Weekly Garden Thread - August 13-19, 2022 [Marianne North, Botanical Artist Edition]

August 13, 2022 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[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.

This thread is a non-political respite. 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. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.

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 to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[goodnesswins]

THANK YOU...I have been wanting to download an app like that.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

TO RETURN TO THE AUGUST 6-12 WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD

SELECT AND CLICK ON ANY LEEK!

(Really...any leek. There is no incorrect choice here!)

[ansel12]

Does anyone know about a micro bee?

Buzzing around my zucchini plants in the high desert are tiny little bees about 1/2 inch long and 1/8th inch thick.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

L.J. Ceylon, and flowers! Alerting you!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Thank you Diane for hosting and posting this gardening thread! A fun serious subject in these times of creeping socialist stupidity!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

And of course it is possible to overwinter your pepper plants which I think you will be doing? (Since you posted or watched a youtube about this and reported to the thread.) Easier in a higher growing zone though!

[Pollard]

Leafpad successfully recognized a hickory tree leaf and gave it’s best guess at variety.

I’m interested in it for the wild flowers and weeds around here to see if I can ID any as wild edibles. A woman named Jan Philips wrote a book called Wild Edibles of Missouri which has illustrations and proper botanical descriptions but it’s 243 pages which is a lot to thumb through to find something. The app will give me some names and then I can use the book. https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/mo_nature/downloads/page/WildEdibles.pdf She also has recipes, preparation instructions. She tasted/tested every plant in the book.

There’s a lot of different things growing where the gravel road meets the woods or fields. Also where a field meets the forest. Always a huge variety at edges like that. Likewise where creeks meet the woods or a field.

[Pollard]

Hoverfly maybe? https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hoverfly&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Good deal on your tomatoes! Hope you get something from it in the time left! They look small so you should be able to get something. Ecclesiastes 11:6 "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well." Along the same line I just planted some 12" tall Burpees long keeper seedlings hoping to get a last crop that could last until January. Its dubious that I will get anything this late, but I will remove any suckers and excess vegetation and keep them watered and see what happens in the time left. The four Thorburn's Terre Cotta I planted 3 1/2 weeks ago are 3 feet high and have small tomatoes. Will they produce ripe tomatoes before first frost? https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/thorburns-terracotta-tomato/ "Thorburn’s terracotta tomato is named for its distinctive color: It has honey-brown skin and green shoulders. Due to the thickness of its skin, tomatoes of this variety store well and are easy to transport. The flesh is orange-pink and the seed mass is greenish. It is a semi-determinate variety, the plants growing to a height of about 2 meters. It reaches maturity in 75 days and produces quite a heavy crop, though productivity quickly drops off as cooler weather sets in. The tomatoes are usually about 8 centimeters in diameter and 180 grams. Unlike many heirloom tomatoes, which can be deeply ribbed and irregular in shape, Thorburn’s terracotta has a uniform acorn-like shape and a relatively smooth surface. Thorburn seed company developed this variety by crossing various hybrids; the grandmother variety was called “peach” due to its fuzzy skin. Though not fuzzy, the terracotta tomato’s skin is lusterless and appears slightly downy." Never had one, the seed pack was a throw in by Baker Creek. Looking forward to tasting!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Pollard's F/R profile page is the location of his Prepper links and Data Base. Click on the Greenhouse to link to his homepage!

[ansel12]

Thanks, that must be it, and they are pollinators which I need, so I’m glad to see them, they also eat aphids.

[Pollard]

Out of the four varieties of cherry tomato I grew, 3 types can sit there ripe for days and not get soft but the Yellow Pear cherry gets soft within a couple of days of being ripe. Four of the Chadwick, a large red cherry, have been sitting there ripe for a week now and they also have fairly thick skins.

Storage ability is something I never thought of in relation to tomatoes.

[SkyDancer]

And for a bit of fun gardening tips!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! Exactly!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for the Ping/link. Sorry I missed that! Makes perfect sense. It was pretty much the only good thing that came out of the CovidBS-19 sham. BUT - growing your own food is WORK, so it's not for the faint of heart! ;)

I finished canning peaches, today I am on to making Dilly Beans. Tomatoes and peppers are ripening now, so Salsa is not far behind. Then it's on to apples, pears and a bumper crop of grapes this season. Life Is Good!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for reminding me to root some tomato cuttings! I want to see how long I can keep some going in the (unheated) greenhouse this Fall into Winter.

My record is fresh tomatoes on December 24th - but we had a very mild start to Winter that year. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Beautiful, as always! Thanks for sharing.

I lived south of San Diego (Imperial Beach; next town, Tijuana!) from 1980-’82.

It rained ONCE in all that time, which made me a little nutty, LOL! My neighbors thought I had lost it as I was out dancing in it when it rained. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sorry for your awful growing season. :(

We had a severe drought in 2012. I was managing a Garden Center at the time; it was brutal.

People didn’t give up, but it wasn’t pretty.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

TCP: I was reading a ‘Mary Jane’s Farm’ magazine (April/May 2022) and there was mention of a new book about Marianne North. I had never heard of her, so I started exploring, too.

She really rocked it! A 26 year old woman, traveling the world, no chaperone, and in uptight Victorian dresse of the times. My heroine, LOL!

Goodness: I love remodeling projects - once they’re done! :) We usually have a project going. This year it is power washing (done!) and re-staining the back decks. We also have to do the new railings around the front porch, and some repair work to the porch flooring and get that painted, too. due to Beau’s bear hunting/dog training schedule neither will happen until Fall.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks, Pete!