qebo’s 2015 garden (1)

It’s Pi Day and time to anticipate spring. The back yard this morning looks much like the back yard a year ago, snow almost gone.



The community garden, well, I don’t wish to trudge over the soggy field to check. Organizationally though it’s in better shape than a year ago, when the founder stepped back from management, leaving uncertainty about who was responsible for what. We now have a spiffy web site with instructions and an online process, which has been put to the test with several new arrivals, and works nicely.

I started tomato and pepper seeds this afternoon.

Very excited to follow along with you gardening adventures, Katherine!

You are so organized. I'll be following your gardening adventures.

Yay! We're back in business. Missed you guys this winter.

NOOOOOO!!!



Though to compensate, tomato sprouts.

We woke up to snow this morning, too. Not that it's unusual here. We had a blizzard on the spring equinox last year. Yay for tomato seedlings, though! Mine aren't up yet but the peppers are almost all up.

>7 tardis: My peppers, planted at the same time as the tomatoes, haven't sprouted yet.

I planted the peppers a few weeks ago because they always take longer than the tomatoes.

>6 qebo: lol...

I do like how the pavers show up dark against the snow.

>8 qebo: >9 tardis: sometimes seedlings do a little better with warmth. We used to start ours on top of the refrigerator.

>10 fuzzi: Thanks. I still like the design, but measuring and placing them was waaay too much work (even with my father's help, credit where due); not something I'm likely to do again. Also now more wobbly up close with several years of frozen and soggy ground.
>11 fuzzi: Mine are sitting on a radiator cover.

The tomatoes are ready for the grow light.



The peppers I planted last week haven’t yet sprouted. During a round of errands this afternoon I stopped by a small garden shop that had last year’s seeds on sale for half price, so I got more peppers, which I don’t have space for, but I’ll worry about that later.

This morning the sidewalks were icy in the shade, but by afternoon the temperature was over 50 and yesterday’s snow was nearly gone. I wanted to make sure the community garden gate lock still works, and to check the condition of my plots since I hadn’t set foot there in over four months. Not too bad, certainly better than what I started with last year.

>14 qebo: what are the stakes?

>15 fuzzi: The white stake marks the plot, put there when the grid was laid out a few years ago. One of my plots, in the background, is fenced. Everything else is leftovers from last year, sunflowers in the foreground.

Those are sunflower stalks? I would not have guessed that!

Bummer on the snow front. Is that normal for this time of year where you are?

>13 qebo: - Oh, grow light. You are already streets beyond anything I am about to attempt, but that makes following your thread all that more exciting!

I would have never guessed those stakes are sunflower stakes.

I am finally get organized enough to start a thread over here. Happy gardening, Katherine!

>18 lkernagh: Is that normal for this time of year where you are?
Yeah. Nice thing about snow in March is it doesn't last long.

Oh, grow light.
The grow light system was my retail therapy splurge of winter 2014 when I was desperate to get gardening.

In pepper news, I see several sprouts just at the surface...

On my evening walk today I encountered four people involved in the community garden; in the previous four months I've seen zero of them.

>21 qebo: great news!

Maybe people are trying to forget this past winter by looking ahead to gardening?

My community garden is pretty well overrun with weeds/grass/mess. But the last two times I've come out the green bins at the entrance have been jammed full of said weeds - so people (including me) are starting to work on it. I've only seen a couple people, though.

>23 jjmcgaffey: There are advantages to winter. :-) We won't have serious weeds until May.

Yep. Not only no serious cold here, but this is the rainy season. Sigh. But I can't say I really miss winter...

Sigh. Last August-October I sent a series of emails to all community gardeners, each with a BIG BOLD LINK to the new web site. In the past week, three of these people have replied to the email, complete with a copy of the text that contains the BIG BOLD LINK, asking me how to go about renewing their plots for this year... rather than clicking the BIG BOLD LINK and reading the instructions.

*sigh*

>26 qebo: people don't READ THE DIRECTIONS.

An addition to the second batch of peppers on Sunday.



The first batch of peppers on Monday.



The first batch of peppers on Thursday...



... moved to the grow lights with the tomatoes. Getting to be time for scissors.

Love your light setup...

Today, a repeat of >6 qebo:. So so wrong.

>31 qebo: we had snow flurries last night, HERE, where the average last frost date is two weeks away.

I agree, it's SO wrong.

The temperature's still barely above freezing, but the snow is already gone.

Started onions.



Murdered tomatoes and peppers.

The murdered thinned seedlings can go into the compost can...

>35 fuzzi: Yup, that's where they've gone. I still feel a bit guilty for letting them think they had a chance.

>34 qebo: Oooooo, onions! I was really tempted by the 1015s I saw at Lowe's over the weekend. I love 1015 onions. They make the best marmalade/jam.

>13 qebo: & >29 qebo: Do you ever have the urge to lay under the grow lights? *snorts* Seriously! After our weeks of grey weather, I was really tempted to buy one of those light things to offset seasonal affective disorder. Grow lights & and the plants under them always seem so happy to me.

>37 lesmel: AND they make the room smell great, what with damp soil and heat.

>37 lesmel: You can get a lightbox specifically designed to counteract SAD.
Should I look for 1015 onions? Are they sold as seeds or bulbs? I'm trying onions because I was looking at companion planting charts a few weeks ago and saw that they go with tomatoes and peppers, so I'll stick them around the edges and between.
>38 2wonderY: I take the plastic lid off the seed starter trays every morning partly to check sprout progress but partly to get the smell of spring.

>39 qebo: I saw Texas 1015Y as bulbs, but they should be available as seeds depending on the source.

I was hoping this would be a good day to start yard and community garden cleanup. Temperature in the 50s, occasional sun... hadn't anticipated the 25mph wind.

>41 qebo: it's very windy here, too!

Today as noted above was windy, but also sunny and almost warm, so I went out to the garden center for straw bales, plopped them next to my plots, and cleared away the worst of the debris. Two other people were at the community garden too, one preparing plots and one organizing the compost area.



I've set a deadline of April 15 for last year's gardeners to reclaim their plots. I really have no authority to do this, and it’s not enforceable, but last year with no deadline a bunch of people dithered or went incommunicado, leaving their plots both untended and unavailable for anyone else. So when I set up the web site I included a few rules that seemed reasonable, and asked for feedback. I figure if people disagree then the burden’s on them to discuss alternatives. So far nobody has. I emailed a reminder this week, will email another next week, then will phone anyone who hasn’t surfaced. There are plenty of empty plots; the problem is a few people who are actively involved want to expand into adjacent plots that may or may not be occupied.

The first real gardening day, 60s and sunny and not windy.

Yesterday I began to cope with this mess. The American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) expanded last year, and got all entangled in a trellis that I’d expected to be temporary.



I removed the trellis, hacking away at the vine as needed; it seems indestructible.



Today I gave it a new trellis that’s somewhat more civilized. This is the purple corner; it also has False Indigo (Baptisia australis) in the rectangle next to the steps, and Violets as groundcover. The False Indigo hasn’t sprouted yet, but the Violets have begun. All are proven caterpillar hosts.

American Wisteria : Silver Spotted Skipper
False Indigo : Wild Indigo Duskywing
Violets : Variegated Fritillary

I planted peas in one raised bed.

Inside, I now have two active grow light shelves.

Pepper (on the top shelf because last year the cats kept eating them)



Onion and Tomato

I ended up with a kind of home-made version of those light-shelves using a utility shelf with open grill work shelves (these) and some grow lights hanging from linked chain and s hooks. I think the total, including the supply of 4' bulbs, came to about $150, which was way cheaper than the things you could get in the gardening catalogs.

Love to see the updates!

So, Silver-spotted skippers like Wisteria? That might explain why I see so many of those! The wooded lot next door is filled with Wisteria every spring.

>48 fuzzi: Yeah. I think there's a non-native species that is more typical in gardens, but apparently that's a host too. Info: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/silver-spotted_skipper.htm . I saw lots of Silver Spotted Skipper butterflies in my yard last year, only one full size caterpillar, maybe some leaf shelters but I wasn't sure, didn't find any eggs.

