Posted on 06/27/2020 6:25:41 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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I am asking for advice again. I have 2 pet graves that I have had a ground cover on that I really like. Called Blue Star Creeper. Link follows with photo and the latin name. I have to replant nearly every year. Plus the only place I can find it is 45 minutes away. I am in zone 5 Michigan. The area gets partial sun. I have to mulch heavily with leaves in the fall to get any to survive and then only some comes back. I am looking for a perennial with tiny foliage that will do well and hopefully have some tiny flowers like the creeper. Any suggestions welcome. Thankshttps://www.greatgardenplants.com/product/isotoma-blue-star-creeper/perennial-ground-cover?gclid=Cj0KCQjwoub3BRC6ARIsABGhnyZvblkehB5EvDAkfFo6b—J1uO_9-hslujRrrsbJzYcKBw89rwNejIaAtueEALw_wcB
We got a bit of rainfall last week here in Central Missouri, but for the most part it has been hot and dry.
Tomato plants are growing well and putting on a lot of blossoms. The black cherry tomatoes are already setting fruit.
Garlic is ready for harvest. Kale and collards are rocking. Cucumber plants are blooming. Cabbages were picked yesterday morning. We’re going to make another attempt at sauerkraut.
Finally got the pole bean seeds into the ground.
The new bait pond is already half full of water, and the wheat/fescue/clover I planted on the berm is sprouted and growing nicely. I’m going to start tossing fathead and shiner minnows, small bluegill, and crayfish into it this week. I’d rather wait until it was full up, but I don’t want the skeeters to get a head start.
Just got the second pick of green beans and assorted greens and lettuce to have with dinner.
I have squash, corn, beans and sunflowers together because I don’t have much space. I read that sunflowers suck up a lot of nutrients so I started more yellow squash seeds yesterday because they’re looking anemic. I might try and get in one more bush bean planting because the ones I have look about done.
I also started more lettuce. I have a lot left still but we’ll want some after it’s played out.
I have a spot in the yard that only gets gentle morning sun and even though we’ve had a few really hot spells the lettuce I planted there is showing no signs of bolting, so I think I might actually be able to grow it all summer! I never thought anything would do well there because it’s got no sun for most of the day.
Need to expand garden area.
lol lol lol
I ordered those seeds you told us about. Arrived within a week of placing order. Several seeds have been sowed. Just waiting for them to sprout.
Pumpkins are flowering...
It is June 29...
Will I get at least one (1) 11+ pound pumpkin
to make homemade pie this T-Giving.??
Kids, stay tuned for next week’s episode of: Thanksgiving Pies...
I wonder if a carpet of Creeping Phlox would work there? Does it get more sun in the early spring before the trees leaf out? It’s not a true blue, but there is white and violet and a few shades of pink.
Common Periwinkle? (Vinca Minor) That has a purple bloom.
There are some very pretty Ajuga out there! (Bugleweed)
How about some Ferns in that area? When we buried our dog, Sasha, we planted a fern on top of him.
Oh, Goody! Please report back with your successes! :)
LOL!
I planted NO Winter Squash this season. Until Beau digs me a true Root Cellar, or gives up the PERFECT small room in the basement which is currently full of old cans of dried up paint, 30,000 miscellaneous SCREWS and BOLTS, and a few drying raccoon pelts, I am on strike! :)
I goofed off today and went Shoe Shopping with me Mum.
We got back to The Farm about 2pm, and the sky opened up and we got .5” of rain in about two minutes. It was really something!
Beau leaves for Bear Training Camp in a few days for a week, and I plan on pulling out the rest of the lettuces (I always keep a few and let them go to seed and I harvest ‘the babies’ where they fall for Fall lettuces) and will replant with a crop of beets.
I filled in the bean seeds where they didn’t germinate well, and will keep up with the weeding.
If it EVER stops raining, I’ll fertilize the tomatoes, peppers and zukes. They need some bone meal, STAT! I found ONE tomato with Blossom End Rot, and the zukes have not been as productive as usual - but I’m almost AFRAID to fertilize them, LOL!
I think the magic beans in the fairy tale were actually zucchini...
;)
Lady Bender and I finally got our potatoes planted today, Two 12 foot rows each of Yukon Gold, Deserie and Corolla. Our garden shed is 40 years old and the wooden floor has rotted out and critters are getting in making a mess. At 87 I am real happy I can still walk but it’s very painful
Well, let’s see here:
The store bought tomato plants (3x 6-packs) are (all but one plant) doing well - some small green fruits are appearing, we should have modest harvest of the cherry & grape types in a week or so. The 2 tomato plants that overwintered took a long time to get going, but have produced a few fruits. All the plants from seed are looking good but are 2-3 weeks behind the store bought plants, I think. Germination rate for the seed plants was great on the Sweet 100’s, good on the Livingston Grape and Best Boy plants, fair on the Chocolate Cherry and Yellow Grape tomatoes.
