flowerbug
Garden Master
ugh, too much rain on top of a lot of snow and ground frozen. flood risks for the next few days.
should be ok here.
should be ok here.
Who's having Spring? And what are you doing about it?
- Thread starter rainey
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w_r_ranch
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It's been in the high 70s/low 80s here... a little warmer than normal.
The onions have been in for a couple of months already & the leeks a couple of weeks ago. The potatoes went in last Friday, so we're pretty much on schedule.
Today I xleaned the back flowerbed, relocated 4 shrubs in it & burned the 'trash'. Then fertilized & watered it in. I still need to chainsaw the yucca to complete the cleanup entirely, but we're ready for the flower bulbs when they arrive later this week. After that, I can plant the remaining Lirope (about 50) & mulch it.
The onions have been in for a couple of months already & the leeks a couple of weeks ago. The potatoes went in last Friday, so we're pretty much on schedule.
Today I xleaned the back flowerbed, relocated 4 shrubs in it & burned the 'trash'. Then fertilized & watered it in. I still need to chainsaw the yucca to complete the cleanup entirely, but we're ready for the flower bulbs when they arrive later this week. After that, I can plant the remaining Lirope (about 50) & mulch it.
- Thread starter
- #33
thistlebloom
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they are calling for 70-75 the next 3 days, just might bring shorts to wear at work...
for you all above the 35th line......
Hey little brother, I know guys up here that wear shorts year round. No namby pamby 70 degrees for them!
Looks like we're going to be about 10 degrees below normal for the first few weeks of March. Right now it is just dang cold, 2 degrees on my thermometer this morning and single digit overnights for the next few days at least.
- Thread starter
- #35
So I just found another tomato that overwintered. I was cleaning out a thicket of nasturtium to see where I wanted to put a new compost pile and there it was!
I can remember putting it in as a late season replacement for another one that was attacked by spider mites, but I can't remember what it is. It was so late in the season I probably just bought what I could find. I don't remember if I ever got any fruit from it last year.
In any case, that makes one volunteer and one overwintered plant that each have both fruit and blossoms. Wonder if they'll turn out to be worth having...
I can remember putting it in as a late season replacement for another one that was attacked by spider mites, but I can't remember what it is. It was so late in the season I probably just bought what I could find. I don't remember if I ever got any fruit from it last year.
In any case, that makes one volunteer and one overwintered plant that each have both fruit and blossoms. Wonder if they'll turn out to be worth having...
digitS'
Garden Master
You may be able to grow most any tomato from seed and expect ripe fruit before your winter, Rainey. Is that a temptation for you?
Despite my emphasis on early varieties, volunteers in my garden often won't ripen fruit. Or, there will be just a handful of cherries before cold weather comes.
A recent exception was Coyote tomatoes. I think that I only started the plants in the greenhouse once, about 5 years ago. Their flavor is quite unusual and I wasn't really sure what I thought of them. In the following year when I didn't start plants, Coyote volunteered! I was pleased and left a few plants. Fruit didn't show up early but there was plenty of ripe cherries before the end of the season. The next year, they did it again!
Then 2017 arrived and I had long been thinking about starting an early variety by direct-sowing in the garden. In 2017, there was no choice if I wanted Coyote: Not.One.Volunteer! But, after sowing seed: Not.One.Seedling, either!
The seed was sown in a part of the garden where I have had big problems with irrigation. I know that I over-compensated last spring a bit. The overhead sprinklers may have washed the sprouts out of the ground. Maybe a critter ate them
!
I'm not growing determinant paste tomatoes but if it didn't really matter to me to have an early or late harvest for making tomato sauce, AND I lived somewhere with a long and suitable tomato growing season, it seems reasonable to me that I would just plant seeds.
Anyway, for a gardener who is delighted to find a volunteer with a ripe tomato, this is all in the realm of fantasy. Early Girl was and probably still is the #1 garden variety in the US. I know it's not just because of northern gardeners. It's also because many southern locations are too brutally hot during several months each year to sustain tomato life. Some of these folks are even planting tomatoes 2 different times, annually. I wonder how many of them know about Coyote ..?
Steve
Despite my emphasis on early varieties, volunteers in my garden often won't ripen fruit. Or, there will be just a handful of cherries before cold weather comes.
