What Are You Planting Today, This Week, This Month?

[rainey]

I am in probably zone 9. I forgot our Sunset microclimate zone.

I've sure there are raspberries that would grow here. I just don't have enough space for them.

 

[ninnymary]

Rainey, I'm sure you could squeeze some in somewhere. I'll take a picture of mine tomorrow so you can see that there's always room for a few. I pack everything I can.

Mary

 

[ducks4you]

I bought these packages of ~40 spring bulbs by color, one pink and one purple. They include tulips, iris, ranuculus, anemone, allium, crocus and muscari. When I unpacked them and sorted them I found 7 tiny corms attached to the muscari, so I stuffed them in a pot growing iris that I bought last Fall and forgot about, now coming up. The rest are in pots on the east facing front porch, well watered.
They are ALL going into DD's south yard, along with daffodils that I moved last year to fill in the area under a tree that grows grass in the spring that dies off from the shade each summer.
We will plant after they start to bloom so that we can break up a color monopoly, hence starting them in pots.
They can mow these down by June. I am looking for a good groundcover to fill in there. It's about 14' square, more or less. It needs to withstand a mower, too. Any suggestions?

 

[ducks4you]

I bought these as packages, so I guess the ranuculus will be annuals, and the allium will need to go into a flower bed. Guess I'll have to count the daffodils and maybe buy a few more of them. Oh, well, we will enjoy all of the flowers for a little while.

 

[rainey]

Rainey, I'm sure you could squeeze some in somewhere. I'll take a picture of mine tomorrow so you can see that there's always room for a few. I pack everything I can.

Mary

Don't you have to put up a permanent support for them and have room to pick from both sides? And then give them room so that you're not impaled on them when you're casually passing by?

When we lived in Vancouver the blackberries grew wild. Well, they actually took over anything that didn't keep moving. They were delicious to enjoy while walking the dog. ...so long as you weren't fooled by the black color and pop one in your mouth that wasn't COMPLETELY ripe.

That's a happy memory!

PS Are you saying you pack growing things into any available space or grow enough to can for when they're out of season? I was a bit confused by that sentence.

I do a bit of canning but nothing that would sustain anything bigger than mouse. I just do it when the spirit moves and when my tomatoes are sufficiently abundant. I did do some awesome golden raspberry jam and some strawberry jam last Summer though.

 

[ninnymary]

Don't you have to put up a permanent support for them and have room to pick from both sides? And then give them room so that you're not impaled on them when you're casually passing by?

When we lived in Vancouver the blackberries grew wild. Well, they actually took over anything that didn't keep moving. They were delicious to enjoy while walking the dog. ...so long as you weren't fooled by the black color and pop one in your mouth that wasn't COMPLETELY ripe.

That's a happy memory!

PS Are you saying you pack growing things into any available space or grow enough to can for when they're out of season? I was a bit confused by that sentence.

I do a bit of canning but nothing that would sustain anything bigger than mouse. I just do it when the spirit moves and when my tomatoes are sufficiently abundant. I did do some awesome golden raspberry jam and some strawberry jam last Summer though.

I suppose it would be nice to have room to do all that you say. But unfortunately I don't. My raspberries are up against the fence. So far they haven't grown so out of control that they scratch me when walking by.

Below is a picture of them. This year my husband will add the top board since they are now getting tall. I have Fall Gold and Hertitage. I pack as much as I can in my tiny yard. The only canning I do is my salsa but I do have to buy tomatoes since I only grow 6 plants. Everything else we eat fresh. Oh, I did freeze 10 quart size bags of green beans.

Mary

 

[ninnymary]

 

[rainey]

You know, now that you mention it, Mary, I have a spot where nothing is growing along a sunny wall. I'd have to get some proper irrigation for them but to have fresh raspberries it would be worth it!

Thanks for the inspiration!

How long did it take to get a reasonable number of berries to pick? And what do you do about birds? I see a bird house or feeder there. Tempting Fate???

 

[ninnymary]

We got a few berries the first year. Last year we got more. Not a lot but enough for 6 children to get one every few days. So far the birds have left them alone. So have the rats. I think they are only about 18 inches from the fence. I do get new ones in front of the little wrought iron fence but I pot those up and give them away. They are easy to control for me. I hand water all of my garden.

Glad I inspired you.

Mary

 

[rainey]

I also have to content myself with whatever ripens every few days. But the VERY BEST intentions to hand water would get you nowhere in SoCal in very short order. As my husband delights to point out, we are living in what essentially is a landscaped desert.

Oh, and I checked on our zones. We are USDA 9b and Sunset 18. On the border with 10 and 19 (but I refuse to recognize that since so little that isn't succulent can handle that intense heat and dryness). Meanwhile, our climate is, indeed, changing (thanks to whoever; I'd just as soon pass on a repeat of that particular discussion) and I think our zones are due for some re-evaluation.