qebo’s 2014 garden (1)

Well, everybody else is doing it...

February 14


March 2


March 11


March 15


Today is spring! I got outside for a couple hours of spruceup. The ground under and near the snow is still frozen, but I raked up the worst of the debris toward the top of the yard.

The main task of the weekend is to assemble the indoor growing system. So far I have cleared a space in the kitchen, and collected the necessary tools.

And here it is. Took about 3 hours at a leisurely pace. I have a power strip somewhere. I have seeds but need starter pots and soil.

Now I have pots and soil and more seeds. And a list of other tasks that I should do tomorrow.

Well, I didn’t do everything I should’ve today, but I did finish painting a closet before I began planting seeds.

I’ve never started seeds indoors before, so I’m obeying somewhat inconsistent instructions, roughly averaging the suggested time frames from internet info and seed packets, and I’ll see how it goes this year. The pre-started seeds are mostly for the community garden. I don’t have much space in the yard. The three raised beds in the yard will get direct sown with mustard, spinach, dill, fennel, parsley -- after final frost which is traditionally early May here.

I expect to get a 10’x20’ plot and a stretch along the fence in the community garden. Things are still uncertain. The guy who founded the community garden two years ago is an entrepreneurial type, supplies the wheely-dealy enthusiasm to get things going but isn’t so great at day to day management, and has been resistant to handing over control, resulting in disgruntlement. Or so sez the rumor mill. This year he’s stepping back, and has presented a list of responsibilities with the hope that a formal association will organize. In previous years, communication has been haphazard, enforcement of clearing and planting and picking has been absent, and the procedure for taking excess to the food bank has been murky. I’ll go to the meeting tomorrow and volunteer what I can. I haven’t been involved before except as an occasional participant in manual labor events, so I don’t really know what’s what, but I can do task sequencing and emailing and phoning and such.

Today I prepared pots, planted seeds, placed them on radiator covers in indirect sunlight. The trick now is to pay attention, keep them moist, move them to the shelf and light setup when they sprout.

Set #1: cauliflower, romanesco cauliflower/broccoli, broccoli; start inside 4-6 weeks ahead, plant outside 4 weeks before final frost. So I should’ve done these sooner.


Set #2 (at ends): tomato, eggplant; start inside 6-8 weeks ahead, plant outside after final frost.
Set #3 (in middle): pepper; start inside 6-8 weeks ahead, plant outside after final frost.

You are so organized...and ready! Best of luck with your seedlings, your outside garden, and your community garden.

Thanks! My kitchen is a mess. The camera is aimed with care.

Well that was quick. I passed by my plant trays this morning and... what? sprouts? How did I not notice anything yesterday? These are broccoli and cauliflower; also an incomplete and not yet sprouting section of artichoke. All set now under the grow lights.

Now the question is what’s up with the community garden. The meeting on Monday seemed productive, with several people committing to specific tasks. My task is to set up a procedure for plot assignments and payments, which involves coordinating with the guy who is running the show and claims he wants to delegate. However, he holds the keys -- he has the information, he has the admin access, he has the bank account -- and he is “busy” and “gotta run”. It is theoretically possible to bypass him altogether, but this would be awkward, so I’ll wait patiently for him to pause... until Monday, I think, with a nudge over the weekend.

How wide is your seed-starting thing, @qebo? four feet?

I've oggled such units in the catalogs but could never justify the price, so I ended up making my own home-version of them.

>11 southernbooklady: Yes, 4 feet. I also ogled and balked at the price, and scouted around for ways to assemble something from components, but lights alone are expensive, I have shelves but I'd need to attach everything securely... and I was doubtful about fiddling with bits and pieces with no clear idea of a functional result. $ reduced the uncertainty. What’s your setup?

>9 qebo:

Have you ever grown cauliflower or broccoli in your garden? I have really bad luck outdoors with cruciferous veggies. I'll be rooting (no pun intended!) for yours. :)

I fond an old utility shelving unit with open grill shelves instead of solid ones. And I hung grow lights underneath each shelf using s-hooks and some link chain so the height could be adjusted. The grow lights themselves coast about $150, but everything else was under $50. Of course, I think the electric bill went up a bit... :)

Here's some pictures:

>13 SqueakyChu: I tried a few last year and they got all chewed up. I started them outside in May, I kept them in pots, and I was negligent. These will go to the community garden, which isn't a magic solution but enlists the expertise of others.

>14 southernbooklady: That looks good and essentially the same as the package system. Your chains look stronger. My chains are presumably strong enough but feel flimsy. I'm surprised the cats haven't noticed the dangling rings.

That's a good idea.

I did a community garden with a friend for several years back when my yard had no sun. We had so much fun with it. The two of us had three kids each, and we enlisted their help. It was a lot of work, but great exercise, and a terrific project to do with others!