A recent exception was Coyote tomatoes. I think that I only started the plants in the greenhouse once, about 5 years ago. Their flavor is quite unusual and I wasn't really sure what I thought of them. In the following year when I didn't start plants, Coyote volunteered! I was pleased and left a few plants. Fruit didn't show up early but there was plenty of ripe cherries before the end of the season. The next year, they did it again!
Then 2017 arrived and I had long been thinking about starting an early variety by direct-sowing in the garden. In 2017, there was no choice if I wanted Coyote: Not.One.Volunteer! But, after sowing seed: Not.One.Seedling, either!
The seed was sown in a part of the garden where I have had big problems with irrigation. I know that I over-compensated last spring a bit. The overhead sprinklers may have washed the sprouts out of the ground. Maybe a critter ate them
!I'm not growing determinant paste tomatoes but if it didn't really matter to me to have an early or late harvest for making tomato sauce, AND I lived somewhere with a long and suitable tomato growing season, it seems reasonable to me that I would just plant seeds.
Anyway, for a gardener who is delighted to find a volunteer with a ripe tomato, this is all in the realm of fantasy. Early Girl was and probably still is the #1 garden variety in the US. I know it's not just because of northern gardeners. It's also because many southern locations are too brutally hot during several months each year to sustain tomato life. Some of these folks are even planting tomatoes 2 different times, annually. I wonder how many of them know about Coyote ..?
Steve
- Thread starter
- #38
I will certainly not rely on those stout-hearted plants that are doing fine on their own but they are really encouraging. In fact, if it weren't for volunteers I probably would have given up gardening many many years ago. But when something wants so much to grow, I've just got to get out there and see what I can do to improve their chances.
Never heard of a Coyote tomato. Could be that when we're plagued by the real thing, the plant version loses it's appeal... Early Girl is always in the nursery tho and a perennial favorite for many SoCal gardeners. Can't say I've ever grown it. This year I put in a Black from Tula, a San Marzano and a Black Cherry. I used to grow more tomatoes and may shoehorn another 1 or 2 at some point but it's just me, my husband and what kids stop by so 3 ought to provide enough of us.
Another day of hard work out there. I stacked some cinderblock to make a retaining wall for a shady fern garden that I wanted to elevate. Then I took the smaller but infinitely more attractive cobblestones and made another small wall by a path in a more open area.
I planted carrot and cilantro seeds, quite a few snapdragons for color and some gerbera daisies.
Still have some ground cover plants to get in the ground. Then some hosta roots when I can think of where I want them and where they want to go. And I keep trying and keep trying to grow dicentra. I've got 5 to get in the ground in a shady spot but I'm dragging my feet because I just know they're going to break my heart again.
Finally, I have a brick path to construct.
Hey, anyone got any ideas about succulents that will grow in the short without getting leggy? I'd stick them in the holes of the cinderblocks if I could find somethings that will grow with the ferns.
Never heard of a Coyote tomato. Could be that when we're plagued by the real thing, the plant version loses it's appeal... Early Girl is always in the nursery tho and a perennial favorite for many SoCal gardeners. Can't say I've ever grown it. This year I put in a Black from Tula, a San Marzano and a Black Cherry. I used to grow more tomatoes and may shoehorn another 1 or 2 at some point but it's just me, my husband and what kids stop by so 3 ought to provide enough of us.
Another day of hard work out there. I stacked some cinderblock to make a retaining wall for a shady fern garden that I wanted to elevate. Then I took the smaller but infinitely more attractive cobblestones and made another small wall by a path in a more open area.
I planted carrot and cilantro seeds, quite a few snapdragons for color and some gerbera daisies.
Still have some ground cover plants to get in the ground. Then some hosta roots when I can think of where I want them and where they want to go. And I keep trying and keep trying to grow dicentra. I've got 5 to get in the ground in a shady spot but I'm dragging my feet because I just know they're going to break my heart again.
Finally, I have a brick path to construct.
Hey, anyone got any ideas about succulents that will grow in the short without getting leggy? I'd stick them in the holes of the cinderblocks if I could find somethings that will grow with the ferns.
- Thread starter
- #39
- Thread starter
- #40
We don't get mud season in SoCal. We don't have seasons at all. Just drought. Good thing too! When our adobe clay gets wet it turns the whole backyard into a Slip n Slide.
