Saturday Gardening Thread: Farewell to Spring [KT]

Hello, Horde! Hope you have a great Father's Day Weekend and get to spend some time outside. In honor of The Patriarchy, we have some history and science in today's thread. And some other interesting information, too.

The beautiful photo above comes from aRomaTomato, who doesn't have a standard nic. "I live in the people's republic of California, south of Cali-Girl."

A Farewell-to-Spring (Godetia is a terrible name for a nice plant).

That little comment sent me off on a journey of discovery. I had a little difficulty finding out where that terrible name came from. I mean, "Godetia" would not spring to mind if I were getting ready to name a child or a pet.

The British don't seem to be put off by it, though. Three British warships were named "HMS Godetia". The first was an Arabis-class sloop. It was used to protect fishing vessels. Its medallion is in a museum. The second was a Corvette of the Flower Class, launched and sunk in 1940. Flower Class Corvettes were used as anti-submarine convoy escorts.

The third was also a Corvette of the Flower Class, manned by a Belgian crew until the liberation of Belgium in WWII, when she was returned to the Royal Navy. The Belgian Navy launched a ship named "Godetia" in 1965, in remembrance of the HMS Godetia on which they served during WWII.

This is the third HMS Godetia:

But back to the flowers. They are wild about Godetias, or Farewells-to-Spring, in the UK. I first learned about these flowers years ago from the Thompson & Morgan Catalog. They had lots of varieties back then before the EU's "white list" made business so difficult for seed vendors: Stunning fancy individual named cultivars, tall mixtures for cutting and short mixtures for borders. As with many American wildflowers, a lot of spectacular garden forms have been developed by the British. Though this particular species is pretty striking even in its wild state. There are actually two main wild forms: prostrate with coarse stems and taller with slender stems, and some subspecies.

This flower, Clarkia amoena, originally comes from the Pacific Northwest -- from the San Francisco Bay Area to British Columbia. It does best in cool-summer climates, and apparently blooms a lot longer in the UK than it does in most parts of the USA. It tolerates seaside conditions and sandy, alkaline soils quite well and will take part shade in most climates. If planting soil is too rich, they will make more foliage and less bloom. Needs some water during its growing season.

A display like this of Azalea-flowered doubles would be a short-term extravagance in a hot-summer climate. Might be worth growing a few specimens in pots, though. They are beautiful by themselves, too, as can be seen by the photo at the top of the post. They last a long time as cut flowers.

So, here's the answer to how these beautiful flowers came to be known as Godetias: They were named after Charles Godet, a Swiss botanist and entomologist at Neufchatel. This information came mostly from a book on field, forest and garden botany published in 1895, by Asa Gray. Species classifications at the time included G. purpurea, G. grandiflora and G. amoena. Sometimes all of these were classified as Oenothera (the Evening Primroses).

These plants are now all classified in the genus Clarkia. All of the species that used to be called "Godetia" (outside the UK, anyway) remind me of the Evening Primroses to which they are related. Below is a colony of Mexican Evening Primrose in the foreground of an inviting garden scene in The Invisible Hand's back yard. It seems to be getting along fine with annual Nasturtiums, perennial Euphorbias and shrubs. At the top of last week's thread, we saw it in front of a stand of Wild Arugula (an annual with edible yellow flowers) and bordering stone steps.

But remember that this is an invasive plant if you are tempted by its beauty. Unlike the Clarkias, which are annuals with tiny seeds, Mexican Evening Primrose is a perennial. It spreads by underground rhizomes as well as seeds. My favorite weed. Makes a wonderful display in the right place, which is often a difficult place for plants to grow. It was originally native from the grasslands of Missouri and Nebraska south through Northeastern Mexico, with plant characteristics varying along the way. It is fragrant in the evenings. You can plant named cultivars from seed or cuttings, in colors ranging from white to rose pink. Some of the cutting-grown cultivars, plus smaller'Childsii', have the reputation of being less invasive. Which is not to say "not invasive", necessarily. But it looks so innocent.

I agree with aRomaTomato that we could call all former Godetias "Farewell-to-Spring", and some of the species do go by that name. All charmers. But there are some Clarkias that don't have that cup-shaped blossom seen above. Some of them are delightful, too. I love the wildflower names: Fairyfans, Red Ribbons, Pinkfairies, Ragged Robin, Herald-of-Summer, Mountain Garland, Gunsight Clarkia, etc.

Thompson & Morgan may not have as many kinds of C. amoena as they used to, but they call the flower I have always called "Mountain Garland" just another Godetia. Below, a very double form of Clarkia unguiculata (C. elegans) 'Apple Blossom'.

I don't think this species looks much like a Godetia or Evening Primrose. I think it looks more like the Willowherb side of the Onagraceae family, like Fireweed, Gaura or maybe this Dwarf Alpine Willowherb for our alpine plant enthusiasts. Four petals and four sepals seems to be characteristic of the family. Before doubling, anyway. Flowers from this family, which also includes Fuchsias, tend to be pollinated by native bees, butterflies, moths or hummingbirds rather than honeybees.

Some of the simpler forms of Mountain Garland are still popular, either alone or in wildflower or cut flower mixtures. But the doubles or "fancies" are also popular. They last a long time as cut flowers. Cut when the top bud opens. There's information on how to grow them and photos at the link.

Elegant Clarkia's flowers are large (to 1 inch) and solitary on short flowering stems that are most conspicuous before the buds open. The four colorful petals have a unique diamond or spade-like shape with a narrow, claw-like base . . . . In fact, the petals are so unique that the species name unguiculata describes them (it means 'little red claw or nail'). Flowers have 8 stamens (four red-orange anthers; four white) and a fused stigma that's usually longer than the anthers. Flowers are pollinated by native bees but they also attract hummingbirds.

So, do you think the "little red claw" refers to the red set of anthers, or to the shape of the petals?

While the native form has four petals, plants from purchased seed sometimes exhibit double or even triple the usual number of flower parts. It's unclear to us whether these 'fancies' represent hybrids with another Clarkia species or are due to genetic variability - even gene duplication - within the species. Other Clarkias are known to form inter-species hybrids - as well as individuals with chromosomal duplications - so either explanation is possible. We'll have to await an answer to the mystery of the Elegant Clarkia 'fancies'.

Some of the flowers of the "fancies" remind me of Crape Myrtle flowers up close. Frilly.