At another time in the past, a tenant farmer plowed part of his acreage for my husband and I to use as a garden plot. It was too large for us to handle with only manual tools, but we had a great time with it until the weeds took over. The weeds grew taller than we were (although my husband is admittedly short!). I remember bringing hundreds of tomatoes and zucchini in to my (former) workplace to share with others.

I think you'll have great fun with your community garden, but I'm not sure about dealing with the committee that oversees it (although you're also part of that!). My experience was only as a garden plot renter. My city rents out a small plowed garden plot each year for $15.

>17 SqueakyChu: I'm not sure about dealing with the committee that oversees it
I actually enjoy committee bureaucracy. What I don't so much enjoy is politics.

Today tomatoes are sprouting. I swear that I checked yesterday and saw only the tips of a few barely at the surface.

One these plants get going, there's no stopping them! :)

Tomatoes.


Today I planted more pepper (from someone at the community garden meeting who is moving so doesn’t have a setup), strawberries, mint, stevia.

Great system, Katherine, and the seedlings are really sprouting quickly. You must have some good seeds!

Yesterday I was able to assign myself a plot in the community garden. I've been assigning other people according to their criteria, and keeping an eye on the plot I wanted, but it was occupied by someone from last year. Yesterday she contacted me and asked to move to a plot next to a friend, so it's a win-win. Unfortunately, this weekend plans to be rainy, so I may not be able to do much cleanup.

How big is the garden plot? What are you planning to put there?

>23 SqueakyChu: It's actually two plots, each 10' x 20'. So far the only definite is the seeds started above (there may also be community plots, where I can put overflow). I also want squash/pumpkin/gourd, which are too sprawly for my yard. Since today is rainy, I've settled inside with graph paper to figure out what will fit where. Except now I can't find the bag of seed packets to get spacing instructions. Where did I put it? I had it two days ago in the kitchen. I think I've looked everywhere but obviously I haven't.

That sounds like a huge area since there are two of them. I can't wait to follow your progress. It sounds like lots of fun. Are you going to have any help in maintaining them? Where is your water source there? Ours had a distant hose and we had to have a bucket brigade of our (combined) six kids to transport water to our community plot.

>25 SqueakyChu: One of the gardeners lives at the edge of the field where the plots are, and last year he extended a pipe to fill water containers on the site (for which he is reimbursed). The year before, people hauled jugs in their cars. There's muttering about constructing a well, but not yet a definite plan.

Watering our plot was tough in the heat of the summer. That's why we put our kids to work doing it! :D

>27 SqueakyChu: I consider gardening a substitute for a gym workout.

I much prefer it to a gym workout!

>29 SqueakyChu: Me too.

I found my seed packets. At least my mind hasn't gone; they were exactly where they should have been, but had fallen behind other stuff so I had to peer at an awkward angle to see them.

I've been brutally murdering sprouts with scissors as they grow, keeping one viable sprout in each pot, still have far too many for my own plots, but last year the community plots needed plants.

I moved the romanesco cauliflower and the broccoli to larger pots because the roots had extended out of the little pots. The sprouts on the right side are artichoke. Not sure what I’m going to do with them.


Tomato and eggplant.


Pepper. Note the missing sprouts at the right. This is the bottom shelf, and apparently the cats have been grazing.

Uh oh! ...for the grazing. You are doing a marvelous job!

>32 SqueakyChu: I'm even remembering to give them water.

:)

Signs of spring!

Violets in the back yard.


Bleeding heart in the side yard.


Hellebore in the front yard.

My community garden plot in its "before" state.

Wow - still no ground showing through the snow here, except a little on sunny slopes. Enjoy the new growth!

At the community garden. Two stints of about two hours each. In 20mph wind. Raked away the dead grass (some rooted and some spread on top), and the dead garden plants from last year. May not look much different, but it was eight debris bags. Which I hauled through the gate and across the field to my car, then drove to the debris mulching place. There’s a compost pile at the community garden, but I’m not sure what the rules are, it’s not contained, and I was worried that the grass would get blown around.


Dislodged a woolly bear caterpillar.


At the house. A round of front yard spruceup. Hellebore exposed. Tulips emerging.

I'm very excited about your community garden. I can't wait to see your produce!

Spring is arriving! That's a lot of work there.

It is so exciting to see everything start to bloom!! Well, green up, I guess.

At the community garden yesterday, I measured my plots, and chopped up / turned over about 3/4 of one plot, removing roots of an unknown entity.




