Whatcha Planting?

[BlsdMama]

Share your spring plans!!

[BlsdMama]

We have meant to put in a new windbreak forever. I think that’s the goal this spring.... We’ve planted so many trees since we moved here that if we don’t stop we’ll end up with a fully shaded yard.

Seeing what comes back this year means so much waiting!! Planting some annuals this year for color like usual. 
 

Ordering a couple Hawkeye roses from a dear friend. 
Will start the veggies when my Seed Savers order comes. It’s been about 3-4 weeks and I’m starting to panic just a bit. 

[LauraClark]

We've expanded our veggie garden (turns out kids eat a lot) so I'm planting a lot more of everything this year. I'm also starting a lot seeds indoors, which is a new thing for me. I'm really pleased with the results so far-spinach is impossible for me to direct sow in the ground, but it seems to be doing really well if I start them inside.  We're also adding strawberries and raspberries this year. I also want to transplant a baby peach tree at some point. We have a big peach tree and several babies right at the edge of our woods. I think it doesn't get enough light to fully ripen the fruit.  In terms of flowers I want to add something to the front of our house-right now we just have some azalea bushes.  Eventually we'd like creeping flocks, but we just haven't bought them yet.  I'm thinking maybe we'll make a large planter for our front porch. That would make it more welcoming, I think.  I planted some crocuses late last year and they are just starting to bloom-that is so fun!

[Carrie12345]

I didn’t plan planting because we were hoping to move. Now we have at least 7 months ahead of us, so I might as well try to do some basics. I’ll probably just purchase some starter plants when the farm opens and throw some potted flowers on the front porch. Boring, but not a total waste.

Oh, I saved lots of seeds from last year’s giant sunflowers, so that can be our fun thing this year.

[KungFuPanda]

I'm currently working on the magical math that will allow me to squeeze more plants into my vegetable garden.  I've already planned for every inch of space, but if I stare at this diagram long enough my community garden plot will get bigger. I impulse purchased some kajari melon seeds (even though I was definitely NOT buying more seeds) and now they need a future home.  If I can rethink my arches for vertical growth or work the succession planting angle then maybe . . . 

I put in two new azaleas, a peach rhododendron, and an oak leaf hydrangea in the fall, so I'm hoping they thrive.  The hydrangea is still a stick so it's hard to tell, but the others have healthy leaves.  I planted out some apricot-colored hellebores last week and my white crocuses are up.  We're expecting beautiful weather this week so my plan is to add compost to my raised beds and get some carrots, beets, and spinach planted.  My kale has just sprouted in my winter sowing jugs and some cabbage roots must have survived the winter because I have some nice looking plants that are almost ready to eat.  (That's never happened.)

Today I'll start a few more tomatoes and marigolds in winter sowing jugs outside.  I have a lot of peppers and herbs under grow lights that need to be thinned out and moved to small pots.  I'm bad at plant thinning.  It makes me feel like a murderer. I also have wee baby onion plants that I don't know when to plant out, so need to look that one up.  I can't tell you how excited and energized this weeks weather forecast is making me.  It's been a long, cold winter.

[MeaganS]

This year we built raised bed gardens for each kid, plus we have our larger garden that my husband is in control of. We have quite a little seed setup in our bathroom right now with grow lights and Christmas lights for warmth. DH planted 18 varieties of tomatoes (Don't ask me why. I think he's addicted). We also have artichokes, jalepenos, bittermelon, etc. The girls are super excited to be in complete control of their own garden. I think this week we're sowing some seeds directly too, like some lettuces and peas.

Beyond the vegetable garden we're not planting anything, mostly just trying to stop weeds from taking over the rest of our yard. Oh, and take care of the 5 apple trees dh planted last year. Stupid deer won't leave them alone.

[LAS in LA]

Hoping to sow some Swiss Chard and Hakurei turnips soon. The tomato seedlings are looking pretty good, but I'm not really sure which variety is which since the cat dumped the flat over and they may have gotten mixed up. I'm excited about dwarf sunflowers this year.

[Selkie]

I am eagerly awaiting arrival of my spring flower seeds. Here's what I have ordered:

Four o'clocks

Hollyhocks

Morning glories (Heavenly Blue and Grandpa Ott)

Moonflower

Nasturtiums (Empress of India and Old Fashioned Tawny)

Moss roses

Snapdragons

Sweet peas

Dwarf sunflowers

Zinnias

[cjzimmer1]

I will NOT plant all the leftover tomato plants from the greenhouse business.  I will NOT plant all the leftover tomato plants from the greenhouse business.  I will NOT plant all the leftover tomato plants from the greenhouse business.