>47 southernbooklady: Huh, Origami shelves! I keep looking at them and not buying them because I can't think where I'd use them, but planting shelves...hmmm. I currently have a setup with plastic shelves - they're quite sturdy, but they don't disappear at the end of the season (though I could take them apart and make them somewhat smaller). Keter shelves, which don't apparently exist any more (at least in the US) - very frustrating, I need more feet and top-plugs!

>47 southernbooklady: The origami shelves are cool. I'll hope to remember them next time I'm looking for storage shelves.

>50 jjmcgaffey: I am guessing you have called the Keter support number or looked at their website? Their products seem to still be sold in the US. YMMV, maybe?

No...I did some searching (I think I found the website) and found no place to buy them. Hmmm - maybe I should redo that search! Thanks.

Ah, OK. Yes, Keter sells a lot of stuff in the US - but not the shelves I have. The Mega 24 looks the closest, and that's "not available in your country". Not sure Mega parts would fit my shelves (I got them at a yard sale, they may be a very old version - in fact, I have two different types), but they're not available anyway.

Might be worth calling them, though, and see if I can get any suggestions straight from the horse's mouth. Thanks for the nudge, lesmel!

Hi - just found your gardening thread! I love it. We have no garden while our house is being built, but hope to be back to eating gallons of homegrown veges by next summer. It's nice to see your seedlings as we head into winter down here.

>43 qebo:. Sounds fair to me; if the original plot gardeners don't want the space, give it to someone who does!

>48 fuzzi: >49 qebo: My crappy useless non-blooming wisteria doesn't even attract the skippers, even though they visit my coneflowers just five feet away! My skippers prefer soybeans and this particular weed (name escapes me--I think it's a legume, too) that, now that I think of it, has leaves similar to wisteria.

>55 CassieBash: is your weed one of the Vetches? I have tons of it all throughout the yard.

>56 fuzzi: Yes, that's it! I knew one of you would be able to jar my memory! ;)

Skippers are leaf rollers--look for rolled or folded-back sections of leaves to find the larva. My younger sister nicknamed silver spotted skipper caterpillars "bean heads" because their heads are very round and about the same size and shape of the soybeans they like to eat. When she was younger, she used to come up with all sorts of nicknames for things. Promethea moth caterpillars became "smiley butts" because of... Well, if you've ever seen one from the back, you know. For those who've not seen this, I found a pic on the web.

>51 qebo: is everything okay? You've not posted in a week...

>58 fuzzi: That's cuz I've been gardening. :-) Photos still in the camera. Mostly no glory tasks, cleanup of last year's debris.

Stunningly, setting a deadline of April 15 to reclaim plots at the community garden has been a success. Completely unenforceable, but achieved by a combination of nagging and perhaps peer pressure. This time last year I’d barely begun collecting payments, and the bureaucracy dragged into June. As of this evening I have one incommunicado I feel few qualms about dropping, and one other unpaid but it’s a special case that I’m not worried about. Everyone else from last year is either definitely not returning or paid up. A bunch of new gardeners have registered and paid promptly (they get two weeks to follow through). Hopefully this establishes a standard procedure, and people will start paying attention earlier next year to avoid the nagging. They may all be annoyed with me, but they’ll get a functional garden.

Good for you. It would be a shame if new gardeners couldn't get a plot because others didn't respond/pay up.

Several years ago we flubbed a deadline to reenroll our kids in school. At the time the letter came with the information that we had to confirm their places for the next year, my husband was in a period of one duty travel after another. When we got the message that they were out I rushed to the school office with humble apologies, and was it please, please possible to keep them another year? I was treated like royalty - aparently they getting all sort of calls like, "How dare you take my child out of school. Of course she is coming again next year. Do you know who I am?" They liked my method better.

>62 MarthaJeanne: my mom used to say "You catch more flies with honey...", which is correct, 99% of the time imo. ;)

Wow! You're so organized! I'm starring your thread so I can use it to keep me a bit more disciplined.

I'm also using HabitsRPG and Evernote to keep track of my gardening chores and time deadlines. (I don't have anyone like you to nag me, darn it!)

>64 Storeetllr: I use Outlook's calendar feature at work, it's great. I would imagine it working well for gardening chores.

Today I started flower seeds...

I’ve been busy at the community garden, but mostly doing no-glory cleanup and prep.

Last weekend I hauled mounds of debris from vacant plots to the compost pile on the other side of the garden so new arrivals don’t have to deal with last year’s mess.



I’m putting straw over newspaper in one of my plots, now 3/4 done. Status as of this evening:

>67 qebo: that's really nice of you, cleaning up other lots.

I use cardboard as mulch, or under mulch. It's excellent weed control, yet is gone by the next Spring.

Wow, lot's of hard work, both physical and organizational! Good work, Katherine!

>68 fuzzi: Last year I was surrounded by a wasteland of unrented and abandoned plots. This year I have neighbors. Don’t want to scare them away. The garden will be much easier to maintain if we can rent all the plots.

>69 ronincats: Thanks. The frenzy of bureaucracy has subsided. Though I hope it’s not entirely over; still have 5 plots available. My muscles aren’t yet up to hours of physical labor.

I cleaned up some of the back yard last weekend too. Expect to do more tomorrow. Photos, before & after, when it looks civilized.

Cleaning up the back yard from top to bottom...

The purple corner with Wisteria and False Indigo.



The Wisteria has buds.



The False Indigo is sprouting.

At the side of the deck is a Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium).



And Golden Star (Chrysogonum virginianum), host for Pearl Crescent (though I have not seen any caterpillars).

In post-winter mode last week.



Between the deck and the fence is an aspirational Button Bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis ).



All spiffed up. In the foreground are three Tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata) that aren’t yet doing much.



Most of the violets are purple, but this one is white. I got it at a plant exchange last year.



The Buttonbush looks pretty pathetic now, but it is vast in comparison to this time last year.

Along the fence at the very top of the yard are Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea), host for Black Swallowtail.

In post-winter mode last weekend.



Partially cleaned up last weekend.



Cleaned up and soil replenished today.

Along the fence is Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), host for Painted Lady and American Lady (though I have not seen any caterpillars). It is invading the Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia), also creeping to the other side of the fence.

In post-winter mode last weekend.



Cleaned up today.

Further along the fence is Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa and Solidago shortii and probably others), host for Baltimore (though I have not seen any caterpillars).

In post-winter mode last weekend.



Partially cleaned up last weekend.



Cleaned up today. Further along the fence is Carolina Lupine (Thermopsis caroliniana), host for Wild Indigo Duskywing (though I have not seen any caterpillars).

Next to the fence but in the strip across the yard is a yellow False Indigo that is just beginning to sprout.

The strip across the yard was all Clover last year, but I replaced it with Violets, transplanting ubiquitous volunteers from other parts of the yard. Considering the haphazardness, the result isn’t bad. Violets will spread.

In post-winter mode last weekend.



Cleaned up today.



Scattered violets are blooming, but most are not yet.



At the other end of the strip are... more Violets. Around the birdbath a different type.



Also a Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium repens).

That was about 4 hours of work. I had hoped to deal with the front yard and the remaining 1/4 plot at the community garden today, but my muscles are protesting so one or the other will not happen. I think I can manage to finish up at the community garden, and I have to collect tools I left there yesterday anyway.

My muscles are sore in sympathy! That's a lot of work for one day, but oh! I bet it feels good to have it done!

>73 qebo: I love your pavers...

...and I enjoy the "before" and "after" pics!

Done. Windy. Not ideal, but I didn't want to leave it hanging until next week. Even though I'm not actually going to plant there for a couple weeks.

Lots of work going on here! You're being very productive, Katherine!

You're putting me to shame with all your productivity. Of course, the day I really had time to work in the garden this weekend was the cool and rainy day! Still, I've been weeding one of mom's flowerbeds to make a bed/buffet for one of the caterpillars, so every day a little patch will get cleared. If he doesn't pupate too quickly, I may have my mom's flowerbed more thoroughly weeded than my own! :)

Keep posting pics; I, too, love the before/after shots.

>82 ronincats: Have to be. Traditional outdoor planting here is Mother's Day, lots of prep to be done before then.
>83 CassieBash: Sometimes I'm glad for a rainy day excuse.

