Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, July 20

Jump Scare Lilies
KT, here's a splendiferous lily that just bloomed yesterday in my pollinator garden. I'd forgotten what manner of lily it was and BOOM, some sort of savage tiger, burning bright!
Eris

Sorta goes along with our weather! Gorgeous!

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

A bunch of yard photos for you to peruse from Chez Moron Analyst.
Most are labeled pretty clearly on what they are...but a few notes:
I saw a chipmunk high up in a mulberry tree while out running. I always assumed they COULD climb, but don't recall ever seeing them do it.
Most of my native plum trees have done pretty well (as you'd expect), but the one that has grown the most, and fastest, has split into multiple stalks that are too flimsy to support themselves. Do I need to cut some, support it, or maybe they'll thicken up over time?
One of my medlar trees just...died? Leaves started withering, while everything else around it is doing fine. No damage from critters gnawing on the trunk, so...no idea.
I planted asparagus from seed 3(?) years ago. I thought I remembered reading it would take a few years before it was mature enough to harvest, so I mostly leave it alone...it, like the plum tree, grows very tall, thin, and stringy.
My Chicago hardy fig tree SHOULD be fine for my zone (central Iowa), but every year it starts fresh from the root. Every year, it grows a bit taller and thicker before the winter, so I'm hoping eventually it'll get enough mass to survive the winter and continue growing instead of starting all over again.
Youngest daughter (16) made a cherry pie out of the cherries. Sweet, and right on the edge of being too tart.

We'll save some of the photos for later. Moron Analyst may appreciate some comments or tips from The Horde concerning the ones included below:

GARDEN

CHIPMUNK IN MULBERRY TREE

NATIVE PLUM - Any tips?

MEDLAR FRUIT

SAD MEDLAR TREE - any ideas what happened?

2 OR 3 YEAR ASPARAGUS - any tips?

CHICAGO HARDY FIG - anyone growing one?

CHERRY TREE

CHERRY PIE - Looks great to me!

Puttering

Treats for Ducks and Watermelon Art

Watermelon art.pic.twitter.com/J8oOlVbEUF
— The Random Guy (@RandomTheGuy_) July 17, 2024

Making fallen leaves into roses

Man turns fallen leaves into roses.pic.twitter.com/yplNLIwO7B
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 14, 2024

Adventure

Beach Art

The stunning beach art by Brighton Denevan

[📹 brightondenevan]pic.twitter.com/3wZG4cG6wy
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 19, 2024

Gardens of The Horde

Hi KT! Maybe for the next garden thread, attached are pics of Mrs. Boswell's lovely garden - she works so hard every year to make a lovely garden setting for the family - we love looking out from our deck to see her flowers and bushes she has meticulously groomed - she has a wonderful green thumb!
Thanks!
AOSHQ Nic Boswell

Lovely garden. Looks cool and inviting. And a lovely sketch, too.

Thanks for sending them in.

I love these parakeet flowers. They are also called "false bird of paradise" and "parrot's beak". They bloom abundantly and the flowers last a long time. Plus the plants are maintenance free.

Dirk Bohunk

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, July 13

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.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:35 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Fist!

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damn it! at July 20, 2024 01:37 PM (o3Uyl)

2 Good afternoon Greenthumbs
Getting good cucumbers but still not a red tomato
And pepper been taking green ones and bringing inside, some are turning red

Posted by: Skip at July 20, 2024 01:38 PM (vUEz+)

3 fast

Posted by: Ciampino - Sat Update #37 at July 20, 2024 01:38 PM (qfLjt)

4 I'm gardening as well. I'll be right here pushing up daisy's .
- SJ Lee

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damn it! at July 20, 2024 01:39 PM (o3Uyl)

5 I'm somebody! My photo made it to the Gardening Thread!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at July 20, 2024 01:40 PM (kpS4V)

6 Mrs. Boswell's topiary skillz are mad!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at July 20, 2024 01:42 PM (kpS4V)

7 That lily doesn't look real, just beautiful.

Boswell, what a gorgeous garden, just spectacular.

And moron analyst, I'm always amazed how green other parts of the country are. I do not have any tips for you but I think your yard is pretty, again so green. I love it.