Maybe if I keep telling myself that I will actually follow through.  I just have such a hard time letting them get thrown in the compost pile at the end of the year that I feel compelled to squeeze in just one more.  But last year we had so many tomatoes I about killed myself keeping up (I had 82 plants and was picking about a bushel every other day for 2 months straight and lesser quantities for the rest of the season.  My guess was I picked somewhere between 800-1000 pounds of tomatoes last year.

So that said.  I'm trying leeks for the first time this year.  (Well I will assuming my sister gets them to germinate, she's in charge of starting the seeds.  I just pick up things I want to try each year).

Our ground is starting to thaw but no where near ready to plant.  I'm hoping to replace a couple of the cheyenne privets that have died out in my hedge.  Unfortunately they don't stock bareroot until April 1 and I'm often busy in the greenhouse  by then and forget to go get them and when I remember, they are sold out. 

I have a u shaped raised bed for tomatoes, another lower raised bed with a trellis for my cucumbers and lots of pots.  Where and how many pots I end up with depend on what outdoor projects we decide to do this year.  Because all projects being considered typically have pots of veggies growing in the area and if they are doing construction work in those areas, I won't be able to have any pots growing because they are too big/heavy to move once I get them filled so I have to decide before the season starts which project we are doing and leave that area bare. 

But my typical garden has tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, parsley, dill, sage, basil, thyme, chives, arugula. I also have red and black raspberries bushes and honeyberries.  I also have a tree that was suppose to be a sour cherry tree but I have my doubts as I've never seen a cherry on it and it's been there for many years. And I always have lots of flowers but exactly what gets planted depends on what is leftover from the greenhouse each year.

[Murphy101]

I bought these the other day. 

[BlsdMama]

4 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I'm currently working on the magical math that will allow me to squeeze more plants into my vegetable garden.  I've already planned for every inch of space, but if I stare at this diagram long enough my community garden plot will get bigger. I impulse purchased some kajari melon seeds (even though I was definitely NOT buying more seeds) and now they need a future home.  If I can rethink my arches for vertical growth or work the succession planting angle then maybe . . . 

I put in two new azaleas, a peach rhododendron, and an oak leaf hydrangea in the fall, so I'm hoping they thrive.  The hydrangea is still a stick so it's hard to tell, but the others have healthy leaves.  I planted out some apricot-colored hellebores last week and my white crocuses are up.  We're expecting beautiful weather this week so my plan is to add compost to my raised beds and get some carrots, beets, and spinach planted.  My kale has just sprouted in my winter sowing jugs and some cabbage roots must have survived the winter because I have some nice looking plants that are almost ready to eat.  (That's never happened.)

Today I'll start a few more tomatoes and marigolds in winter sowing jugs outside.  I have a lot of peppers and herbs under grow lights that need to be thinned out and moved to small pots.  I'm bad at plant thinning.  It makes me feel like a murderer. I also have wee baby onion plants that I don't know when to plant out, so need to look that one up.  I can't tell you how excited and energized this weeks weather forecast is making me.  It's been a long, cold winter.

You are my person. 

[BlsdMama]

52 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I bought these the other day. 

Ah that you were closer! I planted six blue hostas last year from plant! And hostas are for sharing. 😉

[Spy Car]

So much work to do. Believe it or not I'm already stressed about being "too late" for many items here in my hot-summer portion of Los Angeles. Fall tends to be a safer time for many plants.

Had plans to do a formal arrangement of herbs in a couple prepared beds that would look spectacular in my mind's eye--but missed my window. So I cast CA poppy seeds last week to provide some beauty until the fall.

I have a number of herbs, roses, and CA natives (the mainstay of my garden choices) that need to get in the ground this week. Plus weeding, trimming, and leaf clean up.

And propagating like crazy.

When I ripped out all our lawn (as a nod to the ongoing CA drought) some years back and started growing mixed borders I really did not factor in the amount of time I'd need to be out puttering in the garden. Just came in  from outside to have a bit more coffee--then need to get back to work. The upside it that it sure looks pretty and the critters are happy.

Bill

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Spy Car

[egao_gakari]

It's already seed-sowing season here in FL. We just moved here from up north last year and I'm still not used to how early it is! I am a gardening novice, really, but I get excited about seeds 🙂 

On the list of things to attempt this year: summer squash, plum tomatoes, basil, nasturtiums, watermelon, sunflowers, peas, and possible cucumbers although I don't like them much. Last year I did cosmos, sunflowers, and zinnias, but I started so late that they just scorched up in the summer sun by the time they were at the blooming stage. I'll be clearing the patch tomorrow hopefully, and get them all sown by Friday. We'll see how it all goes!

