodil above opened yesterday, unscathed by the 13? freeze Saturday morning. This is the second-earliest daffodil I've seen in Kansas. (The earliest bloomed February 17 fifteen years ago.) The forecast for the rest of the month looks like late March or early April. The weather may well double-cross me in March (it occasionally happens that the heaviest snow of a winter falls on March 20), but it's probably time to clean up the garden and get it ready for this year's experiments.

Click on the link above for larger photos. Ready for spring now?

Don also did an interesting post yesterday on the intricacies of botanical nomenclature. Who knew that the rose 'Frau Karl Druschki' could have had so many other names?

And there's much more.

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

From By-Tor:

Submission day for the LA County Fair Culinary competition on a chilly rainy Saturday. Results to follow in May.

Pear butter, apple sauce, ghost pepper hot sauce and peach jam.

Ghost pepper hot sauce! Imagine being a judge for that category!

Puttering

Puttering and Gardening in one project - An attractive, harmless hornet's nest:

Hornet's nests on the outdoor patio were always a problem until 4 years ago when I crocheted and hung my fake one after reading that hornets are territorial. Not a single one since then! -Sandy Kendall Dennis pic.twitter.com/hqbs3jA3JW

— Your other Grandma loves you as you are! (@Beverlylovesboi) March 7, 2024

How to get the pattern? It's in the responses. You can buy sewn versions, but I don't think they're as homey as the crocheted one.

Adventure

Via Hrothgar, who is always looking out for us. I know that World Naked Gardening Day isn't until the first Saturday in May, but some of us need to get out in the garden earlier! And sunburn becomes a bigger risk later in the season, too.

pic.twitter.com/JwgubLu4ke

— Doni 🤓🏴🏴‍☠️ (@DoniTheDon_) March 3, 2024

Gardens of The Horde

Hellebores

These started blooming at the very end of February. The dark purple ones are in the growing conditions that hellebores are supposed to prefer, i.e. morning sun and afternoon shade. The pink ones in the front of my house are a little odd. When first planted (a long time ago!) there was a weeping cherry nearby that gave it some afternoon shade. We had to take it down some years ago but I didn't get around to moving them right away. With the tree gone they get full afternoon sun but for some reason it doesn't bother them, the clump seems quite happy where it is. Hellebores don't really like being moved so as along as they seem happy I leave them where they are!

LIrio100

Such an intriguing plant! This site includes some good information on growing, propagation, history, nomenclature, varieties (some are hardier than others), toxicity to pets (they normally won't eat much of the plant), etc. It appears to be a nice collection of pieces, including some written by authorities or experts.

From Commenter Advo, late February:

The Crape myrtles are reaching the point where they are becoming sculptures in their own right. We trim them back every two years, and move the cuts so they continue to grow. They got trimmed just this week.

Crape myrtles and day lilies.

Spring garden in progress. There are jalapenos planted in front right, a red bell pepper in front left. Sugar snap peas are sprouted along the T-posts in back, and cucumbers are seeded along the left side T-posts.

A pair of cantaloupe plants will be directed down the left and right sides as spring goes on. We usually get 10 to 12 melons by May. Right now they are still seeds that haven't sprouted yet. Cantaloupe plants are a lot like the vine in Little Shop of Horrors. They'll wrap around and kill anything.

The required tomato beds. Two are planted, four more are still seedlings inside. The tomato ladders laid flat are for green beans (half planted, another half will be in 7 to 10 days. They get pickled as well as eaten as beans.

It would be fun to discuss bean varieties for fresh eating, pickling, etc. for various climates. Beans are sensitive to climate, as are tomatoes.

More crape myrtles.

This is the start of spring gardening in south Texas. We need to get things growing now, because the June sun will burn most of it up.

Here's a quote from blog post by a horticulturalist on Designing with Crape Myrtle. There are several other good tips in this short piece, too.

"The right crape myrtle for the right site" is the golden rule here. Before visiting the garden center to make your purchase, measure the intended space where it will be planted. The plant tag will provide the flower color, as well as its height and spread. Is the cultivar hardy where you reside. Cultivars named after Indian tribes (there are 33 of them) are among the hardiest (several zone 6 hardy) and are resistant to some insects and diseases.

I would also check out the variety you intend to plant in a reliable reference. The Sunset Western Garden Book is pretty good on this subject, and there are also university extension sites and specialists that provide a lot of information.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden at g mail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread March 2

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.