And I met an unpleasant person. Alas, he has the plot next to mine. A couple hours after I finished working, I walked my usual route through the neighborhood, and noticed a group of people in the garden so I detoured to meet them (I’m also collecting plot payments informally). This guy immediately launched into complaints: there’s too much bureaucracy (actually I’m the only bureaucracy and my scope is limited; anything else that’s been mentioned is merely a suggestion for getting things organized), the garden looks like a junk yard in a ghost town (true, but perhaps an argument for more bureaucracy, a requirement for fall cleanup) and is not what he expected (well, he could’ve taken a look any time in the past couple weeks). His kids were climbing on a structure in someone else’s plot; I said this isn’t OK. He found a metal railing in his plot so he threw it over the fence into the field; I said the field is not ours and the railing should be set aside until we figure out what to do with stuff left behind. He found garden debris in his plot so he piled it between two other plots; I said he could ask the listserv what to do with it. And he just wants to garden, he doesn’t want to be part of any committee; I said that’s fine. So it seems the world should be made perfect for him, by other people, magically. He did call off the kids and prop up the railing and pay for his plot.

Sorry to hear about this disagreeable chap. When I was working in my own garden plot, we never saw anyone else there...but, of course, you can't collect money from thin air! :)

>43 SqueakyChu: you can't collect money from thin air
No, and it's a problem, because there's no PO box and I don't want to entangle my home address. There should be online payment, but last year's system is defunct and I won't have time to set up a web site for awhile, need to research options.

>44 qebo:

Hmmm? So it's worse than I thought. Oh, well. You will get so much joy from produce gardening!

>44 qebo: Have you looked at https://squareup.com/ ? I know many small businesses use it for offsite sales and as an alternative to paypal.

>46 southernbooklady: Didn't know about it. Thanks.

Also over the weekend, in the back yard...

The clover in the narrow strip and violets between paving stones are beginning to sprout. I filled in and leveled the dirt. The mess on either side is fairly representative of the rest of the yard.


More filling in and leveling. Along the deck, golden star (Chrysogonum virginianum). At the right, tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata). That twig in the middle is a buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), which is not yet showing any signs of life. To its left should be trout lily (Erythronium americanum) that I planted in the fall, but again no evidence. The wild quinine (Parthenium auriculatum)and rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) aren’t yet doing anything, but I planted them two years ago and they returned last year so I’m not worried.


One blueberry bush has buds. The other does not.

Did a bunch of no-glory tasks today: raked and filled in the strips of clover outside the fence, filled in the front yard with compost and topsoil, finished chopping / turning one community garden plot. No photos. Didn't seem especially productive, but my muscles are complaining.

I want to point out how much BETTER this looks than before you organized your yard last year.

I had a couple of gulf fritillaries in the back garden today. Even though the passion flower vines aren't flowering yet.

The yard is messy, but what's needed is merely maintenance. I can see the difference when I put in a couple hours of work, but I can't make green happen, and tidy brown vs messy brown isn't very exciting.

The community garden will be demanding for awhile. I went over there this afternoon hoping to fine tune the soil in one plot, but the heat wave (temperature in upper 70s) had baked the clay into solid lumps. So I think I should wait for rain and dig in the mud. Two opportunities are predicted for the near future.

Fritillaries! Any chance of a photo?

Yesterday was rainy, so this afternoon I went over to the community garden in hopes that the soil would be more manageable. And it was. I finished one plot, ready for planting, in somewhat over an hour. The other plot is sprouting weeds.

These photos are from a week ago. The broccoli really wants to get outside.

The front yard all cleaned up, with hellebores.


The clover outside the fence along the sidewalk and alley.

You are so wonderfully organized. You are off to great start for gardening year 2014!

The broccoli has gone outside.


Bluebird! At the community garden.


This is how I spent my day. Nothing planted yet, but I’m ready. The unprepared plot won’t get plants until May.

I can't believe you got to see a real bluebird! I've never seen one in the wild. :(

>57 SqueakyChu: I saw a bunch of them today. Someone tends bluebird boxes in the field around the garden.

I even saw a bluebird box at the Nature Center that I visited today, but even that was empty. :(

I'll have to show Katie your picture of the bluebird. We don't have them here. Beautiful!

Thanks for the link to your gardening thread, Katherine. I always enjoy reading what you're up to, and enjoyed getting up to speed here. The community garden sounds like an interesting project, both your plot and the admin/committee stuff. I'm also impressed with your seed sprouting apparatus. Looks like things are coming along quite nicely.

How wonderful that you saw a bluebird! What a boon!

Everything looks so good here, so tidy and thoughtfully arranged.

Yay, visitors! Glad to see you over here since I've been neglecting my (and your) book thread.

Back yard cleanup today. My muscles may not survive long enough for “after” photos, but meanwhile here’s...

Butterfly #1
Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
Carolina Lupine (Thermopsis caroliniana)
April 20



Not much of a photo; no flowers here so it didn’t stick around.

Today's task #1: the strip across the yard.