[Loowit]

Well, I want to plant more roses, but DH vetoed it.  I may still talk him into it though.

We are going to be taking a out a few bushes in our front yard and putting in a Rose of Sharon.  We also need to clear out some of the bark dust and stuff in our front flower bed/"pond" thing and plant some ground cover.

I would like to redo the flowerbed along our back fence, but since I can't actually do the work because of arthritis in my hands, I will have to convince someone to help me.

DH wants to put in wildflowers along our side fence.  I would love to plant some sunflowers, but I haven't had great luck with them.

I would like to get a nice tomato plant.

I am planning to work on my roses the weekend if it is dry enough and get them ready for spring.  They are already putting on new growth, but it is has been so wet, I haven't gotten out to do anything with them.

[Spy Car]

Whew. Taking another quick gardening break.

Among the plants that need to go in are some CA natives. I have two forms of Ceanothus (aka California lilac). The almost small-tree/bush form of the variety "Dark Star" (whose name appeals to this fan of the Grateful Dead) is already in the ground.  When mature it will hit about 8 feet with an open form and puts off the most beautiful dark blue/purple pom-pom like flowers.

Two examples of Dark Star on the extremes (highly trimmed and untrimmed). I'll go for something in between:

 

These can be tricky to grow--even in CA where they are native. They do not like much summer water once established. Mine is currently about 6 inches. LOL.

Bill

[Spy Car]

Then a really special ground cover form of ceanothus called "Centennial." 

[KungFuPanda]

1 hour ago, BlsdMama said:

You are my person. 

😆 This is the stuff I ordered AFTER I was Completely Finished with planning and seed ordering.  It's not my fault . . . I watched a youtube video about the Kajari melons and they had a STORY and they're pretty and since you can't really order just one thing from Baker Creek I had to shop a bit.  Just LOOK at these tomatoes! They're iridescent! The marigolds are white and who doesn't NEED spinach that lasts longer.  The white tomato was free and it would be ungrateful not to plant it. I was a victim of sneaky youtube advertising!

[Amy in NH]

Later this spring we will plant a blue spruce privacy hedge.

I have plans to put up a strawberry gutter on top of our backyard garden fence.

We'll fill in the blanks in our asparagus patch, and plant the regular flowers and veggies in the raised garden beds.

And I'll try to start a few seeds to fill in my perennial flower beds if I get time this summer.

 

[Spy Car]

1 minute ago, Amy in NH said:

Later this spring we will plant a blue spruce privacy hedge.

I have plans to put up a strawberry gutter on top of our backyard garden fence.

We'll fill in the blanks in our asparagus patch, and plant the regular flowers and veggies in the raised garden beds.

And I'll try to start a few seeds to fill in my perennial flower beds if I get time this summer.

 

How does that work?

Are the blue spruce planted densely, but allowed to develop as closely-spaced but naturalistic looking "trees," or do they get hard clipped into a formal hegde?

In recent years I've been fascinated to see some local coast live oaks (quercus agrifolia) which can grow into very large specimen trees here in CA, that have been planted in mass and hard pruned into hedges. Never would have thought.

Bill

[Laura Corin]

Planning on tomatoes.  We have a somewhat broken down greenhouse.

Planning a pond too, but still thinking about that one.

[BlsdMama]

3 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

😆 This is the stuff I ordered AFTER I was Completely Finished with planning and seed ordering.  It's not my fault . . . I watched a youtube video about the Kajari melons and they had a STORY and they're pretty and since you can't really order just one thing from Baker Creek I had to shop a bit.  Just LOOK at these tomatoes! They're iridescent! The marigolds are white and who doesn't NEED spinach that lasts longer.  The white tomato was free and it would be ungrateful not to plant it. I was a victim of sneaky youtube advertising!

Baker Creek’s catalog is unfair... I mean, we were already going to order too much, then their photography and glossy black beauty. 
 

Nope. I refuse to get their catalog. I knew the seed packets the minute you posted and thought, “Gosh, my order isn’t here yet, if Baker Creek has seeds ready to ship...”

My husband can never see this post. We have an unhealthy enabling relationship when it comes to edible plants. Strangely, he doesn’t feel this way about flowers and hostas. 

[KungFuPanda]

36 minutes ago, BlsdMama said:

Baker Creek’s catalog is unfair... I mean, we were already going to order too much, then their photography and glossy black beauty. 
 

Nope. I refuse to get their catalog. I knew the seed packets the minute you posted and thought, “Gosh, my order isn’t here yet, if Baker Creek has seeds ready to ship...”

