weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jul 31, 2022 18:07:08 GMT -5
I got about 30 cherry tomatoes and only 2 beefsteak tomatoes.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2022 19:05:56 GMT -5
I'm starting to get Cherry tomatoes but the regular tomatoes are being eaten by the squirrels. Maybe I’d feel a little better if the tomatoes I’ve been trying to grow weren’t the only thing I was growing, since the squirrels consider them a buffet. I’ve pretty much given up on my tomatoes, and hoping I can try again next year, if I have an enclosed gardening space. I am not interested in trying to grow vegetables anymore, unless I have that enclosed space to keep critters out. My coworker that gave me the cucumbers yesterday, says something is eating and making a mess of pretty much all of the corn he’s growing. He said there are also scratches from claws on almost all of his eggplants. He assumes that is from raccoons. I know wild animals need food, but they survived before I decided to try to grow vegetables, and I’m not trying to put my time and energy into learning how to grow vegetables to just be feeding raccoons, squirrels, birds, and whatever else, instead of feeding people.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2022 19:10:21 GMT -5
So when it stopped raining, I went on the deck to see what was new with the tuberose. A few of the flowers are open a little more and yes they smell heavenly. The scent still isn’t strong, I had to practically stick my nose in the flowers to smell them, but everything I’ve read said that I will be able to smell them without having to do all that at some point.
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Jul 31, 2022 20:47:01 GMT -5
The only veggies I planted were 3 tomatoes in wire cages (to grow vertically and support) and the squirrels are climbing into them. I think it's the rabbits that have eaten every marigold flower but left the zinnias alone. Squirrels have eaten some sunflowers.
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cooper88
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Post by cooper88 on Aug 1, 2022 13:48:09 GMT -5
Tennesseer I have those sunflowers too. Whatever you do, after they are established, do not water them! They get too tall and flop over. They are beautiful and easy to maintain, and they bloom later than almost anything else in my garden. Having never grown them before, do you cut back the stems after frost/winter and new growth comes up in the spring? Or do you just let them be. I usually cut them back sometime in early spring. They do go totally dormant for me. The birds still land on them over winter, so I leave them up.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 2, 2022 10:00:57 GMT -5
Saw this article this morning. If anyone is interested in planting perennial sunflowers in their garden, the article lists and describes the assets of seven different types of same. A couple even have edible tubers. 7 Perennial Sunflowers That Bloom Year After Year
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finnime
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Post by finnime on Aug 2, 2022 11:56:32 GMT -5
Thanks, Tennesseer. I've been looking into what perennials to plant in the new house.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 2, 2022 13:39:27 GMT -5
Thanks, Tennesseer . I've been looking into what perennials to plant in the new house. If you wouldn't mind growing a small deciduous shrub which is in bloom right now and has a very pleasant and sweet scent, plant clethra alnifolia 'hummingbird'. Pollinators love it. Grows well in part or full sun. Tolerates moisture. Floweers on new growth so if needing trimming, trim in the spring. Grows in most zones. I was mowing my lawn earlier today and my plant of clethra is in bloom. Gives off a nice scent. Here's an example of what it looks like (stock photo):
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2022 17:13:51 GMT -5
