The Garden Thread - April, 2024

April 1, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[FamiliarFace]

Beautiful! I love them. I wish they would grow more abundantly here. The lady I bought them from said they are hard to cultivate but can be divided every so often and that’s how she got hers.

[Augie]

Getting off the beaten path is usually a good plan, but don’t neglect to look at the edge of the parking lot and along that beaten path on your way out to the honey hole. Many people, in their haste to get away from everyone else, miss the ones that are right under their noses.

[MomwithHope]

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[FamiliarFace]

Great tip! I’ll report back if I get anything.

[Qiviut]

We had severe T-storms come through our area Monday night. The wind was gusting 60-70 mph & we got an inch of rain in 20-30 minutes. Lots of trees damage, culverts washed out, etc.

I looked out the back door to check the rain gauge & our very old apple tree in the back yard was down & a cedar tree next to the garage had major limbs down- it was a mess!

Dad has 2 electric pole saws - neither had chains on. I don't think either saw had ever been cleaned - packed with sawdust. After swamping for the AT sawyers for 20 years, I know a few things (did have to watch a video on how to untangle a chain) so I got a saw cleaned up, chain on, found bar & chain oil, & I was in business ... Paul(ette) Bunyan!

All the cedar limbs were first, then started on the apple tree. Virtually all the small limbs are off so my brother can bring the tractor & chainsaw next week to get the main trunk cut up & hauled away. Mom came out mid-afternoon & started hauling what I was cutting - she got everything hauled away (pretty good for a 90 yo).

Pictures don't show the true scale of things, but here are some before & afters:

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That’s a shame - and just what you need right now - MORE WORK! Ugh!

We got a lot of rain (inches and inches) and wind, but only minor branches down. Haven’t been out to inspect the Tulips and Daffs, but I cut a big ‘pre-emptive bouquet’ before the rain, just in case!

[Paul R.]

Whew!

We were lucky with the storms the last few rounds. They fizzled or went around us. All we got were brief thundershowers, and the highest winds were maybe 40 mph, and mostly outside of the showers, too. Downed branches are all small, nothing over an inch.

The downside of all that is my confident prediction earlier in this thread of being able to collect plenty of rain water, got shot down.

Next up, tomorrow evening’s weather is looking a bit too interesting... :-(

[Qiviut]

Tree trucks have been down the road all day - saw three buckets (all one company) coming out as I was turning in. There was at least one other tree service company I saw this morning. The neighbor down the road has a large tree down the middle of his shed .... lengthwise ... split it into two pieces. Lots of damage in a neighboring County.

Someone took pics of what looks like the beginning of a tornado & claim they saw some rotation. It never touched down but was probably less than a mile from us so severe weather conditions for sure.

[Pollard]

We got the quarterly bonus at work. Not for performance or profit levels I don’t think. I think they’re doing it to help the employees with this inflation.

At any rate, it’s going towards the high tunnel.

[Paul R.]

Models are all showing a strong bowing squall line coming through here tomorrow, early evening. I’m hoping to NOT have a report similar to yours...

[MomwithHope]

Really impressive on the morels. They are so delicious.

[Augie]

Nice. We got screwed last year and the year before and probably going to get screwed again this year.

I suppose I should be grateful I wasn’t floated down the river when the giant evil corporation I work for was assimilated by an even gianter and more evil corporation a couple years back.

[Qiviut]

“Tree Day” is over! All 5 trees are gone - safely felled. We had enough room that the Spider lift stayed on the trailer. Everything is nicely cleaned up & they even hauled away the last 3 debris piles I still needed to cart away so I can mow. :-)

Now, when the wind blows hard, it won’t be nearly as worrisome. It also turns out the big pine at the corner of the house & leaning towards it, had more rot in the trunk than you could see from the outside - smart move to get it down before it came down.

[Hot Tabasco]

I have good news. I placed two nest boxes, one on each side of my garden window and for the past few years, chickadees have chosen one of them for their nest.

For whatever reason, they never returned last year. Now I'm not an expert on birds, but the last two years there has been an influx of grackles and cowbirds to my feeders that I fear may have chased away the chickadees last year.

So this year, the grackles have come and gone but the cowbirds continue to fly to my bird feeders. That has prompted me to shoot them to keep them from returning and as a result, I just saw a pair of chickadees once again starting to nest in one of the boxes........

Is it a coincidence that my eliminating the cowbirds upon their arrival to my feeders has allowed the chickadees to once again return to my nest boxes?

I don't know, but the cowbirds are nothing but parasite birds and I've already eliminated over thirty of them this past month alone for the sake of my local song birds.......

If I'm wrong in doing so, please let me know.

[MomwithHope]

Great job getting rid of those cowbirds. We don’t see that many but we do our best to scare them off, blue Jay’s and wrens too. Wrens have been a problem here destroying bluebird nests with eggs in them.

[Hot Tabasco]

blue Jay’s

I hate those darn things and shoot them whenever I get the chance.

Approx. four or five years ago, I was watching a family of chickadee chicks one by one leave their nest box. Late in the afternoon when I thought all the babies had left the nest, I saw a bluejay on the nest box with his head in the box. I chased it off and didn't give a thought to it until two days later when I went out to clean out the box.

What I found was a final chick, dead with its eyes pecked out by that damn blue jay.

Since that day, blue jays have been number one on my hit list.....

[MomwithHope]

Blue Jay’s will eat baby chicks whole. We never see more than two in a summer. I have a story that will make you laugh. We had a friend a dear elderly retired priest. He had an approved chapel in his farmhouse. I went there many times for Mass as he lived close by. I walked past a big bird feeder going in and out. He had been having a problem with blue jay’s. One morning passing by there was a dead blue jay strung up by his feet upside down hanging at the edge of the roof of the feeder. After Mass I asked him about ut and he said it was keeping the other bluejays away.

[Pollard]

Good morning

[Pollard]

This should be here today so I'll be able to read wind speed as of this weekend.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Cowbirds are the worst! They’re the ones that will take over a nest, lay their own eggs there, destroy the original bird’s eggs, then the smaller birds EXHAUST themselves trying to keep the monstrous thing fed when it hatches!

And, it IS a native bird to North America, so we can’t blame immigration for this problem!

https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/bird-species/tanagers-and-blackbirds/brown-headed-cowbird/

Aim Small, Miss Small! ;)