What's Growing in the Garden

[Mr. Peet]

Some hosta are weird that way. Last fall was doing some landscaping for a lady and she wanted six beautiful mature Empress Wu hostas removed and replaced with boxwoods and river rock.... Yeah, I know there is no accounting for a lack of taste. Those hostas were easily 6' diameter and 4.5' tall.

Anyway, we had to cut them out with spades and pry bars and just let the pieces of hosta sit on a trailer (in the sun) for two weeks. Finally had some free time and thought what the heck, planted 5 pieces of them. Every one is up and growing nicely. Will be a couple years until they reach full size, but I've got them spaced 7' apart and got a bunch of seed grown heuchera and astilbe to fill in space and add some color until they mature.

Still think your deer get plenty to eat elsewhere. Can't have hosta here without fencing. They love marigolds and tomatoes. They even hammer squash here. They wiped out the neighbors rue-barb, that is new to me. They don't seem to bother horse-radish or onions....so far.

 

[trc65]

Still think your deer get plenty to eat elsewhere. Can't have hosta here without fencing. They love marigolds and tomatoes. They even hammer squash here. They wiped out the neighbors rue-barb, that is new to me. They don't seem to bother horse-radish or onions....so far.

They do have lots to eat, and it's weird what they choose from year to year. They have never touched my tomatoes, marigolds or rhubarb, but they do love all brassicas.

Garlic is an ingredient in many repellents yet last year they ate the tops off every garlic plant.

Probably getting a good deal of temporal preferance in what they try to destroy each year.

 

[Wildthings]

We're starting to get a few "Big Beef" and "Yellow Pear" Tomatoes. I'm getting about two a day and the cow pasture is getting about four a day from blossom end rot... Most of the later fruits don't have it but the early ones did...

Alan

I've had good luck combatting BER by dissolving a Tums in a gallon of water and spraying the entire plant with it. The leaves absorb the calcium pretty quickly

 

[Mike Hill]

Wish you told me when you were here. Our hostas totally took over the front flowerbeds. I threw some of them over in the edge of the woods and they kept growing. Mine must be the junk ones. Can hardly kill them.

Must be something about being up on the plateau! Out of all I have, I have not had a single one "spread". Many "expand", but none have spread in the way ground cover does. Well, the species lancifolia might get close to spreading, but I dug them all up a few years ago and they have been in pots since.

Empress Wu is one of my favs - balletic yet stalwart, kinda bland yet salient. But I have a couple of others that have leaves as big or bigger than she does, but the plants are not as big overall. Some of my clumsy hybridizing attempts are with Empress Wu, but none has shown promise of hugeness yet.

And I agree with Tim and Frank, their tenacity outlies their beguiling superficial delicateness. I've transplanted quite a number in the heat of August and survived - in fact some of them are the ones that were further transferred now reside in pots awaiting new homes. Some have endured living in pots where the squirrels dug out most of the soil so they could hide their walnuts and acorns for later consumption. But it absolutely boggles my mind that they can survive that, but not disturbance by moles!

 

[Mike Hill]

We have several hostas, but I haven't ever tried hybridizing them. I have several daylily hybrids that are unique. I have 1 that changes color throughout the day. The only frustrating thing for me is waiting 3 years on a hybrid to bloom for the first time. It's a patience game I suppose. If I ever get a true blue one, I'll retire early .

I like the ones that look like they are wearing lacy lingerie! If you come up with some new ones - call!

 

[Mike Hill]

. They wiped out the neighbors rue-barb, that is new to me. They don't seem to bother horse-radish or onions....so far.

Rhubarb is one thing I've really wanted to grow - but have given up. Too hot. Might get a couple of years - then it will just disappear. Eating a piece of rhubarb pie with ice cream seems so romantic!

 

[trc65]

Finally got almost caught up in the garden today. Three varieties of sweet corn, pole snap beans, pole Lima beans and Brussels sprouts all planted. Just have acorn squash and bush limas to plant..... before I get going with the three flats of pumpkins and gourds that will be planted in about two weeks.

 

[trc65]

Some pretty flowers.

Bearded iris





Memorial Day must be coming up, our peony are always in full bloom then. Here is the first bloom.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Rhubarb is one thing I've really wanted to grow - but have given up. Too hot. Might get a couple of years - then it will just disappear. Eating a piece of rhubarb pie with ice cream seems so romantic!

May just be too shady. My dad's rhubarb is 5 or more years old and going strong on the south side of his house. Probably only about 6 degree difference between his place and yours.

 

[Mike Hill]

May just be too shady. My dad's rhubarb is 5 or more years old and going strong on the south side of his house. Probably only about 6 degree difference between his place and yours.

Could be, but have had it in my sunniest area. First two i got 5 years out of - a few puny stalks. The next two times I only got 2 years - not enough time to get any stalks.

 

[trc65]

Something a little different growing on the north side of the house.

 

[trc65]

Here's a little more color out our back door. Wine and roses weigela next to the little Japanese maple.

 

[Mike Hill]

Something a little different growing on the north side of the house.