The before & after are about the only evidence that I've done anything; it's still pretty barren out there.

Today is rainy, so I'll have another crop of weeds this weekend.

>84 qebo: Interesting to see that we share the same outdoor planting start (Mother's Day), at least for most plants. Other than the cold weather stuff (such as swiss chard or lettuce), starting indoors is the only way to get a head start on the garden.

I envy you the rain, but not the weeds.

>84 qebo: it's been raining, daily, for a couple weeks. I have been gardening in the breaks of the weather.

The yard/grass/weeds are growing fast and tall...::mutter::

Huh. Mothers' Day is our outdoor planting day here in Colorado too! Even that may be too soon, as last year we had a major snowstorm ON Moms' Day.

>87 Storeetllr: It's probably later than necessary here, what with climate change creeeping up on us, but seed packets say May for tomatoes / peppers / squash / corn, and I am obedient.

Heh, another year or so and they'll have to rewrite all the seed packet instructions.

The community garden has its first complainer of the year. She is "disappointed", wonders "is this the way it is or does it clean up any". It? It is you. If we hire landscapers, the fee goes up.

The first (only) complainer of last year became a serious problem, because the elves that were supposed to present him with a pristine plot were also supposed to do his weeding.

Note that the garden is not hidden behind solid walls. The gate is locked but anyone can walk around the mesh fence and peer inside before committing to a plot.

Yes, I'm being nice. Offered to meet her there to assess the situation, refund her fee if she decides not to rent.

>90 qebo: poor baby. Life is not fair, like, it doesn't look like a manicured Japanese garden? ;)

I was blessed: my mother was a gardener, and had me helping out when I was about 6 or so. I learned about organic controls and soil enrichment by osmosis.

Within a year or so of helping, I had my own little "weedy" plot within her garden, in which I grew weeds, and Marigolds. They remain my favorite flower.

Here's a shot of mini-me, with my cat Sam, and my mother's zinnias in the background:

>91 fuzzi: Sweet.

Quite a few plots are still in condition similar to >14 qebo:. But her plot is surrounded by others that have been cleaned up and mulched and planted; maybe she thought they came that way? Anyway, she wants a refund, so that's that. I'd like to give people clear plots, but we don't have the manpower. And there's a reality check: if you can't prepare your plot, then you won't be able to maintain it.

I've found that heavy mulching in the fall, with FREE leaves, is a very good thing. Do plot renters keep and maintain their plots from season to season?

>93 2wonderY: Anyone who rents a plot has the option to reclaim it the next year, and most do. Some people carefully put their plots to bed for the winter. Most people (including me) do not. The trouble with mulch is that it has to be hauled to the garden. By October, people are done; they've returned to their regular lives, and there is no way the garden organization, to the minimal extent it exists, could enforce a cleanup rule. Also by definition available plots are untended plots, either unrented the previous year or relinquished by someone who has ceased to care. Most of the manual labor, keeping common areas mowed and weeds under control and critters at bay, is done by two men who notice what needs to be done and do it out of a sense of general responsibility. Everyone else can be helpful simply by keeping their own space in reasonably decent shape. If we had a waiting list, we could demand more. As it is, we're better off with rented but suboptimally tended plots than with unrented plots.

>92 qebo: oh well. Someone else will want it, I imagine. And be able to manage it, too.

>93 2wonderY: if the plots were fenced in some manner, so the leaves didn't blow away, it would be a plus.

They could charge extra for mulched lots! :D

Another garden problem case gone. A guy who submitted a plot request without specifics, took a week to reply whether he wanted one or two plots, asked to pay cash but couldn’t manage over another week to arrange a specific meeting time, finally today said that he just got a new job and won’t have time to garden.

One remaining problem case. A young woman who told me a month ago that she wants to keep her plot from last year, asked to pay cash then went incommunicado without actually doing so. She’s enthusiastic, always chatting about advice from her grandfather while her pre-school daughter chases butterflies, and I alternate between worry that something’s gone wrong and annoyance that she hasn’t responded to email or phone messages for several weeks.

This evening finally I repotted the peppers and tomatoes, which have been extending roots beyond their original containers. No photos yet because the kitchen and dining room are a disastrous mess.

You don’t get to see the disaster that is my kitchen and dining room. Instead, you get these exciting photos of sprouts. The pepper and tomato repotting involved more murders. I should have anticipated this, and sort of did, but vaguely hoped... something. And I don’t have enough plot or yard space for all of these.

Peppers on the top shelf away from cats.



Tomatoes on the middle shelf. Off to the side are onions which need to be dealt with too.



Miscellaneous flowers that will go into pots on the deck.



Sunflowers that will go... somewhere? Maybe I can squeeze them into the community garden.

Thought I was done with the winter coat, but it's 45 degrees and breezy out there, dropping to 35 tonight. So the recommendation to wait until May for planting is not unwarranted.

Heh. Don't you just love the way the weather jumps back and forth?!? After nearly 40 years in Southern California, getting used to Colorado weather is taking me a lot of time! I think it's getting worse, though, because, before I moved here a couple of years ago, everyone told me the winters were "so mild" and "it hardly ever snows in Denver" and similar such lies. :) I'm so impressed with your sprouting efforts! I just picked up some sunflower seeds yesterday at the gardening center. Do you think it's too late to sprout them indoors? I planned on planting everything in the straw bales around May 1 and covering the little plants with plastic if the weather gets cold.

BTW, the bales are really cooking inside! I need to add more nitrogen today or tomorrow, but after that, I think just keeping them moist will be enough!

>99 Storeetllr: too late to sprout them indoors?
I dunno. One of my sunflower packets sez they can be started indoors 4 weeks early. I started them last weekend, and at the rate they're growing, I'm thinking I should've been more patient. I normally plant them directly outside in May. From your thread, I suspect my weather is less volatile than your weather; we do not get snowstorms after the lilacs bloom. So (a) I have no idea what I'm doing so don't pay too much attention, and (b) I'm not sure that the right thing here would apply there anyway. :-)

Yes, it's more volatile than I'm used to, that's for sure. Well, maybe I'll try a few. I just started some basil, cilantro (coriander) and parsley. Most of the other seeds I bought will go directly into the bales.

>97 qebo: Can you give or sell extras to other community gardeners? What about taking some to churches or schools to give away? Surely someone out there would accept extra plants--especially if they're free to good homes.

>98 qebo: & >99 Storeetllr: Right there with you--another freeze warning tonight.

>102 CassieBash: The community garden will probably have unrented plots, which get designated for the food bank. A nice idea in principle, but volunteers prepare, plant, and tend the plots, and the track record for coordination and followthrough is not so great. I might be able to take on a food bank plot, prepare it and give it my extra veggies, and then I'd have space for sunflowers in my own plots, but this'd stretch the limits of my spare time and muscle power. Alas, finding homes for plants occupies time also. The fundamental problem here is that I want to see things growing in February and March.

Today was the first of a series of plant sales: https://habitatmt.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/lnpwfflyer2.jpg .

I was fairly restrained, mostly groundcover.


I took photos of the yard, but tomorrow’ll be another round of cleanup so I’ll post then. I will though note...

Butterfly #1
Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
Violet
April 25

The main task for today was preparation of my other community garden plot. I want to plant corns & beans & squash, which are supposed to be in mounds.

I did a quick turnover of the soil, fairly easy because we’ve had rain this week.



Oh Canada Thistle, how I’ve missed you.



Then I went to Lowe’s for compost, drove the car up to the gate, and carried 8 40 lb bags over to my plot.


Poured the compost on the the plot, raked it into a thin layer... (yeah, it's not much, but no way I'm going to carry another batch)


... and carved out 8 rough mounds in each section of the plot. I’ll fine tune tomorrow or next week, wanted mostly proof of concept today.

May as well post photos of the part of the yard that I won’t be cleaning up tomorrow.

Violets are violet. False Indigo and Wisteria are emerging.





Buttonbush has buds.



Violets are violet and white.



Appalachian Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides), kinda surprised it’s shown up again.



Ragwort has buds. Pussy Toes has flowers.



Golden Alexander is expanding.

My muscles do not want to move today, but they have to...

Front yard cleanup. These are mostly non-natives.