Maybe I’d feel a little better if the tomatoes I’ve been trying to grow weren’t the only thing I was growing, since the squirrels consider them a buffet. I’ve pretty much given up on my tomatoes, and hoping I can try again next year, if I have an enclosed gardening space. I am not interested in trying to grow vegetables anymore, unless I have that enclosed space to keep critters out. <snip> I know wild animals need food, but they survived before I decided to try to grow vegetables, and I’m not trying to put my time and energy into learning how to grow vegetables to just be feeding raccoons, squirrels, birds, and whatever else, instead of feeding people. I know. I've finally concluded that the reason my Carolina reaper and Ghost pepper plants are happy and leafy and green but have no buds is that something is eating them. I saw a few tiny buds on the Carolina Reaper and they're gone. They leave the cayenne and Anaheims alone. Not feeling optimistic about the tomatoes I have on the vine since the big one I had early on was half-eaten one morning. The remainder was on the ground. It was way too early to bring it in and have it ripen in the house. Speaking of critters- a friend at the Garden Club meeting said she doesn't put seed out in the summer anymore- it's getting too expensive. I go through about 15 lbs. a week lately- the stuff already hulled so it's pure food and no shell. At the Wild Bird Store they said maybe it's because things are dried up and burnt out? I have some of that but plenty of good stuff left to eat in the garden. Friend says they can fend for themselves till winter. And, in other Garden Club news, my yard has been certified by the Garden Club as a bird sanctuary. Not too hard. Feeders- check. Lots of flowers- check. Water source- check (I'm on a lake). Plenty of birds around- check. And now I gotta go out for my daily attack on the weeds.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Aug 3, 2022 22:14:08 GMT -5
I wasn’t paying attention, and I just thought this bush had berries on it. This morning those berries were flowers! It’s up against my front porch.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 3, 2022 23:25:46 GMT -5
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Aug 4, 2022 8:13:47 GMT -5
Knee Deep in Water Chloe Definitely a Crape Myrtle. I have some just like that. They love hot weather and are flowering now and falling all over the cars and ground. They get as big as trees and have smooth bark. In fact the bark is peeling off now. You can cut them back severely and they come back even fuller.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Aug 4, 2022 8:39:31 GMT -5
Fun! The yard maintenance team is supposed to return on Monday. My plan is to have them clean up the front walk way. That will help me see the crape myrtle. And now I know that it needs to be showcased a bit more as it's not just a regular ol' hedge!
(The yard maintenance team has been here once before--four guys for four hours. DH said we had to have a backyard firehazard of blackberries and weeds taken care of first along with stabilizing the sprinkler system. I wanted the pretty stuff cleaned up. Silly, logical DH won.)
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Aug 4, 2022 8:42:20 GMT -5
I have six humongous cucumbers. Apparently the weather here lately is awesome for cucumbers. I am going to give a couple to my dad to use at the resturant for salads.
They are as long as my arm and there are several more on the vines! I may take some to work to offload them. There is no way my kids can eat them all despite their claims to the opposite.
I should try making refridgerator pickles. I haven't had those in a long time my grandma used to make them. I can't eat six leg sized cucumbers' worth but I can eat some.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 4, 2022 10:48:10 GMT -5
Knee Deep in Water Chloe Definitely a Crape Myrtle. I have some just like that. They love hot weather and are flowering now and falling all over the cars and ground. They get as big as trees and have smooth bark. In fact the bark is peeling off now. You can cut them back severely and they come back even fuller. CRAPE MURDER, CRAPE MURDER!!! (That's what we call trimming crape myrtles down here.)
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Aug 4, 2022 10:53:49 GMT -5
Knee Deep in Water Chloe Definitely a Crape Myrtle. I have some just like that. They love hot weather and are flowering now and falling all over the cars and ground. They get as big as trees and have smooth bark. In fact the bark is peeling off now. You can cut them back severely and they come back even fuller. CRAPE MURDER, CRAPE MURDER!!! (That's what we call trimming crape myrtles down here.) I thought that was only when they were cut straight across? I trim out a few trunks to about 4' above the ground and it fills out more from the cut. If done properly it adds to the beauty. Not murder.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 4, 2022 10:59:33 GMT -5
Fun! The yard maintenance team is supposed to return on Monday. My plan is to have them clean up the front walk way. That will help me see the crape myrtle. And now I know that it needs to be showcased a bit more as it's not just a regular ol' hedge!