Maybe you would like to try out some of the taller Clarkias for their exceptional value as cutting flowers, but you don't want to start them from seed. You could get Mountain Garland (Salmon Queen or Salmon Princess), a gorgeous Farewell-to-Spring (Aurora) and a striking probable hybrid of C. rubicunda (Shamini) for later bloom. In pots, from Annie's. Little Clarkia breweri is the only fragrant one.

Elkhorn Clarkia, Lewis and Clark, and Brownian Motion

Clarkia pulchella is also known as pinkfairies, ragged robin, and deerhorn or elkhorn clarkia. It was first discovered by Meriwether Lewis close to Kamiah, Idaho during the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Clarkia pulchella is most famous for its use by botanist Robert Brown in the discovery of Brownian motion. Brown studied the pollen of Clarkia pulchella while immersed in water under the microscope. He used these pollen granules because they contain oblong particles, which he observed were 6 to 8 micrometres in length, and he thought that he could follow their progress during fertilization, which was the initial subject of his investigation.

The story of the discovery of the species is here. With images of artifacts from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. And a botanical drawing.

If you teach science and would like to replicate the discovery of Brownian Motion with your students, here's how. In detail.

Pictured below is a garden form, Fairy Mixture. Sunset notes that some garden forms of C. pulchella may be hybrids with C. unguiculata.

Here's the wild form of C. pulchella with a Blue Copper butterfly (larval host Wild Buckwheat), via the Washington Native Plant Society.

Gardening and Farming Art

Speaking of the Washington Native Plant Society, this week we received the following:

I go by Winston and mostly lurk but I thought the Horde would find the attached photos amusing. I live in Central Washington and the things that grow here are pretty amazing.

Unfortunately, at least in my yard, that consists of a wide variety of weeds.
I'm going with, "If it's green, it's a lawn".

Well, Winston, since you're taking a natural approach in at least part of your yard, they say that sometimes Native Americans burned off some land in order to get better stands of Clarkia (among other flowers they grew for their edible seeds). Have you tried that yet? Who needs a lawn?

This is a different approach. I'm afraid that slugs attracted to those lovely Pansies and Violas can't read English though, Winston. And I am not certain about the literacy of many larger garden pests:

We also got this art piece from Weasel. Some states are aware of the importance of farming, and of history:

Edibles from the Farm and Garden

One nice thing about the transition from spring to summer is cherries. Our Apriums are gone. We have some early white nectarines, but cherries are a treat this time of year. Our part of the San Joaquin Valley is not ideal for cherry trees. They are hard to get started. Many varieties do not get enough winter chill on a reliable basis to be successful. We have lost one tree to a Pacific Flathead Borer (ugly little thing) and another to soil disease. There are some commercial orchards nearby, but they grow the very first varieties you usually see in the markets - not the absolute best varieties. This year, the crop was light.

The cherries we are getting now have a large percentage of double fruits and spurs. You may prefer to think of those double fruits as cherry twins. They are caused by high heat during the previous summer, when fruit buds are forming. If you are planning on planting a cherry tree or two in the future, remember to choose from cultivars suited to your climate, with a suitable rootstock. And remember that some cultivars are more prone to fruit doubling than others.

If you plan to give Dad a bowl of cherries on Father's Day, remember that twin cherries are perfectly fine to eat. Double cherries and cherries with spurs may be slightly more prone to developing soft spots, so watch for those.

Wildlife and Not-So-Wildlife

Weasel has an interesting idea last week:

Here's a suggestion for Garden Thread content sometime - interesting fauna observed in the garden. I spent a couple of days at WA just hanging out and continue to be amazed by the diversity of wildlife there. I identified several species of birds (Cornell U. has a great app) and two different kinds of lizards just sitting quietly and enjoying the outdoors. That's in addition to all the trees and plants and bugs and small mammals.

Zombie, Weasel and others had some remarkable wildlife lists in the comments. But I thought that maybe we could expand this idea to include other domestic animals. I have found stray chickens, ducks and geese in my yard. And it's fund to see members of The Horde who nurture them on purpose. They seem kind of exotic to most people these days.

I'm behind on Illiniwek's photos. He had some cute chicks this spring. From the end of May:

These are my chicks about 6 weeks ago, 2 buff orpington, 6 golden laced wyandottes.

They got big, should be laying around September first.

Fall-planted bulbs, Late Spring and Summer Blooming Bulbs

I have received my Van Engelen catalog. It includes large quantities of bulbs at lower prices. No color photos, but there is a website. Anybody ordering fall bulbs yet? Anything especially interesting?

aRomaTomato also sent this glorious photo of a flower stem from a corm (though we usually call them bulbs) that most people do not plant in fall. What a way to say "so long" to spring:

A gladiolus (I recently learned that this is Latin for little sword due to the shape of the leaves).

Anybody got Dahlias, Cannas or something started from bulbs, corms or tubers for summer?

Gardens of The Horde

We have received some great information and photos that I couldn't fit in today. But we would like to learn about yours, too. anything new going on in your garden?

Got any gardening gifts in mind for Father's Day?

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

ktinthegarden
at g mail dot com

Include your nic unless you just want to be a lurker.

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I think my tomato plant is turning into a Triffid.

Posted by: HH at June 16, 2018 12:39 PM (mIJBI)

2 We've got tiger lilies all along the roadsides here in the South. One of my favorite times of the year.

I've seen a few little pinkish-purple primroses appearing, too.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 12:40 PM (VgKNm)

3 Thank you, KT!

Posted by: m at June 16, 2018 12:41 PM (/TzhX)

4 Sex Thread!

Posted by: Harvey W. at June 16, 2018 12:42 PM (4C0+v)

5 I'll try to post a photo soon, but this weekend I saw a flower that looked a lot like a beautiful bright-blue morning glory, but it was growing on a stem and not a vine. There were other flowers and buds on the same stem, too. Sound familiar to anyone?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 12:43 PM (VgKNm)

6 Weirdwife got a cutting a few years ago from a gardenia that's at least 50 years old. (could be much older)

We have multiple gardenias in bloom around the yard.

Far and away my favorite flower smell. These things are amazing.

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 12:44 PM (9Vmwd)

7 Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 12:43 PM

How big are the flowers?

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 12:47 PM (BVQ+1)

8 How big are the flowers?

---

2.5"-3" or so. I really thought they were morning glories when I first saw them, then I got closer and realized they weren't on a vine.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 12:48 PM (VgKNm)

9 >>>Unfortunately, at least in my yard, that consists of a wide variety of weeds. I'm going with, "If it's green, it's a lawn".

