A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Gardener's Chat What did you do in the garden today? Part 4....

I did nothing this weekend and the rain is pouring down today.....

they scare me everytime I see one, we got like a ton of rain over the week end and I guess that's what had them all stired up

Snakes don't scare me but spiders...geez they just give me the shivers.

Above is the corner that I had to fix up to plant the cacti that Lynne was sending to me. I cleaned out all the grass that was between the house and the AC unit. Can yo see how much my hen & chicks have spread since last year???



Above is the cacti that Lynne was so gracious to send me.- -I am hoping that the Hen & Chicks will get along well.

Looking good Carol!!! I hope they grow well for you and flower next summer!

are those prickley pear cactus? if so, you got way too many for there

that's a pricky pear under that window and every year it gets 2 times as big

Well I finally got something accomplished out there. I'm very proud of myself. I got 6 of the zinnias planted and about 16 sq ft weeded. Not that 16 sq ft is a patch on what all needs to be done but it is a start.

Hey Suzydaze I didn't realize that our homes looked so much alike. That is really cool.

I better water my veggies today.

Good work Tammy, slow and steady.

Didn't do much the past few days but I see my tame berries are almost ripe. yay.

Belinda---I am not sure of its name---but hey--it is what it is---I'll deal with the excess later--

last night I trimmmed grass around my patio blocks and also some in the dog pens (that is usually my DH's job.)--oh, I watered some too.

I hear you there, I had one got so big I scrapped it all off and took it all out. you may not have that problem since your in a cooler climit

I really like mine...lots of room.

I've got to get out soon and water everything, taking ashley to the water park later today

This morning I mulched my herb garden,--(I need to weed the asperagus bed again tonight)
put super thrive on my 3 maple trees, Watered some flowers & put bloom booster on some of my flowers and some of my bushes.--
last but not least I put some vinegar on some of my weeds----after I buy another spray bottle today I am going to spray some weeds with ammonia. WE will see which works best on Illinois weeds.

I know what you mean about room. I rattle around in my home. But I may be getting a roommate. That would be really cool.

Today I planted another 14 zinnias. I'd have done the rest but I have to weed first. don't I always lol. They are planted between a full sun hosta and a part shade hosta. Both of which came from a friend and have not been happy this year. Hopefully next year they will do much better.

The Gypsy pepper is all orange so it won't be more than a day or two before it is ripe and I can pick it. I'm looking forward to trying it. I'm looking for the perfect sweet pepper. I hope this is it.

I also harvested 8 more purple and white Gladiolus seed pods. I hope these are all fertile. Does anyone know if these seeds will sprout using the damp paper towel method? I want to know now rather than find out next year when I don't get any sprouts. Hate to be disappointed.

tk I would say try sprouting them in wet paper towel now, because I know amny perennial seeds if sowed really fresh will not need to go through stratification to germinate. Or the other choice may be to wintersow them of direct sow in fall. Glad seeds are papery with a lump in the middle

Thanks Kenny that's what I have.

Today I got the electric chain saw out of the box read all the directions and then pruned the tree I'm working under. It keep slapping me in the face so it was time lol. Then I weeded another 16 feet of the tree bed and planted another 10 zinnia. That brings the total out there to 30.

I got so busy out there that I forgot I was boiling water to pour on the weeds in the walkway. So by the time I got to the pot half of the water had boiled away lol. You understand that that means the bleach didn't work all that well either. So we are back to the boiling water that at least works alittle bit. Even though it takes multiple applications where the weeds are very thick.

Anyway after I dug up the weeds I got out the rake and smoothed out the area pushing the soil that had migrated to the bottom of the bed back up where it was thinner. Some of the rains we've had have been heavy.

I've also finished staking all of the landscape timbers so that they won't move or topple over. Along with that I managed to rescue all of the yogurt cups that had fallen into the back yard from the deck. Fortunately they were all the empty ones rather than ones with seedlings in them.