Before:



After:



At the corner, non-native Rose of Sharon.

Side yard cleanup. Areas where nothing seems to be growing though it should be. I'm letting the White Wood Aster spread because it's one of the few plants that seems happy there, and I like it.

Before:



After:



At the end, non-native Bleeding Heart.


At its base, native Bleeding Heart, which I planted last year and thought had died.

In the middle of that was another trip to Lowe's for dirt. Now a coffee break. Alas, too early to call it a day, so I'm contemplating what of the back yard I can manage this afternoon.

Wow! Katherine! You are on fire! Just don't, you know, hurt yourself.

I'm sitting it out today as it's cold, windy and rainy out there, and tomorrow promises more of the same. Tuesday, however, I will need to get out and do some cleanup of my own. Nothing as intense as you've been doing, though, just weeding and removal of brush that I cut back last week.

>111 Storeetllr: Yeah. Trouble is, there's a relatively brief window of opportunity for preparation, especially when it's weekends only. Someday I'll retire and have ample time, but probably also significantly less energy and muscle power.

Wasn’t sure when I might keel over dead, so I did a series of little things.

Prepared the remaining two raised beds. Haven’t yet decided what to plant in them.



Planted most of what I bought yesterday.

Meehan’s Mint (Meehania cordata) near the compost bin.


Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) along the fence. I remembered planting one last year, and I think that’s it near the middle of the photo.


Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda) next to what is probably the same thing already there.


Sweet Violet (Viola labradorica in with the blueberries.


Cleaned up the blueberry space since the smaller ones already have flowers.

Before:


After:

Love seeing your progress!

Yesterday evening I went to the community garden to work on the new flower garden. Another gardener last year expressed interest in creating it to fill a weed infested space beyond the plots, and she was ready to get started this week. So far she's done most of the work, but I cleared a small patch and moved milkweed from a stray location that was interfering with a plot. No photos because I barely finished before dark. Tomorrow is another plant sale, and now I'll have an excuse to buy things.

So, Wednesday morning I went out to water my garden areas, and my two milkweed plants were STRIPPED of leaves! I couldn't find any caterpillars in the area, but bought another plant at the farmers' market Wednesday in case any more Monarchs come back to lay eggs.

What do you think did that, if not caterpillars? Rabbits, maybe?

>116 ronincats: When had you last seen the leaves? The caterpillars can be voracious but not to the extent of entire plants overnight. OTOH, who else eats milkweed leaves?

Milkweed is not yet growing here, just stalks from last year.

I very much like this thread! Each home that I've owned and then sold, contained hundreds of perrenials. Alas, when I was younger, I spent most of my summer gardening. I had Williamsburg, VA like beds, some with herbs, most with lovely, lovely flowers.

One house in particular was cottage-like. There was a white picket fence and a terelis in front of the house. I planted some wonderful old-fashioned hollyhocks in the back and then yellows and purples in the front. I enjoyed it when walkers told me they purposely walked past my house to enjoy the flowers.

Alas, now I have a much smaller patch in the back. Still, I gain a lot of pleasure in the spring watching the green of the plants grown taller and taller until next month, they will bloom.

Happy gardening to you!

>119 Whisper1: I'd make a point of walking by a cottage garden too.

Today in community garden bureaucracy, there remain two unpaid, one incommunicado, one with details TBD, and two vacant plots. All mildly annoying but better than last year and merely a matter of patience. And now we turn to the garden itself. A gardener who has switched plots has not yet moved a humongous trellis structure that is fixed to an 8’ x 8’ base, though she asked to switch in March and has had the new plot in hand for three weeks. I've rented her old plot, and the new occupant was aware of the situation, but I still feel responsible for getting the trellis out of the way. Two gardeners who are friends with adjacent plots put up a combined fence with a solid wood gate midweek without asking permission, defying the traditional rule of not blocking the aisles between plots. They are willing to take it down, but only if an official rule is imposed, and no official entity exists. So they’ve exposed a weakness, and now that they’ve done it other people will too and we'll have a maze. There’s a real problem with critters, and a ridiculous proliferation of chickenwire fences that squeeze the passageways, but the gate is blatantly aggressive IMO. Alas, a community consists of people...

The founder of the community garden happened to email me about a minor thing today, so when I replied I mentioned the problem of the aisles, and stunningly, instead of saying it's not his problem, he posted a notice to the online forum announcing that the aisles must be kept clear. He's as official as it gets, so I hope this'll be enough to undo the aggressive gate. It doesn't solve the underlying problem of critters, or the underlying problem of no decision-making entity.

The back yard is progressing.

Golden Alexander


Ragwort


Violets


False Indigo


Wisteria

Time to deal with the circle, the most unkempt part of the yard because I kept the stalks and debris all winter, and now weeds are appearing. The tall stalks are Joe Pye. On the opposite side of the circle is milkweed. In the foreground are miscellaneous ironweed, liatris, turtlehead, and maybe things I don’t remember. On the opposite side of the circle is mountain mint.


Milkweed and miscellaneous sections weeded.


Under the weeds and debris, the milkweed is sprouting.


Joe Pye and mountain mint stalks cut. Also hops on the fence; at the corner are piles of old vine. The next step was a trip to Lowe’s for more dirt.


Joe Pye cleaned up. At the rim of the circle is wild ageratum, I think.


Joe Pye is sprouting too.


I still need to deal with the mountain mint.

Good progress. My Milkweed has not sprouted, so I am going to replant.

>118 qebo: It could have been several days since I had closely looked at that section of the yard. Nothing seems to be eating on the new plant, but I just set it down by the other plants still in its pot. This is tropical milkweed so it never goes dormant.

>124 qebo: and >125 fuzzi: Don't fret about your milkweed yet. My butterfly weed is late coming up, even though my mom's is up several inches. But as I was planting some asters, I dug too close and unearthed the pale stalks of one of the plants, still under a half inch or so of earth. So you might want to give them just a little more time. Or at least replant carefully in case they're still under there.

>126 ronincats:: Fortunately, milkweed is tough and likely will replace its leaves. Milkweed tussock moth larva are quite capable of stripping a plant or two, as the mother lays clusters of eggs, so you'll get dozens of caterpillars rather than one or two.

Found a couple of milkweed tussock moth caterpillar pics online and couldn't decide which was better. So here are both. I've done them as links since the picture size is so huge, and the images aren't mine to download and copy.

Nibble, nibble, like a milkweed tussock moth hoard.

That's a whole lotta caterpillars.

My milkweed isn't up yet either. Neither is my Joe Pye weed. I hope they're still underground!

I found only a bit of Joe Pye when I removed debris. The milkweed's further along, but again I didn't see it until I removed debris, and although it's sprouting from established roots, I usually have lots of babies too and I don't see any yet. I'm not worried; this is normal timing. I haven't checked the butterfly weed yet; nothing obvious, but I'll be clearing those beds today.

Or I will if I can make my muscles move...

>129 qebo: make those muscles move, even if you have to take some ibuprofen...they will feel better for it.

I already replanted the Milkweed this am, since I didn't see any as I weeded yesterday...

>130 fuzzi: make those muscles move
I did! I made a fair amount of progress in just an hour. Already it's too hot. One more garden bed to go in the yard...

It's hot here, too. I set up a hummingbird feeder, topped off the seed feeders, watered a few transplants...and I'm sweating. I'm in til sundown. :)

Now it's 80 degrees and I really should go over to the community garden...

Wear a hat!

>127 CassieBash: I've been waiting for tussock moth caterpillars to show up on my milkweed, but none so far.

>134 fuzzi: Oops, didn't think of that. I didn't get tons done. A round of thistle patrol in the aisle between my plots. Improved the corn-bean-squash mounds but really need to wait until we get rain; the dirt clumps when it's dry and is difficult to shape. Weeded the stretch of milkweed along the fence near my plots, the ones I planted last year. A few are sprouting up just barely.

This morning, I dealt with the last section of the circle, the mountain mint. Not very well; it’s dense and collects debris.


American Hops (Humulus lupulus), ruthlessly cut back because it was already twining into the mountain mint.


Butterfly Weed, which is just beginning to sprout.


At the community garden, the new flower garden. This is the milkweed that I moved on Thursday evening. One is sprouting. In the background is the compost pile.


