Happy Spring, Fellow Gardeners!

[Adalaide]

We're getting a hard freeze tonight. Last week I was leaving my plants out overnight a little. Not so much now, it has been too chilly overnight and certainly tonight will be too cold for anything alive.

 

Fortunately things like tulips and daffodils seem not to mind and survived the last hard freeze intact so I'm sure they'll be just as beautiful tomorrow still.

[notme]

 

 

oh man, we are so off topic about "gardening", but none of us seem to care! hahahahaha

lolz - it's *my* thread I DO WHAT I WANT!  bwhahahahahaaaa!!!!

 

my napa cabbage 'bolted' yesterday - i have never tried it before but evidently it is less hardy to extreme temp changes than regular cabbage.  all the advice i have gotten said to pull them out and try again at a later time.  howly wowly wants the extra space for another  row of tomatoes so he is chanting "kill them!  kill them!"  so i cut out the center stem while he rolled his eyes in the back of his head lolz leave me alone - i.  am.  experimenting!  (he will probably get his way in the end - most things i have read say that once they bolt, they wilt and die....)

 

oh, and, hey!  i have strawberries, finally!  this is my second year attempt - last year i brought home 2 plants and my grandson took a shovel to one of them while we weren't looking so i kind of gave up last year.  

 

the suspense is killing me.................zzzzzzzzzzzzz.................  

[nvsmom]

Two Ron's...LMBO

I still just have crocuses...but it rained last night instead of snowed...that's something, right? Right?

[Adalaide]

It is warm again here. Our completely neurotic weather hopefully took its last wintery turn and it will stay spring now. I'm practically holding my breath until we can start planting corn.

[IrishHeart]

Two Ron's...LBBO

I still just have crocuses...but it rained last night instead of snowed...that's something, right? Right?

 

 right!  

 

Okay, everything is bursting open this week. It's been in the 70's for 3 days. whoohoo!

 Daffodils, tulips, the maples, the lilacs, the magnolia I was told I'd never get to grow in this zone (and it's now 50 ft. tall and full of white flowers, so  ) and my peonies are in need of cleaning out, Those are spectacular when they open. I bring big bunches of them inside for the fragrance.

 

I am going to have to learn an entirely different planting zone in 6 months.  40 years of knowledge my Dad passed on to me

when I was young will have to be adapted to a new zone....this should be fun! I may have to enlist Squirmy's help.

[Adalaide]

Lilacs are the best. Probably the only good thing about being married to my ex was the 3 lilac bushes in the yard, and absolutely nothing can compare to the smell.

[notme]

 the magnolia I was told I'd never get to grow in this zone (and it's now 50 ft. tall and full of white flowers, so  ) 

 

I am going to have to learn an entirely different planting zone in 6 months.  40 years of knowledge my Dad passed on to me

when I was young will have to be adapted to a new zone....this should be fun! I may have to enlist Squirmy's help.

if you are growing magnolias up there, i bow down to you!  (bows down)  that's impressive!  you must have a pretty good green thumb. i never had too much luck up north, not for lack of trying.  down here, God truly helps me.  still can't keep a houseplant alive....

 

even though it's warmer here, and we have a longer season, if it gets too dry during the summer, you have to really watch them.  you might have more humidity down there.  although it gets pretty humid here.  i think you and squirmy will do fine

 

Lilacs are the best. Probably the only good thing about being married to my ex was the 3 lilac bushes in the yard, and absolutely nothing can compare to the smell.

i wish i had better luck with them down here.   they grew like wildfire in nj - down here they stay puny.  and the flowers are little.  the last one i bought, i couldn't decide where to put it so i gave it away.  i do miss lilacs.  you are right, addy, love the smell of lilacs, nothing like it

[bartfull]

My rhubarb is up. No buds on the irises or tuplips yet but there are some really pretty flowering weeds in my yard. (My yard is mostly weeds with a few blades of grass in between. Only people who water their lawns around here have real grass.)

 

Anybody know what kind of weeds they might be? They grow about 4 to 7 inches tall and the flowers are in clusters that look and smell like miniature lilacs.

[IrishHeart]

.  i think you and squirmy will do fine

 

er, Squirmy is "squirmingitch" on here and she is a native Floridian and a master gardener.  

I think maybe you thought I meant the hubs.

I have lots of nicknames for him, but that's not one of them.   