So today it wasn't the heat that drove me indoors. I just got tired. Hopefully if I can keep pushing the envelope it will get to where I can go for several hours without stopping. that would be great.

I tilled my new bed yesterday and today I wanted to get the border up, but it's already too hot to get out today

I picked tame berries today and weeded a bit.

I watered my garden and prepared a new row.

Hey em what's going to go in the new row?

wtg tamara and suzy.

I transplanted the rest of the zinnia to the garden bed for a total of 26 plants in three rows. They are going to look great when they start blossoming. Weeded another 16 sq ft. Watered the transplants and raked the weeded part of the bed smooth. I really need my groundcovers to take off so they can hold the soil in place. Every rain I get moves the soil all around.

I also transplanted my 7 mini chocolate peppers into larger cups. We'll see which ones survive my mishandling.

Then I planted the last of the plants I got from Juanita when I moved. I have no clue what they are but they've survived being in a pot and uncared for for over a month so they deserve to be planted. And the hole left from the dead azalea was an exact fit for the pot so that is where they went.

So much to do.

Wow, TK you're certainly on a roll.

Your yard sounds like it's really coming along

I wish. It's still mostly weeds. And rocks. And weeds.

But I do what I can each day and then I sleep. Right now I don't have any energy to get out there again. I wish I did. There is so much to do.

Well today the Dwarf Curled Italian Parsley was the first thing to get sown. I have 3 other parsley cultivators selected for planting but between the heat and the dive bombing wasp i decided to come in.

I'll start on them early tomorrow morning before he gets up and the heat gets going.

I pruned my tomatoe plants...that's it. Gotta get digging this week end.

looked sadly ad my tomato plant. that one green tomato has been the same size the whole month of July.
its looking like fried green tomato lunch to me----

and then I watered things this am as well.

and oops--there were the Mock Orange cuttings I took yeseterday-----

I planted some corn and watered the garden once more.

Weeded the veggie garden, took down the fencing I had around it.

Looked over my garden beds...they are in such a disaray(sp?)....I need to thin them out. They are all getting overgrown. Gee who ever though that when they say plant 6 feet apart that they really meant it?

My dad planterd some squash and watermelon too close to each other and they grew all over the place.

Today I tied some tomatoes to their stakes and began preparing some more beds which will double the size of my garden.

MOCK ORANGE CUTTINGS!!!!!!!! REALLY?

I love mock orange is there anything I can trade you for a mock orange cutting? I'm prepared to be generous here. I really am. I love those. Is it a single or a double bloom huh huh huh. Inquiring minds want to know. Tell all please.

Hey Em you doubled your garden space that is wonderful. That must have be a tiring task.

Hey Tamara. I'm so trying not to over plant as well. I take my measuring tape out with me to make sure I am doing it right. Now I just have to remember to also allow for a path for me so I can weed as needed in the cultivated areas. I'm not small and I'm very clutzy so I really have to allow room for me to sit down and work.

My garden is small,but the new bed made it bigger.IO have plans to dig another bed which will TRIPLE the size of my garden.I'm just getting ready for fall.

Enrique that is the best way to do gardening. Spend the time to prepare the soil and then plant. I usually get it backwards lol.

I plant and then try to make the bed around the plant. Doesn't work at all well but there it is.

Yesterday I found a source for Horse and chicken manure. Can't wait to start loading it up and taking it to my place. Unfortuately I only have 2 10 gallon buckets with lids. I need those because I don't have a pick up and I wouldn't want to carry them unlidded.

But it means that I can finally get two more layers on the sidewalk bed that I am working on. And that is cool.

And I'm going to use the horse manure over where I want to put the veggie garden next year. I can't wait to get started.

tk, rubbermaid bins with lids work well. that's what the carriage place told me here. i need to start getting some from them. glad you reminded me.

