Weekly Garden Thread - June 5-11, 2021

June 5, 021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[greeneyes]

I have made lettuce soup before. Chicken broth, and 1 potato for each pint of liquid.

When the potato is tender, throw a leftover salad in croutons and all — even with the dressing. Simmer for a bit.

If you don’t have croutons and dressing on it, then it needs seasoning. Then blenderize(love those immersion blenders) and put a pat of butter in the middle sprinkled with a little chives or parsley for garnish.

One of my favorite soup and salad combos for the wintertime. Ha.

[greeneyes]

Oh man. That government cheese—so good. Once a week when I was in high school, the cafeteria had Au-gratin potatoes made with that cheese. Best potatoes ever!!!

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

My tomato plants started to blossom when the plants were super short which meant the fruit was going to be low to the ground where rodents could easily eat them.

I wanted the plants to grow taller so I basically pruned them.

I will find the original comment in the old thread and send you a link to the original question which I directed to Diana

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3959440/posts?page=130#130

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I told Ern to do that.

When we have seedling we’ve grown ourselves or purchased, and they are still only around 8” tall or so, still not in the ground or in a pot and are producing blooms, those blooms need to come off.

We do it because that’s a sign that the plant is stressed out and not getting what it needs (as in, being in the ground!) and it thinks it’s gonna die, so it’s making fruit to propagate itself.

Once those blooms are pinched off and the plants are established in the ground or a pot, they can put their energy into root structure, and then they’ll shoot up, re-bloom at the proper time, and give you tomatoes or peppers or eggplant. (Usually it’s just peppers, tomatoes and eggplant that I do this to.)

Also - if you have a little plant with a big pepper or tomato on it, it’s more likely to break the stem due to the weight of the fruit. And - I’ve read that plants send out some sort of signal that bugs can hear when they are stressed, and the bugs zero in on those plants to finish them off! Eeek!

Anyhow, ‘scientists’ have done lots of studies, and no matter how ‘old’ you let a plant get before it goes into the ground, it doesn’t benefit them any more than if you had planted that 8” plant at the proper planting time for your zone.

Amazingly, the plants know exactly what to do! An 8” seedling will catch up to one that was planted at 12” in a mater of a week.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"I do not recall other veggie plants benefiting from flower removal, but I am sure one of our friends here will think of some."

See Post #65 for my explanation of why I pinch off young blooms on tomatoes and peppers, and advised Ern to do so, too.

But you are right on the other dead-heading you talked about. Isn't it nice that they've breed a number of Petunia now that are very quick about shedding their spent blooms? I am growing three hanging baskets of 'Wave' Petunia this season and I LOVE them!

I always thought Petunia were for Old Ladies - but now I are one, LOL! ;) Not cheap, though! $9 for a 6-pack, but they really are beautiful.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I remember ours being Velveta-like, but it could be sliced and also made great Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

Again, eating like Royalty, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Use whatever spices you like on the mushrooms; they’ll take on any flavor.

I always use LESS of the Ranch Mix than the recipe calls for and I am making a TON at a time - usually two crock pots full to start, because the mushrooms shrink down, then I transfer them to one to take to the gathering.

You can also just use the butter and no spices. I’ve had those as a side with a steak before and remember being impressed. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[bitt]

the mystery plant that flew into my perennial garden has finally flowered.

WHAT IS IT???

primose? poppy? I want to move it and mulch, but until I know what it is, I'm holding off..

[bitt]

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Which LEAF goes with the pink bloom? Looks like it's growing up among other things?

Didn't we determine Bee Balm (Monarda) was in there? The pointy leaves belong to that.

If you can show me the leaf, that would help, though first guess is a California Poppy blend - they come in a yellow, orange, white and pink mix and are usually direct-sewn.

California Poppy Mix:

[Diana in Wisconsin]

If they’re poppies, I don’t think they like to be moved. :(

[Diana in Wisconsin]

And...looking at the leaves in your second picture, I’m not convinced the pink flowers are poppies. Some sort of Rose Mallow? Not the Hibiscus type, but the smaller self-seeding annual type?

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

M.M. I deadhead all my other Lily plants after they flower So I also deadhead my garlic. (Garlic is part of the Lily family.)

