Get out there and go have some gardening fun!
Gardening Ping!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks much to Garden Girl for another great, and inspirational article!!!!!!!!!!!
I love gardening! I crossed a turnip with a Jewish bread and got a Rutabagel!.............
I’d love to get started on some gardening if the ground would ever dry out! It finally warmed up this week and started to dry some and then we had another big rain last night! I do believe we have seem that last of night time temps below freezing though.
We have a nectarine tree in full bloom and it’s supposed to freeze the next few nights - is there any way to protect it?
Hey there. Azalea question. I know not to feed them until after the blossoms are gone.
But when do I prune them?
Spring is the resurrection of life—what a great time. I mudded a few items in 2 weeks ago here in the Midwest: onions, lettuce, peas, spinach, and broccoli. Tell me more about epsom salts—I need to acidify to grow blueberries. Any good info on growing blueberries in the midwest because the ones I put out last year don’t look healthy—I followed directions and acidified the soil but we had a warm and dry summer that didn’t help.
Any suggestions on raspberries?
I planted two kinds, spring bearing and fall bearing, and now can’t remember which is which.
Last year some of the bushes flowered late and got fruit late.
This year those same bushes are putting out leaves on the canes that fruited.
What do I do about pruning raspberries?
My peas, lettuce and spinach I planted a couple of weeks back are finally coming up. Sad part is they’re no farther ahead than if I’d planted them last weekend.
Slammed in some more early stuff. Had to work it by hand cuz the soil is still pretty wet. It’s almost impossible to get in between the rain.
nothing else is blooming tho and even the buds on the trees have been slow in developing due to the cold weather we've been having........
The fig tree cutting that Garden Girl sent me arrived this morning! It is a beautiful cutting about 1 foot tall with a small root ball that was still nice and moist. It has three small but well developed newly green branches each with some beautiful leaves. The leaves looked great. I never expected such a nicely developped cutting! You should have seen the "WOW SMILE" on my face when I saw it.
It was planted in about 15 min. after receving it. I wanted to get it planted before the rains get here this afternoon!
She also sent me the April 2008 issue of the paper, "Newport Voice", where her monthly gardening colum "In The Garden" appears.
Thank you very much Garden Girl. And Gabz thank you for taking the time to do this Weekly Gardening thread.
I was really wanting to do straw bale gardening this year. It seems like an easy way to expand without more raised beds or renting/buying a tiller. It would also be a fun experiment. This is one thing my DH is opposed to, as he thinks it will look bad/messy, especially as the summer goes on. I don’t think it would look bad, but I’ve never done it, so I can’t say. Even if it does look bad, oh well, it’s the back yard. If he doesn’t want the bales, I guess he’ll just have to help me with tilling or raised beds :)
My tulips are blooming and looking really nice ... not much else blooming just yet, although pansies from last year looking great.
Oops, forgot to ask if there was any particular pesticide you (or anyone else) can recommend for squash plants. I had problems with insects with several squash plants last year.
I thought about buying a natural spray with neem oil, but don’t know its effectiveness. I would rather not do tons of chemicals, but some chemicals is better than no squash, so I’m open to recommendations.
Wow, I have 3 peony seedlings coming up. They’re volunteers. I never thought of trying to get them to germinate. I’ll have to try this yer. Deer don’t bother them so they’re a good thing.
Here is a organic tip for a slug and snail deterrent for emerging plants. I bought a large bag of crushed oyster shells at the big feed store here and spread a thick layer around the plant. It's long lasting and rain does not affect it here plus it adds lime to our acidic soil.
Thanks for the pings.
Great to get the tips on snails on here. I have lots of them this year. Also, I help Mom with her flower beds and they are full of them. We bought the commercial stuff for them but it is toxic to animals, and she has a small dog.
It’s been a busy spring for me, but this week I did get out and spent some time in my garden, and flower beds.
I have the most beautiful, huge Clematis blooming right now. I don’t remember it ever blooming this early, but I have three, one blooming, the other two full of buds.
Peonies are up now, and I have lots of bleeding hearts in bloom.
I did some landscaping last fall and accidentally dug up some of the bleeding hearts (my favorite flower). I took them and planted them in my Mom’s elderly neighbor’s yard, and they came up recently. She’d forgotten I planted them, and all the little neighbor ladies have been hoving over them, admiring them. She is the envy of the neighborhood now!!!! When they asked her what they were, she said “I don’t know, they just came up.” Then I reminded her, and now I am her hero!!!
We weren’t sure they’d come up after moving them in the fall, as I’ve always separated and moved them in the spring.
The apt. complex my Mom lives in is occupied by elderly women, and their lives evolve around who can have the prettiest flowers. I moved Mom there last year to be closer to me, since I watch after her and she wants to live independently. So, I have to do the heavy work in her garden.
The other ladies watched her closely after she moved in, sizing her up. We are now in the running for the most beautiful flowers there. Last year I bought her some beautiful oriental begonias, and they were the talk of the neighborhood. The tulips I planted for her last fall are also beautiful.
I LOVE spring.
A quick note to all. Every state has a Cooperative Extension staffed with people who can answer your questions about when to plant, prune, feed, etc. for your Zone. Most counties also have Master Gardener Volunteers to help you, too. They are a great resource for home gardeners.