The milkweed along the fence near my plots.

That last photo is very avant-garde!

>135 qebo: if I didn't have a good hat, I wouldn't be able to garden, at all!

Mine is from LL Bean:



The flap in the back can be hidden inside the brim, with a velcro closure.

I've had it about three years, and it's still in great shape.

>138 fuzzi: Oh! I like that hat! I've got a hot pink gardening hat that looks like yours except no flap in back and no closure. I can't be in the sun without a brimmed hat or I'll end up with a huge migraine.

>136 qebo: Lovely photos of all the emerging plants! And I kind of like the way you framed the last one.

>139 Storeetllr: I also get a headache if I am in the sun without my hat. Mine isn't white, but more of a "putty" color, to help reflect light. And the drawstring keeps it in place, even with a breeze.

I have a woven straw hat with a good-sized brim. Usually, the sun itself doesn't get to me (yes, I wear block) but the heat/humidity combo we get here in high summer keeps me indoors during much of the day. Gardening becomes an early morning/late evening task for me then.

I have a cloth hat with a semi-rigid brim and mesh sides of the head. It's lovely for letting the breeze through. But today has been unpleasantly cool (highs in the low 60s), and I wore my felt hat (fedora, I think). Not to the garden - there I wear mesh anyway, I work hard enough I need to let the sweat evaporate.

This evening I planted the other two raised beds with dill (four varieties) in one, anise & coriander & parsley in another.

My two swamp milkweeds never came up at all this year! What happened? Do they just grow for two years and then need to be reseeded? Weird! I planted dill today, too! :)

>144 SqueakyChu: Maybe you need to wait a bit longer? The milkweed in my yard is ahead of the milkweed at the community garden. It's sprouting from the existing roots. I don't yet have any milkweed babies, normally get them all around the milkweed patch in my yard so I assume it's too soon.

>145 qebo: Okay. I'll continue to wait. I hope I haven't pulled up one plant to put mint in its place. :(

>146 SqueakyChu: Milkweed can be slow to appear, even on the same property. My mom's butterfly weed has about 3 or so inches of growth more than mine, which are just poking out their little spears--and I helped them along because, like you, I'd gone to plant something there and came across the tuber with the growths, still under at least a half-inch or more of dirt. So be patient, supply water if needed, and see what happens. You might find you have a swamp milkweed coming up from amidst your mint! The only other thing I can think of is if they got too dry last year; our drought from 2 years or so ago killed off many of my milkweed plants, including some well-established common milkweed, which can usually pull through big dry spells.

I didn't hit a tuber where I planted the mint. I'll keep waiting...and keep you posted. The second place I had milkweed planted I still see the old stalks...but no new growth. The Joe Pye weed is up, though.

The last of the garden bed cleanup in the yard (still need to deal with the mulch between beds), done yesterday and today after work.

Before:


After:


This is mostly violets and Butterfly Weed, which is beginning to sprout.


At the end near the street is Wild Columbine. Should be two, but apparently I killed one.


At the end near the neighbor's yard, in a narrow band of shade on the north side of the fence, is Dwarf Crested Iris.

Love those iris.

Those iris bloomed today.

Today I spent three hours planting the corn, beans, and squash more or less per instructions.

I roughed in the mounds two weeks ago, intending to fine tune after rain, but we’ve had almost no rain and much of the soil consists of baked lumps.


I normally measure, but there’s not much point if I can’t move the soil, and anyway I want to get out of the precision business because it’s time consuming and the plants don’t care, and the garden’s rustic and funky in general. So I eyeballed the rows. I watered and flattened the tops, added the seeds, covered with soil, and watered again.


Representative corn and beans.


Representative squash.


I’m trying different combinations. So the rows are seven varieties of corn, the columns are seven varieties of squash, the quadrants are four varieties of bean.

>151 qebo: Lovely!

Have a great weekend in the garden, Katherine! Wish I could send you some of our rain. (Or even, as predicted for tomorrow, some snow.)

I also checked the milkweed along the fence, counted 19 that are sprouting. Some are up several inches. Some are barely breaking through the soil, can't see them unless I push away the straw mulch.

>153 Storeetllr: I'll say no thanks to the snow.

And another trip to Lowe's for mulch and potting soil. Not sure how much more I can cope with today, but I'm in a position to get started early tomorrow.

>151 qebo: ::drooling::

Another two hours of work, spiffing up the mulch around the raised beds. It won’t be this clean for long.



I killed a bazillion baby violets, but salvaged some larger ones to fill in gaps elsewhere.

>158 qebo: looking nice! And the violets will be back...

>158 qebo: Individual violets may be gone, but the population is thriving. They were sparsely scattered when I move here six years ago, but I like them so my weeding strategy was to remove everything that wasn't a violet...

Time for the tomatoes and peppers to go outside... which means they needed somewhere to go outside to. So today was deck day.

I forgot to take “before” photos, so this is partway through cleanup, pots from last year stacked at the side, growing opportunists.


Yesterday I got potting soil but forgot about all the old pots with old soil, so today I went back to the garden center for fertilizer, and also petunias. Here is the clean deck with replenished pots and partially planted petunias. What’s in the pots? Nothing.


Eventually the pots will contain flowers, some from the seedlings I started inside.


The tomatoes and peppers. Note some casualties; the grow shelves are not quite level, and I’ve been inattentive to turning the trays for even distribution.

>158 qebo: I just read in my nonfiction pick, Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds to Your Backyard that fritillary butterflies lay their eggs on the base of the violets in the fall, and that some of the babies hatch out before the snow falls and overwinter as caterpillars, while the others stay dormant as eggs. I didn't know frits over wintered in larval states! (p. 167 for anyone with access to a copy, FYI).

>161 qebo: We don't yet have our tomatoes or peppers, but our radishes have been loving the rain.

>162 CassieBash: In 2012 I had a gazillion Variegated Fritillary caterpillars on the violets, and one attached its chrysalis in a convenient location. I haven't seen any caterpillars since then, though the violets have expanded.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/140411#3550527
https://www.librarything.com/topic/140411#3568150
https://www.librarything.com/topic/141676#3577890

Butterfly #2
Red Admiral (vanessa atalanta)
fence & raised bed
May 11 & May 14

This butterfly was in my yard three days ago, but I barely managed to catch a photo. Today it(?) was back.

Even more exciting, I returned home from lunchtime errands to see both the Red Admiral and a Black Swallowtail in my yard at the same time.



Butterfly #3
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) – female
Coral Honeysuckle & Golden Alexander & Buttonbush
May 14

This butterfly was all over the yard.

Oh, how beautiful! I want a swallowtail to visit.

They were checking out the plants?

>166 fuzzi: The swallowtail seemed hungry. I hope she remembers the Golden Alexander when it's time to lay eggs.

My community garden plot has achieved a bean sprout.

>165 qebo: I'm waiting for my black swallowtails to hatch; they're still in their chrysalises. I must confess I'm a little envious! ;)

>169 CassieBash: I checked my garden threads for the last three years, and the black swallowtails have always appeared here in July, which is sensible because that's when the dill is mature. Now I have Golden Alexander in full bloom. I had it last year too, but it was new and unimpressive. Here it is two days ago, significantly progressed from >123 qebo: ten days before.

>170 qebo: I may have to look into some golden Alexander. Right now most of my QA lace is pretty small and that's usually what I feed, so maybe it's for the best that I don't have any this early. I think maybe I've seen that growing wild; is it considered a wildflower (aka weed to some)?

>171 CassieBash: Golden Alexander is a native plant (QA lace isn't), probably not generally considered garden worthy. It is a host for black swallowtails (apparently what they used before dill etc arrived), but mine hasn't really been put put to the test yet. I normally get lots of black swallowtail caterpillars in August, and one a few years ago emerged as a butterfly in September, but mostly they form chrysalides as the weather is getting chilly, and as I've mentioned elsewhere that's that, I've never had one get through the entire winter. I'm hopeful that with an earlier host plant I'll get an earlier generation of caterpillars.

