What's Going On In Your Garden?

[Guest guest]

My roses are in full bloom, and so are my jasmine. I have planted some

petunias, and some sort of daisy some of those are lavender, and others are

orange.

I also have only 2 tomato plants, 2 jalepeno, and 1 habenero plant. These are

in my front planter with my roses. I didn't get my garden going like I wanted

to, maybe next year.

 

Rahnny

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I know for many on this list spring time is beginning to take hold full

force. For some of you there is still danger of frost for a few more

weeks, for others like me it is already early summer ( ;-) ) and for

others down under it is now autumn at its finest. Be that as it may, all

of us who garden have some work going on in those gardens now, and I'm

just nosey what y'all got going on (and where are you ?).

 

Weeks ago I put paper down over my planting beds to smother weeds ... I

couldn't believe how wild and thick the weeds were here in February.

Most of those beds have now been mulched and I planted a whole bunch of

various bulbs and rhizomes. I've got gladiolas sprouting now, caladiums

leafing out, ranunculus popping up and lots of other goodies. I planted

seeds for helichrysum which are in need of thinning, got zinnias,

marigolds and calendula sprouting and just plated some sweet peas, and

getting ready to scatter poppies and cosmos seeds. The baby heirloom

tomato plants are in their new homes for the summer, and I've got a few

seedlings started too. Most of the rose bushes I planted are in bloom,

but a few of them have aphids I've been manually squashing and those

particular plants don't have blooms yet (sniffle). I've got two vine

plants that look and smell like some kind of variety of jasmine blooming

like MAD! and some other unidentified flowers too ...

 

So all in all, the garden is alive, and despite all the mulching, there

is still weeding to do in some areas and new flower beds to be made.

Green beans will be planted by the weekend as well as some more herbs

(got sage, pineapple sage, spearmint, and a variety of thyme plants

going now). Although I fear it is a little late, I'm going to get

lettuce planted this weekend too. If nothing else I can have a steady

supply of baby salad greens

 

That is all for now ....

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Well, my roses are in full bloom, my azaleas are out my hybiscus is in and out.

My oragano is growing, by one sweet basil is growing, my one regular sage is

holding it's own, my two thymes are growing. My spearmint is DEFINITLY growing

and my peragoniums that I bought last month ( Lemon Rose, Lemon Crispum, and

Antique Rose) have grown about 6 inches. Bought some Applemint and Orange mint,

and it is spreading a little. Oh, have a question. My Oleander is in bloom.

has anyone ever infused it in an oil? You can some flowers, but I was wondering

if the scent will come through, or hold.

Anita

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Chris

 

> I know for many on this list spring time is beginning to take hold full

> force. For some of you there is still danger of frost for a few more

> weeks

 

Unlike you, my prediction is that our first frost for the season is only

days away:-(

 

I don't many flowers in my garden to speak of except for the occasional

sunflower, calendula and some other dedicated areas in the herb gardens

where I've mixed flowers with herbs.

 

> Green beans will be planted by the weekend as well as some more herbs

> (got sage, pineapple sage, spearmint, and a variety of thyme plants

> going now). Although I fear it is a little late, I'm going to get

> lettuce planted this weekend too. If nothing else I can have a steady

> supply of baby salad greens

 

I didn't have much luck with lettuce this year I think due to the drought,

but rocket kept us going for the entire summer.

 

I've just planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beetroot, about five

different varieties of onions, more lettuce, silverbeet and chinese greens.

The tomatoes are at the very end of their life, I still have loads of banana

capsicums, a reasonable amount of potatoes and enough pumpkins to see us

through until next year. I have to find a successful way to beat cabbage

moths.

 

My main focus is on getting rid of the scale from the citrus. The ruby

grapefruit tree, is loaded with fruit as is the lime and navel orange.

Lemons and mandarin doing ok too.

 

For scale I've mixed equal parts olive oil and water and a little soap to

emulsify. Used 1:40 with water and sprayed regularly for the past couple of

weeks and while the sooty mould appears to be drying up and peeling off I'm

becoming impatient. So if you have a better remedy for scale, I'm all ears

........

 

Next project is getting the chookyard finished, then concentrate on the

fruit orchard.

 

Vicki

[Guest guest]

Well at this side of the world (for those who don't know me - it's

Stockholm, Sweden) spring is finaly here. There is still quite chilly

nihgts, but the days are glorious and my garden is slowly coming to

life. The crocuses are overbloomed and the scilla is abundant. My

helibourus (3 different colors) are in bloom - they are soooo lovely!

Tulips, Jonquils and other narcissus have sprouted their leaves, but

no flowers yet. On my hyacinths, there are large buds that just are

watining to open up and release their fragrance.

