Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, August 9

I felt like posting something from a cooler time period than today's 105 degree weather here:

Hi Katy -
Hope you are on the mend post-surgery. I'm sending good wishes and prayers your way.
Dogwood Daze - the dogwood blossoms were beautiful this spring. I thought I'd send this photo along before they fade away. Also, a photo of the first flower to bloom in my garden, the hardy Columbine.
The Pilot

From MkY in April:

I can't take pics like Don in Kansas, but I noticed that the dogwoods were particularly spectacular this year here (we're maybe 150 miles north of their natural range).
The white is the largest one in the State of Kansas.

Wow. Thinking about planting for next year?

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

California isn't really "Hatch Chile" country, but this is a supermarket advertisement similar to others this time of year around here. Along with Hatch Chile rotisserie chickens and the like.

Have you got ripe chiles?

Ah, Nature

Removal of a hornets nest
pic.twitter.com/1jNYvdEo0N
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) July 23, 2025

Ever seen anything like this?

Adventure

I Would Watch a 50hr Documentary on How They Built This 1500 Years Ago… pic.twitter.com/xIvXN0rzKc
— 𝕰𝖒𝕲 (@Emilio2763) July 23, 2025

The tweet above reminded me of this, received a while ago:

Greetings!

Lurker and Gardening Thread fan "RS" here.

For your consideration under the "nature" theme, may I submit a few pics from my daughter's recent foray into the Bavarian Alps. (She lives in Bavaria.) The mountain is called "Rotwand" and is considered one of Munich's "House Mountains."

Anyway, keep up the good work and thanks for your contributions at AoS.

Cheers.

That is a real adventure!

Gardens of The Horde

We had a question about growing four o'clocks in challenging circumstances recently. Here is an example of four o' clocks doing very well:

Hi KT,
Could you kindly post these pics on next week's garden thread? The flowers are at their peak right now and I'm just not sure how long they'll last. As I mentioned in my follow-up post, I have done nothing to amend the soil in our back yard, as it's nothing but deep sand and we're plagued with pocket gophers that tunnel through and ruin everything. It's a complete miracle that anything grows in it to begin with.
These pics are a little dark as I took them late in the day once the temps dropped, but you can see the vibrant colors. The pink lily like flower is Amaryllis Belladonna, which grow like weeds everywhere in the SF Bay Area.
Thanks!
Effie

So colorful! I am surprised that four o'clocks stand up to pocket gophers. Not surprised that amaryllis do.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Gardening 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, Home and Nature Thread, August 2

Hoping CaliGirl is faring okay with the big fire.

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.

Giant Water Lily "Victoria Boliviana" leaf diameter can exceed 3 meterspic.twitter.com/iS9nIBIVr4
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 21, 2025

Posted by: K.T. at 01:16 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Dogwood blossoms?
Pet thread!

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 09, 2025 01:19 PM (rhtv8)

2 Great pictures! Thanks for the gardening Thread KT!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 01:23 PM (nVXpg)

3 The wasp video scared the crap out of my grandson.
He got bit by a meat bee three days ago and is no fan of any flying, stinging thing right now.

Posted by: Reforger at August 09, 2025 01:26 PM (h5TUr)

4 What beautiful dogwoods!

We had a pretty little magnolia tree at the ancestral home, but I was not prepared for the gorgeous giant trees down south.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 01:27 PM (kpS4V)

5 Received 10 puny dried out I’itoi onion bulbs in the mail planted in a pot before I remembered to take a picture. I'll send a pic if any sprout!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 01:28 PM (nVXpg)

6 The colors in those four o'clock flowers are both beautiful and intriguing. Thanks for posting them.

Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2025 01:29 PM (yTvNw)

7 There’s a bald eagle twittering around here somewhere. I can hear him, but haven’t seen him yet.

Hazy and sunny and 62 here on the beach. High of 75. I’ll go for a walk here in a bit.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 09, 2025 01:30 PM (mT+6a)

8 My tomato plants are spitting out maters but due to the heavy rain/no rain cycles they often have blossom end rot or stretch marks. It's been a weird summer.

Best varieties this year have been Delicious Hunt, Thorburn's Terra Cotta, and Lemon Boy. My usually reliable Brandywine types have been very susceptible to disease.

