We've had beautiful warm weather lately, but today was the first time I actually got out into the yard to do anything. I flipped my compost, 2 bins full. I forget to attach the bungee cords over the lids over winter and they blew off, leaving the compost wet and heavy. from snow and rain. I thought I'd die before I finished flipping all that compost!
Then I cut back a few things
8 ft. tall buddleia, took forever
1 aster
3 hibiscus
Now I'm worn out. My back aches, my right hand is killing me from hours of using pruning shears. Boy, am I out of shape. Just put me in a nursing home. It got to 75° today but the cold returns in a few days with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s, and a chance of snow.
Wow you sure did alot! There is still lots of snow on the ground to do any cleaning or digging. That's cool that your buddleias get so tall. I had one overwinter for two seasons and than lost it.
I held off starting up the greenhouse until last week end. The weather has been terrible. Still winter here and has been snowing for days. The tomatoes don't like the propane exhaust fro the heater and since I have had to have the heater on day & night, it's a concern. All I want is a little sunshine. I did see two robins the other day and I can hear them in the morning so it should change very soon.
Temps are falling now, and the storms are here. We have a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch. Tornado sirens have been screaming. Apparently lots of hail around the area but not at my house. A chance of snow mix tonight.
Where is everyone? Still planting? Thankfully, I finished weeding, mulching, and planting about a week ago. Now, my maltese cross and a few others are finished blooming and need to be cut back. My established coneflowers are just starting to bloom.
Weather - we've had it all! After such a cold and wet early spring, the weather warmed and we had a few hot, dry weeks. It felt more like hot humid August with several days well into the 90s and heat index near 100. Then yesterday it rained and stormed and stormed. We got 3.4" of rain yesterday, more storms due late tonight. Then 3 cool days with perfect temps in the high 70s and lower humidity . (at least that's what the weather man is promising). I need to spread my finished compost on the tomato bed, and mulch that, do some other things out there too. I'll be able to enjoy it if we get the weather that is forecast.
Still here, just busy. I got the majority of things finally planted last week, and got all of the drip irrigation set up. Still have a few annuals to plant, then should be finished.
On today's agenda: trimming the lilac bushes, and doing some deadheading.
Finally enjoying some cooler weather this weekend after almost 2 weeks of temps in the upper 80s and 90s. We missed the rain here yesterday, but we got plenty up in Fort Wayne on Friday, and some on Saturday morning (I was there for the state Master Gardener's conference).
The plants are grateful for the cooler temps, as well. The tomatoes are finally setting blossoms, and things have grown by leaps and bounds the past few days. The heat did in my peas this year--didn't even get a harvest from them, so they'll get pulled up today.
Lots of strange problems already in the garden this year, probably due to the odd weather we've been having. My tickseed and heliopsis are just covered with red aphids; my phlox have curled leaves (haven't found the cause yet--need to get out a magnifying glass), and I've lost several pepper plants for unknown reasons. I hope it gets better from here on out. Everything just seems so slow/late this year.
Today was a great garden day. I was out there all day, but I'll be darned if I know what I did all that time!
It was a beautiful day, high was supposed to be 77° and that's probably about what we had. Humidity is much, much lower than it has been, but it was hot when working in the sun. I did spread some finished compost on my tomatoes, and mulched that with mixed grass clippings and fall leaves. Fed up with our old tomato cages, we ordered 6 Texas Tomato Cages, which should arrive this week. I've wanted to try them for a long time, but was too cheap. Finally bit the bullet. I hope they're worth the exorbitant cost.
I know what you mean, Karen. I went out at about 9:30 or 10:00, and the next thing I knew it was 4:30. All I did was some deadheading, a little weeding, and pruning those darned lilacs (hate that job). Michael even came out and picked up all the debris from the lilacs, so I didn't even have to spend a lot of time doing that. It felt good to get some of this out of the way, and working in such pleasant temps was certainly a nice change of pace.
Those Texas tomato cages look awesome--I'll bet you'll love 'em, and wish you'd have bought them years ago!
My tomatoes are huge!!! They are already about 3" tall--not really filled out yet, but I have 3 plants (out of 11) that have tomatoes already. 2 of them had tomatoes before I even planted them outside.
Be sure to post pictures of your new garden accessories, Karen! I'd be embarrased to post my earth boxes with my funky "florida weave". Looks like a drunken sailor did that twine weave around the posts But, it works, so that's all that matters.
While everything else seems to be running way behind schedule this year, I think our garlic harvest is going to be early. Good thing, as I only have 1 head of garlic left from last year's harvest (we had some varieties that held up REALLY well). Scapes were going up at the beginning of June. I finally tried using the scapes in my cooking this year, and we really enjoyed them. Kind of like a green onion with a more garlickly flavor.
I've had total failure on my green bean and corn plantings though. Not a single seedling came up. I'm suspecting something (i.e. chipmunks) at them. I can try beans again, but might be too late to try corn again? Does anyone here know about growing sweet corn?
My plants ( wintersown) are still tiny- they look funny in those huge cages. The plants are only about a foot tall, some smaller. Some, but not all, have blossoms. No fruit yet.
my bought plants look way better than my seed grown ones.. but all alive... think the snaps in the weather this year are taking a toll on some of them.. pumpkins are off to a great start
I didn't wintersow nearly as much as I used to- only 20 containers. In most I sowed very few seeds. I don't want a whole lot of anything any more- not until I see how much reseeding I get. For tomatoes, I sowed in 16 oz. cups, only about a dozen, and gave away a few. I kept 8 plants.
My big problem in recent years has been reseeding, and I'm on a mission to keep that under control. It took me forever to get them weeded out this year. I'm so glad to be finished with weeding, mulching and planting. Now I can finally sit on my deck and enjoy the view, even though not much is blooming yet. I'm leaning toward more perennials, less annuals. My other goal is to thin out some plants in my flower beds and make summer maintenance easier. I gave away a lot this spring. But I also added 8 new perennials from Santa Rosa Gardens.
Weather hasn't help anything this year. Storms have been awful. We've had approximately twice our normal year-to-date rain. I definitely think we've recovered from last year's drought.
Winter-Sowing, Direct Sowing, Indoor Seed Starting, Hobby Greenhouses, Cold Frames, Germination Seedling & Plant Care for Annuals, Biennials, Perennials, Herbs, Vegetables, Tomatoes and Peppers. A gardening cubit that covers it all!
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Chamomile Tea prevents damp off. Steep 20 min, cool to room temp & water your trays
It got to 75° today but the cold returns in a few days with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s, and a chance of snow.
But, it works, so that's all that matters.