Posted by: CaliGirl at July 20, 2024 01:43 PM (oaoUQ)

8 Tomatoes are starting to ripen rapidly. Got my first Yellow Brandywine and ooooh myyyy.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at July 20, 2024 01:43 PM (kpS4V)

9 getting bell peppers on my bell peppers I planted as seeds back in February/March. Hey, It's So Cal.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 01:43 PM (ynpvh)

10 Just came here to say the asparagus tips spoke directly to my nerdy little heart.

Posted by: Piper at July 20, 2024 01:46 PM (p4NUW)

11 The "Tomatolanch" has started here. We have at least a five gallon bucket filled with cherry tomatoes of various types that we (ehem..Catwoman..) is canning for sauce today.

Posted by: catman at July 20, 2024 01:52 PM (4HMlb)

12 I wish our veggie garden did better this year. No luck with the squashes or cucumbers at all. Tomatoes are 50/50 as one plant was decimated by bugs.

On the plus side, I mowed the property yesterday. 3 1/2 hours on the tractor.

And all of the world's problems were solved.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 20, 2024 01:56 PM (Q4IgG)

13 I have the Chicago Hardy fig but haven't planted it yet. Are you protecting the top part?

Posted by: Notsothoreau at July 20, 2024 01:59 PM (xjTDL)

14 I really want to start growing tomatoes, because I am often disappointed in what the stores sell. Sprouts has a better selection and have had good luck with that.

But we are having to focus on getting our house ready to sell, so we can get the hell out of Colorado. So the termaters must wait.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Nothing to Contribute to the Debate at July 20, 2024 01:59 PM (Ad8y9)

15 And moron analyst, I'm always amazed how green other parts of the country are. I do not have any tips for you but I think your yard is pretty, again so green. I love it.
Posted by: CaliGirl

I live in central Iowa, and the soil is very rich. It's always amazing how quickly we go from winter landscape, with everything dead, some skeletal trees and bushes, and the spring hits, and BOOM, everything is overgrown. We've had a lot of rain this year, which has made things grow even more rapidly.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at July 20, 2024 02:02 PM (ycI94)

16 I got my order from Historical Iris Preservation sale. They look good. I got no name varieties. The irises I moved did not bloom this year but did get some growth. I need to make a better bed as it's a fight to keep Jake out of them.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at July 20, 2024 02:03 PM (xjTDL)

17 >>> 15
==
We've had a lot of rain this year, which has made things grow even more rapidly.
Posted by: Moron Analyst at July 20, 2024 02:02 PM (ycI94)

At the end of June we had just a little over *twice* the average for that time frame. Beryl dropped almost a half foot of rain in about 30 hours, and the forecast is projecting rain Monday through Thursday. I expect that to change, but we'll see.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at July 20, 2024 02:05 PM (VavZF)

18 But we are having to focus on getting our house ready to sell, so we can get the hell out of Colorado. So the termaters must wait.
Posted by: Pug Mahon

Unintentionally we had a raised garden full of almost perfect tomatoes when we put out house up for sale.
We didn't know it; but, the buyer (and family) loved the garden.
If you've got the garden setup (I had a watering system setup that I left installed) it wouldn't hurt to have veggies growing.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at July 20, 2024 02:12 PM (DjNoS)

19 with the plum, probably just choose the strongest stem, cut the rest back to the ground, stake it upright, and next winter cut it off about 5 feet or so to get it to branch there.
That is what I did with the apple that came back from the roots as a thicket.

I don't know about the medlar, it looks dead and it might have been a failure of the graft or the roots died. It might come back from the roots, though.

Posted by: Kindltot at July 20, 2024 02:15 PM (D7oie)

20 My corn is head high and starting to tassel. My potatoes are good to dig whenever I feel like it, though one row of the Kennebecks I planted for fun are still green and growing
the cabbages are getting huge, never had such good luck with cabbages. I dug the garlic and that was disappointing. I will have to figure out what I did wrong, the grow it comemrcially locally and there has to be some way of doing it right.

Posted by: Kindltot at July 20, 2024 02:17 PM (D7oie)

21 I love the terraced garden.

Posted by: Kindltot at July 20, 2024 02:19 PM (D7oie)

22 Discovered a bumper crop of Goatheads in the last area I hadn't yet cleaned up.
This last winter brought out all the bad plants around here then the dry killed them all except the goatheads which are a sprawling ground vine. I usually get them when they are small and flowering but I missed this patch. Probably 20 of them around 6 feet in diameter and all tangled together by their spikey nasty thorns.
Things poke right through leather gloves.