Hot peppers are coming in nicely. Can't wait for Mad Hatters to ripen; supposed to be mildly hot but very flavorful.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 01:32 PM (kpS4V)

9 Good afternoon Greenthumbs
Getting a couple more Anaheim peppers and cucumbers from.my cucumber garden

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 01:34 PM (+qU29)

10 I keep bees, and am not yet very good at it. Two weeks ago, when pulling honey supers, I discovered one of my hives had become "hot"... as in angry, pissed off and in no mood to let me take their honey. In fact, they were in no mood to let me stay on the property!
So... you gotta replace the queen in that situation. 3x in the next week, I and a helper went through the hive looking for her. We could NOT find her.
So, since I couldn't keep the new queen caged much longer, I took about 1/2 the bitch's capped brood (bees ready to emerge and get to work) and the attendant bees, brought the new hive here and let the new queen get acquainted.
I bought a new suit after the 1st go round with that hot hive. I must have gotten hit 100 times. A few stings, no problem, but I actually panicked.
I would NOT do that wasp thing voluntarily.

Posted by: MkY at August 09, 2025 01:37 PM (cPGH3)

11 Where is that castle?

Posted by: thereallaserjock at August 09, 2025 01:37 PM (btO17)

12 I finished my second batch of blackberry jam this week, and I don't think I will make any more. I have in mind a batch of peach jam, and I am planning a batch of pear jam, and that should hold me and pretty much anyone I know for the next year.
The Summer apples are ripe and falling so I have the fruit dryer running on the back porch. Once I am done with apples, it will be plum season, and I will have prunes as well.
I dug my potatoes and planted the bed with Cranberry Beans, which are a nice bush bean I like to can. I am waiting for the tomatoes to come ripe too.
Besides the fruit and berries, it hasn't been a great year for the garden. I had trouble getting it started and unfortunately it is slow in putting out veggies.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 09, 2025 01:40 PM (rbvCR)

13 All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes

We're just now getting tomatoes in quantities, but our Brandywines have yet to give us a single one.
Weird year for sure.
People don't want to visit lately, cause everyone has to take cukes home. Mom, Dad, kids... no one gets to go home empty-handed.

Posted by: MkY at August 09, 2025 01:40 PM (cPGH3)

14 Kind of neat. We've always had owls in the trees in our backyard and the adjacent yards. I would find the pellets on the ground and could hear them 'hooing'. But last night we heard them while in the house. They must have been roosting in the maple just outside a window. Unusual and a bit haunting.

Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2025 01:42 PM (yTvNw)

15 I'll take some of those cukes, MkY!

I chortled at seeing the words "bitch" and "capped" in a nice apiary context. Didn't know the beekeeping scene was so hardcore.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 01:44 PM (kpS4V)

16 12 I finished my second batch of blackberry jam this week . .
Blackberry is great with the more perfumed black currants. Or with raspberries.

Peach is great with a little raspberry, too. Pear with citrus?

Posted by: KT at August 09, 2025 01:45 PM (7vIsy)

17 We have two little Christmas cacti in pots, rather spindly. While they bloom reliably twice a year they have never grown bigger. This week I noticed one of them has new growth coming in on the tips of the older parts, a very light green against the much darker established parts. No idea why now after several decades of no change but it is really cool.

Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2025 01:47 PM (yTvNw)

18 Eris, I have had blossom end rot, what seemed to fix it for me was adding in fish bone meal and ag lime in the spring when I plant. I also put on kelp meal
The stretches and splits may be from the rain.

Every year my tomatoes get ripe and we get the first downpour of the summer, so I go out in the mud to pick the splitting tomatoes, and freeze them in ziplock bags because late in the afternoon I am neither prepared for or willing to do the canning

Posted by: Kindltot at August 09, 2025 01:50 PM (rbvCR)

19 There was a patch of Four o'clocks by our garage when I was a kid. All were that deep magenta color.

The seeds are so cool, too! They're shaped rather like hand grenades.

Posted by: JQ at August 09, 2025 02:02 PM (rdVOm)

20 KT, I make the apple and pear jams as a sort of a confit, I shred the fruit and use that instead of puree with the sugar and pectin.
I add lemon juice, and the whole thing pretty much sparkles. For some reason if I use cooked and pureed fruit it tastes heavy.
I do much the same with plum and peach. My peach jam is crushed and chopped fruit, and not run through the grinder.
I tend not to mix fruits, though your suggestions sound wonderful. The one thing I do add extra flavoring to is the cherry jam I make, I like to add vanilla to it.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 09, 2025 02:03 PM (rbvCR)

21 Kindltot, I've bagged a lot of the "splittists" and uglies (one bag for yellows and oranges, one for reds) and look forward to making sauce in the cold winter months.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 02:03 PM (kpS4V)

22 Maybe a "conserve" more than a "confit"

I use it on toast mostly, thought I also like it for jam tarts

Posted by: Kindltot at August 09, 2025 02:06 PM (rbvCR)

