2018 Gardening, Landscaping, and Plants

[taldesta]

Planted some carrots in the empty spot.

The crops sure have stayed healthy top to bottom, LEGION ... basil thriving too. Nice!

 

[22-rimfire]

Good idea with the carrots. May do carrots and lettuce. Carrots just never did well for me. Probably the soils I have been dealing with over the years. I have one tomato plant that I am probably going to eliminate this week after I pick the last tomatoes on it. I have others that could develop more fruit later. That should give me enough space for the carrots and lettuce. We'll see...

I don't live right on a river or lake, so things aren't quite as convenient for me with water craft. But I do have a lake less than a mile away from me. Good old TVA.

I always find Cardinal flowers to be really stunning.

 

[LEGION 12]

 

[LEGION 12]

 

[taldesta]

Very quiet here as we all enjoy this long weekend. We've had only a few days break from a scorching summer - soon temps will be cool enough to get some of the heavy lifting done in the yard here. Prep and plan for next spring.

All six planters filled with nasturtiums in full bloom will carry the hummingbirds until they leave. The bee balm is still interesting to them but is waning. There are so many new bee balm plants, so many more than the ten I planted - so I know they are on the move, aggressive invasives that they are. Good. I will eliminate another strip of grass to accommodate them, let them run amok. So sad to part with grass ... but that's me



I had forgotten that hummingbirds will perch and groom and rest a lot if they have small perches near their preferred flowers ... and so notice that, since I put the trellises in, it is rare to not see a hummingbird in the nasturtium patch. For me, that's a lot of enjoyment for a few dollars in seed packets.



A couple more planters that I can move about as needed ... and stack for effect. Just got a little shop area cleared in the tarp shed and it feels great to have the tools organized finally.



Zinnias from seed with perennial liatris spikes - bulbs planted this spring. Old fashioned - yes ... sunny faces.

 

[taldesta]

The shade plantings on the West side have saved my bacon from the brutal sun and heat this summer. A bonus, green beans hanging right in the porch!








... and lots of happy hummingbirds, perching for a handy feed on the scarle runner pole bean blossoms.



Now, for the real world around my little house ... all the overgrown goldenrod, wild weed bonanza ... but with its own inhabitants - here with four young. Odds are that this turkey has been hanging around, hidden in the woods. Remembering from last April. Very skittish bird ... pics through window and so are as they are

 

[22-rimfire]

Turkeys are definitely not people friendly. Your Coleus is HUGE on your deck/porch. The hummingbirds like to perch on my concrete wire tomato cages quite a lot. Other birds do as well as they're high enough off the ground to be safe from those sneaky cats we have.

Your zinias are looking nice and fresh. Mine are looking pretty shabby and should probably be yanked.

Not much happening in my yard other than chasing a raccoon out of my garage, hummingbirds hitting the feeders pretty heavily, and peppers. Still have tomatoes.

 

[taldesta]

Looks like you'll be eating beefsteak tomatoes about now ... nice harvest! When the better boys came along early, I really enjoyed having them on the table, but the beefsteak, with its juicy flavour, still tops my list.

 

[taldesta]

22-rimfire

Yeah ... I am surprised with the coleus - actually four plants in two pots, one ruby slippers and one campfire per pot - both sun-tolerant varieties that I think are fairly new. Just like I see in LEGION 12's post above, I have found the conditions this past summer just suited coleus to a T.

Here, as they were planted late May in 12" (or so) pots from the dollar store.



Then I put them in a planter that can take four such pots - begonias in back - where they are given height so they look more mighty. Solid colour for part shade that lasts all season long is what I was aiming for. Honestly I had no idea of what they could turn into.

 

[annr]

Turkeys are definitely not people friendly.

Saw six of them in a neighbor’s front yard this morning—all between his front door and his car. I was wondering if he would have any trouble getting into his vehicle. (These 6 seem to travel around the neighborhood and “eat” in the front yards of various houses staying for a long time. They have never blessed us with their presence, and I don’t know what attracts them to certain lawns.)

 

[22-rimfire]

Here are a couple flower pics taken today. These have been blooming constantly since May.

 

[taldesta]

... worth a thousand words and then some! Beautiful gardens, colour, variety.

 

[22-rimfire]

Was at the garden center and they had zinnias in pots. Picked up a couple to place where my zinnias are looking rather pitiful. Should last until frost now with color. The orange ones above in the pot are called Crossandra (Apricot Sun variety). I find orange kind of unusual and they bloom continuously with brilliant emerald green foliage. The mass plantings are obviously Lantana which I find very pleasing and easy to care for if you water a little when it's a bit dry. The lemon yellow ones (pic 3 above) are my favorite.