I envy all you who live where green is the normal color of the fauna.
Around here brown aand dead is the norm unless you water the hell out of stuff.

Posted by: Reforger at July 20, 2024 02:20 PM (xcIvR)

23 If you've got the garden setup (I had a watering system setup that I left installed) it wouldn't hurt to have veggies growing.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at July 20, 2024 02:12 PM (DjNoS)

A great idea, but part of the reason I never did it before is because our yard is just not conducive to growing anything. Simply way too much direct sunlight all day long. My lawn goes dormant around mid-June. Last summer was an exception. Almost Oregon-level rainfall.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Nothing to Contribute to the Debate at July 20, 2024 02:20 PM (Ad8y9)

24 13 I have the Chicago Hardy fig but haven't planted it yet. Are you protecting the top part?
Posted by: Notsothoreau

I haven't protected the top. I was wondering about burlap or something this year, perhaps, although I was hoping if it grew thick enough that wouldn't be necessary.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at July 20, 2024 02:21 PM (ycI94)

25 >>> 23
==
A great idea, but part of the reason I never did it before is because our yard is just not conducive to growing anything. Simply way too much direct sunlight all day long. My lawn goes dormant around mid-June. Last summer was an exception. Almost Oregon-level rainfall.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Nothing to Contribute to the Debate at July 20, 2024 02:20 PM (Ad8y9)

In normal years our summer is the driest part of the year (a relative term of course), but with that and the heat I'm tempted to get those shade 'tarps' available at the big box stores and set them up so the plants get relief during the middle of the day.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at July 20, 2024 02:28 PM (VavZF)

26 100° plus forecast for Van Nuys CA today.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at July 20, 2024 02:29 PM (moBQS)

27 Around here brown aand dead is the norm

That's racist

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at July 20, 2024 02:31 PM (moBQS)

28 Simply way too much direct sunlight all day long.
Posted by: Pug Mahon

LOL, I think we understand, the low desert gets a bit of sun too.

Around here they put 50% sun screen over the gardens in the summer.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at July 20, 2024 02:37 PM (DjNoS)

29 I'd try the burlap wrap. I used to have an article about a guy that grew figs in a cold climate. He completely wrapped them. The roots are protected okay but it's having to grow new branches each year.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at July 20, 2024 02:37 PM (xjTDL)

30 100° plus forecast for Van Nuys CA today.
Posted by: Commissar of Plenty

103 right now and we're slated for merely 110F.
On the 'plus' side there is a chance of thunder storms today and tonight so we have higher humidity to look forward to as well!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at July 20, 2024 02:39 PM (DjNoS)

31 Wow! Beach art guy. Trained by……well……..you know. Aliens.

Posted by: Eromero at July 20, 2024 02:47 PM (o2ZRX)

32 A hornet popped my right index finger locking the garage door getting home, just forward of the first knuckle. It wasn't a real sting just what I've always called a 'pop' where it barely breaks the skin, and 15 minutes later it's gone. Little shit. I don't know what his problem was.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 20, 2024 02:53 PM (bFId9)

33 Late to the thread but sometimes errands just gotta be done. We are having a gentle, cool rain with temps in the 70s. A nice break from the 100+degrees earlier this week. We might even get some green grass eventually.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2024 02:54 PM (zudum)

34 The photos, as always, are lovely. And the video links are cool. The guy making falling leaves in 'roses' is interesting and beats raking them up. But the ducks nibbling the watermelon is hilarious.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2024 02:58 PM (zudum)

35 103 right now and we're slated for merely 110F.

Anything over 80° and I wilt

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at July 20, 2024 03:01 PM (moBQS)

36 Great stuff here. Thanks to all who share. This is a very unique place. I found it in the early 2000s - around the Bush v. Kerry years. Haven't left since. I'm very grateful to have found you all. Fight!

Posted by: Frasier Crane at July 20, 2024 03:02 PM (CWMF2)

37 The weather talk this week was all about the consecutive days of 100+ degrees heat. Each report included how it's been almost a century since the last three day stretch. These people have no sense of irony that maybe, just maybe, global warming is a bunch of BS.