23 The ludicrous sized wasp nest looks like it's in the foundation of an abandoned building. I'd wait until night and burn that fcker down.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 09, 2025 02:06 PM (ULPxl)

24 My co-worker has bees and was contacted by someone about a swarm. When he got there, it found out it was a yellow jackets nest. He. Was trying to get the nest out where they could be killed, but they found a few holes in his bee suit. He didn'r have great visibilty but managed to wander off into the woods where he could strip down out of the suit. The owner did a video on his phone and my friend sent me a copy (fortunately without the stripping down part). It's funny because the video sometimes shows up in my photo feed and I have to figure out what I'm looking at.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 09, 2025 02:08 PM (kUxzU)

25 All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes
The term "bitch" isn't a bee term, like with dogs. It's what it looks like. She's a mean bitch, and she needs to die.

Posted by: MkY at August 09, 2025 02:11 PM (cPGH3)

26 Notsothoreau
My wife has been reading about how some people can take stings, and then can't, for whatever reason.
I'm far to cavalier with stings now. I shouldn't be, I know. I keep a radically out of date Epi-pen handy, just in case.
But when you're used to nice, gentle hives, you kinda get used to it.
If all the bees were like that hot hive, no one would keep bees.

Posted by: MkY at August 09, 2025 02:19 PM (cPGH3)

27 the off-label use for benedryl gel-caps is to smear the goo on bee and yellow jacket stings. I find it keeps the swelling down, and they don't itch like crazy afterwards.
I also eat the empty capsule just in case.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 09, 2025 02:23 PM (rbvCR)

28 I prefer the heirloom single-color columbines over the bicolor ones. Found a few on an abandoned homestead in Sweden and moved them to my garden. Dark blue and dusty wine red. Beautiful!

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:35 PM (w6EFb)

29
The wasps and other stinging insects are out in force this week!

Tomatoes are almost done, now the real work begins at the direction of the canner.

Not garden, but Peace Garden: took a easy bet that Trump will not be the Nobel prize winner this year, wagering a whole jar of salsa.

Posted by: Auspex at August 09, 2025 02:35 PM (Y8DZL)

30 Plumbing but not having a great time at it today, waiting until it cools to try it

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 02:38 PM (+qU29)

31 Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 01:32 PM (kpS4V)

Those Terra Cottas are delicious! I recommend Black Strawberry for its prolific fruiting and long-lasting tomatoes, especially for sauce.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:40 PM (w6EFb)

32 12 Posted by: Kindltot at August 09, 2025 01:40 PM (rbvCR)

I have about 4 dozen peaches ripening right now. Picked a little over a week ago, so it's taken them awhile. Last batch of the year, I guess.

Anyway, I'll can some of them and also make a few batches of low-sugar peach jam. It's delicious! It doesn't gel up a lot, but I really appreciate the peach flavor with less of the sugar. Great over ice cream.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:44 PM (w6EFb)

33 I need to schedule a rain dance ceremony. It's been over three weeks without any rain except for a couple of drizzles. Our lakes are dropping.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 02:49 PM (VofaG)

34 I recommend Black Strawberry for its prolific fruiting and long-lasting tomatoes, especially for sauce.
Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:40 PM (w6EFb)
----

Never heard of it. Gonna have to order some seeds. Thanks.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 02:52 PM (kpS4V)

35 It's been a weird year for sure. Almost 6 weeks of 90+ temps with little rain in the last four. Come August, the temps plummeted to low 70s with what seems to be rain every day.

The stray cat that we've been feeding for the past month or two bit my right hand (so quick!), and that put me out of commission for the better part of a week. It happened at 8:30 pm, and I wasn't going to the ER on a Friday night for a cat bite, no way. So I didn't get antibiotics until the next morning at the urgent care. I'll bet that delay contributed to the swelling.

Publius got bit by the same damn cat a few days ago. Since the urgent care was still open he got his amoxicillin right away. His swelling isn't as bad.

The doc told me that 85% of cat bites get infected, whereas only 15% of dog bites do.

Maybe this should be on the Pet Thread...

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:55 PM (w6EFb)

36 Never heard of it. Gonna have to order some seeds. Thanks.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 02:52 PM (kpS4V)

Baker Creek.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:56 PM (w6EFb)

37 Hornet's nest, dayum!

Posted by: Eromero at August 09, 2025 03:07 PM (LHPAg)

38 The doc told me that 85% of cat bites get infected, whereas only 15% of dog bites do.

Bird owners say "cats puncture, dogs crush".