My husband can never see this post. We have an unhealthy enabling relationship when it comes to edible plants. Strangely, he doesn’t feel this way about flowers and hostas. 

It's a beautiful magazine meant to be read cover to cover! 

I love hostas, but I can't invest in a deer salad bar any more.  I think I'm going to try hakone grass next..  It gives me peaceful deep forest feelings and I'm determined to embrace my mostly-shady front yard. I've been growing veggies for a while, but I'm a bit newer to landscape plants.  You can't eat them, but the work-to-reward ratio is higher than I expected and I'm tired of my front yard not looking like a gardener lives here.

[Terabith]

I don't think I'm planting anything this year.  Last year I experimented with gardening for the first time seriously, and holy hell, gardening is a lot of work and it wasn't all that rewarding.  I might get a basil plant.  Maybe.  I'm not sure.  

[Rosie_0801]

Autumn planning here. Mostly at the moment I'm waging war against the evil Kikuyu menace, but I have planted some swedes and crimson flowered broad beans. I used to grow them years ago so I'm happy to have some again. I'm going to ambush the neighbour and see if they'll cut open some food grade barrels I got for Christmas, so I can have some more herb beds. I'm going to try a few new ones this year, because one of my cookbooks, which had been buried in my daughter's 'to be read' pile for eons, has been excavated. It calls for lovage, savory and sweet cicely, which I have probably never had before. I feel like I need to impulse buy angelica, because I was watching Mrs Crocombe vids on Youtube, but I have resisted so far. I've also put in a few native (ish) flowers on my nature strip: Billy Buttons, which should look nice with the blue cornflowers I planted last year, pink everlasting daisies and something from the Scabosia genus, I think, which will no doubt be prettier than the name implies.

[Amy in NH]

5 hours ago, Spy Car said:

How does that work?

Are the blue spruce planted densely, but allowed to develop as closely-spaced but naturalistic looking "trees," or do they get hard clipped into a formal hegde?

In recent years I've been fascinated to see some local coast live oaks (quercus agrifolia) which can grow into very large specimen trees here in CA, that have been planted in mass and hard pruned into hedges. Never would have thought.

Bill

The spruces will get too big to maintain as a clipped hedge, so we are going for a natural screen.  We are planting them 20 feet apart in a natural wooded area between our house and the road. 

Last summer I cleared a light-path for them by cutting small trees and clearing brush.  I also dug the holes (loosened the soil where they will be planted), and cut old carpet squares with an "x" in the center for them to grow through to keep them from being crowded out by weeds while they are small. 

I have ordered 10 saplings from our county conservation district plant sale, and they will be ready for pickup on May 1.  We are all ready to go! 

[fairfarmhand]

You know how some gals impulse buy shoes or bags or clothes? I impulse buy plants. Found a new variety of strawberries at Lowe’s today when my dh sent me out to buy screws. So I brought it home. 

Also growing lettuce, herbs, flowers (found some calendula I’m excited about) tomatoes, peppers, cukes, watermelons. Okra. 
 

[Spy Car]

41 minutes ago, Amy in NH said:

The spruces will get too big to maintain as a clipped hedge, so we are going for a natural screen.  We are planting them 20 feet apart in a natural wooded area between our house and the road. 

Last summer I cleared a light-path for them by cutting small trees and clearing brush.  I also dug the holes (loosened the soil where they will be planted), and cut old carpet squares with an "x" in the center for them to grow through to keep them from being crowded out by weeds while they are small. 

I have ordered 10 saplings from our county conservation district plant sale, and they will be ready for pickup on May 1.  We are all ready to go! 

I image that will look spectacular one they get going. Blue spruce are so beautiful.

I did a web search after the previous post and saw an image of blue spruce being used as a natural screen. Was amazing. Sounds like you must have a fair amount of land. 

Bill

[Melissa in Australia]

autumn planting here as well

I am just starting to put the brassicas in. the tomatoes, corn  and melons are just about finished.

I have been successful in providing all our vegetable needs for exactly 12 months- with never a gap. What I have done is start  8 seeds of whatever I am going to grow , then when those seeds are ready to plant out, I start 8 more seeds. it has worked really really well 

[KungFuPanda]

On 3/9/2021 at 9:45 PM, Rosie_0801 said:

Autumn planning here. Mostly at the moment I'm waging war against the evil Kikuyu menace, but I have planted some swedes and crimson flowered broad beans. I used to grow them years ago so I'm happy to have some again. I'm going to ambush the neighbour and see if they'll cut open some food grade barrels I got for Christmas, so I can have some more herb beds. I'm going to try a few new ones this year, because one of my cookbooks, which had been buried in my daughter's 'to be read' pile for eons, has been excavated. It calls for lovage, savory and sweet cicely, which I have probably never had before. I feel like I need to impulse buy angelica, because I was watching Mrs Crocombe vids on Youtube, but I have resisted so far. I've also put in a few native (ish) flowers on my nature strip: Billy Buttons, which should look nice with the blue cornflowers I planted last year, pink everlasting daisies and something from the Scabosia genus, I think, which will no doubt be prettier than the name implies.