I don't think I would use my rubbermaid bins. They are too good for that. I store my other soil amendments in them. Along with other stuff. But I do have a big trash can with a lid. I'll have to see if it will stand up in my vehicle. No that won't work. Once I got it loaded with manure I'd never be able to lift it. I guess I'll just have to do it alittle bit at a time. Ok well, that's probably all I could do in one setting anyway.

Thanks for the thought, though it is a good one. Maybe I could line the rubbermaid with a trash bag. Hummmmmmmm. Think think think. Thanks for the suggestion Jiffy.

that is what i'll be doing is lining them with the black garbage bags, then taking the bags out and letting it age in the bags.

Never did a thing, it rained here back and forth all day.

This morning before I left the house I planted three containers of Lime Basil and three Containers of Lemon Basil. I've never grown either one and I'm curious to see how they look and taste. I also watered my purple ruffled basil because it looked so droopy. It hasn't improved any so I'll go out there this evening and give it even more water.

........still raining. I'm thinking we are getting the tail end of a hurricane or something...it's pretty nasty out today.

I watered my flowers and gave them bloom booster. then I went out and bought some concrete edging blocks for the dog pen & I found a mounded primrose plant on sale--$3.33. I so hope it makes it this late in the summer.

cool...I watered this morning too hot for anything else.

it was almost too hot for that!!! and I went out at 6am too.

whew I hear ya I'm up and out at 5am watering and you know I can remember chopping cotton in this heat and (dumb that I am) I would iron what I wore to the field then we'd chop all day (10 hours) and then party when we got home. To be so young again

we chopped once with these 2 guys up from cuba...*L* man that was a hoot, the only english gthey knew was what some other kids had taught them

Still raining.....

primrose. I love primroses. I hope to have them in my garden someday. But I do worry that zone 6b is becoming hotter and that they may not do well here.

I watered too. We are suppose to get some rain tomorrow and I hope so. We could use a deep soaking rain. Especially as I haven't been able to fix the gasket on my outdoor water faucet so I am still hand watering. I thought I was done with that when I moved. Boy was I wrong. But the day is comming.

it rained last night----Thank the Lord.---so I will not have to water today--well nothing but what is under the covered porch.

we have a 50% chance of rain today and I'm like you I'll be so glad to see a rain. Watering in this heat is killing me, even at 5 am it's still 80

I need the rain and it is supose to happen. But if you have any extra please push it this way. I too watered this morning again by hand.

I watered and weeded my garden today.I fund aphids under some of the leaves of my cucumber,squash,and watermelon plants.They were being protected by ants.I washed them off.

I weed eatted today...was so hot too because it rained then steamed up

It rained last night which was a really good thing. Nineties knock out almost all of my plants. Even the rosemary is looking very sad. I hope it recovers. Rosemary is difficult for me to get going. Even when I start with a plant.

Today a cut down that 60 foot dead tree that was menacing my house. I'm so glad to have it down. Next I'll try chopping some of it up for fire wood. That is if I ever get the fireplace cleaned. I don't want to try it until I'm sure there aren't any birds nests in it or other obstructions.

mine died, that's one of the plants I have to dig up. I have a small one I manage to start off of it. rained here too and it's so nice this morning even with the rain pounding

I watered my garden.

well first I had to weed around my cacti and my hen & chicks--a new spot--so it is still trying to grow weeds.
Then I planted my "on sale" Mound Primrose, I moved my Arizona Sun to an outside front corner of the flower bed.---(I hope it makes the move this time of year), and then last but not least I watered things.

I moved some periwinkles (sp?) I hope they make it, it's not as hot as it's been being

Tammy....I told you not to touch that tree

I got the whole yard mowed and weed wacked yesterday, picked another gallon of tame strawberries....rain for today.

today I have to dig up a couple plants that have died if I have time Since it rained and I don't have to water then I should get time

I'm going to water some other plants that I have and do a bit of weeding.