I don't mind the historical perspective but would prefer these 'experts' to give me an accurate 2 day forecast. And start using barometer readings and wind direction as part of the report.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2024 03:09 PM (zudum)

38 Last week's food thread mentioned the Rada tomato slicing knife. I now know it works better than advertised. And it is inexpensive. Something to keep in mind as those tomatoes come off the vine.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2024 03:16 PM (zudum)

39 26 100° plus forecast for Van Nuys CA today.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at July 20, 2024 02:29 PM (moBQS)

85 or 86°F in my part of Sandy Eggo.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:18 PM (ynpvh)

40 barometer readings and wind direction as part of the report.

As a kid visiting Grandpa in Brawley CA. (low desert, 400 feet below sea level,) TV channels were limited. There was one 24 hour station. A camera like an oscillating fan would show Time, Temperature, Wind Velocity and Direction, Barometer.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at July 20, 2024 03:18 PM (moBQS)

41 Speaking of the weather...

There's a 20% - 80% chance of rain/thunder showers for the next 7 days here in Kentucky. The media is making noise about it... climate change, of course.

The forecast actually is for a 20% - 80% chance of rain in any given spot... not that the entire forecast are will see rain. But that's not what the local media is reporting.

For the month: 3.36 inches. Nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe a bit dry.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 20, 2024 03:19 PM (Q4IgG)

42 32 A hornet popped my right index finger locking the garage door getting home, just forward of the first knuckle. It wasn't a real sting just what I've always called a 'pop' where it barely breaks the skin, and 15 minutes later it's gone. Little shit. I don't know what his problem was.

Posted by: LenNeal at July 20, 2024 02:53 PM (bFId9)

They all tend to be nasty bastards. Why as a kid I had fun popping them with a BB gun when they tried to land on water in a local reservoir.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:20 PM (ynpvh)

43 35 103 right now and we're slated for merely 110F.

Anything over 80° and I wilt

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at July 20, 2024 03:01 PM (moBQS)

Why air conditioning is one of man's greatest inventions...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:21 PM (ynpvh)

44 Medlars (in the South we call them loquats) are subject to a bacterial "fire blight".
You need to check your blossoms in the winter when they bloom. Pruning affected limbs and blossoms can control it. See here:
https://tinyurl.com/2f685bhu

Posted by: GR Mead at July 20, 2024 03:22 PM (/ae7J)

45 37 The weather talk this week was all about the consecutive days of 100+ degrees heat. Each report included how it's been almost a century since the last three day stretch. These people have no sense of irony that maybe, just maybe, global warming is a bunch of BS.

I don't mind the historical perspective but would prefer these 'experts' to give me an accurate 2 day forecast. And start using barometer readings and wind direction as part of the report.

Posted by: JTB at July 20, 2024 03:09 PM (zudum)

The "Feels like" temp bothers me to. Oh, the weather out "feels" like 130°F! See, Globull Warmening!

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:23 PM (ynpvh)

46 40 barometer readings and wind direction as part of the report.

As a kid visiting Grandpa in Brawley CA. (low desert, 400 feet below sea level,) TV channels were limited. There was one 24 hour station. A camera like an oscillating fan would show Time, Temperature, Wind Velocity and Direction, Barometer.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at July 20, 2024 03:18 PM (moBQS)

Imperial Valley is FUN in the summer.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:24 PM (ynpvh)

47 I always found the signs around El Centro that said "Where the sun spends the winter" funny; it also seems to be the place where the sun spends the summer.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:26 PM (ynpvh)

48 We have issues with wasps. I've taken brown paper bags and torn off pieces, wadded them up and stuffed the wads into crevices. They resemble a wasps nest, to the wasps, and they won't try to build a nest anywhere nearby.

It's like hanging a ziplock bag, filled with water and a penny over door thresholds to deter flies from coming in.

From "things the hill people know."

YMMV

Posted by: Martini Farmer at July 20, 2024 03:28 PM (Q4IgG)

49 In my yard we have mostly some kind of paper wasps that build small nests. They look scary but are not very aggressive. Still, I have been stung several times.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at July 20, 2024 03:28 PM (Ad8y9)

50 What kills me is the "no rain for the next 10 days". Then I check the weather at night and it's raining. Surely they can do better than that.