You've clearly never been to California.

*Stares out over 'lawn' of dried grass and rocks.*

Posted by: Surfperch at June 16, 2018 12:49 PM (4C0+v)

10 weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 12:44 P

There are not a lot of places where gardenias do well. Sounds like you live where they do.

They are wonderfully fragrant. Is yours white, cream or yellowish?

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 12:57 PM (BVQ+1)

11 thnx for another great, informative thread KT.
it is raining here, and the dragon's blood sedum i planted last year has come back since the snows quite nicely.

Posted by: concrete girl at June 16, 2018 12:57 PM (yzU5t)

12 They are wonderfully fragrant. Is yours white, cream or yellowish?
Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 12:57 PM (BVQ+1)

Snow white

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 12:58 PM (9Vmwd)

13 Photo:

https://tinyurl.com/yasxc4fe

It's a bit pointier than I remember. Beautiful flower, though. I'd love to see the entire patch bloomed out and following the sun.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 12:59 PM (VgKNm)

14 In Key West, you got roosters and chickens running loose all over the place. The crowing woke me up around 0600.

I would take my toast from breakfast and feed them as I traversed the island.

Didn't see any hens though......

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 16, 2018 01:04 PM (EoRCO)

15 Flower class corvettes got the job done but in any kind of sea they wallowed.

Posted by: Anna Puma at June 16, 2018 01:06 PM (aDVrz)

16 Hey, what's the deal? The Pet Thread is not for another 30 minutes. You trying to sneak some chickens in?

Posted by: Anonymous White Male at June 16, 2018 01:07 PM (9BLnV)

17 KT
Thanks for using the photos. I hope they bring a smile to the Horde. I haven't tried using fire because I'm on the outskirts of town and the fire department would not be happy. Also, we're getting into wildfire season and I couldn't afford to pay for burning the neighborhood down. Slugs are nonexistant where I live. Much too dry. West of the Cascades though...
Part of my yard had been a dog run, now gone, and had been pounded into pretty much concrete. When I say green, that counts the bind weed and morning glories.

Posted by: Winston at June 16, 2018 01:15 PM (wgCUV)

18 Dangit! I meant to take a pic of a plant I saw blooming at WA last week. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of viney weed, but it had three pretty five pointed flowers with purplish centers. It was growing in the middle of a wheel track in the road.

Posted by: Weasel at June 16, 2018 01:16 PM (MVjcR)

19 Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 12:59 PM

I think they are Campanulas (bellflowers) or Platycodons.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:17 PM (BVQ+1)

20 Hairyback Guy at June 16, 2018 01:04 PM

Better roosters than peacocks. Their sound is irritating.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:20 PM (BVQ+1)

21 What gorgeous flowers.

I used to love dahlias, but when I brought mine to my current abode, critters ate them. And by critters, I mean that when I picked up the bag of the bulbs that overwintered inside, they were mushy because they'd been colonized by some albino cross between a centipede and an earthworm. Blech!

Posted by: NaughtyPine at June 16, 2018 01:25 PM (/+bwe)

22 think they are Campanulas (bellflowers) or Platycodons.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:17 PM (BVQ+1)

-

Thanks. I've definitely going to track some down.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 01:25 PM (VgKNm)

23 As always, thanks to KT for the thread and to everyone who sent in photos. This week's photos posed a quandry. They made me want to get out some watercolor pencils or maybe oil pastels to try to capture their brilliance and beauty. But I can't do that while watching the US Open. Sigh!


BTW, I am no artist even though I have the interest. But no one has to see my attempts. And when the drawing is less than exact, I just call it an abstract. :-)

Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 01:27 PM (V+03K)

24 weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 12:58 PM

There's an old cultivar called 'Belmont' that's compared to a rose. Other cultivars are noted for hardiness or heat tolerance. You can check
gardenia.net to see if you recognize yours.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:28 PM (BVQ+1)

25 My neighbor is mowing my grass. He borrows my mower to cut his lawn and does mine at the same time. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement.

Posted by: Weasel at June 16, 2018 01:28 PM (MVjcR)

26 Anna Puma at June 16, 2018 01:06 PM

I had no idea that corvettes were ships before they were cars.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:29 PM (BVQ+1)

27 Winston at June 16, 2018 01:15 PM

Just kidding about the fire. I thought "Dad Humor" when I saw your signs.

Bindweed. Yuck.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:31 PM (BVQ+1)

28 Trying to decide which made me laugh more: "Grow, dammit" or "Trespessers will be composted". They are both hilarious.

Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 01:31 PM (V+03K)

29 NaughtyPine at June 16, 2018 01:25 PM

Yuck. Might try dusting with sulfur or something.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:33 PM (BVQ+1)

30 Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018

There are LOTS of campanulas. Some biennials, some perennials. Some big, some little. A few invasive. Get the ones you want.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:35 PM (BVQ+1)

31
Farewell to Spring

Never had Spring in Indianapolis.
Went right from Winter to Summer.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at June 16, 2018 01:36 PM (IqV8l)

32 JTB at June 16, 2018 01:27 PM

Abstract. One advantage of modern art. Heh.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:37 PM (BVQ+1)

33 KT, Farewell to Spring is the common name for the Clarkia amoena, which is one of the last wildflowers around here.


By the way, locally it looks to be a wonderful year for cherries. All the trees are laden and just starting to get pinkish.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 16, 2018 01:38 PM (2K6fY)

34 I thought the "farming since 1814" license plate was pretty amazing.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:39 PM (BVQ+1)

35 1614.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:40 PM (BVQ+1)

36 Thanks, KT. No one seems to get it, though!

Posted by: Weasel at June 16, 2018 01:41 PM (MVjcR)

37 Kindltot at June 16, 2018 01:38 PM

Makes sense that you would know about Clarkia amoena. That is the species most commonly sold for the garden as "Farewell-to-Spring", too.

Do you get much color variation in the wild plants?

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:43 PM (BVQ+1)

38 Borrowed my neighbor's mower for years. Cut her yard whenever kids and grand-kids couldn't/didn't. Residential lawnmowers have lots of free time.
Now I have a shiny new machine, still cut her yard if needed.

Posted by: ro-man at June 16, 2018 01:43 PM (RuIsu)

39 The only other things of note is that my climbing roses are blooming like mad and the ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor) is blooming into white foam.