I gave up on weeding this year

some kind of very cute, but hungry grasshoper type bug was eating on my garden beans. I knew something was but couldn't find him for the longest. caught him two days ago and moved him across the yard to the caster bean plant. this morning I noticed he must have moved over to my avacado tree. it has been eaten badly. when I find him again, he will be moved far far away! he's just too cute to squash.

that's not allowed although my strawberry bed is in a mess, certainly needs a full overhaul this fall.

Cricket...goodbye grasshopper.

Somebody waterd my garden without my permission!I'm so mad because I watered my garden already!

I did get out first thing this morning and dig those dead rosemary bushes up

usually I'll get out and just weed and weed, but the heat has been so bad here I just said to heck with it, almost every bed I have is over grown in weeds. I just weed eat as close as I can to them and move on. next year I plan to add more seeds, plus as stuff dies back this year I can get in and plant some stuff that'll be back next year.

I'm like TK I got a full list that needs doing, just too darn hot here, 102 and 106 just way too hot

Well this evening I went, well DH and I went, out and bought 50 patio blocks to put in the 'floor' of my grandpuppies new dog pen.---you know so they can come visit "Grandma???"--(and not dig out of the pen????

DH said he would move them out of his truck in the AM---so I guess that means I will be getting up early----He will need "expert supervision" after all.

I weeded the veggie garden again. We are under attack by silver-leaf weevils again, they are eating everything.

Here it is grasshoppers. They are ten to a dozen every step I take in the garden. they are feasting on the basil and iris leaves. I have some stuff to spray on them if I ever get out there. I've had a couple of lazy days.

Today I managed to Mix up some more potting soil and sow the white, purple and miniature purple zinnia, two types of kale a miniature blue and a regular, 3 types of Hollyhocks.

I've got my fingers crossed that some of this stuff comes up. A lot of the seeds I've sown this year haven't but I expected that to some degree because I have been collecting with out planting everything. I just had to much.

The celosia is starting to produce blooms though. And that is really nice. I do love those flowers.

you all motivated me to get out there and spray for the grasshoppers. so I sprayed the foundation bed to protect my irises, and I sprayed the tree bed to protect the basil and I even sprayed the fox berries just incase.

I also go the few weeds that had crept back into the foundation bed. They are very determined to take over my beds.

In August I hope to have enough to buy some of the weed and feed stuff.

And then in October as well as the grass seed.

There is so much to do.

But it is already so hot that 30 minutes outside turned my arms red. So I'm in until this evening. Maybe until tomorrow.

I've given up outside...it rains every single day.

I'm sorry you are having so much rain it is interfering with your gardening. For me today I dug out another foot or so of gravel out of the sidewalk. Then I got the wood to support my self into the shed out of the car. And I got the sweepvac into the house along with the waffle iron. Sooner or later I will find everything that got misplaced in the move and get it to the right place lol. Then I got the tarp out of the car and into the shed where it belongs. And then I cut down the glad stocks.

I found out that by letting all the seed pods mature I probably won't have much of a flower next year on those glads. I'll know better next time and only let a few mature.

I watered the foundation bed. Until I get the outside faucet fixed that's about all I can do.

There were almost no grasshoppers out today while I was working so that stuff I sprayed yesterday must have worked.

I started to move a brick that was laying in the front yard but there was a fat little snake underneath it so all I did was roll it flat so the snake would leave. I think it was a garder snake or maybe a diane snake. I don't know much about snakes. Don't really want to either. The was a fat baby I know that much.

That's pretty much it until it cools down.

Oh I almost forgot. I moved several hand sized rocks for the future home of the veggie bed over to the border on tree bed.

Gee, TK you're doing enough for the both of us

I do need to get out and thin out my carrots some more, as soon as this shower passes.

Compared to the list I have of things to do it seems like I am standing still. Not to mention keeping up everything that I've already done.

Today I found a hole in one of my gutter downspouts. So I'll have to get a replacement piece and then figure out how that one was installed.