(The yard maintenance team has been here once before--four guys for four hours. DH said we had to have a backyard firehazard of blackberries and weeds taken care of first along with stabilizing the sprinkler system. I wanted the pretty stuff cleaned up. Silly, logical DH won.) If you have room in your back yard (or front) you might consider planting a Chaste tree (Vitex Agnus Castus) or three. And if you are a fan of bumblebees, they love the flowers when in bloom. The trees just hum with the bumbles visiting them. Just don't plant them near driveways or streets because the limbs can bend down during ice storms due to the way the limbs reach out. I had three in the front yard but had to cut them down due to ice storms bending the limbs onto my neighbor's and my driveways. A UPS driver once stopped by my home and asked me if my chaste tree was a marijuana tree as the leaves looked similar. Picture of a Chaste tree:
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 4, 2022 11:01:04 GMT -5
CRAPE MURDER, CRAPE MURDER!!! (That's what we call trimming crape myrtles down here.) I thought that was only when they were cut straight across? I trim out a few trunks to about 4' above the ground and it fills out more from the cut. If done properly it adds to the beauty. Not murder. 2ND DEGREE INVOLUNTARY CRAPE MANSLAUGHTER.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Aug 4, 2022 12:30:48 GMT -5
Fun! The yard maintenance team is supposed to return on Monday. My plan is to have them clean up the front walk way. That will help me see the crape myrtle. And now I know that it needs to be showcased a bit more as it's not just a regular ol' hedge!
(The yard maintenance team has been here once before--four guys for four hours. DH said we had to have a backyard firehazard of blackberries and weeds taken care of first along with stabilizing the sprinkler system. I wanted the pretty stuff cleaned up. Silly, logical DH won.) If you have room in your back yard (or front) you might consider planting a Chaste tree (Vitex Agnus Castus) or three. And if you are a fan of bumblebees, they love the flowers when in bloom. The trees just hum with the bumbles visiting them. Just don't plant them near driveways or streets because the limbs can bend down during ice storms due to the way the limbs reach out. I had three in the front yard but had to cut them down due to ice storms bending the limbs onto my neighbor's and my driveways. A UPS driver once stopped by my home and asked me if my chaste tree was a marijuana tree as the leaves looked similar. Picture of a Chaste tree: We have a huge Russian sage bush in the courtyard. Bees love it!! I always stop to talk to them.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Aug 4, 2022 12:32:43 GMT -5
All this talk about crepe myrtles! I had to look it up, as I've heard of it, but had no idea what it looks like. Pretty.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 4, 2022 12:42:21 GMT -5
If you have room in your back yard (or front) you might consider planting a Chaste tree (Vitex Agnus Castus) or three. And if you are a fan of bumblebees, they love the flowers when in bloom. The trees just hum with the bumbles visiting them. Just don't plant them near driveways or streets because the limbs can bend down during ice storms due to the way the limbs reach out. I had three in the front yard but had to cut them down due to ice storms bending the limbs onto my neighbor's and my driveways. A UPS driver once stopped by my home and asked me if my chaste tree was a marijuana tree as the leaves looked similar. Picture of a Chaste tree: We have a huge Russian sage bush in the courtyard. Bees love it!! I always stop to talk to them. I have Russian sage in the front yard. Ditto on the bees.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2022 18:26:07 GMT -5
All this talk about crepe myrtles! I had to look it up, as I've heard of it, but had no idea what it looks like. Pretty. They are VERY common where I live in the southern US. It seems like anybody that has ever done any kind of landscaping, planted a crape myrtle. They are in the medians in my neighborhood, and in many of the yards. We have 2, one in the flowerbeds along the front of the house, and one in the flowerbed at the mailbox. I learned what they were when I bought my first house, there was one on the property line between my and my next door neighbor’s yards. I still don’t know if it’s mine or hers, but it got trimmed back pretty severely (me because the limbs were on my roof) cut down to the ground (next door neighbor for some unknown reason), and all sorts of things, but always came back. I bet you can’t drive even 1 minute in a residential area anywhere around here, and not see at least 1 crape myrtle. That’s just how common they are here. SN: There is a local news anchor named Merle Pervis, well she retired I think, last week…… and I might not be spelling her name correctly. For whatever reason, Mister has ALWAYS called our crape myrtles Merle Pervises, from the time we moved in and I told him what they are. Idk why, I guess it’s easier for him to remember that name instead of crape myrtle, but it’s funny to me. I just hope he doesn’t call them that when he’s talking to anyone else lol.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2022 18:40:02 GMT -5
I told Mister today that he can throw my tomato plants away. I had told him that a couple weeks ago, then I got a little interested again when I saw they were growing a few babies again. Well, the squirrels or whatever ate all of those too, and I’m over it. They don’t even look healthy anymore anyway, once the squirrels or whatever started messing with them. Mister jokes that the squirrels gave the plants rabies, I say the squirrels gave them STD’s. Anyway, I’m done. I’m sad about it, but whatever. He said him and Kiddo will get rid of them this weekend. Maybe by next year I will have the enclosed space to try again in. One of my male cousins had a guy build him a man cave/shed in his backyard, complete with electricity, and I got the guys contact info from my cousin after I saw the pics on FB. Apparently the guy is my cousin too, but I don’t know him or how we might be related. Anyway, Mister told me to have him come out and give me a price on how much it would cost to build me an enclosed gardening area. “Enclosed” as in with wire top to bottom to keep rodents and birds out, not enclosed with glass or whatever. I told Mister I’ve seen kits of materials for like $2k and he still wanted to know who would put that together, and told me to call the man. So I guess he’s willing to buy a kit if we have to, but we’ll still need to pay somebody to put it together. Fine with me. So I’m off the tomato thing but hopefully just until next year.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Aug 4, 2022 20:04:16 GMT -5
My tomatoes are all leaning different directions from the storms and rain in stl over the last week. It's a mess out there that I need to try to take care of this weekend. Too many plants too close together too. Just starting to ripen, mostly cherry size.