>172 qebo: Just about any plant important to Lepidoptera species is welcome in my garden! My younger sister bought one from the native nursery so we do have one, it's just very small and she's not expecting it to bloom this year--though of course no complaints if it does! I've told her I help keep it caterpillar free this first year while it grows. When it does bloom and go to seed, I'll collect some.

This afternoon I planted the patio tomatoes on the deck.


At the community garden, sprouts.

Corn


Beans (and thistles)

Volunteer common milkweed has been popping up in the yard.


So I moved a few to the milkweed section of the circle. The roots break off, difficult to get much, so I dunno whether they’ll survive.


Potted the petunias left over from last week. Not very exciting but they needed to go somewhere. Can't see much in the raised beds, but the dill is sprouting.


Got sweet potatoes while I was at Lowe’s for other things. The various flowers that I started inside are now potted: bachelor's buttons, forget-me-nots, Chinese forget-me-nots, pincushion.


This was filler activity for the afternoon. A thunderstorm is imminent, so the community garden will wait until afterward or possibly tomorrow morning. We really need rain, so I hope it lasts awhile.

Yay!

The rain was gone by 6:30, leaving enough daylight for a community garden session, so off I trekked. Another gardener was there when I arrived, on a similar mission to weed while it's easy.

First, the plot that will get tomatoes and peppers and sunflowers. The newspaper under the straw keeps the thistles down but doesn't eliminate them entirely; the thistles creep sideways until they can pop out at the edges. A half hour later, including chitchat with the other gardener, all set for planting tomorrow.

Before:


After:


Next, the unrented plot next to mine that will get my leftovers for the food bank. A half hour later, the worst of the thistle is pulled up and piled into the corner.

Before:


After:


The mounds with sprouts. I’ll get them under control tomorrow.

>175 qebo: Water the transplanted milkweed well and they might make it. When I first began the butterfly garden, all my common milkweed were transplants from other flower gardens. I, too, had some with little root and while some did die, I've had some amazing results, and I think the key is (at least in part) ample water. I also put black dirt fresh from the compost pile in each transplant's hole so it's possible that also helped. Maybe feed them?

>177 qebo: Glad you got rain! It seems we get nothing bu; we're hoping we don't get all of our summer rain now, only to fall into a drought weather pattern later.

You certainly got a lot done!

>172 qebo: >173 CassieBash: I would love some Golden Alexander seeds if/when you get any.

I have milkweed, parsley, and dill seedlings growing...

>177 qebo: whew! Nice job. :)

Two stints of 2-3 hours each at the community garden today. I am wiped out.

Planted tomatoes (8 varieties) and peppers (8 varieties).


Consolidated the mounds and filled the spaces between with straw.


Also cleared about 1/4 of the food bank plot (in the background with red shovel handles next to the mound o’ thistle). I’d hoped to do the entire thing but that was too optimistic for this muggy muddy day. We’re supposed to get another round of rain, so I should be able to finish this week. My two plots should be easier for awhile now, won’t need anything beyond weekly thistle patrol.

>180 qebo: is that a teepee in the background?

Gardens are looking good. :)

>181 fuzzi: teepee
Yes. A new arrival rented one plot and brought her daughters to help with prep. Almost immediately they wanted to go home. So she expanded to two plots and constructed a teepee for them. The sheet is temporary; she planted corn / beans / squash at the base of bamboo poles.

That's a cute idea, to keep their interest.

Another round of rain last night. Unfortunately I won't be able to get to the community garden until Thursday to continue prepping the food bank plot.

At an organizational meeting last Friday, it was decided, by the dozen or so people who happened to be there, that people who have not prepped their plots by Memorial Day will be kicked out. I volunteered for the joy of informing them, tactfully I hope, since I have contact info and control of the plot map. This is not arbitrary pettiness; everyone who requests a plot agrees to conditions that include prepping and planting by May 15. May is when the thistle leaps upward and causes problems for the garden in general. It's only four people, a vast improvement over last year, and two have responded with plans so they'll be OK if they follow through. I'll make phone calls later this week if the others don't reply. I don't especially want to be the bad cop, but I also don't see much point in having rules if we don't enforce them, and it's not fair to gardeners who are diligently tending their own plots if neighboring weeds invade. Unrented plots produce weeds too, but they can be mowed down without qualms or attempts at persuasion.

Have fun kicking out the deadbeats. (I'd probably be one of the late ones, but I don't expect anyone to enable my tendency to procrastinate by cutting me slack.)

How long is your growing season there, Katherine? I've had everything ready to plant by Mothers' Day (I just didn't trust the book where it said it would be okay to plant two weeks earlier in a straw bale garden), but between snow, hail, rain and cold weather (and by cold I mean in the 40s and 50s) that we've had since, I haven't gotten anything planted yet, and I'm hoping our season lasts through September and into October, as it did last year, or my garden may not produce as much as hoped.

>185 Storeetllr: It's OK if people don't plant, but not OK if they don't prep and weed. The four problem people committed to plots in early April; there are few good excuses to have done nothing (and said nothing) in a full month plus. It's not that all other plots are pure and pristine, but that all other plots show evidence of attention and activity and have the weeds reasonably under control. Some people began planting in April, others in May, and that'll be happening for awhile yet; depends on the crop and whether it's started from seed or bought from a store. I hope my email will prompt the problem people to get going so we won't have to kick anyone out. Also sets a precedent for next year. Things wind down in September, though a few people keep going into November.

Good luck handling the deadbeats. Maybe this will get them off their butts and motivate them to do something, but if not, they can't say they weren't warned. If they're that upset, maybe suggest that next time they should come to the meeting! (But maybe do so more tactfully....)

>187 CassieBash: Well, typically what happens is that when people cease to be interested, they cease to respond to efforts at communication, so deadlines allow the garden to move on without guilt. Otherwise we're left hanging. I was surrounded by bad neighbors last year, the guy who does most of the maintenance was hesitant to mow plots that were officially rented, and I have neither the time nor the physical endurance. This year, a new arrival has the bad luck of three problem neighbors, which isn't fair to her. Yeah, come to the meeting (though not everyone can) but also there's an online forum that everyone has access to though only half or so pay attention to, and an an agreement that everyone "signs" (checks a box ). None of this is arbitrary or mysterious, but this is the first year there's been a critical mass of people publicly expressing agreement that action should be taken.

Well, at least you have support!

On cursory glance the community garden plots are not much different, but progress has occurred in four days. The food bank plot in the background is about 2/3 cleared, and the corn & bean & squash are visibly themselves.

Well, after a round of emails and two phone calls (they'd both received the email, but hadn't bothered to reply), three of the laggards have promised to clear their plots this weekend. A fourth forfeited, which gives us two more unrented plots to tend, but at least we know which makes decisions simpler.

I've been taking photos of the plants in my yard (no interesting bugs yet) but haven't been organizing them to post. Maybe this holiday weekend...

Another no-glory stint at the community garden. I pulled thistle from an unrented plot, finished clearing the food bank plot, and planted some tomatoes in the food bank plot. I want to plant sunflowers but I don't know where I can put them. Probably I should move some peppers from my plot into the food bank plot, and plant the sunflowers in my plot since they are not food.

Not every day can be all about transplanting annuals...we all gotta weed! :D

Sunflowers are too food!!

>194 ronincats: Yes, I'm sure the county food bank would be delighted. :-)

The cleared food bank plot, with the mound o’ thistle, and the leftover tomatoes and peppers.


Tomatoes planted and mulched. I need another bale of straw.

In the back yard, this is the condition of the transplanted common milkweed. Doesn’t look good, but also doesn’t look completely doomed.


At the base of one is a fresh sprout.

Butterfly #4
Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)
Buttonbush
23 May 2015

>198 qebo:, ooh! We get those, here. I've not seen one yet in 2015.

Somebody stole my mound o' thistle. Not that I especially mind. I'd put it there because I didn't feel like hauling it all the way to the main compost pile. I suppose the intention was to be helpful? Still, woulda been nice to mention.

Today was domestic day, with two planned tasks: refresh the mulch at the bottom of the yard, and fill gaps in the raised beds.

Before. I’ve weeded all the garden beds in recent memory, but haven’t touched the mulch between.


Between. The weeds are gone, leaving a layer of dirt and old mulch.



After. I need to re-weed the garden beds, but at least the yard looks like someone is paying attention.





