Gardeners of AW, unite

Teinz

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Toads would love your spot. Do look into basic cold frames or tunnels for later. Fall use will give you practice for saving sprouts in the spring during cold snaps. :)

I got some toads. There's a pile of wood in the back of my yard, invisible in the pic. They love to hang out there.

Thanks for the tunnel-tip!
 

Shadowflame

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Gorgeous garden, Teinz! Even not yet in season!



http://www.plantea.com/slug-baits-coffee.htm

This link covers the kinds of baits that are chemical that are very safe, too. It's not all about dishes of beer, although I've totally heard that works.

Me, I have tons of toads! They hop out of the snaily areas when I water, lol. Still, I may need some of that bait in my strawberries. We'll see. So far so good this year.

ohhhh the coffee solution looks great! I'll have to try it this weekend. THANKS
 

Fenika

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Oh, I could definitely add some piles of wood if they like that so much. The toads that is.

Its been raining but I hope to transplant before dark. Its tough plants that wont go instantly moldy over the stress and rain combo.
 

Fenika

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My sugar snap peas are blooming! :hooray:
 

shakeysix

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GRAPES! i have grapes! i only put in the vines a year ago. they grow on an arbor that covers a bench in my sitting garden. i expected shade from the vines but no grapes because the soil is heavy and last summer was so hot, windy and dry, but the vines have lots of bunches of grapes. they are thompson seedless green grapes. they are about the size of dimes. i have no idea how to tell when they are ripe. better look it up.
my apricot tree is covered with apricots but it always bears well. my peach tree is so heavily loaded that the little old man next door had to help me brace it. we had to do it in spanglish. he is my neighbor's father who is now retired. he had a huerta in mexico--that is an orchard. my spanish is pretty classroom oriented but i do understand him and he does eventually understand me. he grew lemons and avocados and duraznos--peaches. he does think i spend (gastar) too much space and water on flowers. funny--just like my grandpa would say--s6
 

Hip-Hop-a-potamus

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I spent an obscene amount of money at the garden center yesterday. Bought 3 lavender pink hardy roses suited to Zone 2, so they'll make it through the winter (and they have a little smell too, which is nice); a blueberry plant, a tomato, some foamflowers, some geraniums for my pots, brunnera (which looks fabulous and grows well up here), plus some new white delphiniums, since they didn't have any more of the "Black Knight" type I bought last year.

I got a deal on a "mystery clematis." All the others were at least $20, but this guy was marked down to $8, since they didn't know what it was. Can't wait to see what it turns out to be. :D

Transplanted all my seedlings outdoors. Some are doing better than others. The nasturtiums are thriving, along with the dill and some of the basil, but the morning glories, not so much. :(
 

Fenika

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I've been ashamed to admit that my clematis took a sudden turn for the worse. Since I'm not crazy about its location, I'm just watching to see if it lives to make seeds or not.
 

Hip-Hop-a-potamus

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Give it coffee, Fenika. Coffee and some sunshine, and any clematis will think life is grand.

Mine was at death's door and it made a thriving recovery. Try it! :D
 

Fenika

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I did some coffee, but I cant change the sun without chopping down a good bit of forest. It seems to not be dying further. I dont see any disease, just dried up leaves, so maybe something got at the roots. I dont want to do too much coffee in case it hurts the ferns crowding around it.

Next weekend I hope to take pics of all my un-id-ed lanscaping plants and post them to figure out what they are...
 

Fenika

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Look! My very first self designed decorative container arangement!

The lady at the store helped me pick the front plant, and gave me a few tips, but I did the rest.

4ce641e1.jpg


I cant wait for it to fill out!
 

shakeysix

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i am in a short arm splint thanks to a fall at the car wash last night. this might be my shortest gardening season ever. will know for sure next week when the swelling goes down--s6
 

Fenika

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Nice!!!!