And the mock orange (Philidelphus lewisii) is blooming and smelling heavenly.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 16, 2018 01:44 PM (2K6fY)

40 O/T for Weasel.

Just saw an ad for the "Lyman Long Range Precision Reloading Handbook". Wondering if it is worth getting for the reloading techniques.

Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 01:44 PM (V+03K)

41 Fun thread. For some reason folks in Texas call the Evening Primrose a "Buttercup." I was often the trying-not-to-be-obnoxious person who would correct them. Similarly I would have to helpfully correct people when they would refer to Indian Blankets as Indian Paintbrushes. Whatever you call them, Texas wildflowers are spectacular in Spring.

Posted by: Cumberland Astro at June 16, 2018 01:44 PM (d9Cw3)

42 In the garden - Japanese Beetles are swarming here on the Cumberland Plateau. I never encountered them in Texas. They are nasty destructive bugs and causing a lot of damage to my fruit trees and bushes.

Posted by: Cumberland Astro at June 16, 2018 01:46 PM (d9Cw3)

43 KT, I have only seen them pink around here. The book says pink to purplish but I haven't seen them.


Hey, by the way, speaking of critters, I saw a bald eagle while I was driving to work the other day, and there was a European swan swimming on the Willamette last week when I crossed the bridge. I think someone's bird escaped.

Ravens and ospreys are common around here now.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 16, 2018 01:49 PM (2K6fY)

44 Our stag cactus is blooming so I should get some pics. I planted 9 taters and 8 came up and they are growing well. I'm probably going to skip zucchini this year. I didn't got a spot worked up to plant them. They are only 45 days to produce but I hope to be busy riding in August this year.

Most of my yard effort the past several days has been spraying goats heads. Mild winter, some rain in April and then early heat had those nasty burrs going wild. 24 gallons of weed spray (12 rounds with backpack sprayer) and I need to get out there for at least a couple more rounds. And some of them had already set burrs so I will have to be diligent next year if I want to get them under control.

I think of all the hours I spent just pulling and hoeing them when I was younger. If only I had known to take advantage of 2-4-D weed spray back then, but such is life.

Posted by: PaleRider, simply irredeemable at June 16, 2018 01:49 PM (r4KP2)

45 Our tomato plants are getting baby fruit, more every day it seems. If all continues to go well we should have sun warmed tomatoes in a few weeks. Yay! The cukes continue to sprawl and put out blossoms. The leaf lettuce and spinach are holding up to the heat quite well but the arugula is looking a little past prime. I predict a lot of arugula salads (without fear of contamination) this week.

Question for the group. Is it worth putting a sun shade over the leaf lettuce? We have some serious heat coming.It would be easy to put a light, elevated cover over the containers.

Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 01:54 PM (V+03K)

46 We've had very good luck with the bags and scent blocks for Japanese beetles. Bag a bug iirc.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 01:56 PM (VgKNm)

47 Kindltot at June 16, 2018 01:44 PM

I love that mock orange.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:57 PM (BVQ+1)

48 40 O/T for Weasel.

Just saw an ad for the "Lyman Long Range Precision Reloading Handbook". Wondering if it is worth getting for the reloading techniques.
Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 01:44 PM (V+03K)
--------
Hmmm.. not sure if I've ever seen that! Certainly wouldn't hurt to have it on the reloading bench.

Posted by: Weasel at June 16, 2018 01:59 PM (MVjcR)

49 48 ... Thanks, Weasel. And apologies to the thread for the off topic.

Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 02:02 PM (V+03K)

50 Cumberland Astro at June 16, 2018 01:44 PM

There are several yellow Evening Primroses. But some people call flowers "buttercup" if they get pollen on your nose when you smell them.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 02:03 PM (BVQ+1)

51 There are several yellow Evening Primroses. But some people call
flowers "buttercup" if they get pollen on your nose when you smell them.
=====

Just like dandelions! j/k Anyway, last week someone was talking about dandelions and I remember picking nosegays for mom and dad and the funny little ring-shaped stains on your hands from the stems.

Posted by: mustbequantum at June 16, 2018 02:06 PM (MIKMs)

52 I am exhausted, ok that might be a stretch.
Getting lots of buds on all the plants but not counting chickens yet.
Also have quite a few tomatoes and couple of peppers starting. Have yet to ever see the 1st pepper ripen.

Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:06 PM (pHfeF)

53 Not completely OT, since the British "Flower" class corvettes feature in the post, perhaps the most famous of the "Flower" class is the fictitious HMS Compass Rose that is in Monsarrat's novel The Cruel Sea. A sometimes grim novel of convoy duty, it was written by a guy that lived it.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at June 16, 2018 02:07 PM (5Yee7)

54 weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 12:58 PM

There's an old cultivar called 'Belmont' that's compared to a rose. Other cultivars are noted for hardiness or heat tolerance. You can check
gardenia.net to see if you recognize yours.
Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 01:28 PM (BVQ+1)

Thanks for the help. This is what she has growing around the house now. Far and away the best smelling blooms that I know of.

https://tinyurl.com/y6w64t3v

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 02:07 PM (9Vmwd)

55 Cumberland Astro at June 16, 2018 01:46 PM

Japanese Beetles sound horrible. The county puts traps up in my fruit trees to monitor. I think they would declare war if they ever found them here.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 02:07 PM (BVQ+1)

56 A goal today if not very soon is to chop up last year's pile of leaves and get them into the compost bin.

Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:08 PM (pHfeF)

57 49 48 ... Thanks, Weasel. And apologies to the thread for the off topic.
Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 02:02 PM (V+03K)
------
Sure! As soon as I take my backup reloading gear to the farm I'll have you and the missus down.

Posted by: Weasel at June 16, 2018 02:10 PM (MVjcR)

58 I usually skip the gardening thread so as not to sneeze, but I was compelled today to read. What a lovely read it was. Thank you. I passed through Central Washington a few years back. I loved the place. The breeze was always blowing and I had some of the best beef steak, if not the best beef steak, that I have ever tasted.

Posted by: Locke Common at June 16, 2018 02:10 PM (GD/ZV)

59 Mock oranges are blooming now. Marvelous scent. I have three yucca's ready to bloom. Milkweed is blooming so Monarch butterflies will be here shortly.
Watched a red tail hawk this morning hunting over the pasture behind my home. Eagles, both bald and golden and osprey are everywhere now. The chicks are starting tolearn to fly and hunt on their own now.