Are they the vinyl ones TK? it's all just screws if it is.

I thinned out the carrots, picked the last of the tame strawberries and weeded out the veggies. It's too hot for anything else.

I got discouraged in my garden today! I picked one garden bean, two cayanne peppers, and one green tomato that had a hole in it. I know every day can't be a huge harvest, but I was just looking around at how big the garden was and wondering why there wasn't more to pick. Of course all the tomato plants are loaded with green maters. in another week i'll be wondering what to do with SO many of them at one time. tomato sauce and some salsa, probably.

my naked ladies are up and everything else has the wilt today, it's just too hottttttttttt

I haven't looked at the downspout really closely with my glasses on but from the way the hole is I'm thinking metal. But the brackets that hold it in place are a mystery to me. I can't see how they attach. I'd need a picture because I don't have a clue as to how to explain it. And then there is the question of the vinyl siding. Hate that stuff.

Hey Tamara, that sounds like alot to me.

Hey Cricket, your right it's just timing. Your going to have plenty real soon.

naked ladies those are so cool. I'm glad you have those in your garden. I hope to get some to add to my garden, maybe next year. I want to add later blooming plants in my bulb beds.

TK, if it's metal it might be crimped in place. Alot of companies build them for the house right there in your yard. My neighbour got his done. I was amazed how they bent and crimped and put those sheets of metal into all the shapes.

It is metal I went out and checked. I'm thinking I'll just sodier a piece of metal over it and save myself the hassle of trying to get it off there and another piece put in. Does that sound like a possibility?

I did get out in the garden for a very short period of time. I harvested a bunch of portulaca seeds and the yellow celosia that is cone shaped. I picked it to early. (don't I always) but I still got enough seeds to replace it many times over. Maybe I can trade it for a flower I like better.

I also dug out some more of the gravel. But it is really to hot to be doing that. It gave me a headache very fast.

I think maybe I'll try making some breakfast. Maybe that's where the headache came from.

Yup, Tammy. You can get liquid solder stuff in a tube now. It bonds metal to metal...no need for a soldering kit or a welder. You just need to sand both pieces well and clean it off before applying.

you guys have been much more industrious than I've been lately. I did some moving and reaaranging in the garden today. getting ready for some fall planting. just pulled some weeds, added compost, and moved some perinials.

Cool I'll be looking for the liquid solder. thanks for the information. that's going to make my life easier.

I'm going over to help with the barn today so I won't be doing anything in my garden.

I didn't get to do much on the barn which was just as well. I got home exhausted from the heat.

Today I managed to take the food scrapes out to the compost pile and walk around alittle. The Gladiolus that I just planted awhile back are comming up. Silly things. And my horseradish looks great. The Gypsy Bell pepper is getting nice and bushy even though there aren't any buds. I think I'll water it this evening with some of my bloom booster miracle grow.

And my latest back of seedling are sprouting. I've very excited. I have curled kale in this bunch and I've never grown it before. But I always think it looks so nice in the garden. I'm really wanting some fall color.

i worked on my pond i'll post pictures in the pond area later.

Cool, I love looking at everyones ponds. they look so cool and inviting. It's in my ten year plan to have one. But there are many many things in front of that to do.

I moved my watermelon vines out of the way slightly and mowed over the weeds competing with them and then I moved the vines back to their original position.

Well today is Sunday and I hadn't intended to do anything but then the bug got me.

I broke the outdoor faucet trying to repair it. Now it is definitely in the hands of a plumber when I have the money.

I hand watered the plants.

I dug the weeds out of the sidewalk. The boiling water didn't kill the roots I guess.

I dug out another 15 gallons of gravel out of the sidewalk.

And I frowned at the sidewalk bed because while I wasn't looking the weeds have taken it over. They grew over the top of the bed rather than comming up under the cardboard. Pernicious things weeds.

Well that's a project for another day. Wish me luck. I'll keep working at it.