On the fence, Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) trellises have been discombobulated for months.


Near the fence are two Dwarf Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadenses 'Little Lanterns'), and another Columbine (Aquilegia skinneri 'Tequila Sunrise') in the pot which is showing no signs of life. The large patch is Bee Balm (Monarda didyma 'Jacob Kline'). Next to the paving stones, two... something; what did I plant here? I don’t remember.


All cleaned up.


In the middle of the strip, three Mistflower (Eupatorium coelestinum), beginning to sprout at the surface.


At the other end of the strip, three Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata), beginning to sprout. In the shadows, a Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor); there should be two, we are symmetrical, but I see no evidence of the other. Behind those, presumably Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata) planted last fall, but again I see no evidence.

Today’s task #2: the circle.

A week ago.


And cleaned up. Note the spiffy new boards; the old ones went to the community garden.

North: The sticks are Joe Pye (Eupatorium dubium and Eupatorium maculatum), which isn’t yet sprouting. The darker leaves at the left are Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips'). The others are Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea).


East: Three species of Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum) that I’ve never been sure of; one of them wishes to take over the world. Toward the center of the circle, Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). Also Agastache? I’m not certain.


South: Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) mostly, not yet sprouting. Also Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), which looks like a blank space but last year it formed a small colony and this year I expect further expansion. The green patch is Wild Pink (Silene caroliniana).


West: The tall stick is Upland Ironweed (Vernonia glauca), which blooms late. Two brown splotches to its left and right are a different Ironweed (Vernona lettermanii 'Iron Butterfly'), which is just beginning to break through the surface. The greens are various Asters.

I think the milkweeds will still come up. Mine are still sticks from last year. I'll let you know when mine sprout. Can't wait 'til they get going, though.

>67 SqueakyChu: Yeah, I'm not worried. The milkweed and Joe Pye began to sprout in early May last year, and both expanded from the previous year. I'm planning to take milkweed babies over to the community garden. It's not yet clear whether they can be planted in the field, but they can definitely be planted along the inside of the fence; I've asked. My plots are on the corner, so I have direct access to 50' of fence. :-)

Can't wait to see pics of all the butterflies on those plants!

I have to say, I'm jealous of your ability to weed. My garden is always a little ragged and over-run.

>70 southernbooklady: This time of year, weeding is easy. In July, not so much. I'm envious of all your green, and flowers! In early spring, I'm almost tempted to replace the mulch with grass to relieve the vast expanse of brown, but by mid summer I'd regret it.

???

>71 qebo: >72 qebo: Hmph. Weird LT behavior.

>72 qebo: It's actually a slow start for me, this year, compared to others. An unusually cold winter and cool spring has been a mixed blessing. On the one hand...lots more lettuce, for lots longer. No bugs yet. Cool weather flowers have had a good head start.

On the other hand, I'm obsessively babying the things that took a beating. And I definitely lost some plants to the weather.

The local garden center is advertising lavender and milkweed this week, to attract butterflies, and I had to think of you! My butterflies move too quickly to get a good picture.

At the community garden today, I planted broccoli and cleared part of my other plot.

Then I sat on the deck for a bit and watched this bee investigating the nesting block. The block is there because I haven’t figured out where to put it. I’ve never seen activity before, but this bee was really interested, went into several of the holes. But I guess it didn't find what it was hoping for, because it flew away.

What is a nesting box?

It's for solitary bees that build nests in tree holes.
http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/nests_for_native_bees_fact_shee...

Cool!

A local beekeeping organization was selling them at a garden tour last year.

It'll be fun watching your nesting box progress. Well, at least the bees' progress. I might have to have one of those also some day. :)

Weekend yard cleanup...

Hops (Humulus lupulus)! Non-native, but can host Question Mark and Comma butterflies.

April 13:
Showing signs of life.


April 21:
Showing alarming signs of life.


April 27:
Somewhat under control with trellises.

Remember this caterpillar? It has been attached to the corner fence post since August 30. I put the plastic cup above it for protection from snow. Of the 11 chrysalides that I found in the fall, 4 remain (the others disappeared over the winter). I don’t know whether they’re alive, and I don’t know when they’re likely to emerge.

Bleeding Heart (non-native) in the side yard:

April 13:


April 17:


April 21:


April 27:

Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), host for American Lady and Painted Lady.

April 6:


April 13:


April 21:


April 25:


April 28:

If I were a butterfly, I'd be headed for your garden! :)

I'm thinking of planting more for birds this year. I love seeing the goldfinches in my eastern redbud tree where I just hung a Nyjer feeder.

