The 2021 Garden, Landscape, and Other Stuff Thread...

[taldesta]

 

[drj211]

And here’s this morning’s rocket launch as seen from my front yard. This is right after the first stage booster fell off.

 

[taldesta]

And here’s this morning’s rocket launch as seen from my front yard. This is right after the first stage booster fell off.

View attachment 1551617

As cool as Harold ...almost

 

[annr]

Here’s Harold. He has lived under my barn for at least 5 years. Total length is about 18”.
View attachment 1551614

My avatar is Sally Rocket. She is the size of a large ottoman.

 

[LEGION 12]

My first garden when I lived in the city , had to carry water from the second floor .

 

[LEGION 12]

Japanese maple planted 4 year's ago .

 

[LEGION 12]

Now .

 

[taldesta]

Now .

Beautiful and thriving - quite a journey! And yes, I recall that first garden ... in fact I wondered about those yellow blooms centre back in your post 85

 

[taldesta]

Here's a composite of three separately potted seedlings taken this morning. Yesterday there was nothing poking up from the soil.

L: hollyhock from 2019 saved seed C: nasturtium from fresh seed pack R: Scarlet runner pole bean Sunflower (Ruby) from old saved seed pkg.



Temps here are still very cold on the windowsills and seeds in moist soil can rot if they don't have the warmth they need to germinate. Hard learned lesson from past losses

 

[LEGION 12]

Beautiful and thriving - quite a journey! And yes, I recall that first garden ... in fact I wondered about those yellow blooms centre back in your post 85

Was so long ago not sure what those were . So far all my seeds from last year have sprouted except my jalapenos , in fact my broccoli and tomatoes are over running my container , not sure what I'm going to do about that yet .

 

[LEGION 12]

Looking for a little advice front has always been my wife's area for planting flowers , but getting tired of replanting every year , want to plant some perennials . Something that comes back for a few years , something that blooms in the spring and something that blooms in the summer , as you can see not much room . I'm in zone 5 .

 

[taldesta]

My knowledge gained in the wild weeds here is of little help ... yet others might find it helpful to know how much sunshine (exposure) and your preferences for colour, height, need for deadheading and other things like "is this the street side" of your home? What does your wife like here as she has planted in past? What has thrived here?

You see, my answer to this last question for me here is "WEEDS" so I am not likely to be of help at all but I do pay attention! My solution would be to dig up the lawn, plant half in bee balm and half for monarch habitat in milkweed, let these perennial and invasive crops battle it out hoping they won't take over your driveway ... duck bylaw visits caused by neighbour complaint calls - but that's me

Bon chance my fellow gardener

Someone here will surely have some good suggestions.

 

[taldesta]

Scarlet runner pole bean on L. In pellets - back two rows in tomatoes are germinating very slowly - RR=Red Racer and PP=Prudens Purple. I know they are germinating because I lost patience and dug one up! Front row sweet pea (Starry Night) are putting up shoots. Chance of flurries today, temps on the windowsills aren't great for germination yet, but things are coming along.



Nasturtiums are always dependable for germinating and for flowering all summer long until frost - another favourite for the hummingbirds. BTW the hummer feeder has been set out a few days ago. Chickadees love it (no guards on) and some overnight critter cleans it out regularly. The raccoon strikes again I suspect.

 

[annr]

Scarlet runner pole bean on L. In pellets - back two rows in tomatoes are germinating very slowly - RR=Red Racer and PP=Prudens Purple. I know they are germinating because I lost patience and dug one up! Front row sweet pea (Starry Night) are putting up shoots. Chance of flurries today, temps on the windowsills aren't great for germination yet, but things are coming along.

View attachment 1555459

Nasturtiums are always dependable for germinating and for flowering all summer long until frost - another favourite for the hummingbirds. BTW the hummer feeder has been set out a few days ago. Chickadees love it (no guards on) and some overnight critter cleans it out regularly. The raccoon strikes again I suspect.


View attachment 1555462View attachment 1555462

Thanks for instructional photos on how pellets and plants look before going into the earth. Nicely labeled pellets, too.

 

[taldesta]

Thanks for instructional photos on how pellets and plants look before going into the earth. Nicely labeled pellets, too.

Most welcome. I have no room for large trays on windowsills so I make do with re-usables from my kitchen. And funny you mention labels too because I've had to edit my post with the composite pics above because I mistook a smudged paper label to read SR (Scarlet Runner) for SF (Sunflower). The blue labels are cut from a no longer usable slicing mat.

I do like the greenhouse trays for their humidity control especially as moisture is key to germination - and if it weren't for lack of space I would prefer them. I believe they come with 'dome' lids for the taller crops. Meanwhile I will spritz my small seedlings, turn them 1/4 every morning and trust that spring will arrive outdoors in short order.

SF=Sunflower: row each of 'Kong', 'Razzmatazz' and 'Valentine' ... already turned.

 

[Murphjd25]

Gold Bar Nursery is going out of business, got their first thing this morning and got a Japanese Bloodgood, six Leyland Cypress and ten Arborvitae for $200.

 

[Sharp Steel]

What do you do to keep deer away? They come into my yard, eat everything, and leave droppings. The roses and morning glories had no flowers last year, because they were all bitten off. Would rather not repeat that this year. The "repellent" blocks the local home center sold were worthless.

 

[eisman]

want to plant some perennials

A couple things that do well for me, if you want a bushy type plant are Lavender and Catmint. The Catmint dries out and needs to be trimmed to the ground in the winter, but comes back in the spring and makes a really nice green mound with purple flowers the bees love for 2+ months late summer early fall. Lavender is probably the easiest thing to grow I know of other than weeds. Trim it back in winter and you'll have leaves all year round.

Something a little more striking would be day lilies if they will grow in your area. Mine rarely die out completely, but have some growth all the time and I usually get two sets of blooms. I thin them out after each bloom, pulling out the stalks and dead leaves, and they just keep growing. They come in all kinds of colors.

 

[eisman]

What do you do to keep deer away?

Lavender. I stuck some around my Arborvitea and they look good there too. You can drive down our roads and see just how high the deer will graze on Arborvitea and they trim the plants into a concave shape up to about the 4' mark.

 

[eisman]

got a Japanese Bloodgood, six Leyland Cypress and ten Arborvitae for $200.

That's a good deal! I paid $120 for a 6' Arborvitae to fill in for one that wasn't taking in my yard just a month ago. I don't remember exactly what I paid for the last Japanese Maple I bought but it had to be over $100.

I have to pull up cypress every year as I get seedlings from all the neighbors trees.