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 09, 2025 03:08 PM (QGetb)

39 And what about the giant catfish waiting under that lily pad?

Posted by: Eromero at August 09, 2025 03:12 PM (LHPAg)

40 That hornet's nest gave me the heebie jeebies. Bumblebees and honey bees are fine. but I hate wasps and hornets. Mean bastages.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 03:13 PM (0aYVJ)

41 The doc told me that 85% of cat bites get infected, whereas only 15% of dog bites do.

Maybe this should be on the Pet Thread...
Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:55 PM (w6EFb)
-----

My mom was bitten by one of our cats (big puncture wound) and yeah, it's serious. Doc said if she had waited longer to get it treated she could have had permanent damage.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2025 03:33 PM (kpS4V)

42 Kindltot at August 09, 2025 02:03 PM

The pear prep sounds great. I might add a few shreds of lemon zest.

The type of black currant (rust resistant) that is pretty much too strong to eat straight is great when used to spike other berry jams.

Strawberry dishes with a little lime are also great.

Posted by: KT at August 09, 2025 03:34 PM (7vIsy)

43 I just watched a guy pull a #17 king salmon out of the water off the dock. Beautiful fish.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 09, 2025 03:53 PM (uBGP/)

44 I think that wasp situation was deserving of a small tactical nuke. At the least a flamewerfer. Fire would have been my way of getting rid of it. Garden sprayer with 2 gallons of mid-grade liberally applied then make the BOOM!
How did it even get that bad?

Posted by: Reforger at August 09, 2025 04:04 PM (h5TUr)

45 From Boise area: Lows 57-64 F, highs 81-91. We emptied 3 pots of fingerlings last Sat. - 5 lb. 14 oz. On Wed. I dug up all 100 or so onions. Harvesting strawberries, green beans, SunGold tomatoes, broccolini - cut one of the 2 last cabbages. Pulled out 2 of 4 pickling cucumber vines. I planted fall peas to see if that'll work.

I entered 30 categories in the Western Idaho Fair - online, so they can print the tags ahead (they hate when you walk in with that much stuff and expect them to handwrite all those tags).

I attended a handgun match early this morning and I am so fried at this point, so that's all for this week.

Posted by: Pat* at August 09, 2025 04:20 PM (k/ubR)

46 Wow, Pat*! That's a lot of entries in the fair!

Posted by: KT at August 09, 2025 04:38 PM (7vIsy)

47 Where is the castle?
Comment on X says Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, England

Posted by: KT at August 09, 2025 06:03 PM (7vIsy)

48 Anyway, I'll can some of them and also make a few batches of low-sugar peach jam. It's delicious! It doesn't gel up a lot, but I really appreciate the peach flavor with less of the sugar. Great over ice cream.
Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 02:44 PM (w6EFb)

I use full sugar recipes, or make my own apple skin pectin, but for low sugar try a Calcium activated pectin. Pomona's Universal (which I have never used) has a peach jam recipe that uses two cups of sugar.

Food chemistry is fun, so I follow it: Pectin needs something to help it gel. Sugar is one thing, it excludes water from the pectin, personally I think it is because it evaporates off leaving heavy syrup behind. Calcium is another element that will activate the pectin, and that is what Pomona's uses

Posted by: Kindltot at August 09, 2025 06:16 PM (rbvCR)

49 I bought low-sugar pectin for one cup of sugar per 8 cups of jam. It tastes divine.

Posted by: Miley, okravangelist at August 09, 2025 07:32 PM (w6EFb)

50 It was a great season for Dogwood in my neck of Massachusetts. Full bloom everywhere you went.

Posted by: Lex at August 09, 2025 07:40 PM (y4H1r)

51 Late to the thread, but reading about all the home-made jam using different flavor combinations is making me hungry for breakfast!

Posted by: The Pilot at August 09, 2025 08:42 PM (uIJnJ)

52 Thanks, KT. Entries go in on the 12th and 13th, judging on the 14th, I go to the Fair to see what I won on Fri. 15th. I'll let y'all know how I do.

Posted by: Pat* at August 09, 2025 09:42 PM (k/ubR)

53 The dogwoods are so pretty. I love the photos of the Alps, whether Bavarian or Swiss, they look like AI it's so pretty.

The Hornets need to be killed with fire and I'm so happy I don't have to do this job.

The fire is slowing down but the smoke is still terrible and I'm betting there is smoke in the valley hanging around like tule fog.
Some of my friends lost some cattle and they won't leave their ranches even though they were supposed to evacuate. They are there for the duration to protect their property.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 10, 2025 11:52 AM (QsMb/)

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