Posted by: Winston at June 16, 2018 02:10 PM (wgCUV)

60 About thirty years ago we planted a row of rose of Sharon and they were hit hard with Japanese beetles. We put up those bag traps and had to replace them every two weeks because they filled up. Haven't seen as many for the last ten years or so. The plants are the same rose of Sharon. Don't know why their numbers are so different.

Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 02:11 PM (V+03K)

61 OT

But Phil Mickelson just did the most outrageous thing I've ever seen in golf. Wow.

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 02:12 PM (9Vmwd)

62 It always seems to me WWII Japanese vessels have named after flowers of very garden kind if names. I could be wrong but that's what I seem to get when a name is in English.

Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:12 PM (pHfeF)

63 Locke Common
There is a very good reason cows look at people with suspicion here. They think every two leg is a buyer for McDonald's.

Posted by: Winston at June 16, 2018 02:13 PM (wgCUV)

64 What did Phil flip everyone the bird or moon everyone?

Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:13 PM (pHfeF)

65 I need to come up with a written forest management plan to have WA certified as a tree farm. Fortunately there are a ton of free state resources for help. I figure having the certification can't hurt when I get into a fight with the IRS over farming deductions.

Posted by: Weasel at June 16, 2018 02:14 PM (MVjcR)

66 It always seems to me WWII Japanese vessels have named after flowers of very garden kind if names. I could be wrong but that's what I seem to get when a name is in English.
Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:12 PM (pHfeF)

Most of the destroyers were named for various nautical winds. If you see one that ends in "-kaze", that's what it means.

Posted by: hogmartin at June 16, 2018 02:14 PM (fZuhk)

67 The story is that, in 1914, when the first "Fleet Minesweepers" (later classed as Sloops) were ordered, the Admiralty wondered how they should be named, They needed many names. As it happened, on of the men there had a gardening hobby, and had a seed catalogue on his desk. And that's were the names came from.

Posted by: George LeS at June 16, 2018 02:14 PM (59GGI)

68 (tosses gardening encyclopedia...who needs it?)

Fascinating species. The one near the bottom looks like one of yhose oddball orchids.

Can anyone tell me why the crepe myrtles planted in Lowe's parking lot are in full bloom and mine have nary a bud?

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:14 PM (el8j3)

69 Phil hit a putt that was about to go down the hill so he literally jogged over to it and hit it back towards the hole while it was still rolling down the hill.

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 02:15 PM (9Vmwd)

70 Forget that. What did Mickeson do?

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:16 PM (el8j3)

71 chickens can be pets, but they supply eggs, and/or meat. Those lazy dogs and cats put nothing on the table but their paws. heh
For the homesteader chickens are usually part of the garden, eating bugs and fertilizing things, though most keep them fenced in smaller spaces.

A surprise thunderstorm dropped a much needed half inch of rain here a couple days ago, temps plummeted to 65, but mid 90's forecast for the next four days now.

I've planted gladiolas before, but much prefer the bulbs that keep coming back every year, without having to dig them and store them. I bought some last year as they went on sale late in the season, but they never put up flowers. They are nicer than basic tulips and daffodils though, and compare favorably to the iris. Guess I should buy them on sale and put them in the basement for next spring.

Posted by: illiniwek at June 16, 2018 02:16 PM (bT8Z4)

72 Oh, cool! I did not know you could hit the ball if it wasn't stationary.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:17 PM (el8j3)

73 Supposedly a two stroke penalty. ALL the announcers were stunned.

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 02:18 PM (9Vmwd)

74 There us a garden show on NPR, and years ago he advised the beetle traps attract more than you would normally have as it uses sexual scent.
I get them attacking 1 of my rhododendron and maybe something else. Have yet to see tent caterpillars on my crab apples.

Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:18 PM (pHfeF)

75 I figure having the certification can't hurt when I get into a fight with the IRS over farming deductions.

Posted by: Weasel at June 16, 2018 02:14 PM (MVjcR)


Good assumption! Who did you vote for in 2016?

Posted by: lois learner at June 16, 2018 02:20 PM (n9EOP)

76 Well, depending on where the ball was headed it might hsve been worth it. But TWO strokes? I should think one would be more appropriate.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:21 PM (el8j3)

77 Yeah, the trick is to give them to your neighbor to use.

"I know how much you love to garden. I found these on clearance and thought you might like some..."

Posted by: Moron Robbie - I choose to live my life as a black woman at June 16, 2018 02:21 PM (VgKNm)

78 Beautiful thread, KT.

Out to till the backyard & hopefully get some grass seed spread.

Posted by: Adriane the Green Thumb, NOT Critic ... at June 16, 2018 02:21 PM (AoK0a)

79 Well, depending on where the ball was headed it might hsve been worth it. But TWO strokes? I should think one would be more appropriate.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:21 PM (el8j3)

One was for the actual extra stroke, the second was the penalty?

Posted by: lois learner at June 16, 2018 02:22 PM (n9EOP)

80 I think troop transports had those names, Chrysanthemum or like Shade Tree in the Flowering Meadow

Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:23 PM (pHfeF)

81 Skip, I think that's right...beetle traps do attract more beetles than you would have without them.

Still, save for those traps the big ferns at my old house in Iowa would hsve been totally gone.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:24 PM (el8j3)

82 Our tomatoes are still little green things, too. Peppers are only twinkles in their flowers' eyes. I do have enough cucumbers to make some pickles tomorrow, tho.

Our daughter chose a spearmint to grow and we found a stevia plant to go with it. The leaves are very sweet. I hope I can keep the bugs off enough.

Posted by: OldDominionMom at June 16, 2018 02:24 PM (t0Z53)

83 He got a 9 on the par 4.

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 02:25 PM (9Vmwd)

84 Phil has been great off the tee but terrible on the greens. I think this was his way of saying it was a lost cause this year with the tournament without walking off the course. He actually was smiling with Reed and laughing a bit. The announcers were astonished. He went on to the 14th hole and got a par.

The announcers are salivating to talk with him after the match.

Posted by: JTB at June 16, 2018 02:25 PM (V+03K)

85 I played an impossible lie from a ficus, right onto the green.

Posted by: Lefty at June 16, 2018 02:27 PM (Tyii7)

86 No problem with tent caterpillars in my apple trees. The deer are seeing to that. And no, they're not eating the caterpillars.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:28 PM (el8j3)

87 I used my hybrid ficus niblick.

Posted by: Lefty at June 16, 2018 02:30 PM (Tyii7)

88 Ya' know, what this world needs is a good tick trap.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:31 PM (el8j3)

89 creeper I hear that guinea fowl are good to reduce tick populations. Too dry for ticks here, we only have to battle burrs and flies.

