What have you done today in the Garden?

You all have been busy....

I didn't get outdoors much today. Yesterday, I did get some more done on that ditch... only a few more feet to go. I cleaned my house today. The 6 dogs and many cats do a LOT of shedding, so I did a lot of vacuuming. I did dishes, and laundry (a bunch of pet bedding from the winter). I was going to go outdoors, but thunderstorms moved in and it is still storming. We have a tornado watch until the middle of the night...

I hope DS gets home before the grass/weeds are eyeball deep out there! And that he can fix at least one mower. I hope he can get the correct string for the trimmer. Atlas does NOT accept the alternate size of string.... Or take the walk behind trimmer to the shop for repairs.

I did walk around and check on things though. The dill is up and looks great. My cosmos are up and looking good. I have them in lots of places. Some of my marigolds are up and look good. No blooms yet. I think I finally see a few zinnia seedlings. I sure hope so. The calendulas are up. Not so many strawberries at the moment. Some of the seeds I planted are up, but I dont remember which are which, and forgot to mark some things...

My second planting of ginger is still not doing anything. It is in a large pot on the front porch which faces east. (The first planting died.) I had bought another nice chunk of ginger root a few weeks ago just in case. It got soaked overnight to remove any inhibitors, and left setting on my work table in the front room. It was setting in the sunny window for a couple or three weeks or so. Yesterday, I was going to just put it in the fridge to use in cooking, but it has lots of new nobbies growing--no leaves yet--just the yellow nobbies. I went ahead and planted it outdoors in one of my large tubs. I put a piece of chicken wire over it to protect it from the critters. HOPEFULLY, I get some nice ginger plants and roots over the summer. I could transplant it to smaller pots later in the fall maybe and bring them indoors. It is in the 80s here now, and mostly 60s at night, so it ought to be okay. And it getting a good soak tonight.

My first sweet potato has a good amount of new growth, but the second planting is not yet up.

The tomatoes and peppers look good, but one tomato plant got broken at the base. I put that piece in water to root it, and maybe the roots will send up new growth? I intend to buy more tomato plants in a couple of weeks.

Some of my leeks are sprouting... and I have one leek from last year that survived the whole winter. It looks real good.

My garlic and onions all look good, well, the Stutgarter onion sets that I planted, my two kinds of garlic, and the Egyptian onions all look good. I have not seen hide nor hair of any bunching onions or chives that I planted yet. I had had a nice tub of established chives that grew for a long time, but they must of died over winter. I planted more chives last year and more this year, but so far nothing. And I planted bunching onions... I need to look at my notes and see where I put them?

The asparagus is all huge and ferny, both beds. My bush beans are up and doing nicely. I planted more scarlet runner beans last week, maybe this rain will get them going?

I am going to get a cattle panel for a tunnel for my tomatoes, and maybe the yard long beans, but I am waiting on a friend to go to town with her trailer so she can pick it up. [the RAIN is really coming down now...]

The parsley and comfrey and roses look good. I have a wild herb called heal-all --science name of prunella vulgaris-- (WHERE do they get such odd names?). It has many other common names like all-heal, carpenter's thumb, and some others. I have some in pots, and some in ground, and some here and there wherever... It is very good for healing wounds and infections. I made a tea with it a few years ago when I got bitten by a copperhead on my right hand, and used it for a wound wash. I had to have surgery to remove the necrosis, and it healed in under ten days, even though I am diabetic. Both doctors were quite impressed.

My grapevines are all doing nicely.

My wild blackberries are doing well, as are my wild and tame raspberries.

According to what I have read on blackberries, their canes do NOT root when they touch the ground. Only raspberries do that. I have never seen my blackberries do that here.

I have an explosion of black eyed susans growing all over. I will try to pot some of the stray ones up.

The four vines I would love to eradicate (without poisons) are: wild honeysuckle, wisteria, trumpet vines, and American bittersweet... There are probably also a few I do not know their names... I would not mind getting rid of the poison ivy and the multiflora roses also. I would need goats to eat them all down.

Did you know that coleus is in the MINT family (lamiacea) and highly invasive? If you have it do not let it go to seed. Winter does not kill it off.

 

More of the same.

 

I knew that it was but here they would die over winter, but thanks for letting me know.

 

Mine seem to but it is odd, since they do not berry the first year it is the second year that any action happens. Or maybe its something else going on. I will have to make a point of it on these Kiowa we have had. Thanks for the tip it is probably me being wrong again.

I make those cattle panel cages in 2x2 foot squares. They store nested and it makes maintenance some easier when it finally if ever needs it. 4 guage is pretty stout stuff but rust comes. Here are our cages the way my lady of the garden has them arranged for her celebrity and juliets.

I just bond the two pieces of cage high and middle and they can handle stronger storms than you would think.

 

@AAnightowl blackberry canes do root but you need to put the second node or third node from the tip touching the ground, pin it down, keep it moist and put some compost on it. It'll start growing taller next spring.

And, not to be bossy, but ginger grows in shade with very rich damp soil. No direct sunlight, bright light. I grew mine just under the back steps facing north and had so much ginger the next spring that I couldn't give any more away.

Back on topic: I'm making salsa from my babyboomer tomatoes and watering since we haven't had rain for ten days.

 

My grandma had heathers. I really like them, maybe because it brings back fond memories.

I'm not doing much, raining again and kinda chilly (in the mid to high 40's F).

 

There are both heath - Calluna and heathers- Erica’s in my garden for years. Planted in the ground. Always blooming and full of bees in spring. They are a non invasive plant and care free and stay in their space , slow growers require very little attention once established. They line the first row along the driveway.

 

Out this morning, but now just finishing more deadheading of Poppies, Irises, Hellebores, and clipping back a mad Lavender.
Hubs is constructing a frame for the tray of Sweet Peas that our lovely neighbours placed on my potting up bench after sneakily slipping through the back hedge. , They knew I have been unable to sow and nurture my normal quantity of seedlings this year due to my earlier surgery , so kindly gifted me the Sweet Peas. So very kind of them.

Eagerly getting ourselves ready for tomorrow's potential all day rains.....optimistically having visions of Noah's Ark. A girl can dream can't she?

 

I have overwintered them many times quite successfully, just bring them inside . They make good houseplants but will loose their beautiful colours and markings if they are kept in low light levels.

 

Oreti— I enjoy reading your updates.

 

I keep checking the radar but I think it's going to miss us, we live on top of the Downs and it usually goes around us

 

Aww how kind of you to say ,@Sjoerd ,thank you so very much.

I am trying to make more of an effort to post the little bits that I'm able to do..
Unfortunately I have had issues in my recovery that has raised concern for my family Dr ,which has
led to red flagged hospital apps during the last couple of weeks but thankfully nothing nasty found. Have been referred back to the Consultant who carried out my surgery...unfortunately he's currently on holiday. But I'm feeling a bit more hopeful now that I will achieve a good outcome....eventually.


The garden has amazed me that it doesn't look as bad as I had envisaged. .....if you don't look too closely at the lurking weeds that is. The borders theme this year is 'messy' .....but surprisingly I'm liking the look.
This could very well become my new way of gardening.

I did manage to sow some seeds in March but must admit the nurturing duties which I normally love have been a tad challenging. Please to report though that they have all coped with hit and miss care and have done well....just got to plant them all out now.....yet another challenge!!!

 

Still clearing the leaves of the spring bulbs, weeding and cutting off the old flower stalks of the polyanthus, nearly finished.

Yes i have but they would die outside.

 

Oh most definitely @Logan they certainly do in this country.

 

Nothing today, as it was a golf day.