2nd reason. They can be used in cooking! Do not discard your scapes, cook with them. (You may already know this.)

https://www.thespruceeats.com/ways-to-use-garlic-scapes-in-recipes-4160007

amoung other recipies: Garlic scape and asparagus soup! Garlic scape and basil pesto!

https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/garlic-scapes

Pickle them like Ramps! (I did not know you could pickle ramps!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Rose beds, June 6, 2021. Long view of the rose beds Beau built for me. The birdbath/fountain was a recent addition from Mom's yard. That's where the yellow 'Topaz Jewel' rose was, but she didn't make it. :(

Coral Knockout Rose.

Morden Fireglow Rose.

Morden Blush Rose.

Supposed to be Morden Blush, but these two are a creamy white which ended up being an OK accident. 😉

I cannot praise the 'Morden' or 'Knockout' series of roses enough! They look shrubby, but they have long enough stems that you can make pretty bouquets with them, too.

Quite care-free, though after they start leafing out, I prune any winter kill or any branches 'sticking out funny.' (That's a technical term we Landscapers use, LOL!) I do feed them the BioAdvanced Rose & Flower Care product 3x a season; they just got their 2nd dose, today. Fertilizes, protects from disease and those awful Japanese Beetles. My roses are not the least bit 'organic' and to combat the diseases and bugs that love to kill them, they never will be. Of course, I feel MUCH differently about my food garden!

I also have Day Lilies, Sedum, Peonies and perennial grasses in the top deck of this garden. Things that can take full, relentless sun all summer long. (I water every other day in dry spells like we're having now.)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Greeneyes: Finally, some normal weather!

Japanese Beetles:

https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2010/geraniums-could-help-control-devastating-japanese-beetle/

“The beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, can feast on a wide variety of plants, including ornamentals, soybean, maize, fruits and vegetables. But within 30 minutes of consuming geranium petals, the beetle rolls over on its back, its legs and antennae slowly twitch, and it remains paralyzed for several hours. The beetles typically recover within 24 hours when paralyzed under laboratory conditions, but they often succumb to death under field conditions after predators spot and devour the beetles while they are helpless.” ...snip

https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-news/japanese-beetles-and-four-oclock-flowers

snip...”Later, geraniums and castor beans were tested, and only geranium had evidence of being directly toxic to Japanese beetles. Adding geraniums to protect the garden may seem like a good idea, but a University of Kentucky study found that planting garden geranium (Pelargonium × hortorum) actually increased Japanese beetle damage to nearby roses. The reasons why are not clear, but the scientists suggested that geraniums may have attracted more beetles in the area due to their flowers’ scent or color.

A recent Colgate University study in 2013 seems to put another hole in the “four o’clock is toxic to beetles” theory. In this experiment, a four o’clock leaf was put in a cage with a starving Japanese beetle. While the scientists did find that some varieties of four o’clock were tastier to the beetles than others, no dead or sick insects were observed in any cage.”

My observations: One year I planted Germaniums in pots. Although not more than 40 feet from the heaviest infestation area I do not think they recived a visit as far as I could tell.

I read that J.Bs and do not like Red Cedar oil, so I sprayed my Plum trees and Aronia with a mixture of Sal suds soap, neem and Red Cedar oil. They pretty much left the older sprayed leaves alone and concentrated on the new leaves on the tips. So, it does reduce the visits.

(Note** First year of infestation I used a Japanese beetle trap, which I will never do again. It attracts a massive amount of them. I have made 2 applications of Milky Spore and at least 1 of predatory nematodes in the past 3 years with a reduction of population. I am waiting for the first visit this year.)

https://verminkill.com/plants-that-repel-beetles/

[TheConservativeParty]

Those are gorgeous! I grew Evening Scentsation petunias from seed and they are very impressive in growth habit (sturdy not long ) and flower production (huge). Will keep growing them every year. The scent really is amazing, as advertised by the seed company.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

TEFKaB: I have one Shishito that I bought to plant. Have never tried it so this year will be the first! Good thing its easy to just wash and freeze all those bell peppers!

How many tomatoes do you have? I have 13. I took off the first branches up to 10-12” (straw mulch underneath) and left the flowers alone on the premise that I need to get as many growing before it gets so hot and humid that its difficult for the flowers to pollinate. (Thats a problem here every year.)

Enjoy your berries! One of the best things about summer!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Greeneyes! Anything you spray it on! Works on squash bugs and takes out the zucchini too!