And we get severe thunderstorm warning, "take action in the next half hour". What are you supposed to do? It's a thunderstorm in Kansas. Watch out for hail and lightning

Posted by: Notsothoreau at July 20, 2024 03:30 PM (xjTDL)

51 Good afternoon, good people. I enjoy reading about the Gardening Chronicles here, having ceased gardening operations some time ago. I got sick and tired of providing a salad bar for the local wildlife--when the DOG got in the act by eating the corn off the stalks instead of guarding them (she flat loved fresh raw corn) that was it.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at July 20, 2024 03:30 PM (hKoQL)

52 49 In my yard we have mostly some kind of paper wasps that build small nests. They look scary but are not very aggressive. Still, I have been stung several times.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at July 20, 2024 03:28 PM (Ad8y9)

Yellow jackets. Stung near the eye, stung near the ear, stung on my legs, stung on my arms (all different occurrences). I don't like them, they don't like me.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:31 PM (ynpvh)

53 I used to have to go on road trips to the Holly Sugar plant near Brawley. I hated that place. It got very hot inside the sugar factory.

Posted by: Ronster at July 20, 2024 03:31 PM (F3BsP)

54 53 I used to have to go on road trips to the Holly Sugar plant near Brawley. I hated that place. It got very hot inside the sugar factory.

Posted by: Ronster at July 20, 2024 03:31 PM (F3BsP)

Sugar beet sugar. One of Imperial Valley's major crops.

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:32 PM (ynpvh)

55 Yellow jackets are mean mofos.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at July 20, 2024 03:32 PM (Ad8y9)

56 Those lilies reminded me of:
I say I say I say! My dustbins full of lillies
(Well throw 'em away then) I can't Lilly's wearing them

https://tinyurl.com/4eb39vpt

Posted by: Ciampino - Sat Update #35 at July 20, 2024 03:32 PM (qfLjt)

57 I dug out the sink for working outside during the summer, and found a paper wasp nest under it. It was early morning and the girls were not awake in the cold, so I picked it up with some cloth and put it in the mailbox I have nailed to a fencepost in my fenceline in the hope they would take up residence there. I put the mailbox there because wasps are supposed to like to nest in them, and I want them in my garden to hunt the pests
I checked again this morning and some of them are still guarding the nest.

Posted by: Kindltot at July 20, 2024 03:32 PM (D7oie)

58 Anybody here grow Brussels sprouts? I planted a couple of plants that I got from a garden store, and the plants look like they're doing great, however there's no sign of actual Brussels sprouts, and the plants have what look (and taste) like Broccoli heads on them. I've never grown Brussels sprouts before, so I don't know what to expect. I suspect that what I got are Broccoli plants that were mislabeled.

Any ideas ?

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:34 PM (Yt3ED)

59 58 Anybody here grow Brussels sprouts? I planted a couple of plants that I got from a garden store, and the plants look like they're doing great, however there's no sign of actual Brussels sprouts, and the plants have what look (and taste) like Broccoli heads on them. I've never grown Brussels sprouts before, so I don't know what to expect. I suspect that what I got are Broccoli plants that were mislabeled.

Any ideas ?

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:34 PM (Yt3ED)

How tall are they? Online says they grow 2-3 ft tall...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:37 PM (ynpvh)

60 Reforger at July 20, 2024 02:20 PM

Aren't goatheads awful?

Posted by: KT at July 20, 2024 03:39 PM (rrtZS)

61 Re: growing asparagus, I grew it for a while, it does take a few years to get to where you can harvest it. Keep an eye on it in early spring, when it first emerges from the ground. If the sprouts are 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter, you can harvest them when they are 6" to 8" tall by cutting at ground level. Smaller than that, leave them alone and let them grow.

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:39 PM (Yt3ED)

62 BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:34 PM

If the broccoli heads are at the top of the plant and there don't look to be little round nubs where the stems meet the main stalk, you probably do have mislabeled plants.

Posted by: KT at July 20, 2024 03:41 PM (rrtZS)

63 15

I live in central Iowa, and the soil is very rich. It's always amazing how quickly we go from winter landscape, with everything dead, some skeletal trees and bushes, and the spring hits, and BOOM, everything is overgrown. We've had a lot of rain this year, which has made things grow even more rapidly.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at July 20, 2024 02:02 PM (ycI94)

Where in central Iowa? I'm in Grimes, near Des Moines. You're right, this has been a good year for gardening here.

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:42 PM (Yt3ED)

64 59 58 Anybody here grow Brussels sprouts? I planted a couple of plants that I got from a garden store, and the plants look like they're doing great, however there's no sign of actual Brussels sprouts, and the plants have what look (and taste) like Broccoli heads on them. I've never grown Brussels sprouts before, so I don't know what to expect. I suspect that what I got are Broccoli plants that were mislabeled.