[dilettantesteph]

I'm late to this thread, but can I join in?  My Elizabeth (yellow) magnolia is blooming.  I planted it as a baby and now it's full size.  I also have lots of daffodils.  I'm in NY, but by lake Ontario so I'm in zone 6 and not 5 like most of the state.  

 

I planted peas and fava beans last fall and over wintered them under garden fleece.  The fava beans are flowering, but the peas haven't yet.  I've been eating radishes planted last fall too, but they started bolting recently as it warmed up and I had to harvest the whole lot and cook them up and freeze them.  I got 24 cups.  

 

Yesterday I harvested the larger leaves of my collards that I planted as transplants a few weeks ago.  My son cooked those into a delicious meal.  I think he is a better cook than I am.  I planted tomatoes already, but I've got garden fleece ready to cover them if necessary.  I've also got beets, spices and salad greens, and potatoes started.  I think I'll check on the beets today.  Some I started indoors and those ones might be ready.  If not, it'll be kale or kohl rabi tonight.

 

I started squashes and melons indoors and they are ready to go in the garden, but they are supposed to take the place of the peas after they finish and those are a lot later this year than they were last year.  Ack!

 

Meanwhile I am making a new bed for something called chufa nuts that I am trying this year.  I have lots of seedlings hardening to transplant starting tomorrow and I am still making the bed.  It's a race against time.  I hope that we like them so that it will be worth the effort.

 

After that the sweet potatoes need to go in.  I've been rooting those indoors and I have some mini sweet potatoes already started.  Do I harvest and eat those as I plant, or let them keep growing?  This is my first year doing this.

 

This spring is beautiful.  I also have a pick flowering quince next to a redbud that makes a nice combination.

 

All the best in your efforts.

[notme]

wow!  another northern magnolia tree!  i just asked my (trucker) husband if he ever saw *any* magnolia trees upstate - we both agreed we've never seen them north of virginia.  that is just impressive (or y'all have magic dirt lolz )

 

i think, of all the things we have grown, beets surprised me the most.  i have to be careful when we harvest them because as i am roasting them and peeling them, i eat every other one.  they are that sweet and delicious.  (and completely unnerving the next day if you get my drift....! )  easy to grow and so very good when they're fresh.  i put the greens into salads and whatnot.  my lettuce is going under the beans as a cover crop and so it won't bolt so easily from getting too much sun?  still working on that.  (IH <still adjusting a little, had no trouble up north growing all kinds of greens - down here i'm still learning)  

 

sweet potatoes!  we tried potatoes last year that actually lived.  the year before we put them next to the tomatoes which is a no-no i found out - so, they did absolutely nothing in 2011.  2012 we left them in until we tilled last month (we kept checking them and they were still reaallllly small) we dug them up and they were not even edible.  too small, some were green, some started to re-grow, and some were rotting.  i'm going to give it a rest this year  i would love to hear how your sweet potatoes turn out

 

the carrots we grew last year (they looked so puny above ground!)  were hi-lar-i-ous !  they were huge and they looked like pants hahahaaa i'll see if i can find a photo of them

 

happy growing!

[nvsmom]

Ooooh, a magnolia tree!  Sigh. I can barely grow cedars here!  LOL

[dilettantesteph]

There are lots of magnolia trees here in Rochester, NY.  They do get hit by frost sometimes.  Then it looks like there have been dogs up there or something as the flowers go from yellow to brown.

 

I grew sweet potatoes last year too and they worked well, except that we ate them up way too fast.  I also ate the greens for months.  I really like them, but they wilt quickly so I don't think that you will ever be able to get them in stores.

 

I'm doing potatoes for the first time on a large scale this year.  Previously I've only done a few pounds.  I got 20 this year.  They are growing fast.  I need to add compost soon.

[IrishHeart]

I am not sure why I just recalled  a few gardening quotes (but if you'll bear with this old English Prof. for one second, I'd like to share )

 

"My Garden, like my Life, seems to me every Year to want Correction and require attention."

---Alexander Pope, 1736.

 

but of course, this one is also lovely and was part of my Dad's eulogy that I wrote  and delivered

(master gardener that he was!  )

 

"..the kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,–
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth".

--Dorothy Frances Gurney 

 

It's going to be difficult to leave these garden beds in November as the majority of the the transplants

are from his garden sigh.

