WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD VOLUME 32 AUGUST 7, 2013

Free Republic | August 7, 2013 | greeneyes

[greeneyes]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/08/06/NYC-heThe Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly 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.

This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. 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 Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!

NOTE: This is a once a week ping list. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest are welcomed, so feel free to post them at any time.

[mlizzy]

What a beautiful garden! I didn’t know that you can plant blueberry bushes in containers.

Yes, isn't that cool? We live in the Chicagoland area (where the soil is not acidic enough for blueberries), but indeed they will thrive and produce, but only if taken care of in precise fashion. We purchased from True Vine Ranch (they hail out of Bonner Springs, KS), and their plants (and instructions!) are perfect. They do not cover container gardening, but it is the same per se.

"My girls" in the picture shown are all planted in pure Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, nothing else. They are fed organically with a tea made from Holly Tone (one time a month March through August), and I add (per another source) elemental sulfur (small amount) once or twice a year (depending on the acidity of the planting matter). In a couple-three years, we'll have to enlarge their containers somewhat, but for now, they're doing fine. In the fall/winter they need to be submerged in the ground with NO soil allowed to enter, so the lip is above ground. They are continually watered up until Thanksgiving (or the first snow), and they are covered year-round thickly with pine bark mulch (they mention a few others too).

In December of last year (when we moved in), I was so incredibly exhausted (we've been moving a lot), that I left the third blueberry (which was the youngest by a year) in the garage surrounded by straw, but done so sort of haphazardly. I placed some snow on her too (as it is necessary), but only a couple of times. When spring came, I was sure she would have passed on, but lo and behold, she came back, but not as full as the year previous. She did not produce any berries either. The other two, however, provided maybe two pints (total); not a ton, but certainly enjoyable. One nice advantage of the containers for us is that they don't take up valuable garden space, and also we can move them into shelter in tornado-like weather. And since we are *deep sigh* moving yet again, we can take "our girls" with us once more...

[Silentgypsy]

Wow! You nurture them like babies! We have “wild” blackberry bushes and one blueberry bush at the edge of our property but I have the feeling that they were planted there by some former resident. It’s wonderful that you had the foresight to plant them in containers so that you can bring them with you when you need to move!

[mlizzy]

Babies? Yes, that's true! Our last landlord told us when we asked if we could plant blueberry bushes on his property, "Go ahead if you want to, but it's like tossing money down a rathole. It's your loss," he said with a sneer.

He had tried unsuccessfully to grow blueberries in the past, but he never followed directions for planting in Illinois... :) He just tossed them in the ground with a bunch of peat and sulphur. So part of the reason I pampered them is that I love blueberries, but part of the reason, I think, was to prove him wrong. Ha!

Anyway, I forgot to mention before, one should always use bird netting (when the fruit is ripe) if they don't want to do battle with the birds. -lol- [This actually happened this morning. We had uncovered the blueberries recently as there were only a few small ones left.]

[Silentgypsy]

We had a bunch of grapevines at our previous home and I used to get gallon-sized nylon paint straining bags and fasten them over the grape clusters that we wanted for ourselves and our neighbors. The rest were for the birds. Since they ripened at different times, the birds told us when they were ready. The mockingbirds put on a great show—some of them sounded like creaking gates, some of them imitated cell phone rings lol!

[mlizzy]

Great idea with the straining bags; I didn't even know they existed. Do you have a favorite grapevine? We've never attempted them, but my dad always did, but his had seeds and none of us kids bothered with them because of it.

Wonderful about the mockingbirds. We had a hummingbird visit recently (extremely rare for us) just a foot or so away from my face; I freaked a bit and thought it might be one of One's drones. :)

[Silentgypsy]

I liked the Red Flame, the seedless Green (I think they’re called Thompson), the Zinfandel and Merlot. We have one Catawba vine now and the grapes aren’t quite ready yet.

When we lived in the desert, we had a pool in the backyard and a friend who liked to float around in it. The tangelo tree had a hummingbird feeder and one hummer who claimed the backyard as his territory. He apparently thought her head was a flower because he used to flutter around it all the time. He resided there for a couple of years. I didn’t know they lived that long. I should look that up.

[gorush]

I hope you like it. I like the zoom feature...at least I did when I was in my bird phase. I wish it had a remote but so be it. All in all it is a good little camera.

[Sarajevo]

One of the farmers near my land has a new building going up that look suspiciously like an apartment complex.

There went your neighborhood............Nothing good ever comes about when farmland is developed.

[Sarajevo]

Actually, it is growing over a piece of cattle fencing. The lattice was for the climbing beans, but the spinach ended up shading them out. It's a very vigorous vine with great tasting leaves!

What is Malabar Spinach?

Malabar Spinach [pdf]

[tubebender]

The Stargazer Lilies were developed just north of us many many years ago and they are still best sellers around the world...

[Black Agnes]

In an older time those of us in high tech would look at those birds on the line and declare ‘line noise!’.

[tubebender]

Nice... I like the neighbor friendly fence.

[TEXOKIE]

Oh wow! Thanks for the information!

[mlizzy]

He apparently thought her head was a flower because he used to flutter around it all the time.

Was she a red-head? I heard that hummingbirds love red! The one that visited us (twice now that I've seen) was warming up to one of our orange-colored lights (on a string). They sure are interesting birds.

[mlizzy]

Is that your cat in the photo? What does he/she "think" of all those birds?

(Something tells me you're on some acreage?) Wonderful images.

[Sarajevo]

That's "Howler-Monkey". He's one of about 25 cats. Most of them don't bother the birds, and the birds don't bother the cats. Of course, I said most of them.......then there's "Farnsworth". He'll chase the mallards or jump at them as they fly by. It's all in kitty-fun ;) I don't know what he'd do if he ever managed to catch one.

Amazingly, the cats don't capture or kill any wild birds. Songbirds have been almost on top of the cats, and chicks try to get the cat food before the cats.

[mlizzy]

.......then there's "Farnsworth"...

Ha! Good story... :)

[ApplegateRanch]

While in the garden today, I looked in a rather neglected spot, and was shocked at how HUGE the 2 pattypan bushes had suddenly gotten; they are above my waist, and equally broad.

I was also surprised at what was on them; lots more coming, too. Chicken & rabbit manure work wonders.

Oh, and rain again today, after a second, closer, tornado yesterday, making 2 this week. We have now received all of the average rainfall for August, plus all of September's, and 2/3 of October's averages; and the month is just coming up on half over. The tornadoes are just weird, as there's only around a dozen on record for the entire Black Hills region (and most of those in the Wyoming or northern portions of the Hills) since 1953.

[greeneyes]

Well, that weather expert that is often on fox news says that we are in a 1950’s weather pattern-not global warming, so that would make some sense.

[ApplegateRanch]

then there's "Farnsworth". He'll chase the mallards or jump at them as they fly by. It's all in kitty-fun ;) I don't know what he'd do if he ever managed to catch one.

One place we lived was on a knoll overlooking a natural pond across the road that had muskrats in it. It was hilarious to watch a small flock of wild ducks paddling around, when suddenly a muskrat would shoot half out of the water in the midst of them, and splash back down, like a broaching whale. The ducks would scatter in a panic, then the muskrat would swim around in a large circle a couple of times, before heading back to its lair. You could practically see it laughing.

It also had fun teasing the pond turtles when they would bask in the sun on a log.

If we hadn't positively identified them as muskrats, I would have sworn they were otters from the behavior.