Posted by: PaleRider, simply irredeemable at June 16, 2018 02:33 PM (r4KP2)

90 Hmm. Everybody must be out gardening.

Posted by: Lefty at June 16, 2018 02:35 PM (Tyii7)

91 Anybody need a left-handed golf whisperer?

Posted by: Burger Chef at June 16, 2018 02:37 PM (RuIsu)

92 Changed Phil's score from 9 to 10.

Posted by: weirdflunky at June 16, 2018 02:38 PM (9Vmwd)

93 Probably Lefty. Supposed to rain tomorrow so I must get back to tromping around with the weed sprayer myself.

Posted by: PaleRider, simply irredeemable at June 16, 2018 02:38 PM (r4KP2)

94 Late posting (again) because I was out in the... "garden".

My container garden vegetables and herbs are growing like crazy. The peas, green beans, and tomatoes are all flowering like mad.

The peppers - some banana peppers have been harvested, the green peppers are growing well - half grown, buds, and flowers mix which looks promising. All the other pepper varieties are still in the flowering and bud stage.

The cabbage looks amazing.

The Brussels sprouts... I am not sure what is going to happen with these. The bugs got some and yet several others have started the inside stalk. {shrug} We shall see.

I harvested some lemon basil for a recipe today. I actually thought it was "regular" sweet basil and kept saying to my husband, "Wow! Doesn't this smell GOOD! Almost like lemons!" D'oh {slaps forehead}

I need to harvest the rest of the herbs this week so they can give me another round. We will be away for a few days in July and I figure bolting will happen then. Oh well.

And the lettuce, mustard greens, and spinach experiment is going well. Lettuce harvested and regrowing.

The way things are going now, I'll be that lady dropping bags anonymously at neighbor's doors and running. I'd rather too much and sharing than not enough.

Posted by: Ann at June 16, 2018 02:39 PM (e59uY)

95 (8 I'm the world's best Tick bait. I have that special blood.

Posted by: Burger Chef at June 16, 2018 02:39 PM (RuIsu)

96 PaleRider @89

Guinea FOWL? No good. Have only guinea pig.

Actually, I'd love to have guinea fowl but suspect the coyotes would make short work of them.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:43 PM (el8j3)

97 I still have a dozen volunteer tomatoe plants, should find some permanent place to put them and see if anything comes from them. Other years get some from them and usually they are Roma or minis

Posted by: Skip at June 16, 2018 02:44 PM (pHfeF)

98 PaleRider reminded me. Need to spray the weeds in the drive.

Later, Horde.

Posted by: creeper at June 16, 2018 02:47 PM (el8j3)

99 Off topic, but if you have CSpan2 and can watch the upcoming program with Salena Zeto and Brad Todd that starts at 3:15 eastern, it's worth it; it's about the book they just wrote, "The Great Revolt" and it's really interesting.

Posted by: Vendette at June 16, 2018 02:48 PM (SLCtI)

100 My Turks cap is starting to really bloom. Hummingbirds love them.

Everyone was talking about hate shakes yesterday so I had to go get one for lunch...I hate everyone who talked about it!!! Luckily they are a limited time thing...

Posted by: lin-duh at June 16, 2018 02:48 PM (kufk0)

101 Everyone was talking about hate shakes yesterday so I
had to go get one for lunch...I hate everyone who talked about it!!!
Luckily they are a limited time thing...

Posted by: lin-duh at June 16, 2018 02:48 PM (kufk0)


Have you met the peppermint hate shake?

Posted by: Vendette at June 16, 2018 02:50 PM (SLCtI)

102 Have you met the peppermint hate shake?
Posted by: Vendette
------
Shut your mouth!!!!!

Posted by: lin-duh at June 16, 2018 02:51 PM (kufk0)

103 Shut your mouth!!!!!

Posted by: lin-duh at June 16, 2018 02:51 PM (kufk0)


It makes its debut in mid-November and lasts through Christmas. It had better be available in heaven.

Posted by: Vendette at June 16, 2018 02:52 PM (SLCtI)

104 Nice work, Ann!

Container veggies here, too.
Broccoli did very well, will be cutting the last heads later today. Think I'll just pull them rather than wait for side shoots as the *very hot* weather is coming soon.

Zucchini will go next in 2 biggest pots and maybe Mexican Sunflowers in the rest. (Portable shade! Love it.)
Wonder if it's too late for okra? Might just try it anyway.

Posted by: JQ at June 16, 2018 02:52 PM (yD/Pf)

105 The wife has been busy giving away the volunteer tomatoes. We never have any left over. Yesterday morning, steel cut oats with fresh strawberries. Such a blessing.

Posted by: Gordon Scott at June 16, 2018 02:55 PM (UXHfL)

106 Thanks OM, that's some big ass gardening thread.

Hoping to get real water from God today here in the desert for the garden.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at June 16, 2018 02:59 PM (2CQCl)

107 Pets are up!

Posted by: m at June 16, 2018 03:02 PM (/TzhX)

108 Love the evening primrose, still have some that come up wild in my yard in a spot that catches full sun. Around DFW, they grow in huge patches along the banks of the Trinity River.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 16, 2018 03:52 PM (k1TUh)

109 I've seen a couple Japanese Beetles ... they were thick last year. The traps work from what I hear, they say put them up about 30' from the target plants. I just ordered three that these homesteaders (in link) demonstrated, and may locally pick up three others by Spectracide.

Sevin knocks them right down, and it may come to that. I can mostly avoid blooms or flowers of other plants, so as to not hurt the bees and pollinators, but would prefer to have the traps work well enough to avoid the insecticide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3OmjNDkNPc

Posted by: illiniwek at June 16, 2018 04:02 PM (bT8Z4)

110 My 94-year-old dad, whose birthday we're celebrating tomorrow, served in an R.C.N. Algerine Class minesweeper that acted as the command ship for a group of Corvettes on the N. American side of the North Atlantic Run on convoy duty.

We'll be eating Chinese food in the backyard so that's on-topic too!

Posted by: andycanuck at June 16, 2018 04:05 PM (Evws/)

111 Whelp so much for 20% chance means it wont rain before nightfall here. (usually safe bet as scattered showers usually go around us) My last round of spraying is probably not going to get hardly any burrs. Hopefully the morning spraying was absorbed enough to get kill. Such is life.