View attachment 227346

View attachment 227347

Ohhh Ole Jack - one of my favs! About 10 years ago, I liked them so much that my idea was to start collecting different Arisaema species. I already had a good start on Arisaema triphyllum so the next one I found easily was Green Dragon (Arisaema Dracontium) - I think I thought I was getting another species of Chinese Jack in the Pulpit. Boy that was a mistake. I'm still pulling plants from all over the yard from just that one plant. And you can't just pull them one time and expect them to just go away - there is a corm that is resistant to pulling and if you dig you seldom can get all the itty bitty baby corms. It takes years to get rid of them. Even Round-up is not all that effective. It's a bit of a mystery to me why they spread so easily - yes, the corms divide, but there are no runners or spreading rhizomes - the seeds are too big to be wind borne, they are not explosively expelled, and they have no barbs to hook onto fur. I have not seen any birds or animals eating them. However, they look like the eggs of ants. My theory is that ants take them back to their colonies in their raiding foraging forays think they are bringing food back to the colony. Could be that a vole, mouse, or chipmunk collects them, but they tend to put several in the same stash and you have a number of plants emerging from the same place. Don't have this. The corms (not sure if they are technically corms but that is what I will call them - they sorta look like naked gladiolus or caladium corms) do divide, but they don't spread underground. Sorta like wild onions, you have to dig and dig big and cannot put them in the compost pile, if you leave one piece - the plant is not gone. A funny thing that I have noted over the years is that not many women like Jack in the Pulpit - mainly men mention it. You mention it to a woman its like - ehh. You mention it to a man - that's cool, I like Jack in the Pulpit! I still want to collect the others - some are quite stately, but need to get rid of this nuisance before I do.

​

 

[trc65]

I've not pursued getting any other than the native Arisaema, it was two plants that I marked in the timber while growing, then went back in the fall and dug until I found the corms. Did the same with may apples and trillium.

Other than occasionally harvesting a few seeds for others, I just let them fall on the ground and self propagate. There are probably 15 or so of them now. My only guess on the spread you've seen was birds eating them - especially with the bright red color of the berries, but foraging ants and rodents are just as likely.

Good to know about the Green Dragon spreading, didn't think that any of the Arisaema could or would spread like that.

 

[Sprung]

We've been extra busy, but today finally yielded an opportunity to do some garden work. Peppers and tomatoes were transplanted, as well as a few other things. Did a few 4' rows of Painted Mountain corn - I realize that with just that little bit that pollination may not go so well, so I am planning to try hand pollinating them when the time comes. Cucumber and eggplant seeds went in the ground, as well as a few squash seeds (a couple small varieties that we can grow on our trellis). Beans of various kind went in the ground as well.

This is all in addition to a week ago when I helped put a variety of seed in the ground in the other garden - the family who is letting us grow in their garden space. He'd already done sweet corn, green beans, and peas by the time I got out to help. The two of us together got more beans, lettuces, carrots, spinach, radishes in. (And ran the tiller for a while before that.) Tomorrow I'm headed out and squash and watermelon seeds are going in the ground.

And tonight we got our first "harvest." Had to thin out the broccoli shoots and remember reading that the leaves are edible too, so we all tried some and, well, the leaves do taste like broccoli. So we brought in what I was pulling out and we'll probably stir fry it with some other veggies tomorrow. His garden this year is more than double the size of any of his previous gardens. But he, his various family members, and I all have freezers that will hopefully end up full by winter, as well as shelves filled with jars of canned food. Going to be busy this summer and fall.

Everything that we had planted previously is looking good. The garlic, which didn't get planted until spring, seems to be taking off well. Onions are growing, but still look like blades of grass. Carrots are starting to pop up. Broccolis are doing well, lettuces of various kinds as well. Peas are taking off.

Only thing I'm currently disappointed in is the herbs - nothing of what I planted has really taken off. Basil, mint, lemon balm, stevia, parsley, oregano, and a couple other ones I can't remember off the top of my head. A few things have given one or two sprouts, but not anything compared to the number of seeds that I planted. Planted these in pots on the patio to keep them contained. If nothing has sprouted in a week or so, I might give up and buy some seedlings. I haven't bought any seedlings this year, and was hoping not to.

 

[William Tanner]

All of the roses are doing well. The hummingbirds are visiting the honeysuckle.

 

[Mr. Peet]

Wife has been growing things on the enclosed porch to limit birds and chipmunks. Last night was the official planting in the garden we have at the church. She has some stuff she planted a week or more ago ground direct that still needs to pop. We had 3 inches of rain last week and 80 degree plus days so good plant weather. Last night dropped in the 30's, but on the high end so hope we are good.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Only thing I'm currently disappointed in is the herbs - nothing of what I planted has really taken off. Basil, mint, lemon balm, stevia, parsley, oregano, and a couple other ones I can't remember off the top of my head. A few things have given one or two sprouts, but not anything compared to the number of seeds that I planted. Planted these in pots on the patio to keep them contained. If nothing has sprouted in a week or so, I might give up and buy some seedlings. I haven't bought any seedlings this year, and was hoping not to.

I have never had as much success starting mints and herbs. I have always started my mints from donated plants. I have started a few but mostly outside in the ground. Seems to work best for me. Maybe because I forget to water... hmmm. Or because.... well just because. Most mints tolerate a good volume of water.
I was considering a stevia planting myself. The wife managed to get thyme to start. The sage overwinter for us here in TN.

 

[trc65]

The few herbs I've grown are started on heat pads keeping the soil at 70°. Thyme, sage, oregano and parsley usually germinate at a fairly high percentage for me. Rosemary will consistently germinate at 1% or lower unless you have primed seed, then around 75%.

 

[trc65]

Spent the last two days mowing/bagging grass to start mulching the garden. Here's all the early planted stuff mulched and happy.



One of my ornamental beds where I planted some perennial dianthus last year to provide color before the butterfly weed starts blooming.