I’m woefully behind in posting photos. All sorts of things are happening in my yard, and I’ve been taking photos, but I haven’t had time to organize them. After last weekend at the DC meetup, this weekend was catchup. Two weekends ago I went to the Lancaster Native Plant and Wildlife Festival Yesterday morning I went to the Landis Valley Herb & Garden Faire. My acquisitions have been sitting on the deck, along with the tomatoes and eggplants and peppers that I’ve moved outside; no photos because it’s in extreme disarray. Yesterday afternoon I went to the community garden with the hope of preparing to plant one plot section, but after a brief stint on thistle patrol I got caught in the rain and went home. In the mere drizzle awhile later, I planted my raised beds: dill in the far bed, peas in the middle bed, beans in the near bed. Not very interesting at the moment.

So this left me with rather a lot of work to stuff into today. I started with the side of the house, which was all scraggly but relatively free of weeds. Aside from the ivy, which I’d decided had to go.


Two hours later, all cleaned up.


White Wood Aster (Aster divaricatus). The clump on the right is where I planted it two years ago. It is spreading, which is fine.


Wild Ginger (Asarum canadenese) and its flowers.


Black Cohash (Cimicifuga racemosa). Last year it produced one flower.


Whorled Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum).


Bleeding Heart, now ginormous.


Then a stint at the community garden. Then I found spots for some of my new plants. This is the north side of the house and generally shady, but it gets slivers of sun early morning and late evening.

Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina) and Ramps (Allium tricoccum).


Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum). This is my third try, so I’m not highly hopeful.


Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum).


Fringed Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia). These are natives; the white one isn’t.

The Little Free Library had been looking rather barren so I gave it color.

Thistle patrol at the community garden. This is a section of the plot that I planted two weeks ago. The thistle roots are too deep to get at completely, and they’re all over the garden and surrounding field, so it’s a matter of constant shallow digging. This patch took about ten minutes.


The task for this weekend was a swallowtail caterpillar patch: dill, fennel, parsley, anise. First, of course, establish the grid. Then seeds, all in place now.


For the record, my two plots now. I hope to plant tomatoes and eggplants and peppers next weekend. Most of the green in this photo is not good. Some people have not been diligent about weed control, and some people have gone completely incommunicado.


Any worms?

I love following your gardening photos. They make me feel extremely lazy, though! :)

>92 SqueakyChu: If it's any consolation, I feel extremely tired.

Making a mental note of those two gardening events, especially Landis Valley. Although I'm afraid I'll forget about them before next year ...

>94 lauralkeet: There's also the Millersville Native Plants in the Landscape conference June 5-7. I've forgotten about Landis Valley some years too.

Wow. There's one in Delaware we keep forgetting too. If only there were some master calendar of these things ...

Lost you and then actually made the effort to find you and found you.
Here is the Green Man sculpture Knox made for the Millersville folks the year he was their Artist-in- Residence (he had a wonderful time - great people)


People were encouraged to stick little plants in the curls of his hair and beard - it was amazing looking by the end of the event.

>97 sibylline: So cool! If you happen upon an "after" photo, I'd love to see it.

This weekend in the community garden, lotsa planting.

Peppers, six or so varieties, labels downstairs and I’m too tired to go get them.


Eggplants, two varieties.


Tomatoes, four varieties.


The plots surrounding mine were rented by a group of three friends, two plots each. Two of the friends paid for their four plots, planted all six plots several weeks ago, and have returned maybe once or twice for maintenance of their four plots, not sufficient but at least peas are visible in rows. The third friend has gone incommunicado, and thistles have taken over. There is supposed to be a path between plots, so I cut down a swath of thistles and covered it with straw, which was in a pile that should have been taken to the compost area weeks ago, thereby solving another problem too. I would prefer to deal with the incommunicados as independent adults, not tattle to their friends, but I emailed the friends today because really all three of them need to get things under control. One of the friends is the guy in >42 qebo:, who is now among the reasons the garden looks like "a junk yard in a ghost town".


Mine.


Remaining to be done: squash and mini pumpkins, and maybe sunflowers.

Wow! Just, wow!!

>99 qebo: I am jealous of your ambition and gumption. I look at my little tomato, strawberries, and fig and think "ok, yeah, I'm good with this. Let's not get too crazy." LOL

>101 lesmel: The community garden, plot + organization, is A LOT of work. I haven't cleaned my house in two months (well, I do deal with the dirty dishes and cat litter), or written any book reviews. The pace is not sustainable. The community garden is in its third year. I heard about it too late to participate not quite two years ago, was sick during the crucial time last year, decided this year to volunteer what I could, but the job has expanded in a vacuum. Next year will begin with something of a foundation.

Gratuitous duck photo... I was taking a walk a couple weeks ago, and there it was, waddling around on a just-barely-suburban lawn.

Remember the buttonbush in >48 qebo:? It wasn’t dead.