I just learned a few weeks ago that rutabagas are called swedes.  When I look for planting instructions, half the time google finds a British video for me.  It was a bit confusing until I put it all together.  

[BlsdMama]

On 3/9/2021 at 7:57 PM, Terabith said:

I don't think I'm planting anything this year.  Last year I experimented with gardening for the first time seriously, and holy hell, gardening is a lot of work and it wasn't all that rewarding.  I might get a basil plant.  Maybe.  I'm not sure.  

Hostas - freakishly addictive, looks good all the time, collector varieties, no fail, low maintenance, and pleasing to the eye.  You need hostas.

[BlsdMama]

On 3/9/2021 at 9:09 PM, Amy in NH said:

The spruces will get too big to maintain as a clipped hedge, so we are going for a natural screen.  We are planting them 20 feet apart in a natural wooded area between our house and the road. 

Last summer I cleared a light-path for them by cutting small trees and clearing brush.  I also dug the holes (loosened the soil where they will be planted), and cut old carpet squares with an "x" in the center for them to grow through to keep them from being crowded out by weeds while they are small. 

I have ordered 10 saplings from our county conservation district plant sale, and they will be ready for pickup on May 1.  We are all ready to go! 

Do you get needle cast/fungus where you are? You can check your state’s ag extension. My parents had an awesome blue spruce windbreak, but when it was mature, they got this problem. Apparently, around here, we can’t use them as a windbreak or a hedge. I have a single I planted last spring because they are just so beautiful.

[kbutton]

On 3/9/2021 at 10:43 PM, fairfarmhand said:

You know how some gals impulse buy shoes or bags or clothes? I impulse buy plants. 

The struggle is real and extends to houseplants.

A garden club association in the next town has a yearly fundraising plant sale. Most of the plants are extras from member gardens, club grounds, or things members started from seed. The most expensive plants are usually not more than $15 dollars and are things like knockout roses. Some plants are $1. Most plants are $3-5. It’s dangerous. A small spree can have you asking your teenager to dig more beds. Did I mention most of the plants are perennials? Best to get there before it opens.

The sale is usually in April, and I will likely buy things that I don’t need as well as more ferns for my shade garden.

I am trying to start marigolds and snap dragons. Most of our veggies are direct sow, or we buy plants.

I planted money plant seeds last year in the fall, and I think they coming up. I begged seeds off our neighbor’s blue Columbine last year, and I am hoping they come up—I sowed those directly as well.

The pink tulips that I bought at the perennial sale (50 for $10) are coming up—I shared, so not all 50 are here, lol! 
 

DH has blueberry bushes on order that should arrive in a few days. He is expecting another fig tree as well and has some blackberries to plant.

We hope to put in asparagus ASAP—some concrete is being demolished in that spot at the moment.

[fairfarmhand]

13 minutes ago, kbutton said:

The struggle is real and extends to houseplants.

A garden club association in the next town has a yearly fundraising plant sale. Most of the plants are extras from member gardens, club grounds, or things members started from seed. The most expensive plants are usually not more than $15 dollars and are things like knockout roses. Some plants are $1. Most plants are $3-5. It’s dangerous. A small spree can have you asking your teenager to dig more beds. Did I mention most of the plants are perennials? Best to get there before it opens.

The sale is usually in April, and I will likely buy things that I don’t need as well as more ferns for my shade garden.

I am trying to start marigolds and snap dragons. Most of our veggies are direct sow, or we buy plants.

I planted money plant seeds last year in the fall, and I think they coming up. I begged seeds off our neighbor’s blue Columbine last year, and I am hoping they come up—I sowed those directly as well.

The pink tulips that I bought at the perennial sale (50 for $10) are coming up—I shared, so not all 50 are here, lol! 
 

DH has blueberry bushes on order that should arrive in a few days. He is expecting another fig tree as well and has some blackberries to plant.

We hope to put in asparagus ASAP—some concrete is being demolished in that spot at the moment.

I have been looking for some money plant seeds. Where did you find them?

 

[fairfarmhand]

Also, I found out how I can propagate different plants from rooting.

Did I need two new crepe myrtles? Nope. But there they are, growing beautifully in the sunroom, waiting for me to put them outdoors this spring.

