Posted on 02/29/2020 7:27:28 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
The 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.
If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.
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Aw, what a sweet pup! The tilted head is always a nice pose for maximum cuteness.
Pretty!
I plan on planting that as part of my herb garden.
It’s a perennial.
Excellent link.
THANK YOU!!!!
Thanks for sharing that! I plan on growing a lot of sunflowers this season, as well as Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) for the Butterflies.
“Sunshine’ who now goes by, ‘Sunny’ is all grown up now and has been on a few raccoon hunts with a bright hunting future ahead of her. :)
My sage always dies. I think it’s too hot/humid for it here.
It just seems to sort of...disappear...around the end of June/early July.
You are going to be a busy gardener!
I’ve only had bitter melon once. When were were selling Beau’s house in Madison, the next-door neighbors were an Asian family with a beautiful veggie garden and the father gave me some. He ‘tried’ to explain to me how to use it, but I ended up looking it up - communication wasn’t 100% and I didn’t want to poison myself with something lost in translation, LOL!
I saw the white bitter melon in the catalog - looked good and I loved the red berries inside. :)
I told mr. mm the same thing.
He needs to water the garden all the way around. It’s a decent size, too, but we had heard that men’s urine scent will work well.
Since we can’t even see the neighbor’s house, that should not be a problem.
I thought it looked like a bear cub, too.
Love tithonia, I planted them for a decade or more and always saved the seeds. They put out a bunch. They make the nicest bouquets.
Dianna, The huge problem here (mid-Gulf Florida) are the Fruit Rats and the Squirrels that will dig up your Sunflower seeds the night after you plant them. If you are going right into the ground with the Sunflower seeds rather than using a germinating tray, sprinkle some Cayenne Pepper where you have planted them. Keeps them away for a while. I also found that Mint Extract mixed with water in a spray bottle works great too. It confuses their cute little noses.
Grow the Mint in your garden, harvest some, mix with water in a blender and pour over the seeds/plants.
Otherwise, use the germinating tray, (look up MicroGreen Germinating Tray on Amazon, about $12) to assure that you will be planting good, solid 6” Sunflower “plants” from your Solo cup, instead of the easy to eat seeds.
Also, I made my own “Germinating Trays”. Went to DollarTree and bought a bunch of 12x9x4” plastic trays with lids and some of the $Tree carpet rectangles. I cut the carpet into three sections per carpet rectangle, measured to fit the rounded corners of the tray. I put my copy paper over the carpet and put some water, not much, into the tray to soak the carpet/paper. Then the seeds.
This is a very cheap way to make a germinating tray, about $1.50/tray including the carpet compared to the $12 tray. The downside is you have to monitor the water level more often to make sure that it is not flooding the seeds or drying them out. You are looking for “dampness and humidity” in the closed tray to sprout the seeds. I mostly get my seeds from “SeedsNeeds” either direct or on Amazon.
If you are looking for “bulk” seeds, head to Walmart and buy “Parrot” Sunflower Seeds. They might not be all tall Sunflowers but you will get tons of nice flowers. By the way, Sunflower “bird” seed makes smaller size Sunflowers, sort of like Daisy’s. Perfect for a meadow appearance. ..Bob
Greetings from southern New Hampshire!
Our winter brood of Runner Ducks are about ready to join the rest of the flock. Right now, we are planning on Tuesday, when the temperatures are supposed to be above freezing. Huey, Dewey, Louie and Fred are developing their wing feathers and losing their duckling fuzz.
I LOVE Dollar Tree - we FINALLY got one in my little Cow Town!
I like to grow the HUGE sunflowers like, ‘Kong’ or ‘Eartwalker’ and leave them up through seed stage for winter food for the birds.
Beau has ‘gifted’ me a field that is east of the house that he will ‘nuke’ so I can plant sunflowers and other flowers in there for the pollinators. He had been using it as a food plot for turkey & pheasants, but no luck so far.
Now that I want flowers in there, I’m sure the turkeys will be all over it, LOL!
I just love their names! You’ve done a great job with your ducklings. :)
Y’all might like this. I liked the AZ gardeners because I am freezing my tailfeathers off. http://ace.mu.nu/archives/386020.php
And a frosty day it is here. My arugula and Kale, my Garden that just keeps going, are covered with sheets and then a blanket of snow on top. This might just be their last hurrah. But Ive been saying this since November.
I envy those of you that are getting started on gardening already! If I was in California still all the trees would have blossoms. Have to wait another couple months for that here.
Yippee! I can hardly wait!
Sun is shining here in southeast Virginia. But don’t let that fool you. It’s cold like it hasn’t been all winter!
“Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread” LOL!
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