April 28:


May 5:


May 18:

Joe Pye

April 28:


May 5:


May 11:


May 18:

Milkweed

April 20:


May 6:


May 11:


May 18:
Note the wild pinks (Silene caroliniana) which bloomed and then got bombarded with a heavy rain. The large leaves are common milkweed, which is sprouting up in other places where it doesn't belong. The sprouts next to dead stems are swamp milkweed, which is more manageable.

Purple!

False Indigo (Baptisia australis x alba 'Purple Smoke') - host for Wild Indigo Duskywing

April 13:


April 21:


April 27:


May 5:


May 8:


May 11:


May 17:


Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls') - host for Horace Duskywing and Baltimore

May 5:


May 17:


Violets - host for Meadow Fritillary and Variegated Fritillary

April 28:


May 17:
Contrast with >48 qebo:.

Spring has finally sprung!

>108 ronincats: Spring has gotten a bit overwhelming.

This week in gardening, I dealt with a bunch of potted plants.

At the side of the house, another patch of Whorled Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum). Behind it, a Goat’s Beard (Aruncus dioicus? misplaced the tag so I’m not certain), supposed to be a dwarf cultivar of the native.


Behind the old patch of Whorled Stonecrop, added more Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum).


Around the buttonbush, I’d planted something that didn’t come up this year. So on the left is a white violet, and on the right is Appalachian Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides ). On the other side of the diagonal are two white salvia, I think non-native.


On the left is Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata). On the right is Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum).


I started four Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) in pots last year, put them in the ground last fall, but only two came up. So I filled in another three.

Last weekend, finally got the deck under control. On the railing, petunias and sweet potatoes. In the six square pots, four varieties of bachelor’s buttons, pincushion, Chinese forget-me-not. In the three large round pots, zinnia. In the six small round pots, basil. In the round tub, nothing, but it will collect bird seed that falls from the balcony and probably grow sunflowers and millet.


Today, the rest of the deck. In the three round tubs, last year I had three native grasses, but I didn’t see anything happening this year, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted them anyway, so I dug up the roots, amended the soil, and planted tomatoes that are supposed to be OK in containers. In the clay pots on the floor, cat grass and cat mint. In the clay pots on the table, marigolds. In the three round pots next to the chairs, nothing yet. On the chairs, squash moved from the kitchen, waiting to go to the community garden.

in the front yard, pink.


In the back yard, purple, false indigo blooming (with a happy bee), wisteria on the way, violets fading.




The beans planted two weeks ago.

The Ragwort is going to seed.


The Golden Alexander that came from pots is blooming.

>110 qebo: I have a ridiculous affection for Butterfly Weed, because it grows in the scrubby open woods here, and I'd often come upon unexpected clumps, glowing in the understory sunlight, when the dog and I would trek through the scrub on our way to the water.

I never tried to dig it up, because I know it doesn't like to be moved around. But I did make an effort to start some from seed...which took a long time. VERY SLOW to come up and several years to get established. But now it is one of the highlights of the flower bed. Right now it is full bloom and buzzing with insects:

>114 southernbooklady: VERY SLOW to come up and several years to get established.
I was a little surprised that not much happened with the butterfly weed last year, since its close relative milkweed grew from seeds to 4' plants with blooms over the summer. This year though one butterfly weed that I planted from seed last year, and one that I bought this year, have buds. I saw lots of it in the wild last year, at Fort Indiantown Gap, where I went on a fritillary tour; a rare population of Regal Fritillaries, as well as a couple other species.

Yesterday at the community garden... the last of the planting. Squash and pumpkin (all small varieties), and sunflowers.


My neighbor. Sigh. On Wednesday, his friend paid for the plot and promised to deal with the thistle on Saturday. As in the day before this photo was taken.


Peas sprouting. Yes, I should’ve planted them sooner.

Butterfly #2
Peck’s Skipper (Polites peckius)
Joe Pye (Eupatorium ?)
26 May 2014

Everything is looking good, growing so fast!

While I was away for a week, my yard became a jungle.


Everything looks better with a cat.


Obviously, there are too many empty spaces and the weeds take advantage. Fortunately, I had extended my vacation through the Millersville Native Plants in the Landscape conference and plant sale.


When the conference ended this afternoon, the sun was shining and the temperature was in the 80s. I should’ve gone to the community garden, but I wasn’t ready to take on hours of work in the sun, so I procrastinated with hours of work in the shade at the side of the house.

Not so bad weed-wise, but how to stuff in all those plants?


First some groundcovers...

Canadian May-Lily (Maianthemum canadense) between the existing goat’s beard and stonecrop.


Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) in front of the existing white wood aster.


Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) between the existing wild ginger and white wood aster (a volunteer patch).


Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) between the volunteer and deliberate patches of white wood aster.


Then the ferns...

Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia pensylvanica) and Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) next to the existing lady ferns.