Posted by: PaleRider, simply irredeemable at June 16, 2018 04:08 PM (r4KP2)

112 Thanks, JQ!

Mexican sunflowers in a container must be spectacular! Can you harvest the seeds?

Posted by: Ann at June 16, 2018 04:09 PM (e59uY)

113 Mexican sunflowers in a container must be spectacular!
I hope so! This will be my first attempt.
Can you harvest the seeds?
Yes. (similar to zinnia or coneflower.) But the little birds love them, so must cut and hang dry in protected place to get *my* share, lol.

Posted by: JQ at June 16, 2018 04:24 PM (yD/Pf)

114 Wait a sec...Can you harvest the seeds?
...for human consumption? I'm thinking no.

They're too small anyhow, and I don't know if they're "edible" for humans.

Posted by: JQ at June 16, 2018 04:31 PM (yD/Pf)

115 Off shooting again today so, late to the thread,

Great pictures and another excellent job, KT!

Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at June 16, 2018 04:37 PM (WEBkv)

116 So late to this thread but I've seen THREE roadrunners in my garden this week in So Cal. I think it's because we have a bumper crop of lizards this year since my huge cat is old and wants to stay inside and isn't eating all of them as he once did.

Posted by: keena at June 16, 2018 05:34 PM (wB9jz)

117 From Idaho's Treasure Valley (Boise area): I promised a longer version this week, so I took a lengthy walk around my yard last night to check everything out. This report will be lengthy as well, so just read whatever sections interest you. The main part of the garden is 12 raised beds each 4 feet wide, 8 feel long, 1 foot high.

Bed 1: SPINACH: 5 of 8 plants have been pulled out, since they bolted. Others will be pulled as I get what I can from them.
CARROTS: Spring carrots are being harvested. I planted 2 half-rows of fall carrots where the spinach came out, and will plant more when the rest of the spinach are out.
ASIAN POD PEAS: Producing like crazy - 80 to 100 per day, and that's only for a half-row.
CUCUMBERS: New this year. Planted from seed in ground, now about 4" tall.

Bed 2: ROMA TOMATOES: 2 plants - fruit already showing on both!

Bed 3: RADISHES: 1st spring crop long gone, 2nd being eaten, 3rd planting starting to show their root-shape; this will be the end of spring radishes.
GREEN ONIONS: Being harvested now. We love grilling them.
CANTALOUPES: One was grown indoors and is barely ahead of the ones from seed in the ground - 5 plants, about 4" tall.

Bed 4: BUSH GREEN BEANS: Between 4 and 8" tall (planted successively). 2 rows.
YUKON GOLD POTATOES growing in four cloth, 20 gallon size bags, beside bed 4. All look strong.

Bed 5: BUSH GREEN BEANS: One row, old seed of non-hybrid varieties. 8-10" tall.
POBLANO PEPPERS, RED BELL PEPPERS, JALAPENO PEPPER, PEPPERONCINI PEPPER: all about a foot tall. The jalapeNo has a fruit!
YUKON GOLD POTATOES growing in two cloth, 20 gallon size bags, beside bed 5. All look strong.

Bed 6: SHELLING PEAS: a full row. Nearly time to start harvesting peas!
POBLANO PEPPERS: two small plants, nearly getting buried by-
YUKON GOLD POTATOES: Found some in the soil we were re-using, stuck them in this bed, they're quite healthy.
PURPLE MAJESTY POTATOES: Found a few midgets in a box in the garage and planted them. Not very large plants, but then, they're being shaded by the pea vines.

Bed 7: ASPARAGUS: First harvest was this spring. Some of them are now over 6 feet tall, and more stems are still coming up. Will have to take note of which plants are strongest, when we cut them down in fall, so we know which ones we'll be able to harvest more from.

Bed 8: STRAWBERRIES: Original bed. Harvesting now. Hope to make strawberry syrup this year. We made red raspberry syrup last year. After trying that versus commercial fruit syrup, there is Just. No. Comparison!

Bed 9: BLUEBERRIES, 1st bed: 2 Bluecrop look healthy, 2 Blueray look poorly. We'll get a small crop.
GERMAN CHAMOMILE: I threw some seed in the bed since I was out of spots in the herb bed. So far, 2 sprouts.

Bed 10: BLUEBERRIES, 2nd bed: 2 new Bluecrop bought and planted this spring look great, 1 Earliblue looks very poorly, 1 Duke looks quite dead.
CHIVES: This bed had a butt-ton of chives, which I got rid of 95 percent of. Just 3 small clumps left. And I will NOT let them go crazy like I have previously!

Bed 11: STRAWBERRIES, newer bed: More winter-kill here than in original bed. Will need to let a greater percentage of the runners set.

Bed 12, herb bed: PROVENCE LAVENDERS: Harvesting now.
GARDEN SAGE: Flowering, and vigorous - needs to be trimmed back.
OREGANO: Gift from the family of one of my rifle students, this spring. Looks good.
PARSLEY: Lone survivor of 4 left in last fall. Allowing it to go to seed.
CILANTRO: seeds planted in parsley area - not sure if they're sprouting or if I have weeds.
BASIL: growing it from seed, half of them sprouted and look strong at 2" mark, replanted more seeds.
ENGLISH THYME: Vigorous, flowering now.
SPEARMINT: The center looked woody and dead so I hacked it out with a mattock and shovel (!). The stuff is straining to burst it 2-foot-square area. Mojito time!

This is as much as I have time to type now, since I'm going to be going to a board gaming party. And this is a lot to read all at once anyway. I'll type more later!

Posted by: Pat* at June 16, 2018 06:17 PM (2pX/F)

118 If you got the Van Engelen catalog, you should also have gotten the Scheepers catalog, which is exactly the same except that it offers the bulbs in smaller quantities AND it has photos of everything. Same company.

Posted by: Vivien at June 16, 2018 06:42 PM (85raD)

119 Ann and JQ:

The containers sound wonderful. The Tithonias (Mexican Sunflowers) I like best are a short butterscotch-colored one and a tall deep orange-red one.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 07:02 PM (BVQ+1)

120 keena at June 16, 2018 05:34 PM

Roadrunners! They are fun to watch. Of course, lizards can be fun to watch, too. If the roadrunners and cats don't eat them.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 07:08 PM (BVQ+1)

121 PaleRider, simply irredeemable at June 16, 2018 04:08 PM

People might want to hire you to make it rain.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 07:10 PM (BVQ+1)

122 Kindltot at June 16, 2018 01:49 PM

Well. You go for the exotic critters, don't you?

