“Just a little warning. I had ordered some heirloom seeds from a company at heirloomseeds.com but hadn’t gotten them over 20 days later.”
They may just send you the tomatoes and cut out the middle man.
Well, it seems like everything in my garden is growing nicely. Beans are through the soil and leaves are present. Does anyone know anything about artichokes? I have two plants in the ground, growing nicely, just don’t know if they are going to grow up or out.
Everything else is great. Better than the last two years. I am still going to attribute the growth to the bees I have been seeing.
Rose bushes are also growing well. Planted two of them a month back and they are 3 times the size of when they went in the ground. Cannot wait to see what comes off of them. The wife wanted fresh roses in the house.
WOW! You have things growing outdoors already? We can’t put anything in the ground until the end of May. And that’s still a bit risky.
Well, actually we can plant snow peas, and green peas, and maybe spinach - but that’s it, and those can’t be done until the end of April or early May. Depends on how wet the ground is.
I bought some artichokes once, and did not enjoy trying to prepare them at all. So I have never planted them. I just buy them canned or frozen when I make artichoke dip, which is not often due to the salt content.
Have you ever considered Rosa Rugosa roses? They are an old fashioned rose, but the big bonus is they have marble size rose hips that are a great source of Vitamin C.
Also, if you plant several close together along your property line you will have an almost impenetrable living fence.
Well, it seems like everything in my garden is growing nicely. Beans are through the soil and leaves are present. Does anyone know anything about artichokes? I have two plants in the ground, growing nicely, just don’t know if they are going to grow up or out.
Artichokes need to be tricked into thinking it is their second year of growth, to do this you let them get hit with a little frost but not too cold for long as it will kill them.
There are different varieties of artichokes : some are annuals , some perrenials.
The artichoke fruit that is consumed is really an immature flowering bud .
Both can be induced to the flowering bud , but it depends on timeing of seeding , and exposure to cold/light frost ... called ' vernalization'.
Good General information :
www.http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetables/p/Artichokes-Tips-For-Growing-Artichokes-Just-About-Anywhere.htm
Good general information on care of artichokes , includes recipies, maintenance , winter care , reccomended varieties ,etc.
Another good source for information :
www.http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/growing-artichokes-in-spite-of-mother-nature/
"You can provide this chilling experience by exposing your artichoke seedlings to outdoor temperatures during the months of March and early April,
but don’t leave them outside when weather conditions are expected to drop close to, or below freezing, and don’t transplant them out into the garden too soon."
and don't forget to 'harden off', if they are seedlings . EQANDY, if you are in Texas, I assume that your plants are in the ground already , and have been hit by at least 50 degree temps; that is what they need to formulate flowering.
If growing from seed, get from reputable seedhouse ; if you have retained seed from previous crop, they will not always run true to their parent plants (hybrids ?) I hope this helps you .