Anise in the middle. Parsley around the edges. I planted extra seeds where sprouts aren’t obvious.


Dill is either obvious or nothing. Somebody (cat? squirrel?) has been digging holes. I tried again with extra seeds.


Peas, about half doing OK and needing support, about half doing very little. I added mustard.

Butterfly (Moth) #5
Chickweed Geometer (Haematopis grataria)
Hops
May 25

I had aspired to go to the community garden too, and fill in gaps where things haven't sprouted, but I'm too wiped out from hours in the sun, so maybe tomorrow.

Looks great!

I planned on doing more yard work today, but my sinuses acted up, and it didn't happen.

:(

>201 qebo:

Your garden looks terrific!

One of my two swamp milkweed plants finally came up, but I have no idea what happened to the second plant. :(

I've given part of my garden to my two-year-old grandson who just loves to dig in the dirt and then pull out worms and pill bugs. Lucky for him that I love insects (except for mosquitoes and German cockroaches)

>201 qebo: Raccoons also dig, looking for worms and grubs. They especially seem to like digging in freshly disturbed or new dirt. I've had to spread my garlic and cayenne pepper around because the little blighters dug up and absconded with one of my verbena plants--never did find it. But your garden looks very nice.

>205 SqueakyChu: Yeah, I remember "helping" mom garden that way. Perhaps he'll become an entomologist.

>206 CassieBash:

I keep lots of logs in my garden. He loves to turn them over to see what's underneath.

Looks great! I love putting down fresh mulch - always makes the garden look amazing :)

>200 qebo: The thistle mystery is solved; the people in the plot next door were being helpful.

>191 qebo: Anyone want to guess how many of the laggards followed through on their promises?

Laggards? ZERO.

>210 fuzzi: You are pessimistic. ONE. Can I zap the others? That was my understanding of the consensus at the organizational meeting, but the meeting notes produced by someone else are kinda waffly. One I feel no qualms, emailed with an absolute no-grace-period deadline. Another has a political aspect, so I emailed the founder who says he'll contact her to make clear there are no special cases. This sort of thing occupies an inordinate amount of time. So much easier if the plots are straightforwardly unrented and all we need to do is keep the thistle under reasonable control, not chase and cajole and tinker with polite but firm phrasing and make uncomfortable phone calls.

I'd zap them, personally. If they didn't follow through after emails followed by more emails or phone calls, just give up. It's obviously not big on their list of important things, and they won't weed it, either.

Pessimist? No, I'm a realist. I've lived and dealt with people for a long time. ;)

Oh, I'd zap them personally too. Alas, I am not personally in charge. Nobody is, and efforts to create a formal structure have failed, in part because there's disagreement about whether this is necessary, in part because most people prefer not have an official responsibility for this casual activity. So we've gravitated to decisions made by whoever happens to participate in a conversation (there's a public discussion forum, and a presumption that anyone who truly cares will pay attention and comment) and whoever steps up to do the work. Last year I held back and waited for a critical mass of people to chime in. This year I'm more inclined to say I'm about to do X, speak up now if you object.

And there are no doubt many people grateful to you for speaking up and acting. That is, the ones who aren't personally burned by your actions... those will be complaining that you had no right to do X. And phooey on them.

My community garden is similar, complicated by an actual authority that doesn't want to exert its authority (so anyone who wants to act has to keep them and their rules in mind, but they don't do anything themselves). I have not yet reached the point of doing, except for my plot and the immediate vicinity. I'd be immensely grateful and helpful to someone who would step up.

This evening at the community garden I filled in the corn / bean / squash gaps, and rid another abandoned plot of thistle. Another no glory stint.

>214 jjmcgaffey: I am grateful to people who deal with their own plot and vicinity without nagging. :-) Which to be fair is most people; the relative few get disproportionate attention.

Snapshots of the yard...

At the side of the house, a dwarf Goatsbeard is doing nicely. This was a tiny thing when I planted it last year.


Somebody is chewing on the Joe Pye.


Hanging out on the Joe Pye.


Butterfly Weed getting ready to bloom.


Swamp Milkweed too.

And...

I’ve been checking the Golden Alexander for Black Swallowtail caterpillars and seeing nothing, until today I happened to glance at just the right spot as I was heading to the community garden. A bit more searching yielded another.

>217 qebo: Congrats! May you find at least half a dozen by week's end!

Nice pics, thanks for the report.

That Goatsbeard is nifty-looking! I might look into getting some.

>220 qebo:: addendum: while looking up Goatsbeard, I came across these articles on pollinators:

http://www.xerces.org/bringbackthepollinators/

http://www.beautifulwildlifegarden.com/native-goatsbeard-pollinator-plant-extrao...

My yard, for sure, is full of stuff pollinators like: my husband is not interested in yardwork, so we get overgrown at the edges of the yard (last house on a dead-end street, next to a wooded lot, no HOA, no complaints!), have a huge brush pile, and only mow as absolutely necessary.

>219 fuzzi: Goatsbeard is nifty-looking!
Yeah, I've long admired it, but the native species is too big for the space. This is supposedly a cultivar of the native that doesn't get so large (IIRC there's also a non-native dwarf). Somewhere I have a tag or document w/ the Latin name.

>219 fuzzi: My kind of yard! I'm slowly working to expand my garden but unfortunately am going to be somewhat constrained by the nearby clothesline (which we do use during the summer) and the old remains of the swingset, which now holds three bird feeders instead of swings on its ancient, rusting hooks. There's a large patch under the feeders that is literally nothing but bird droppings and sunflower seed shells. Oh, and maybe raccoon droppings--at least one coon visits under the bird feeders nightly and digs around, so I don't want to get to close to his territory or he'll be digging up the garden (more than he already does). It's nice not to have HOA people around; makes landscaping and home improvements much easier to do.

The soil underneath that swing set must be wonderful! One of the reasons I planted perennials around my feeder pole and birdbath was the natural enrichment available through avian sources...

Oh yes, it's great! The small wild critters (I forgot to mention the skunks and opossums, too) love to dig for seeds, worms, bugs, etc. that always come with bird poo. Some day I may "borrow" some soil from under there for my garden--but if I do, you'd better believe I'll be liberally sprinkling the garlic and cayenne pepper around like crazy!

>218 CassieBash: Well this morning I could find only one, and this evening zero. Which doesn't necessarily mean much; they get around, and they hide. OTOH they have predators too. I checked the dill too (in the raised beds it's only a few inches high, but volunteers around the yard are further along) because both caterpillars and eggs are fairly easy to see there, but nothing.

>224 qebo: Maybe they have a preference for the Alexander; I know that some permanent populations can develop a taste for specific host plants. My spicebush swallowtails ignore the spicebush that's relatively new, because they've eaten sassafras for decades. I feed my Carolina sphinx moths (aka the hornworms that eat tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes in your garden) on horse nettle and I've found their eggs and caterpillars in recent years on these plants, as well as on our tomatoes. If I had the space, time, and money, I'd conduct a study to see if I could successfully "retrain" a population of Carolina sphinx moths to eat horse nettle instead. Maybe when I retire, I'll apply for government grant money. Your tax dollars at work.... :) )

>224 qebo: Golden Alexander was the original host, before the arrival of dill & parsley etc. I've read that the swallowtail preferences have shifted, but right now the Golden Alexander in my yard is more prominent, fully grown with flowers, while the dill is sparse and small.

I have three tomato plants in pots on the deck in hopes of attracting hornworms; I don't care about the tomatoes.

>226 qebo: My family does care about the tomatoes, as we freeze the tomatoes or chili we make from them to use throughout the winter, but we have plenty of horse nettle and, as you know from my red admiral/stinging nettle adventures, I'm not bothered by handling sharp, prickly plants. One of my summer jobs in the garden is to make sure that caterpillars are removed from the food plants. I "redirect" (often to a tank for rearing) everything from cabbage whites (they love my mustard, and I plant extra cabbage) to black swallowtails to hornworms. About the only thing I don't redirect are cutworms and borers, the former because they usually strike and then move on, and I never do find them, the latter because borers are difficult to relocate without destruction of the entire plant, and one species in particular has become a bitter enemy of even me, as it tends to strike indiscriminately throughout my entire garden, attacking phlox, butterfly bush, coneflowers, daisies, lilies, sunflowers, and any other tall-growing, stemmed or stalked plant outside of the milkweed family. They even hollow out the catnip!

