What's in your garden? (2015 edition)

[Tom L.]

GRRR. ARGH. I wish my gardening endeavors looked tidier. I manage to get at least some things to grow well but you'd never see them on "Better Homes And Gardens". I'm the organizer for my Community Garden (there are many gardens in the overall group, and one or two gardeners take the position of "organizer" for each garden), and the two plots closest to mine look AMAZING.... making mine look even worse by comparison. My problem is I don't bother with rows sometimes- everything jostles its neighbors.

But I guess looks isn't really that important to me, or I'd DO something about it.

Anyway... I planted some leek, chard, and broccoli seedlings in my community plot- we got them as leftovers from a garden center, the leeks were several in each small pot, and I probably killed most of my leeklets trying to untangle their roots (I only took one little pot- there were several). I moved the clump of peonies from my plot to the communal ornamental area, too. I reminded the other gardeners that there are seedlings ready for adoption... I don't know why nobody's taking them... surely they like leeks, chard, and broccoli?...

Anyway, if they DON'T take them, the woodchuck probably will, seeing as nobody has much else edible in their plots yet this early in the season. (I never thought I could get this ticked-off at a fellow herbivore. We're working out a relocation plan which will have to include the youngsters, if there are any...)

I'll start my watermelon seedlings this weekend. I saved the seeds from the watermelon which I harvested last year.

My peach tree is blooming.

 

[KLS52]

I think my hickory tree died...it was just a baby...going into its third year. I wonder what happened. It started out as a little stick and survived the last two winters growing in a pot. I went out to check it and it looks like it started to get little buds but they are brown. I'll wait a little longer...maybe it's too soon for it be getting green leaves?

And what, pray tell, is this mess? The flowers are pretty but I don't know what happened to it. It started out as a pretty flowery bush and know it's a gnarly mess! Geez.

 

[Tom L.]

It looks like a forsythia right behind the bush, with those yellow flowers, but the bush itself... I can't tell. There are so many flowering shrubs that have pinkish or whitish flowers early in the year, such as my peach tree. Could you take a close-up photo of the flowers, and the leaves too after they get big enough?

I don't know about your hickory, but we had a rough winter. Maybe it's taking its time to get going. Is the bark around the base gnawed much? Sometimes small animals gnaw bark just below the snow in hard winters, and small trees might not make it.

 

[Spang]

I don't have a garden, but I do have this plant:

 

[KLS52]

Most of my flowers are doing well!

Catmint

 

[KLS52]

Hydrangea

 

[KLS52]

Knockout roses were coming along but something is wrong with the leaves now. I'm going to snip one and bring it to one of the master gardeners near where I work.

 

[KLS52]

And my beautiful butterfly bush. my favorite...I've had it for about five years and it's always come back bigger and more beautiful every year. Even my new one that I bought last year looks dead.

 

[ledboots]

Knockout roses were coming along but something is wrong with the leaves now. I'm going to snip one and bring it to one of the master gardeners near where I work.
View attachment 7091

June beetles?

 

[KLS52]

June beetles?

Yikes...need to google that!

 

[Tom L.]

Was your butterfly bush cut back? It definitely looks like it was cut to a stump, not gnawed on (if we're talking about the same thing- the one that has a flowerless dandelion growing just to its left).

 

[KLS52]

Yes… There are a couple of master gardeners where I work and they always told me I didn't cut it back enough. I guess they can't say that anymore. Perhaps I went a bit too far this time.

I want this in my backyard...Enchanted Fairy Garden.

 

[Tom L.]

I hope you butterfly bushes come back. Some woody plants are really tough. Don't lose hope!

I've got different kinds of beans coming up- black, pinto, white, and blackeyed pea- along with okra. I've had lousy luck starting tomatoes from seed, so I've resorted to taking cuttings of my favorite varieties of tomato and overwintering them indoors. I planted them outside in my home plot, and two even have small tomatoes on the already. One of the two sweet pepper plants I overwintered has lots of peppers on it, and the other one is blooming so it soon will.

I saved my own marigold seed and planted some of it, and now I have about a jillion little marigold plants coming up in my community garden plot. I also started some lovage from seed; it's a perennial herb that tastes a lot like celery, and it's good I sowed it thickly in the little pots because the germination rate wasn't very good- not nearly as good as the marigolds. It's growing very slowly. I've been watering them (all my plants, actually) with water from my 50-gallon goldfish tank. It's good for both the fish and the plants, since the fish need their water partially changed sometimes to prevent a buildup of nitrates in the water.

 

[Moll Flanders]

Yes… There are a couple of master gardeners where I work and they always told me I didn't cut it back enough. I guess they can't say that anymore. Perhaps I went a bit too far this time.

I want this in my backyard...Enchanted Fairy Garden.
View attachment 7109

I thought that was a picture of your garden! I was very impressed.

 

[KLS52]

Hahahaha...I wish!

 

[Tom L.]

I was late planting my butternut squash, but I think it will do okay. I seeded it directly yesterday after work instead of starting it indoors. The packet says it matures in 90 days... that should be plenty of time. I've grown this variety before.

 

[kibbleforlola]

We have put a lot of effort into out garden, but our wild hares and groundhogs that share our space have eaten everything but the cilantro. I'd share pictures, but it just be of nibbled nubs.

 

[KLS52]

My neighbors tried planting a sizable garden a few years ago...it proved futile. The rabbits and groundhogs did quite a number on it. I was a little surprised at how quickly they gave up on it, though, lol. I half expected them to at least give it a second try and use some kind of deterrent, like fencing, to keep them out.

Occasionally I will plant tomatoes and maybe green beans or peppers, but I do it in containers on my deck. There's nothing to say that couldn't come up and get at the containers, but luckily they choose not to.

Sorry about your garden...I don't mean to make light of it. As much as I love wildlife I would be upset if I put the time/effort/expense into it, only to have it decimated by the little critters.

 

[Tom L.]

Well, I can understand why they would stay away from cilantro. Maybe it tastes like dishwashing liquid to them, as it does to me.

My copy of Rodale's Organic Gardening encyclopedia mentions something called "mole plant", which supposedly rodents don't like, and you can plant it here and there in your garden. As I mentioned above, black-eyed peas don't seem to appeal to critters... maybe a big thick row of them surrounding tastier veggies within?....

 

[ledboots]

Well, I can understand why they would stay away from cilantro. Maybe it tastes like dishwashing liquid to them, as it does to me.

My copy of Rodale's Organic Gardening encyclopedia mentions something called "mole plant", which supposedly rodents don't like, and you can plant it here and there in your garden. As I mentioned above, black-eyed peas don't seem to appeal to critters... maybe a big thick row of them surrounding tastier veggies within?....

My mom used to plant marigold flowers around the garden, I guess they are bitter and helped keep away some critters. She also had bunny fencing (they would dig under it, though).

She planted a "St Christopher Garden" near the main one that she chucked seeds and extra plants in, and hoped the critters would eat that one. She picked slugs off her garden by hand and used hot peppers and garlic in water to spray on plants to deter unwanted visitors. Also had a fake owl on a pole to scare away the birds and rodents.