Watermelon is going crazy - I see 3 melons.
Zinnias took off. I don't remember them being 4 feet tall last yr. Maybe the timing of the rain?
And the weeds. Omg, the weeds.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Aug 4, 2022 20:36:08 GMT -5
Got an orange pumpkin already. We've had several inches of rain lately and they are taking over everything lol.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Aug 7, 2022 5:18:52 GMT -5
Went to bed early and am now awake and wanting to work outside before the heat fires up. Um, you guys, it's too dark at 5 am. I'm usually not worried about creepy crawlies but that in my head about pulling weeds in the pre-dawn hour. I blame pink.
I always start in the front since that's what people see. I haven't been out there lately bc much of July has been 100+.
We have 4 house height evergreens out there in the landscaping that have developed spider mites. We just signed on with a lawn company in april - a recurring bill I didn't want and I don't care for chemicals - but anyway, the lawn guys are treating the trees and trying to save them. I don't think the brown patches that are around the bottoms will heal though. Thinking we give them til next fall to see and then yank them. I don't like poky plants to weed around. I love our Japanese maple both in looks and because it's feathery to touch. Maybe a couple more of them and a crape myrtle. I prob should consider the winter view - any ideas?
Then I have to fix the tomato massacre left from the wind to see what I can salvage.
And of course the various bushes need to be trimmed after all this rain. They are shooting branches off like crazy. I actually like trimming them - we have great power tools and it's cathartic for me. Just wish someone would trail behind and clean up!
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Aug 8, 2022 8:29:20 GMT -5
I worked 530-9 am. This morning, my body is letting me know that I'm not physically active enough. I hadn't worked outside all of July bc the temps are miserable here. Managed to weed the entire place in what has to be a record time. I filled 4 trash cans with pulled weeds, bush trimming, etc. I tore out about half of the tomatoes - lots were broken off and would have died anyway. My neighbors and I can now walk btwn the garden boxes to pick the ripe ones. Feeling proud of certain sections of our landscaping where my vision is starting to come together.
I woke DH up at 8 and he pitched in from 8-9 when my energy was waning. He also helped a ton in picking up all the branches I'd cut.
Sure hoping we don't skip over fall weather here like we did spring. I love to be outside tinkering around.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Aug 9, 2022 10:25:46 GMT -5
Like an exasperated mother talking to her child. "What were you thinking?"
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finnime
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Post by finnime on Aug 9, 2022 16:57:20 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2022 16:59:27 GMT -5
I’ve not been able to really enjoy the scent of my tuberose flowers because they are dying almost as soon as they open. I’ve tried Google to figure out what’s wrong, but so far I haven’t found anything. Apparently the scent does get stronger at night because Mister has mentioned a few times, after sitting on the deck until after it got dark that he could really smell it. I don’t sit on the deck after dark anymore, not even if Mister and Newbie are with me. I am still seriously spooked by that big ass snake being on the deck. All of the others are still growing leaves, no other spikes so far. If anyone has ideas on why the flowers are dying so quickly, please share!
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