Then some reorganizing to squish everybody closer together and put big things behind small things.

Removed the ramps that were in front of the lady ferns. Removed the stonecrop that was in front of the jack in the pulpit.

Removed the maidenhair ferns.


Moved the maidenhair ferns to the previous location of the ramps.


White Doll’s Eyes ‘Misty Blue’ (Actaea alba) and White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) where the sedum and maidenhair ferns were.


Great White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) and Dwarf Wakerobin (Trillium pusillum) in front of the existing solomon’s seal.


Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) in front of the existing black cohash.


Not done yet, but pretty well done in after six hours...

I managed to drag myself over to the community garden shortly before noon today. As expected, the thistles have been thriving in my absence.


I cleared thistle from the romanesco cauliflower and the aisles around one plot in somewhat over an hour, then returned home, a grungy sweaty sneezy droopy mess. I’ll do another round this evening.


While I was clearing an aisle, a black swallowtail flew into the plot and flit around in the section of dill and parsley. I couldn’t really see, so I zoomed the camera and snapped photos at random, catching it in the act of laying eggs. A tad desperate; the dill is barely visible in the field of thistle. I’ll have to be careful with weeding.

Butterfly #3
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)
Hops (Humulus lupulus)
8 June 2014




Flitting about too quickly for a decent photo, but caught from a distance well enough for identification.

And for the record, I returned to the community garden this evening and remained until dark and drizzle drove me away. Weeded the broccoli section, and part of the dill / parsley section. There are gaps in the dill, and the sprouts will need to be thinned. I can see parsley through the thistle. I'll fill in once I can see what I've got.





The remaining section in this plot is peppers, which don't appear to have progressed much, but at least they haven't all been killed off.

Bravo! That's a huge amount of progress.

Those broccolis are looking good. Nothing's chewing on them; what's your secret?

>124 2wonderY: I've done absolutely nothing. Maybe the thistles were protecting them? I've been told by several people that broccoli and its ilk don't fare well...

Yesterday a patch of rain began passing through just as I was finishing work, but it was gone by 7pm so I went over to the community garden to continue de-thistling my plots. Easier to get the roots after rain, though I became a mess of mud. Lotsa gaps to fill in...



I also dealt with the pepper section, but it was too dark for a photo by the time I was done. Some peppers have gone missing too.

The completed plot... Also I have four viable peppers in plots so I can fill in the blanks. And several volunteer dills in my back yard.


And chipping away at thistle in the other plot, literally...

Revealing sorry looking eggplants.


And decent looking tomatoes. The two that got chomped off a couple weeks ago survived.


Two sections to go. The squashes seem OK, but I don’t see any sunflowers sprouting.

It looks like armed war - you against the invaders. They've got you surrounded.

>128 2wonderY: The situation has actually improved. I'm on a corner, so two sides (forefront of photo) are aisles, which get mowed, so I just have to chop the thistle and grass within 6" or so of my plots. The plot to the south (upper left of photo) has been mostly cleared of thistle so the peas are growing. The plot to the west is still full of thistle, but somebody is planning to scythe it later this week.

>127 qebo: what are the mature plants in the first photo?

How are the other plots, besides your own, doing? Are they being care for?

Do you have access to any mulch materials? I've been able to drown out weeds pretty effectively with scrounged wood chips and fall leaves.

>130 lauralkeet: Foreground is romanesco cauliflower. Background is various broccoli.
>131 SqueakyChu: Varies. Some people are extremely attentive, others less so. Some plots look great and are much further along than mine. I happen to be surrounded by a negligent group of three friends, the pea and thistle people, which skews the presentation. Their pea plots were cleared of thistle by another gardener, so now they're sort of dealing with maintenance, but they still have one plot full of thistle, and relinquished another plot after the thistle took over.

>132 2wonderY: The field around the garden was mowed this week, so people are taking the hay to use as mulch. Also a bunch of people use straw. A few people have applied other sorts of mulch, but transporting it is difficult; the garden is up a hill from the street. I'm planning to do something once I get the worst of my weeds under control, hopefully this weekend.

I finally have had the time to catch up on LT threads, and thoroughly enjoyed yours!

Are those birds or bird decorations in >6 qebo:, bottom photo?

>135 fuzzi:: Those are cardboard crow silhouettes, Halloween decorations that I've kept up.

I like'em!

They remind me of a garden ornament I bought at a school crafts bazaar made of plywood and mounted on a wooden stand. That bird stood watch on our garden fence for many years.

I read, and my experience seems to bear out, that scattering eggshells will prevent cabbage moths from laying eggs as they figure the competition is there ahead of them.

>139 ronincats: I have no eggshells to scatter, but I'll mention this to other people. I've asked a few people, and one method I might try is cayenne pepper spray.