Germination rate for my sweet banana peppers was only fair, the Bell Mix, Purple Bell, and Thai peppers were poor, but all pepper plants started indoors are looking good.
The celery was a wipeout (it got too hot for them, apparently); the everbearing strawberries died even faster after germination. Cucumbers looking good so far, but very low germination rate. Okra not “up” yet - if still not up by this weekend, there must be a germination problem. Ditto for the eggplant and cantaloupe. Opo was planted only a few days ago, so too early to tell for sure. Volunteer squash are exploding on the chicken manure pile / taking over entire east end of garden. Wifey’s overwintered Calamansi is looking “ok (probably needs repotting), her overwintered Malunggay (Maringa) is doing well (she’s harvested off them 3x already). She has another plant I don’t recall the name of going too - has harvested off them once. Insects chomping on those - she didn’t want me to spray ‘em, but I hit ‘em with Sevin anyway - looking much better now.
It appears the 5000K, 5k Lumen LED shop lights were sufficient when the seed plants were indoors, if the lights were close enough. However, when the plants got up to the lights, some leaves browned from the heat. All recovered ok. The ones I couldn’t transplant right away I just let grow up PAST the lights — did not seem to harm them, although they grew taller faster. The Best Boys made for the most stout plants under the lights. Am trying 3 of those in big (~3 gallon?) pots in the garden, the rest in soil normally — these are a determinate type plant. Might take a couple more pots to my Mom’s.
Of the 8 chicks I purchased, 3 died (trampled by the Leghorns that grew faster, I think.) 5 are doing well. The Black Sex-link has passed the Leghorns - looks almost like a meat bird in progress. However the “Black Orphington” is the smallest and light grey - I’m not sure what it really is! Slow grower, but seems healthy. The Asian Black is slightly larger than the mystery bird, but not by much. (I expected it to be small.) Feisty little girl. The White Leghorns are unexpectedly the friendliest of the batch. Golly, can they fly! 10x their own height even at this early age.
Our Black Orphington / Bantam hybrid hen went broody. Only got one chick out of it (looks like an Amberlink or maybe an Amberlink / White Leghorn mix. Seems to be doing well, but “Mom” will not adopt the other chicks. At best she ignores them, at worst she chases them away from “her” chick. Our Amberlink / Black Orphington mix hen also just went broody - I guess we’ll se how that goes. I swapped out several eggs so she is sitting on Amberlink and Amberlink / White Leghorn eggs. (Trying to keep the egg size up.) Am still miffed about the failure of the Black Copper Maran (purchased) eggs, and missing out on getting either Buckeye or Black Copper Maran hens. Work on expanding the larger henhouse into an adjacent old shed has just commenced. Shed roof also needs work.
Found a great new spot on the Ohio River* to fish, tho’ it’s a bit of a drive and often inaccessible (roads washed out or flooded, and the WMA is closed half the year as a wildlife refuge.) :-(
Did the almost 1-1/2 hrs. to Pounds Hollow in IL for Fathers’ Day: Was supposed to be a combined swimming and later fishing outing with my wife and daughter, but the beach & swimming area was so crowded when we got there that my daughter wanted no part of it - so we went off exploring the local roads — found a little old church (still in use, however) right on the bank of a creek.
*At my age, am not too worried about contaminates in catfish ~ 5 lbs. or less, or drum** below 3 lbs. For my wife & daughter, see below.
**Properly prepared, really tasty!
Later we found a quarry that, amazingly, while on one side of the county road there were plenty of the “No Admittance” and “Blasting Area” signs one might expect at a quarry entrance, on the other side there was just a typical wide gravel (mining) road that went over a rise and then “My goodness!”: One can just drive right into the quarry! No one was around, but heavy equipment tracks in the dusty gravel HAD to be after the last rain, a few days prior. No signs whatsoever! We were just amazed. My wife got a few pics, then we headed back to the lake & fished for a while, taking home 10 nice size bluegill.
Heavy rain predicted later today.
-— Report End -—
:-)
I had sweet 100s for years after putting one plant out there. They would make new volunteers every year for about ten years.
I have Yukon Gold(bought seed potatoes at Wal-Mart)that’s almost ready, made a real pretty vegetable.
I took some old red ones that started shoots and planted those too. They’re doing much better than the store bought seeds.
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Praying for you! ;)
I think you’re right!
That’s quite a report! Thanks! Glad you’re enjoying raising chickens, and the fishing sounds great!
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