Posted on 06/05/2008 10:10:48 AM PDT by Gabz
Please remember folks --- this article is from 2006!
June is here, and along with it, summer. Gone are the soft pastels of flowering vines such as jasmine and wisteria. The bolder, brighter summer colors of orange trumpet vine and the tropical colors of mandevillas are on their way. The soft, new greens of spring have been replaced by the harder greens of maturing leaves. Crepe myrtles and gardenias and hydrangeas are showing off their colors. Now that the things we hate about warm weather are back in full force-all the mosquitoes, sand gnats, yellow flies, and various other nasty biting insects, along with the heat and humidity and scads of weeds—we’re once again questioning our sanity. Why, exactly, is it that we have another garden planted? Didn’t we promise ourselves last year that we weren’t doing this again next year? Somehow, in the long span between springs, gardeners always forget the bad things about gardening and remember only the taste of that first ripe tomato, or the joy of a freshly cut bouquet. The scent of warm soil calls us, compels us to dig and plant, as seductive as any siren’s song.
Among the vines that will be blooming are the wild roses. The white one that smells like cinnamon and spices blooms early, perfuming the air. Too bad the flowers aren’t much. Another one is a pretty little hot pink rose, one that seems to haunt ditch banks and other wetter areas. Do not feel sorry for this rose and take a piece of it home. No matter how cute and lonely it seems, like throwing scraps to a stray dog, once given any attention, it will never leave. Almost impossible to kill, it has thorns that proclaim it to be an escapee from the impenetrable wall around Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
The cool weather lasted much longer than we expected and crops will be correspondingly delayed. Tomatoes and other warm season crops will be coming off later, but all they need is some really warm weather, especially at night, and they’ll take off. Watch them for insect pests, they like warm weather also.
Ever check on your tomato plants one day and they’re fine, only to go out the next day to find the vines defoliated and most of the tomatoes almost completely eaten? The culprit is often huge, green caterpillars, called hornworms. Look closely, they’re masters of camouflage. Usually bright green with white stripes, they have a very distinctive horn on one end. If they’re on tomatoes, they’re called tomato hornworm. If they’re on tobacco, they’re called tobacco hornworm. Go figure! Same pest.
Guess what hornworms turn into? Hummingbird moths! If you’ve never seen one, the moths are truly delightful. They resemble a baby hummingbird and are just a little larger than a bumble bee. Hummingbird moths are tan in color, unlike their colorful namesakes, but they fly just like a hummingbird does. They can usually be spotted around flowers early in the morning or late in the evening. Sometimes they will come out during the day if it is cloudy, so if you see something that looks like a baby hummer, look closer. It might not be what you think it is!
One other word about hornworms. They aren’t hard to kill, simply pick them off and squish them. If you see white, rice looking grains on the hornworm, don’t kill it. What?! That’s right, don’t kill it. The rice grains are the eggs of a parasitic wasp. Guess what it eats? Tomato hornworms. Pick it off, certainly, and move it far away from your garden, into the edge of your yard or woods. The wasps will hatch and go find another hornworm to start the process all over again.
Mid June is time to plant pumpkins and gourds and winter squash. Winter squash? Winter squash is a term that means a squash with a hard shell that will keep during the winter. Butternut squash is a good example. Butternut will often keep a year or even longer. Summer squash is a term used to denote softer squash, such as yellow straight neck or crookneck. There’s nothing wrong with planting butternut earlier, it just keeps better if it’s planted later. The cooler weather of fall helps harden the shells.
If you planted Vidalia’s early, June is usually about the time to dig them. Wonderful sliced in quarters or eights and microwaved until tender with a little salt and butter, they are equally delicious stir fried with summer squash. Add a little zucchini and some eggplant and… Technically, the only onions that can be called Vidalia’s are the ones grown in Vidalia. The onions themselves are actually yellow granex. These can also be grown in the fall if you can find the plants. They don’t keep well because of their high sugar content, so enjoy them while they last. Hard to believe that Vidalia’s have about the same sugar content as a large orange.
Weekly Garden PING!!!!!
bump
“Weekly Gardening Thread — IT’s JUNE!!!!!”
Not here~! lol.....we’re having frost warnings! My poor little plants don’t know what to do. Two weeks ago, it was over 100 degrees....we’re expecting a high of 60 today. But I do have a few ripe strawberries.
Ditto for 2008!!!
I live to garden as my favorite hobby. 40 qts of salsa last year and the last consumed a month ago. We are starving now. Tomatoes are blooming, broccoli is great, and corn in the ground this week. We have had the hindrance of cool, wet spring, but the weather has finally warmed.
my green tomatoes are already the size of a small fist. i can’t wait to taste them in a few weeks. yummy!
Thanks Gabz! Hope y’all enjoy it!
I hear you on the weather! Sunday was the first really hot day we’ve had. Usually we’re fighting ourselves to make it til the first of May before turning the ac on. Didn’t turn it on this year until Sun—first of JUNE!