>140 qebo: fine mesh row covers can help. In the past I've done the "pick and squish" method of control.

Over the weekend at the community garden I finished clearing thistle from my plots (though of course it is popping up again in the sections I cleared last week).

As I’d suspected, under the thistle were 2 sunflowers, of the 18 I’d planted three weeks before. So I’ve started another batch in pots on my deck.


Also started fillers for the dill / parsley / et al. Easier to do at home, and easier to do thistle patrol when I can see the plants that should be there.


I bought a bale of straw for mulch, and applied about half of it, after filling in a few missing peppers.

All looking very good - the indigo is lovely. I have one too!

>143 sibylline: I have a yellow one also, but it hasn't yet produced flowers.

At the community garden this evening, I planted three purchased eggplants, replacing two that went missing and inserting another. Another gardener was there and I mentioned the lacy eggplant leaves so he looked at his eggplants and discovered little holes and little black bugs. The bugs are flea beetles, so now I have to figure out what to do about them. Suggestions here: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=135 .

This is the last of the straw, so I’ll need another bale.



One of my squashes has produced flowers.

I’ve seen several of these bugs recently, and “orange bug” was enough for Google; it is an Orange Assassin Bug (Pselliopus barberi). Then today I noticed hordes of bugs on the asters: small grayish bugs all over, and occasional clumps of smaller bugs (on the left about midway down in the photo). The grayish bugs are Chrysanthemum Lace Bugs (Corythucha marmorata).

Nature at work: let the Assassin Bugs do their thing, eat the harmful pests!

I had a wave of Whiteflies this Spring, and they attacked my poor Winter-damaged Gardenia bushes. I used the water hose to spray them from the underside of the leaves, which I read, is as effective or more effective a control as spraying with pesticide! Within a couple weeks the Ladybugs arrived and now the Whiteflies are virtually gone. :)

At the community garden this evening... (mostly I was there on thistle patrol and to mark locations for the sunflowers I’ll be transplanting over the weekend)...

An abundance of fireflies (click to enlarge and count; I see 2 and 7).


Small grasshoppers.


A baby rabbit, afraid to move. I walked away for a few minutes, and when I returned it was gone.

I just renewed my newspaper subscription after an absence of several months, and am planning to try Lasagna Gardening for mulching during the warm months.

Butterfly #4
Silver Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
Joe Pye (Eupatorium ?)
26 June 2014



I also saw a Red Admiral today, but it flew away while I was preparing the camera.

>149 ronincats: I get the newspaper online, but the cardboard piles up (all those Amazon boxes).

lol!

Butterfly #5
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
deck railing near tomatoes
28 June 2014



Same place as a couple days ago, but this morning it stayed put for a few minutes.

This morning on the deck, the sunflowers and 10 cylinders of hardware cloth (all I could make with what I had) to prevent chompage. I don't know whether rabbits eat sunflower sprouts, but something ate them in my yard last year. The other sprouts are mustard and radish, the trap crops for my eggplants, and replacement dill etc, not yet ready for planting.


Sunflowers and cylinders in place at the community garden this evening. The two largest sunflowers are the survivors from the original planting in late May.


Tomatoes. Behind them are the doomed eggplants.

Everything is looking so good!

>155 sibylline: Thanks!

Hmm, been awhile. I'd expected to start a new thread in July, and I have been gardening and taking photos, but the main time sink has been a web site for the community garden, setting up and experimenting with various accounts. Another weekend and it'll be functional enough for feedback, I hope.

Oh, also, we're supposed to be donating a portion of community garden produce to the food bank, but the two people who expressed interest in volunteering back before planting was feasible are apparently not going to do anything about the actual produce that is ready for harvest now. I spoke with both at the garden in recent weeks and got assurances that interest and intent to apply effort remain, and I followed up with email when nothing tangible happened (e.g. a procedure, a schedule, a declaration of responsibility), and still... zip. I had erroneously assumed that "I am passionate about the food bank." meant "I will take action to ensure that produce gets to the food bank." Am I annoyed? Yes I am. I really don't want to organize this, but I also don't want to sit back and watch it fall apart.

In other, more encouraging, garden news, I saw a monarch butterfly at the county park native plant meadow over the weekend.

Yay! After two weeks of ripening zucchini and efforts to nag gently, and nothing nothing nothing from the two ostensible volunteers, one "passionate" and one in the local social services loop, another gardener out of the blue decided today to make this work: harvested the zucchini, took it to the food bank, set out a collection container, and committed to a weekly schedule of transportation.

>156 qebo: ugh I HATE when people do that.
>157 qebo: but how nice that someone stepped in! It would be awful if all the produce went to waste, and also awful if you had to take on the task.

Time for a new thread, though I don’t have much to show for it yet...