I think some of the California subspecies of C. amoena tend toward the lavender/purple colors.

There's also a Pismo Clarkia that is endangered. You can buy some from Annies if you live in California. Wind resistant. White and purplish.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 07:15 PM (BVQ+1)

123 andycanuck at June 16, 2018 04:05 PM

Happy Father's Day to your Dad. I have enjoyed learning more about the history of these kinds of ships.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 07:17 PM (BVQ+1)

124 Vivien at June 16, 2018 06:42 PM

I don't get the color catalog. For some reason, the corporation seems to think that I only plant huge quantities of bulbs. Maybe I'm in a farming zip code or something. Heh.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 16, 2018 07:23 PM (BVQ+1)

125 Awesome content KT, thank you for all the great information. We are still praying for rain here in NW Houston, maybe tomorrow. I went to another farmers market in a place called Tomball this morning and bought bags of lovely tomatoes, squash,beans and Japanese eggplant. I met some hardworking farmers too and had some interesting discussions about snakes! I am picking tomatoes and onions from my own little garden. Thermometer reading 98 in the shade, yuk.

Posted by: Dreadpirateroberta at June 16, 2018 07:49 PM (yjbTx)

126 I like the taller, bright red-orange mexican sunflowers. Should look good behind 'gold rush' zukes.

Probably won't do okra in pots after all--maybe next year.

Posted by: JQ at June 16, 2018 11:12 PM (yD/Pf)

127 Idaho's Treasure Valley continuation: Oops, I missed the leaf lettuce in bed 3. Just 2 plants left, will probably be pulled out Monday since they're bolting too.

CORN BED: That's a part of the paddock area husband tilled this spring. Has 5 rows of corn, each about 20 feet, planted successively. Tallest ones about 2' tall. On sides closest and farthest from house, also a 20 foot row of bush green beans.

ZUCCHINI: Two 20-gallon cloth bags, each with a zucchini plant we started indoors. Already harvested the first ones. Also already squashed the first squash bug eggs...

BUTTERNUT SQUASH: Two 20-gallon cloth bags with plants from seed. They look healthy.

TOMATOES in the ground: Four plants from indoor starts. 2 Nyagous heirloom, 2 Big Boy. Looking strong so far.

RED RASPBERRIES: The old patch is working its way down a fence line. (Anything out of bounds was either dug up and given to one of 3 friends, or sprayed.) It's showing lots of fruit! We also have a new line of them, inside the north side of the paddock, which will be like a 3rd windbreak row (outermost row is lilacs, middle is blue spruce trees). The older plantings are 3' tall, the ones from this spring just 1'.

ALFALFA in test bed inside paddock: Growing well.

FLOWERS INSIDE PADDOCK: One California poppy re-sprouted on my cat's grave. (He was an orange California cat most of his life; it seemed appropriate.) One yarrow plant was a nice surprise; it's blooming heavily and I hope it re-seeds! One little aster, with spiky lavender petals, only a few inches high, that we discovered recently.

FLOWERS BY THE SHED: The first flush of Johnny jump-up flowers are starting to go to seed; but those things will bloom all the way to the snows. The clump of mixed hot pink fireweed and tall reddish-orange penstemon has mostly penstemon flowers, but the fireweed will catch up when it gets hotter.

AROUND THE HOUSE: All the bulbs out front are long gone. Along the front sidewalk, we have short daylilies with maize-yellow flowers, which are blooming now. The Calamagrostis 'Overdam' bunchgrass has some plumes. The purple Siberian Iris have gone to seed pods. Along the north side were Iris, and bunchgrass. Behind the house by the garage, we have a huge plant of taller daylily (80 stems last year!), which has only buds now, but will have red/yellow-throated flowers later.
In the nook behind the kitchen, since the bulbs are all wilted and the Iris is done blooming, we just have Iris leaves, and the 3 chrysanthemums - they look good, even the one that half-died back.

APPLE TREES: We have 2 at the back property edge (west). The Golden Delicious has next to no fruit, but then it bore well both of the l;sat 2 years so it's earned a break. The probably-Jonathan looks to have at least some crop - it'll be hard to tell, until the fruit gets bigger. Overall it'll be a light year, which is too bad because we want to make applesauce and cider this fall.

WILD ROSES: those are also on the back edge (west) as the outer windrow. They're 6 or more feet tall already!, but are done blooming.

CHOKECHERRIES: They're the middle of the windrow on the west. They must be taller than 7 feet by now. We got flowers but I didn't see much fruit.

BABY BLUE SPRUCE: They're the inner row of the windrows on the west and north. They're only a year or two old, and slow-growing, so they're about knee-high at best.

LILACS: They're the outer windrow on the north side. The older ones are 6' tall, the brand new ones, 1-2'. They grow quickly, and the older ones flowered nicely this spring.

BACKYARD: We planted lily of the valley around the base of 2 backyard trees, that we got from a lady on Nextdoor. The transplant did take, and they bloomed nicely.

LINDEN FLOWERS: Oh my gosh, the linden flowers smell fabulous!!, especially in heavy damp evening air. (It has been a much wetter spring than usual. We have only had two 90 degree F days so far - amen! - because it's been cloudy, and more rainy than usual. We went to the Eagle Rodeo last weekend, and had to go home early because we were wet and cold; first time that's happened!)

DISTANT FUTURE: The wind-rows were put in to shelter a future fruit orchard inside the paddock. We still haven't decided what to plant - though newer apple trees, that we can be sure are properly shaped, would be first on the list. We'll have to find cold-hardy varieties of cold-hardy trees, to be sure they'll survive the worst we've seen so far (minus 18 F!). Anybody want to make suggestions?

Posted by: Pat* at June 17, 2018 12:33 AM (2pX/F)

128 Dreadpirateroberta at June 16, 2018 07:49 PM

Thanks for the update. Snakes!

It was 105 here earlier in the week, but it's cooled off for the weekend. Hope your garden does well.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 17, 2018 04:35 PM (BVQ+1)

129 Pat*

Great details, as always. Your fireweed is related to the Clarkias at the top of the post. I guess there are only a couple of Rocky Mountain species of Clarkia.

Orchards are a big topic. One to think about for the future.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at June 17, 2018 04:38 PM (BVQ+1)

(Jump to top of page)

Name: *

Email: *

URL:

Comments:

Processing 0.03, elapsed 0.0236 seconds.
15 queries taking 0.0083 seconds, 138 records returned.
Page size 100 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.