Spring Gardens - Page 6

ElaineM · 06-16-2009, 09:26 PM

Nice looking spring chard. Beautiful garden !!!!!!!!!!

MJo · 06-17-2009, 02:07 PM

Believe....I have been caring for my deceased father's roses since 2002. I agree with whoever said Roses aren't plants. They're pets. It think this is the first year I haven't been afraid of the roses. They're doing fine. They have black spot. One looks spindly. I don't care any more. I have added many plants to the garden, but not one rose.Demanding, difficult little things!!

juanita · 06-19-2009, 02:12 PM

wow i like it!

Believe51 · 06-19-2009, 07:17 PM

MJo, you are going to need an herbicide for that 'black spot' and there are many organic ones to chose from. As for them being spindly, try to cut them back now they are doing well but keep enough green on them so they can flourish. Also I have found that the more care you give these 'pets' (hahaha) before the bedding down for winter, the worse they do. In the fall just cover them lightly with mulch or hay and let the winter beat them up, they love that! My Mother-in-Law could grow anything in cement, she was amazing. One winter my Daddy lost all his rose bushes because he covered them too well with mulch then plastic buckets. They need a rough winter to blossom well in the summer and can get to hot during the fall and winter. I admire that you are caring for your Daddy's roses and hope that you can save them. Black spot is easy to rid if you keep up with it. Are you fertilizing them each year?? Sometimes a rose will have a hard time. Spread out the fertilizer and water it down more than the normal recommendations. Let me know how they do for the rest of the summer and we will make sure you can keep those roses, which are prized too. Do not be afraid of these guys, tell them who is boss.>>Believe51

Believe51 · 06-19-2009, 07:23 PM

Check out these petals........

Believe51 · 06-27-2009, 08:54 PM

Does anyone know anything about the 'Sourwood Tree'? It is a ever-changing leaf coloring with like a grape-cluster flowering blossom. Ed and I have planted one at our burial site and it is simply spectacular.

We had to have the caretaker plant it and it has not even been in the ground there for more than a year. This spring we noticed that part of a lower branch did not grow leaves, that part is dead of course. It also has a mold on it that most trees get no matter how great the care.

I am not so sure the cemetary caretaker knows how to care for it. During the evening some night I plan to address the branch if he does not. If it dies they will replace it once more. Problem is they are not caring for it properly and I am getting pee'd off now.

I will try to take a picture of the fungus, it is the green 1-2" circular mold/fungus I speak of.

What can I do??

Terri B · 07-06-2009, 01:30 PM

Dang storm last week nearly took out my corn! But today, it's standing straight and tall again! It's amazing how resilient it is!

in the foreground are my 'maters, in the back back are the green beans, in between, is my huge cuc patch. *not pictured here* is the HUGE watermelons and a much smaller cantelope patch.

This is my first year for a garden. I guess it helps that my husband grew up a farmers son!

Bill · 07-07-2009, 04:38 PM

Hey, that's a nice looking garden Terri. The one and only time I tried to grow corn it all fell over, so I went out there and staked it back up, stalk by God-forsaken stalk, individually, thinking, "Damn, I must be a bad corn-farmer. Nobody has to stake their corn. What's up with that?"

chrisy · 07-07-2009, 05:33 PM

Bill,

I tried corn several times with mixed success. One year we got a mole in the garden (the animal, not a spy) and he tunneled under the entire row of corn so the roots were dangling in a big hole...just before they keeled over.

But there was another time where I had such a great crop and literally would get the water boiling then go pick the corn and RUN to put it in the pot!

Yum!

Terri B · 07-08-2009, 06:38 AM

Yeah Bill, that was the SECOND storm that had knocked my corn down. It's AMAZING that it has come back TWICE without stakes! *snicker*

It's a lot of work, though. My husband felt like he needed to plant a half-acre garden, and he's gone all week (truck driver) so its up to me to harvest and water every two days! I'm yielding a bushel of cucumbers every two days! WHEW! The sweat is rolling!