And geraniums...I found that I could break off bits of the geraniums that I brought inside to overwinter and they are rooting in water in the kitchen.

Basil is good to root as well, and rosemary. 

Do I need more of these things? Well...no but....

[kbutton]

2 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

I have been looking for some money plant seeds. Where did you find them?

 

I had two plants from a sale, very tiny. Mind didn’t make it, but the one I gave my mom did. PM me, and I can send you seeds. 

[Clemsondana]

We always plant a huge garden - 15ish tomato plants, 3ish hills each of cucumbers and summer squash, corn, purple hull peas, lima beans, green beans, bell peppers, and butternut squash.  We freeze a lot of produce.  We also have blueberries that we planted and wild raspberries (and some blackberries), and our apple, pear, and peach trees yielded for the first time last year.  We do most of the garden from seeds but usually buy some tomato and pepper plants for convenience.

For the first time in several years, we used our little greenhouse on the deck (one of those shelves with plastic covering).  Younger kid grew lettuce, basil, and chives into the fall.  It didn't get enough sun, but a few broccoli plants that the kids started in the fall are still alive and will thrive once they get more sun.  The chives have come back already.  

After years of talking about getting a big greenhouse, I decided that I wanted to do a horticulture class for my kids next year (middle schooler's main science, an elective for older)...and suddenly spouse was on board.  We've filled a raised bed with dirt and will be planting asparagus, we're planning to get bags for potatoes and onions, and Dad just helped build a deck as the base for the 6x10 greenhouse that we're assembling this weekend.  We can start lettuce in it now, and maybe some other seeds.  It won't get much use this summer, but we can get it set up and we're excited to try some fall crops and also see if we can manage to keep herbs, lettuce, and a tomato or squash plant going all winter (we'll have to learn to hand-pollinate!).   We're hoping to figure out how to use tubing to direct water from the roof to a water barrel inside - we're wanting to use a dark colored one to capture heat to keep it warm in the winter.  We watch a lot of Homestead Rescue and are wanting to try some of the things that we've seen.  Spouse always thought I was nuts, but once we called it educational it suddenly became a great idea.  🙂  

[Melissa in Australia]

one tip for trying to keep tomatoes going over winter in a polytunnel. I have found that they need to set the fruit before the end of Autumn. then the tomatoes will slowly grow over the winter.  I haven't had great success, but gardening is all about experimenting and learning.

 

Capsicums are great in a polytunnel. sometimes they lose their leaves, but reshoot in the spring and fruit way earlier than ones planted outside.

 

I have watch  lots of Charlies Dowding . His winters are a lot colder than what I have and he gets way less daylength in winter, he makes a compost heap right in his greenhouse to help with seed germination 

 

[Laura Corin]

On 3/11/2021 at 4:09 AM, BlsdMama said:

Hostas - freakishly addictive, looks good all the time, collector varieties, no fail, low maintenance, and pleasing to the eye.  You need hostas.

Do you not have slugs and snails?  I took out a hosta that I inherited when we bought this house because its leaves were lace by the end of the summer.

Also taken out: Snowberry (invasive, much too much so for this size of garden), rhubarb (why grow rhubarb?), three scentless roses (pointless, to me) and two pots of mint that had been sunk into beds and were merrily escaping.  I will spend the next four decades removing the mint from the bed.

[Condessa]

I made a great many plans for our yard last year that I mostly didn’t get to, except for fencing the back and putting in some asparagus.  My husband was not very interested, especially in my more complicated ideas.  Now he’s been worrying about government debt and long term economic stability, and has decided that my growing plans would make a great long-tem emergency food storage, so he is suddenly all in.  
I want to espalier fruit trees all along the fence at the easement at the back of our property.  Nice to make some use of that space, which is a lovely sunny spot, and I think it will be pretty and provide a little more shade for the goat pasture.  Also, a line of dwarf cherry trees in the skinny, hard-to-mow section lining the driveway, with strawberries as a ground cover underneath.  On the east backyard fence I want to put in some grapes.  And on the west fence we have a difficult neighbor and need an effective privacy hedge.  Not sure what to plant there.  It’s partial to nearly-full shade.  I would like to plant something edible, if possible, but it’s more important that it fully keep nosy neighbors from looking into our backyard and yelling at our kids.

[Melissa in Australia]

Mulberry? 

Grows very fast and very leafy. But has very invasive roots that love to block pipes, so not good if you have underground pipes anywhere near there

Hazelnuts? 