 

[LEGION 12]

Tomatoes are done but the peppers are still going strong .

 

[22-rimfire]

One tomato plant left. If mine were as green as yours, I would have left them grow and see what develops.

Your Basil is big. I didn't grow any this year as I seldom ever used any of it. This year it's peppers and I use them. I would have to say that my tomatoes have been pretty average this year. They still have little ones that are ripening. I planted 4 broccoli plants where one of the tomatoes was that I yanked.

 

[taldesta]

Tomatoes are done but the peppers are still going strong .

The tomatoes here in the veg garden are still ripening beefsteak, better boy and sweet million ... at a pace that is ideal for eating - not in bulk. Soon to end, though. Does anyone prune off the sucker branches on the tomato plants or remove the late flowers in order to save the plant energy for the existing fruit?

 

[taldesta]

Was at the garden center and they had zinnias in pots. Picked up a couple to place where my zinnias are looking rather pitiful. Should last until frost now with color. The orange ones above in the pot are called Crossandra (Apricot Sun variety). I find orange kind of unusual and they bloom continuously with brilliant emerald green foliage. The mass plantings are obviously Lantana which I find very pleasing and easy to care for if you water a little when it's a bit dry. The lemon yellow ones (pic 3 above) are my favorite.

Is the lantana in your gardens perennial? I have a small plant here called 'bright orange' lantana but it is not promoted as a perennial. Very similar flowers to a related annual plant here that is a butterfly magnet - verbena.



Pollinators are buzzing everywhere. The blossoms seem to be more fragrant lately.

 

[taldesta]

Yikes! Fresh temps here. 40F overnight. 'Pockets' of frost forecast for tonight. All the critters are moving so much faster this morning. Not me though. Nippy.

Yes, the winter coats are well under way. Chipmunk cheeks are stuffed.

Squirrels are still trying to defeat my efforts to keep one small bird feeder for the chickadees, goldfinches, grosbeaks and nuthatches - neither the black, grey or red squirrels have been able to make the leap to the sunflower seed stash suspended from a good stretch of brass snare wire. Since even the birds are unable to perch on the wire, I attached weathered branches to the poles, but leaned them away from the feeder. One win on my side (so far)







No takers for the green beans so I'll have lots of seeds for next spring.

 

[LEGION 12]

I had to cut my tomatoes down I was getting fruit but they were splitting before they ripened , and they were smothering everything else. Next year tomatoes are going in containers by themselves.

 

[22-rimfire]

Is the lantana in your gardens perennial? I have a small plant here called 'bright orange' lantana but it is not promoted as a perennial. Very similar flowers to a related annual plant here that is a butterfly magnet - verbena.

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Lantana is a verbena. I believe you have one of the same types I have. They often just say "red, orange, lavender, or white" on the tags at the nursery. They are not perennials. There are a couple varieties they claim are perennials (and cost more) which I have tried and they didn't sprout out in the spring of the following year. So, I don't even consider buying any Lantana that they claim is a perennial. Wish they were. The big negative with them is the abundance of seed that gets spread around and they start coming up all over the place. But they do not reproduce true from seed to their original variety and seem to revert to a wild type. I am constantly pulling out the seedlings or even larger plants that come up that are hidden by my new stock.

I have a red one this year in a whisky barrel and it is quite huge (bigger than a bushel basket). Probably due to the soil and better drainage.

They are butterfly and bee magnets. The hummingbirds are hitting them now a lot. I suspect it is a priority thing with hummingbirds and they prefer other larger flowering plants. But as fall approaches, the pickin's get slimmer for them, so I see them visiting the Lantana every day now.

Lantana plants are a little expensive at the nursery in the "gallon" size. But they flower continuously for the most part during the growing season and to me they're worth it. Should learn how to propagate them? I like a mix of color. One my neighbors seems to like one color to dominant and I find it kind of boring. So, I mix it up. The "reds" seem to be the hardest to find and orange is the more common variety. The orange and lavender ones tend to get the largest with yellow smaller. You see some in hanging baskets now. The red ones will bloom orange for a while and then begin red blooms. Don't understand that.

You will see the Lantana stopping its blooming with the cool night time temperatures.

I just placed another hummingbird feeder out. Noticed that there might be 4 or 5 birds vying for a spot on the one feeder at the same time now. But even with two feeders, they still are tending to go to the one they're used to. The males are more aggressive. I only put a cup of sugar water out at a time in the feeders as it ferments and gets pretty rancid. So, you have to pay attention somewhat unless you have enough hummers visiting that they actually deplete the feeder within a reasonable amount of time (a week here) before the stuff gets a bit rancid.