Any ideas ?

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:34 PM (Yt3ED)

How tall are they? Online says they grow 2-3 ft tall...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at July 20, 2024 03:37 PM (ynpvh)

About two feet tall, and still growing. The plants look great, just no sprouts.

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:47 PM (Yt3ED)

65 62 BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:34 PM

If the broccoli heads are at the top of the plant and there don't look to be little round nubs where the stems meet the main stalk, you probably do have mislabeled plants.

Posted by: KT at July 20, 2024 03:41 PM (rrtZS)

Thanks, that's what I figured. No signs of sprouts where they should be. Oh, well.

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:49 PM (Yt3ED)

66 From Boise area: Highs 100+ all week. Onions nearly all harvested, and stored in garage (in air rifle boxes - storing this many, and doing it in the garage, is an experiment). Zucchini, cucumbers for pickling, green beans coming in. SunGold tomatoes are getting started. We put homemade "lifters" under the cantaloupes and pumpkin.

Air quality alert, from fires' smoke.
We saw 2 squirrels raiding my strawberry patch - will need to get the net on and see if that stops them. Gophers still plague us; exterminator has not got them all yet.

Asparagus bed is a disaster, filled with crabgrass and purslane - I'll try to dig all that crap out. Corn is starting to tassel, at only half its usual height... First slicing tomato showing color has a damaged base - time to put more calcium in the tomato beds. Our mini blueberry bushes have tart dry berries due to the heat; same for red raspberries' early crop. I was forced to *buy* parsley and basil plants, so I had stuff to show at Fair in August.

Experiments: 4 broccolini, all finally making florets - they probably should've been started and planted out earlier. 2 sweet potato vines, OK so far.

Posted by: Pat* at July 20, 2024 03:56 PM (3SRto)

67 Wow! Boswell's yard is gorgeous!

Mine looks more like this, except the fence isn't pretty either:
tinyurl.com/ky4dk2xn

Posted by: JQ at July 20, 2024 04:03 PM (njWTi)

68 Anybody here grow Brussels sprouts? I planted a couple of plants that I got from a garden store, and the plants look like they're doing great, however there's no sign of actual Brussels sprouts, and the plants have what look (and taste) like Broccoli heads on them. I've never grown Brussels sprouts before, so I don't know what to expect. I suspect that what I got are Broccoli plants that were mislabeled.

Any ideas ?

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 03:34 PM

I experienced the opposite, about 30years ago--

Bought "broccoli" and ended up with brussels sprouts. They turned out puny, but we ate them LOL.

Posted by: JQ at July 20, 2024 04:08 PM (njWTi)

69 Oh, BillyD, to answer your question:

Mine each sent up a tall, central stalk with sprouts along the sides. Got maybe 3ft tall? Been a looooong time.

Posted by: JQ at July 20, 2024 04:10 PM (njWTi)

70 Love all the content today, KT! Thanks!

Posted by: JQ at July 20, 2024 04:12 PM (njWTi)

71 69 Oh, BillyD, to answer your question:

Mine each sent up a tall, central stalk with sprouts along the sides. Got maybe 3ft tall? Been a looooong time.

Posted by: JQ at July 20, 2024 04:10 PM (njWTi)

That's what I expected. I have the center stalk, but no sprouts, and branches with broccoli heads growing off the stalk.

Posted by: BillyD at July 20, 2024 04:19 PM (Yt3ED)

72 Dirk Bohunk's "parakeet" flowers-- one of many types of heliconia. Had several in my Hawaii yard.

My favorite was heliconia rostrata which has long, pendulous bracts... very colorful and would last a couple weeks after cutting!

Posted by: JQ at July 20, 2024 04:23 PM (njWTi)

73 BillyD-- after so many times of getting 'switched tag' plants, I now buy plants from the back rows of nursery flats... never from the very front!

Posted by: JQ at July 20, 2024 04:28 PM (njWTi)

74 Good afternoon all.
Those lilies are just gorgeous. I miss the garden I left in MA.
I sent that beach art post to my granddaughters who are at Rehobeth beach for a couple of days. Maybe will be inspirational. That art is gorgeous but so ephemeral. Especially like the one by the black rocks.
Going to make pickled jalapeños tomorrow. Finally have enough.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at July 20, 2024 04:47 PM (t/2Uw)

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