[KungFuPanda]

On 3/12/2021 at 8:38 PM, Clemsondana said:

We always plant a huge garden - 15ish tomato plants, 3ish hills each of cucumbers and summer squash, corn, purple hull peas, lima beans, green beans, bell peppers, and butternut squash.  We freeze a lot of produce.  We also have blueberries that we planted and wild raspberries (and some blackberries), and our apple, pear, and peach trees yielded for the first time last year.  We do most of the garden from seeds but usually buy some tomato and pepper plants for convenience.

For the first time in several years, we used our little greenhouse on the deck (one of those shelves with plastic covering).  Younger kid grew lettuce, basil, and chives into the fall.  It didn't get enough sun, but a few broccoli plants that the kids started in the fall are still alive and will thrive once they get more sun.  The chives have come back already.  

After years of talking about getting a big greenhouse, I decided that I wanted to do a horticulture class for my kids next year (middle schooler's main science, an elective for older)...and suddenly spouse was on board.  We've filled a raised bed with dirt and will be planting asparagus, we're planning to get bags for potatoes and onions, and Dad just helped build a deck as the base for the 6x10 greenhouse that we're assembling this weekend.  We can start lettuce in it now, and maybe some other seeds.  It won't get much use this summer, but we can get it set up and we're excited to try some fall crops and also see if we can manage to keep herbs, lettuce, and a tomato or squash plant going all winter (we'll have to learn to hand-pollinate!).   We're hoping to figure out how to use tubing to direct water from the roof to a water barrel inside - we're wanting to use a dark colored one to capture heat to keep it warm in the winter.  We watch a lot of Homestead Rescue and are wanting to try some of the things that we've seen.  Spouse always thought I was nuts, but once we called it educational it suddenly became a great idea.  🙂  

I'm obsessing over building a greenhouse.  I love the Anna White A-Frame plan, but I'll probably just do a cattle panel greenhouse because it looks so much easier and I'm confident I can do it myself.  Aside from the benefits of growing seedlings, overwintering my rosemary, and growing greens through the winter, I kind of just want to SIT in it when it's cold outside and I'm tired of being in the house.  

On 3/13/2021 at 6:21 AM, Laura Corin said:

Do you not have slugs and snails?  I took out a hosta that I inherited when we bought this house because its leaves were lace by the end of the summer.

Also taken out: Snowberry (invasive, much too much so for this size of garden), rhubarb (why grow rhubarb?), three scentless roses (pointless, to me) and two pots of mint that had been sunk into beds and were merrily escaping.  I will spend the next four decades removing the mint from the bed.

Hosta is just a deer salad garden in my yard.  I'm officially giving up on it.  I wish I could take your rhubarb off your hands.  Do you never make pies with it? I think I finally found a good spot to plant some in my yard, but I'd need to prep a new bed and that's pretty far down on my garden chore list.  Around here, you pretty much HAVE to grow rhubarb to have any because the stores don't carry it and the farmers' markets are hit or miss.

On 3/13/2021 at 8:05 AM, Condessa said:

I made a great many plans for our yard last year that I mostly didn’t get to, except for fencing the back and putting in some asparagus.  My husband was not very interested, especially in my more complicated ideas.  Now he’s been worrying about government debt and long term economic stability, and has decided that my growing plans would make a great long-tem emergency food storage, so he is suddenly all in.  
I want to espalier fruit trees all along the fence at the easement at the back of our property.  Nice to make some use of that space, which is a lovely sunny spot, and I think it will be pretty and provide a little more shade for the goat pasture.  Also, a line of dwarf cherry trees in the skinny, hard-to-mow section lining the driveway, with strawberries as a ground cover underneath.  On the east backyard fence I want to put in some grapes.  And on the west fence we have a difficult neighbor and need an effective privacy hedge.  Not sure what to plant there.  It’s partial to nearly-full shade.  I would like to plant something edible, if possible, but it’s more important that it fully keep nosy neighbors from looking into our backyard and yelling at our kids.

Let me know if you come up with a solution.  I need a few hedge/privacy type plants that will grow in a partially shady spot without having a huge footprint.  I kinda want to cocoon my yard with trees and hedges but I want to keep them 5-6 feet deep so they don't eat up ALL of my space.

 

[Laura Corin]

@KungFuPanda I would just so much prefer an apple pie and we have eight apple trees.

[Condessa]

19 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Mulberry? 

Grows very fast and very leafy. But has very invasive roots that love to block pipes, so not good if you have underground pipes anywhere near there

Hazelnuts? 

Thanks!  We want something non-invasive, so we won’t have to worry about it bothering anyone on the other side of the property line.

Hazelnuts might be a really good option!  I will look into how they grow here.