You'd think I'd lose some of this caboose, but NO SUCH LUCK>:

Terri B · 07-21-2009, 08:55 AM

I have this HUGE watermelon patch with at LEAST 2 dozen watermelons growing that are the size of volleyballs or larger. problem is, this being my first garden year, i'm having problems knowing when they are ripe. I have picked two so far, cut them open, and they were white!

. So, now i waited until the little curly thingy opposite the vine turned brown and crusty, and i picked another one! This one sits in my fridge and i'm scared to cut it! I hope it's ripe!

suzan w · 07-21-2009, 09:34 AM

thump the watermelons with your knuckles...if it resonates like a good drum...ripe, if it thuds...not That's what the "old timers" told me!!!

Terri B · 07-21-2009, 09:37 AM

yeah, suzanne, I heard that one too and tried it on the first two! I'm tone deaf or something! (watermelon deaf?)

Bill · 07-21-2009, 02:22 PM

Wish I could help, Terri, but I'm still trying to perfect the cantaloupe-smelling thing and eye-balling an avocado to see if they're ripe. Let me know what you find out about the watermelons!

StephN · 07-21-2009, 02:48 PM

Hi - Terri, I don't have the "is it ripe" problem with my berries and fruits. But I feel your pain on the watermelon. Guy at the farmer's market said they will also be a bit soft at the stem area like other melons. I still like to "knock" on them. Your hubby really wanted to keep you busy this summer - 1/2 acre is more than our whole place!

Here are my pickings from Sunday. Blueberries about done as well as the strawberries. Raspberries - I get a cup or so every day - enough for us to eat in various ways.

NO comice pears this year - the trees were attacked with something that I have to find out about by taking some leaves to the nursery man. First year we have no pears.

ElaineM · 07-21-2009, 02:59 PM

Boy Steph, your photos make me very hungry. I am still struggling along with the Swiss chard and other greens I started.

StephN · 08-11-2009, 11:49 AM

So, what is the latest with everyone's gardens?
Terri - are you through eating all the corn & watermelons? Or do you have critters that get into them?

Bill's "leafy" adventures are on another thread.

The ladies in Hawaii hopefully have been able to harvest before the big rains hit.

The birds have been munching on the remainder of my raspberries. They get tired of the feed the lady next door puts out.

Having no rain to speak of for 60 days here, the ground is baked so hard that I have to just break the weeds off at the top. They went to seed much faster this year with the heat and sun. Dang! Got to get some more Preen. Weather brough my landscaping projects to a halt and yesterday the rain started. Hope to get my new plants in by week's end!

Bill · 08-11-2009, 03:43 PM

I've got plenty of cucumbers rolling in, with some squash and zuchinni (enough for a few side dishes per week). In another week or so we should have dozens of ripe tomatoes for fresh eating and some home-made salsa. Got a few nice sweet banana pepper plants producing well. Can't keep up with the radish planting right now, so that's tapering off. (You should plant more radish seeds every week as it only takes 4-5 weeks for them to mature). Containers give us enough spinach and chard and mustard greens to supplement salads and cooked greens. I can't wait for my acorn squash to mature. I'm not a good carrot farmer, but I've got some almost ready to pluck. I might plant parsnips next year. I just tried some for the first time a few weeks ago and loved them. How's your garden?

Terri B · 08-12-2009, 12:29 PM

I am still picking tons of cucumbers. I'm starting to get the hang of the watermelon picking and cantelopes too. Some guy at work said I had very nice melons!

We've had so much rain down here that I haven't had to water since sometime in early July! It's crazy, but it is making bad tomatoes. they split open before they get good.

ElaineM · 08-12-2009, 09:10 PM

I moved my plants in containers into a protected area in case the hurricane arrived, but all we got was rain here on Oahu. I am going shopping tomorrow for more starter plants and seeds. We are lucky over here, because we can have two crops in the year. I wonder how Harrie's garden is over there on the Big Island?