Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, June 4

Hi, everybody! Today, we are starting out with a little virtual trip to Israel.

A gardening lurker here. I live in central Israel, currently in temporary housing after my home burned three years ago in a forest fire at Mevo Modiim. The local council built "caravillot" (prefab houses) for the families who lost everything. To my surprise, in the unpromising dirt of the cement planters that surround my small yard, a couple of caper bushes sprang up last year.

Here are some photos that I took this week:

The buds start to unwind and open up in the evening when it cools down.
In the early morning, there are usually a dozen or so delicate flowers, visited by bees. The blossoms fade completely by the end of the day and in a few days a long green pod develops. Some people collect the unopened buds for pickling. I thought it was a protected plant, but apparently not, as it grows readily in dry sunny places and among rocks, needs almost no water.

It is so cheering to see the open flowers just after sunrise.

Love all the threads at Ace of Spades, especially the Saturday-Sunday ones.

I miss Oregon Muse.

Best wishes,

Little My

So sorry to hear that you lost your home. I miss Oregon Muse, too.

Nice that those caper bushes decided to sprout where you are living now.

A fascinating plant, sometimes seen growing out of walls.

I think those capers would look fine near some plants from Don in Kansas.
I think the Allium might make it where you are:

The Allium christophii I found at Walmart last October are now blooming. The flower heads are supposed to get eight inches in diameter, but these look like they'll max out at about five. They'll be followed shortly by another variety of allium, and then peonies and an early lily. The phacelia, poppies and other annuals will start blooming shortly.

My lilac -- something I haven't been able to say since I was fourteen -- put on a fine, fragrant show despite years of neglect.

Don't you just love that lilac?

Wildlife

Gordon alerted us to the arrival of Asian Jumping Worms in California:

Like an earthworm, the Asian jumping worm feeds on tiny pieces of fallen leaves that make up the topsoil, which is home to many tiny animals and microorganisms. And many plants depend on the leaf layer to grow and spread. But, unlike earthworms, the Asian jumping worm is never satiated.

According to the CDGA, these worms consume leaf litter and topsoil, leaving behind a grainy layer of soil resembling coffee grounds. Their destructive nature causes severe damage to forests.

"Jumping worms are voracious feeders and can devour such a thick organic mat so as to deplete it completely in 2-5 years," the CDFA has noted. "Also, by clearing the forest floors of understory plants and leaf debris, the worms encourage erosion and provide more accessible avenues for infection by other invasive species of organisms."

The worms, which have a light, milky-colored band around their bodies, which differentiates them from regular earthworms, have an annual life cycle, dying after the first hard frost of the season, according to a report from the University of Minnesota. The next generation survives the winter in cocoons in the topsoil hostaing only once the soil temperature is consistently about 50 degrees F. In 60 days, they mature into full-size adults and can grow up to 8 inches long. Since they can quickly reproduce without a mate, their population is hard to control.

Great. Gender non-conforming worms. Here's the Minnesota site:

Mrs. F and I were walking in Golden Gate Park not far from our house Friday afternoon and we saw a Blue Heron preening near the sidewalk. Then we noticed it was stalking a rodent, which it nabbed right out of its burrow. -San Franpsycho

An action sequence!

Edible Gardening

Hi KT, a couple weeks ago we were discussing Lazy beds for growing potatoes and other plants.

The lazy bed is a way of setting up a garden on heavy sod without having to plow to break it up first, and traditionally requires using a square spade and a "foot plow" called a Loy.

I don't have either of those, they don't sell Loys down at True Value. They do sell 4" clean out shovels with a lovely neck angle and heavy handle for prying, so I bought one of those and I have a edging spade I have used for years. They work pretty good, but a standard shovel will work too.

The lazy bed needs to have the sod detached and folded over like closing a book, and generally is done from both sides. You plant your spuds between the sods, "where the grass meets the grass"

It automatically gets the potatoes out of the wettest soil, and trenches each row for the runnoff. the decomposing sod fertilizes the potatoes. I think it would be ideal for planting very early here, in Oregon's wet spring.

You mound up the dirt over the potatoes as the plants grow up

I was interested enough in trying it out, so I dug a quick bed for my wife's sesame plants (she pickles the leaves) and it was quick and easier than hand digging a bed.

I then dug a quick one between some currant bushes and tried setting some potatoes, and that one is just popping out this week.
After I planted my own potatoes the standard way in my tilled garden, I asked my neighbor if I could try setting up some lazy beds in the back of his yard, and he said I could if I mowed it, so I did.

The two beds are about 15 feet long, and about 2 feet wide, they took around 2 hours to dig and I was not working fast. I set the spuds that day, and afterwards my neighbor set some drip tape over it.

So far there hasn't been any trouble with weeds, the wild yarrow seems to be popping up, and some whisps of grass, but most plants appear to not do well turned upside down, and they haven't recovered yet.

I am told you can make the beds wider if you want, and if I were interested in making raised beds without using timbers for a 4' wide bed with 4' aisles between, I would consider flipping the sods around the perimeter of the new bed, and using sods dug out of the aisleways to cover the interior.

Thanks for the great ideas!

Gardens of The Horde

This plant was "sold" to me as a swamp/bog/ditch iris and I like the bright yellow flowers. Surprisingly, the plant slipped the surly bonds of the bog, does not need a moist environment, and now I have stands of it in various places throughout the yard. It seems to be a hardy, and probably invasive, species but I do like the "tre-foil" flowers. I apologize for the poor focus on the actual flower itself (which is a singleton located at least twenty feet from the nearest stand of this iris).

Take care, stay safe, and be well!

Regards

Hrothgar

I think it may be a native, Hrothgar.

Hope everyone has a nice Weekend. If you didn't see your photos here today, check again next week.

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? May 28, featuring roses, eagles, cougars, a BIG veggie garden, lotsa irises and other great garden flowers and some striking insect close-ups. Be sure to check out the late comments by The Famous Pat* and the bee swarm story by az_desert_rat just below.

Any thoughts or questions?

The comments here are closed so you won't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.