WOW, gardengirl outdid herself with this one. I love it!!!
Running out to check my tomatoes now for those worms (LOL).
I haven’t been on the gardening threads lately, have been overwhelmed with the company of friends from out of town. I finally, today, got a break.
I have green beans blooming, a few small tomatoes on the vines (I have 25 tomatoe plants thigh high, with a few tiny ones up among the cucumbers, strays from seeds mixed in with the cukes).
And have been enjoying salads from the three types of lettuce. I have plenty of lettuce, and will pick a bunch of it to share with Mom’s neighbors tomorrow.
I have had a MAJOR battle with these big ugly white larvae. Best I can tell, from reading Jerry Baker’s book, is these are the larvae of Japanese beetles. So, I’m anticipating the onslaught of these pests.
And of course I am currently battling aphids, they come every year, always do, and attempt to eat every flower, everthing in their path.
I have a bed prepared for a rose garden I didn’t get planted this spring. At least now I have time to shop around, and need to order these from Diana. I had plans to order veggies from you Diana, then, with so much going on, I just bought seeds locally and had to get everything in the ground asap, as usual I was running late.
WOW, gardengirl outdid herself with this one. I love it!!!
Running out to check my tomatoes now for those worms (LOL).
I haven’t been on the gardening threads lately, have been overwhelmed with the company of friends from out of town. I finally, today, got a break.
I have green beans blooming, a few small tomatoes on the vines (I have 25 tomatoe plants thigh high, with a few tiny ones up among the cucumbers, strays from seeds mixed in with the cukes).
And have been enjoying salads from the three types of lettuce. I have plenty of lettuce, and will pick a bunch of it to share with Mom’s neighbors tomorrow.
I have had a MAJOR battle with these big ugly white larvae. Best I can tell, from reading Jerry Baker’s book, is these are the larvae of Japanese beetles. So, I’m anticipating the onslaught of these pests.
And of course I am currently battling aphids, they come every year, always do, and attempt to eat every flower, everthing in their path.
I have a bed prepared for a rose garden I didn’t get planted this spring. At least now I have time to shop around, and need to order these from Diana. I had plans to order veggies from you Diana, then, with so much going on, I just bought seeds locally and had to get everything in the ground asap, as usual I was running late.
Great article! Thanks!
WOW AuntB, and I thought our weather was crazy.
We had beautiful cool weather until this week (I turned my air conditioning on this week the first time), and now BOOM summer has arrived.
It’s hot as heck here now. I did enjoy the unusually cool weather while I could, knowing it was a matter of time here in the South.
Thanks! Glad you like it!
My garden is about the same stage as yours. We have some peppers coming on, and ate vidalias and swuash and zukes the other night for supper. Our lettuce is toast. :(
We had a hellacious windstorm with scattered hail come thru Sun nite. Blew all our peppers over but hubby straightened them back up. He was not pleased, as he likes hot pepper vinegar and hot is all we planted.
Had a customer come in with pics. His squash—bearing—had been beated into the ground. His corn looked like someone ran it thru a shredder. He was back for more plants.
Hope you enjoyed your company! It’s always nice to see them come, and usually nice to see them go too!
Glad you like it—Thank GAbz for posting it! I’m a writer not a computer genius!
I am having fun with my garden and eating some good stuff!
UMMM. Eggplant!
Did your zukes ever pick back up?
Sorry for the double post.
Now that June has arrived here in the South, here are some things we can expect:
June Bugs (as kids we’d tie a piece of thread to them and try to fly them like model airplanes).
Lightning (sp) bugs. Since I live in the woods, I have a light show in the summer when these hatch. They are thick here. I am so lucky, just think how many people have never seen a lightning bug.
Yellow jackets. Last year I had a tussel with these while filling up a hummingbird feeder. I NEVER want to do that again, these suckers are MEAN. I suggest never let one fly up under your T-shirt like I did last year. I have never had anything hurt so bad or take so long to heal.
Ticks. Oh boy, I had one embedded already. It was bad. I have plenty of these little terrorists.
Don’t worry about it! FR has been really slow and off center the last couple of days.
If you need anymore bugs just let me know! BE glad to share!
LOL. NO THANKS!!!
We even have some Cicadas this year, they are noisy, and I found a dead one on the deck this morning.
Talk about funny, you should have been here the year my city grandkids came for a visit and caught jarfuls of those lightening bugs. They had never seen any, and had a ball.
Being a “fun” grandma, I agreed to let them turn them loose in the house, then we turned off the lights and watched them.
I woke up with lightening bugs in my bed, clothes, etc., for weeks.
We’ve had plenty of ripe tomatoes this week even though the plants are starting to wilt already. I don’t think we over watered or fertilized, since I use mostly leaf and cow manure compost before planting the seedlings.
The same for the cucumbers crop. I have to pick several every other day. The biggest problem I have is the heat here. We’ve hit 100+ at least three times this year and isn’t even summer yet.
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