5 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

Let me know if you come up with a solution.  I need a few hedge/privacy type plants that will grow in a partially shady spot without having a huge footprint.  I kinda want to cocoon my yard with trees and hedges but I want to keep them 5-6 feet deep so they don't eat up ALL of my space.

I’d love to use evergreen huckleberries.  We used to pick them wild at our old home—their pies are amazing!  Different gardening websites seem to vary as to what their gardening zone range is, whether it would include our zone or not.  But the climate is very different here than there, and they are kind of expensive to buy because of being a more unknown plant.  I’m nervous of spending a lot of money on plants that might or might not make it here.

[Miss Tick]

On 3/12/2021 at 3:30 PM, kbutton said:

I begged seeds off our neighbor’s blue Columbine last year

Those are borderline invasive where i live, no need to beg seeds they show up on their own.

32 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

  I wish I could take your rhubarb off your hands.  Do you never make pies with it? I think I finally found a good spot to plant some in my yard, but I'd need to prep a new bed and that's pretty far down on my garden chore list.

I've had some for years and it would love a good divide. You are welcome to pm me whenever you get to that point. Cheaper than shipping from Laura! 😆

I finally finished some mini-greenhouses last month. This would be a good weekend too set them out and see what happens.

 

[KungFuPanda]

23 minutes ago, Condessa said:

Thanks!  We want something non-invasive, so we won’t have to worry about it bothering anyone on the other side of the property line.

Hazelnuts might be a really good option!  I will look into how they grow here.

I’d love to use evergreen huckleberries.  We used to pick them wild at our old home—their pies are amazing!  Different gardening websites seem to vary as to what their gardening zone range is, whether it would include our zone or not.  But the climate is very different here than there, and they are kind of expensive to buy because of being a more unknown plant.  I’m nervous of spending a lot of money on plants that might or might not make it here.

Ooooh, oooh, oooh . . . maybe elderberries!  Great, now I need elderberries. My huckleberry bunny trail led me to elderberries. 😆 This is your fault and I'd need at least two bushes.

[KungFuPanda]

10 minutes ago, SusanC said:

Those are borderline invasive where i live, no need to beg seeds they show up on their own.

I've had some for years and it would love a good divide. You are welcome to pm me whenever you get to that point. Cheaper than shipping from Laura! 😆

I finally finished some mini-greenhouses last month. This would be a good weekend too set them out and see what happens.

 

Don't you dare think I'm too proud to beg plants from you! 

[Hillcottagemom]

2 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

Ooooh, oooh, oooh . . . maybe elderberries!  Great, now I need elderberries. My huckleberry bunny trail led me to elderberries. 😆 This is your fault and I'd need at least two bushes.

I was just came on here to say that I'm planting elderberries this year! I found cultivated elderberries at Jung Seed. Apparently you're not supposed to eat the berries raw though (who knew?). I'm also trying something new this year: propogating pussy willows from cuttings. So far they look like sticks I pushed in the ground, but itll be interesting to see if they do anything.

[Clemsondana]

@Condessawould blueberries work as a hedge-like border?  I don't know how big you can get them - ours started almost as sticks - but now they are bushes.  They have pretty flowers and turn red in the fall, so they're decorative, too.  We have them bordering part of the driveway.  

And, @KungFuPanda, I have joked that I may sit in the greenhouse, because I can't always hide in the bathtub.  🙂  My grandfather had a tiny tool storage shed, and he kept a beach chair in it.  My grandmother used to get so mad when a summer shower would pop up and she'd look out the window to find him sitting on high chair in his shed.  I"m kind of envisioning doing the same thing, especially on those days that are sunny but cold.  

[Spy Car]

Rare rains are coming tomorrow. Yippie. It rained this past week too. The garden is happy.

I've been digging up and replanting some Korean spring onions that (believe it or not) I purchased a few years ago at a market. They had roots attached and were not trimmed--and were so pretty (to me anyway) that I plunked them into a mixed border with roses and herbs, etc.

Now (since they have proliferated) I'm using the Korean onions to frame the border. Pretty. Similar to the look of chives. 

I'm also taking inordinate pleasure from my French thyme that a started a couple years ago from (cut) bunches I purchased at the grocer. They looked so healthy and vital that I decided to see if they would root in water (with good success). Then they were heavily planted around a Liquid Amber tree. These trees have notorious surface roots, so it is very hard to plant around them. I made tiny holes and hoped for the best. Not totally filled in yet (but getting there).

Somehow I get extra-joy from the plants I've propagated myself.

Checked in on my Syrian Oregano and Cretan oregano propagations this morning and am having an unusually high rate of success. Seems like every cutting is rooting. Fingers-crossed.

Bill