Butterfly #6
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)
Wild Quinine
May 29



Finally. I’ve seen these guys flitting through my yard for several days, but nobody landed for more than a nanosecond. This one settled in place for minutes.

Loving all the pics you're posting!

So much to learn!!!

Why do you want tomato hornworms?

>228 qebo: yes! Mine haven't been very cooperative, either. Nice to see you got a picture.

>230 SqueakyChu: probably for the adult moth/butterflies?

>230 SqueakyChu:, >231 fuzzi: or the adult moth/butterflies
Yup. Curiosity.

Temperature close to 90, so no community garden for me until this evening. Not getting anything accomplished at home either; wander onto the deck to contemplate next steps, then return inside. Sunday and Monday a decent chance of rain, which we need.

I think my two black swallowtail caterpillars are gone. :-( Maybe next time I find one, I should protect it from the big bad world.

>232 qebo: sorry about the black swallowtails. :(

One of the Chickadee nestlings was killed, and I felt so sad. However, we can't protect everything (birds, butterflies, fish, lizards), and hopefully the fittest will survive.

Yesterday at the community garden, one section of the corn & bean & squash, with the corner of milkweed in the background.

This afternoon, a brief stint of weeding and watering, with a quick check of the dill yielded (click through to zoom)...

2 swallowtail eggs on a 9” dill volunteer:


1 swallowtail egg on a 4” dill in the raised bed:

>230 SqueakyChu:. I do it partly because I can--I have other food sources available so they don't have to be garden destroyers. I also do it because Indiana has few large evening/nighttime pollinators, and this is a big one for that. Our bats are insectivors, hummingbirds don't fly at night. Giant silkworms fly at night but don't have mouths and thus don't--technically can't--eat, and many of the smaller moths a ill-equipped to pollinate some of the big evening-blooming flowers like evening primrose and four-o-clocks. So the sphinx moth family is pretty nice to have around.

>232 qebo:. Maybe they'll show up. The little fellows can be hard to spot; I often overlook them and then when I find one of the fat green last instars, I wonder how I managed to miss him every day until then. Same thing with hornworms, too, come to think of it. So maybe they just moved deeper into the plant to escape the heat. I know I would!

>233 fuzzi:. Sorry about the chickadee. Do you know what happened?

>236 CassieBash: Maybe they'll show up.
Yeah, maybe. Advantage of dill is the eggs and caterpillars are easier to see.

>211 qebo: This week I sent email to the two remaining laggards at the community garden that the absolute no-grace-period deadline is May 31; per agreement that everyone “signs”, the sequence is a warning, two weeks to remedy, then lose the plot w/o refund. The warning occurred after the mid-May meeting in which we discussed what to do about people who hadn't gotten started. No response from either laggard, of course, but when I arrived at the garden this evening, one was there clearing her plot. I’m not super happy about this, because I expect problems to continue. Next year everyone will be asked to “sign” not just a general agreement but a few specific items including an absolute no-grace-period deadline of May 15, which gives us a reasonable time frame to prep and plant food bank plots, and eliminates the need to discuss the situation and make multiple efforts to contact people.

>238 qebo: sounds like a good plan for next year: too bad you had to implement it.

>236 CassieBash: yes, I do. I saw one of my ferals with it in her mouth, so the fledgling must have been on the ground. It hurts, but the same situation would have happened with one of the other critters, from the woods, or even my dog. Years ago when we had chickens, our dog got a hold of one of the chicks, to play with it, and it died. My young son was inconsolable, as he felt he'd let the chick get too close to the dog. It happened, stuff happens, no one's fault.

I am not upset with the cat, just sad. That's life. :(

>239 fuzzi: Partly what's happened is we don't need them any more. Last year, we had so many unrented plots that we were desperate to hang on to any warm body that would show up sporadically. This year, we have a few volunteers to prep and tend food bank plots, and a few gardeners who have expanded into relinquished and forfeited plots. So the laggards are creating problems, holding up responsible gardeners who want to make decisions and take action.

Bits of garden progress...

The peas have produced pods.


The Peonies in the front yard are blooming.


The Carolina Lupine in the back yard is blooming.


The Buttonbush in the back yard has buds all over. Last year it produced a few flowers. This year it will actually be a bush.


A stint of weeding this morning before the temperature rose to 90.

Before:


After:


Note that I’m not removing all weeds. I’m leaving the ones I don’t mind as groundcover.

We're supposed to get a thunderstorm tonight and rain tomorrow, then the temperature will drop ten degrees for several days. With better conditions imminent, I'm not feeling especially motivated today.

>241 qebo: a weed is nothing more than a plant growing where you don't want it to grow... ;)

Oh, peas! I am jealous! I want fresh off the vine peas soooo badly! Mine have barely started sprouting.

I do love seeing pics of your garden :)

>239 fuzzi: Yes, much like my caterpillars and the parasites. If the cat hadn't gotten it, and nothing else did, it would have eventually dehydrated and starved, which is probably a slower and worse death than the cat. I was just curious, since some species of birds do sometimes "sacrifice" a sickly fledgling in favor of healthier ones, pushing it out of the nest--our barn swallows do that sometimes. I suppose it's possible that was the case and how the cat got it.

>245 CassieBash: I hesitated to state how it died, because some people get mad at ferals for killing birds. My three rarely take birds, but do keep the mouse population down, and occasionally kill a snake or lizard. Most of the time they're happy with their Meow Mix, ha!

>246 fuzzi: Not me, but I know that does happen. We get any strays we catch fixed to keep the cat population down, but that's as much for the good of the cats as for the good of the birds. It took us a good six months to get one of our feral barn cats to the vet for the operation, but she went in the end. She only had one kitten (a big one!) but unfortunately the kitten was killed on the road shortly after she was spayed. (After she had the kitten, she calmed down a lot--the kitten was friendly and loved people, so I like to think she learned by example.) My Peppa doesn't seem much interested in toys that "fly" (she's indoor cat only), but things on the ground level need to watch out. This winter she caught several mice in the house. I had a cat that specialized in catching and killing rabbits, even adult ones nearly as big as him. Right now, we have one general hunter (the above-mentioned mom), one that's confined to an outside enclosure and who catches the occasional mole (the only thing that ventures into his pen--all the critters and birds, except for moles, seem to know he's there), and two lazy bums who don't hunt at all.

Lots of predators attack fledgelings, including raccoons, snakes, lizards, and even other birds, so I was just curious. I know mom had problems with cats climbing up the pole in our yard that runs electricity out to the barn--she hung a few bird feeders from the pole, so of course the cats started staking out the feeders--so she put slick sheet metal along the post so they couldn't get up it any more. (This trick works well with most other creatures that climb, though you have to have big enough pieces that larger creatures, such as raccoons, can't reach past it for a hand hold.) In recent years, we've had a hawk or two stake out our feeders--not much we can do about them.

Moving on to a new thread, though with little to report on this rainy day.

>247 CassieBash: appreciate your reply and thoughts.

See you all in the new thread. :)

My husband said that one of our feral cats seemed to have caught a bird. Later when I looked more closely, it turned out to have been a baby bunny. That's nature, and I'm not of the opinion that most of our songbirds are decreasing in number solely due to the presence of feral cats. I've fed the same three for the past 14 years.

>246 fuzzi:

My ferals also usually ignore birds. When the cat was eating the bunny, a starling was in the cat food dish eating some leftover cat food nuggets. Go figure! :)

The cat that's most often in my yard belongs to my neighbors. It likes my yard more than their yard, but only when I'm not there. It visits one of my cats through the windows. I'm pretty sure it has killed birds, but I haven't actually seen it in the act.

>250 SqueakyChu: Considering that mostly what our cats catch are English sparrows, not native songbirds, I almost say that our cats are doing the natives a service by taking out a few non-natives. And our barn cat population is aging, so I don't know how much longer any of them will be actively hunting--though I did catch our oldest in the act of successfully killing a chipmunk, so he's not past it yet.