(See, I made it eventually)

:D

i am in a short arm splint thanks to a fall at the car wash last night. this might be my shortest gardening season ever. will know for sure next week when the swelling goes down--s6

Ouch. Get someone to help you with the two handed chores and get set up to do everything else one handed!
 

Tepelus

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Good job! That plant with the tiny white flowers (I forget what it's called now), I had one of those last year in a pot with black petunias, and it pretty much took over the whole pot. But the petunias were petering out anyway, and it is such a pretty plant when it is all bushed out. And it flowers non-stop all summer until frost kills it.
 

Fenika

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I saved the 'tag' for it, but it is pouring rain right now so maybe someone else knows the name :) It prefers full sun, so I'm hoping the part shade will keep it in check. If not, I'll trim it, which will hopefully get it to become thicker and poke out from the vines more.

I'm looking forward to having the flowers all summer.

Oh, and question: One of the Sweet potato vines (of a type I didn't get) said that the plant is perennial in warmer climes. I'd like to bring this pot into the sunroom when it gets cold and see if it survives the winter. Any tips? My biggest issue is that I have no south facing windows (and no way can I move this pot from a east to a west window inside the house, even with wheels)

Also also, Peppers can apparently overwinter and then start producing the next year. Anyone know of this? Any other edibles do this without going bitter? It would need to go dormant over winter due to the limited light in my house...
 

JanDarby

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I've always meant to transplant a couple pepper plants in the fall to overwinter them and get a head start on the next spring, but the frost always sneaks up on me, and then I'm in a tizzy harvesting the last of the peppers before the frost hits, and don't have time to transplant anything.

From what I've read, they're technically perennials and will keep on flowering/fruiting indefinitely, given the right temperature and light conditions. You'll need to keep them alive and growing over the winter, though, not completely dormant like geranium roots or dahlia tubers. Don't expect any fruits from them, even if you put them under grow lights. The goal is just to have extra-large plants to put outside the next spring.
 

Fenika

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I really wish I had a south facing window. Maybe I'll find a friend with one locally or send them to a friend in NC :) Otherwise, nothing to lose by trying to put them in the sun room.
 

aliwood

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Also also, Peppers can apparently overwinter and then start producing the next year. Anyone know of this? Any other edibles do this without going bitter? It would need to go dormant over winter due to the limited light in my house...

I've done it with a chilli plant with success and had chillis several years running, so a sweet pepper should be no problem. I had it on window that was above a radiator. I think the window faced west, and in the UK that's six hours of daylight in mid winter. I think if you can get it a bit of daylight and keep the frost off you'll be ok. I don't recall if I pruned it back. I probably did it was a small windowsill.

Runner beans are supposed to keep over winter. If you chop the stalks off and then keep it frost free, it's supposed to give it an early start the following year. I have heard of people planting them next to apple trees. They simply cut the stalks off each Autumn (fall) and mulch the plant to keep the cold out and it returns the following year.
 

Fenika

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Runner beans? I'll have to look into that. I would love perenial beans.
 

PorterStarrByrd

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Though I approach it from the angle of humor, I do have some interesting info that is new to me on slug bites. Just posted my blog item on it a couple of days ago.

the link is in my signature
 

Fenika

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Fun post, Byrd. :)

Ali, I wish my sun room got real sun. North side of the house, faces east, but the forest is only a few strides away. Alas. But I looked at the purple runner beans and they look fun. I could probably put them in one of my four by four beds once the celeriac start to come out.
 

Teinz

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Garden update

bhd6rr.jpg


Sparrows ate most of my lettuce and beetroot, so I've resown it all and covered it with netting.

On the right. Spinache coming up nicely.

As are my polebeans on the left.

I do need to prune my grape.

zv6dlt.jpg


I think I overdid it two years ago. Last I year I may have taken too little away. Anyone have some pro-tips?
 

Fenika

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Wow, that looks amazing. I'm jealous of your grapes but know next to nothing about them. The gardens alive site I posted above will have some good info.