 

Yesterday I planted my newly bought bush Magolia Stealirs, a small

rhododendron and a Bamboo plant in my " sour mulc " border (hmmff, the

sort of mulch that Rhododendron likes) and moved a Trillium

Grandiflorum and some smaller plants. I also finished weeding out one

other border, moved some roses (Blue River) to the front part and

planted some roses and perennials that I bought last fall :-O. In

this border I have a lot of Bonnica roses that came with the house

when we bought it. One booring kind of rose, since it has no scent at

all - but boy does it have a power to live, no matter what you do to

it. This year I'm not pruning it back, just to see how big it get's.

 

Today I will put fertilizers in all my borders and plant the rest of

the perennials, some new roses and start cutting back my the new

roses I bought and planted last year - Rhapsody in Blue, Clair

Renaisance and Leander. I didn't have the energy to properly cover

them last fall, and some of them looks like they maybee not have

survieved. But - roses have the most stunning way of recover, so I

cut them down and see what happens :-) Then I'm moving out all my

tomatoes and chilies in the greenhouse, cause my heater is finaly

working again. Out there I already have repotted some violas and

pansies raised from seeds, cutlings from one yummy Basilicum Yemenite

and my poor poor fuchsias. It seems like most of them didn't survive

my abusive treatment when they where spending the winter in the

garage. OK, I totaly forgot to water them from time to time, but hey -

the citruses made it!!

 

I'm a seedfreak and every year I go nut's and order a whole new bunch

of them from England (better prices, larger varieties). Now I have 6

different kinds of Morning Glory sprouting, Hibuscus, Clary Sage,

several sorts of Petunias and Lobelias and some other summer flowers

as well sprouting in their propagators. I'm gonna sow all my Sweet

Peas and some Mirablis, and some more that I right now don't have the

name for. I have some Dahlia and Lily bulbs/riozomes potted in the

greenhouse that are starting to show green tips above the soil and

some aquieleias (oh how a love them) and Ahlstroemeria as well.

 

Jezzz, I could go on and on about this topic, but, I'd better go and

take Fiona out right now, so I can get on with all my plans.

 

Fragrant Blessings,

Ylva

[Guest guest]

Vicki (vicki) wrote on 28 April 2004 10:26:

 

 

 

>For scale I've mixed equal parts olive oil and water and a little soap to

emulsify. Used 1:40 with water and sprayed regularly for the past couple of

weeks and while the sooty mould appears to be drying up and peeling off I'm

becoming impatient. So if you have a better remedy for scale, I'm all ears

........

 

Next project is getting the chookyard finished, then concentrate on the

fruit orchard.<

 

 

 

We used to grow a tree called Backhousia anisata, (now called Anetholea

anisata), and commonly known as aniseed myrtle. (There is a photo on our

website). Now, if you want scale, and subsequently sooty mould, they are

winners. So, in my wisdom, I asked my better half to spray the trees with a

suitable organic mix to remove the scale, which had come from adjacent

native trees (Syzygium spp). Very effective it was too - killed the pests

and wiped out the predators. Took us at least two years to get the predators

back. So, Plan B - two parts - prune the affected branches, and burn the

prunings, or put ducks in with the trees, prune and drop the branches and

leaves as mulch. Chooks are OK too, if you want your mulch spread around the

countryside. With patience, the scale will be beaten by predators.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, in a commercial operation, consumers will not buy fruit or

other produce covered in sooty mould. For home consumption, the scale can be

removed by hand (thumb nail) and the sooty mould will wash off.

 

Dennis Archer

http://www.toona.com.au

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Dennis and thanks

 

> suitable organic mix to remove the scale, which had come from adjacent

> native trees (Syzygium spp). Very effective it was too - killed the pests

> and wiped out the predators. Took us at least two years to get

> the predators

 

Ok, so I know not to use this:-(

 

> back. So, Plan B - two parts - prune the affected branches, and burn the

> prunings, or put ducks in with the trees, prune and drop the branches and

> leaves as mulch.

 

I'm a bit of a wimp and pruning the affected branches would also lose a lot

of fruit that's taken us about four years to get to this stage. That's why

I'm perservering with the white oil spray and I'll take more drastic

measures if it doesn't sort itself out soon.

 

> Unfortunately, in a commercial operation, consumers will not buy fruit or

> other produce covered in sooty mould. For home consumption, the

> scale can be

> removed by hand (thumb nail) and the sooty mould will wash off.

 

I've also done that in the past with affected leaves and branches but

there's only so many hours in a day. I expect to have this beaten in the

next two weeks:-)

 

Vicki