[GottaSki]

 

I am not sure why I just recalled  a few gardening quotes (but if you'll bear with this old English Prof. for one second, I'd like to share )

 

"My Garden, like my Life, seems to me every Year to want Correction and require attention."

---Alexander Pope, 1736.

 

but of course, this one is also lovely and was part of my Dad's eulogy that I wrote  and delivered

(master gardener that he was!  )

 

"..the kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,–

One is nearer God’s heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth".

--Dorothy Frances Gurney 

 

It's going to be difficult to leave these garden beds in November as the majority of the the transplants

are from his garden sigh.

 

 

Old - No

English Professor - Yes

Quotes - Rock!!!

 

Thanks Professor IH

[Adalaide]

 

I am not sure why I just recalled  a few gardening quotes (but if you'll bear with this old English Prof. for one second, I'd like to share )

 

"My Garden, like my Life, seems to me every Year to want Correction and require attention."

---Alexander Pope, 1736.

 

but of course, this one is also lovely and was part of my Dad's eulogy that I wrote  and delivered

(master gardener that he was!  )

 

"..the kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,–

One is nearer God’s heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth".

--Dorothy Frances Gurney 

 

It's going to be difficult to leave these garden beds in November as the majority of the the transplants

are from his garden sigh.

 

 

Always one of my Grammy's favorites. She spends time daily in her garden all spring, summer and fall.

[IrishHeart]

Always one of my Grammy's favorites. She spends time daily in her garden all spring, summer and fall.

This was my Dad. (And his Dad, too.) 

He spent all day out there, patiently working, tanned and happy.

It's funny, but people knew my Dad's tomatoes (even if they never met him) as his plants were prolific and so, he shared buckets of them with everyone who in turn, shared them with their peeps.

When he died, someone's comment reached my mother via the "grapevine" as "Oh no! the nice tomato man is gone!"

  

 

He would have laughed his butt off over that one. I gave out tomato seed packets at his funeral.

His secret? good old cow poop.   And it works for my toms, too. 

[nvsmom]

My kids were fascinated and a little disgusted when they first learned i was putting poop where their vegetable are supposed to grow.  LOL

 

We skipped spring and jumped to summer!    Last week it snowed. Today it is supposed to hit 27C and break a 100 odd year old daytime high record. We actually have sunburns from this weekend!

 

Sigh, all this warmth has wakened my garden. 

[GottaSki]

do you have a good old cow nearby?

 

meanwhile here in sunny san diego we have had steady rain for over twelve hours -- awesome for this cool chasing gal and even better for my mini garden on the patio

[IrishHeart]

do you have a good old cow nearby?

 

yes, about 125 of them.! there's a.farm on the east side of the property .sometimes, they wander over....

[GottaSki]

hmmm will have to go find a good old cow here -- they used to roam in the hills nearby -- God I am old -- there are 30 year old houses there now!

 

in santa barbara we did have cows over the back fence -- sadly those have moved a bit north last time i drove thru the old hood...to make room for mcmansions

[notme]

 

 

It's going to be difficult to leave these garden beds in November as the majority of the the transplants

are from his garden sigh.

 

take them with you!  once i admired a plant in my brother's neighbor's garden and she dug it up for me.  i put it in a wine box and it flew home with me in my suitcase    (we drank the wine first - that woulda been one drunk a$$ plant lolz)

 

my daughter is majoring in english lit, minoring in psych.  kind of cancels each other out lolz  JUST KIDDING!    i seriously can't wait til she is done.  pretty sure she can do the rest for her masters Closer to Home!

[Adalaide]

Having grown up on a cow farm, that has always been my Grammy's secret too! The first sign of spring is that the cows are moved out of the barn and we clean it. Then we spread everyone's gardens and all the fields.Then with the ground thawed deep enough we plow them all. We just use a tractor because all the gardens are huge.

 

My MIL's husband always brings mulch in the spring for on the gardens here and I knew as soon as I pulled up outside and he had the trailer outside that it was cow poop. I would know that smell anywhere. Some people (i.e. my husband) think I am absolutely insane, but it smells like home. We'll have beautiful corn!

[IrishHeart]

take them with you!  once i admired a plant in my brother's neighbor's garden and she dug it up for me.  

It's not practical ...as we will not be going directly from this house to that house. (long story) but yes, if had been easy, you bet

I would be taking most of them with me. That's how they all got here! 

[shadowicewolf]

For roses, i've heard that horse droppings are good for them.