No More Complaining: What going well? Celebrate here.

I began the "complain here" thread because it was cold and rainy and I got a near-record breaking stretch of unusually dry, warm weather for my efforts! Maybe I will jinx things and get some much needed rain, if I say this has been the best dahlia planting weather ever in 16 years of growing.

Almost all dahlias are in the ground and today was the day of mulching: my favorite activity in the garden. It's a good chance to see how the plants are doing, anticipate those lovely blooms as you scan each label, and sniff the good organics that will make the soil better year after year.

The dahlias are way ahead of themselves with our recent heat and early start. This could be the year I have more than two blooms by mid July. Yee Ha!

No one has anything to celebrate? I am in from another round of mulching: covered in leaf mold jeans, leaf mold sweatshirt, filthy Muck Shoes. Is there any higher fashion?

Two more good things: buds formed on Jomanda: my favorite orange ball ever. Unbelievable at this time of year.

Another: I've been gathering chopped leaves bagged up and stored by compost piles around the place, for either composting or mulching. On the underside of the big bags, I found 4 of the most vile slugs we grow here in the NW: Tiger Slugs: sort of black/tan spotted monsters with voracious appetites for favorite plants. My hubby is always pointing out how bad I am at leaving garden tools out to rust. In gathering up shredded leaf bags I spotted something red and wrong down by the barn: the machete, stacked neatly under some brush he had hacked back over the weekend. So I had Tiger Slugs and I had a machete. The twain met in a satisfying slaying of the plant enemy! Hurrah.

I'll celebrate with you.

1. Mental photo of you doing the machete rhumba with slugs !! (priceless) I've seen your slugs, they're scary compared to the 3 inch ones we have.

2. 45 dahlias poking thru the soil. DH asks "Do you count them every day ?" Answer : "No. Twice a day." Straw mulching of dahlia rows is on-going

3. It hasn't snowed lately. Evening temps are finally higher than the low 40's. Even the green beans are sprouting.

4. Bearded iris are coming on strong.

5. DH is recovering nicely. With a shift of attitude about working 70 hours a week.

Hey Granny, I've been wondering if the Marquette winter got you. Glad DH is on the rebound and coming to his senses about work hours and that you're warming up around there.

It might, just might, shed a rain drop this morning. It's gray and cool, but not threatening gray. Day 28 without rain; 29's the record in Seattle for this time of year. I would love half a day of a gentle rain to get the dust down and wash away slug innards I left in the yard EWWW.

Pooch, have you tried scattering turkey grit to keep the slugs out? You can get it at any feed store. Or is there more satisfaction in chopping them up? LOL

I will celebrate with you.

Most all of my dahlias have come up. Lost a couple and of course, the ones I only had 1 tuber of. Live and learn!
I have yummy raspberries and strawberries to eat.
Got the drip irrigation set up better finally so I don't have to water for hours with it.
My larkspurs are blooming like crazy.
My dahlia tree is 5' tall!
Still have more flower seedlings that I grew in my greenhouse to plant out in the garden but am waiting for the larkspur to finish their job.

So all in all, things are coming along nicely with the good weather.

Berries and a dahlia blooming already- wow! You're way ahead of us, though you remind me it's soon time to make strawberry jam. Enjoy all those flowers, Carol.

Hart I haven't tried turkey grit, but might look into it as the slugs are devouring one of my favorite purples having nibbled it down to smithereens and skeleal leaves. I only have one of that variety too :( I'm about ready to stand guard with a bb gun or the machete LOL.

You can get the turkey grit really cheap. It's worth a try. I've been using it to keep the slugs and snails away from seedlings where I've planted seeds and it works like a charm. Just sprinkle some on the ground, you don't need to cover the ground completely.

What is the turkey grit exactly?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/410/

So it must work like diatomaceous earth: having rough edges uncomftable for the slithering, plant-killing mollusks to slime across. Poor babies. Not.

I'll check it out next time I'm at the feed store. Thanks, Hart. I like the non-poisonous Sluggo but it takes a while before it constipates them to death. Meanwhile, they keep eating and further plant damage ensues.

Poochella,i have notice you have alot of beautys yourself.You are so lucky.

Cody

Ok, so it is like pumice then?
I had bought some pumice a few years ago, put a nice ring around the dahlias and didn't seem to do a darn thing. They (slugs/snails) keep walking arcross it just fine.
If it is different than pumice, let me know. I will go to the feed store too and see what I can find.
Tho it is getting kind of late now since most of them are either up and running, or have been totally chewed down to the nubs by the snails.

Have you seen chicken grit Carol? It's more like sharp little bits of pebbles, I think, to aid in digestion or help grind up food? (Need to bone up on my fowl digestion a bit LOL.) I'm presuming turkey grit is the same, only larger. I really miss all the neighbor's fowl. They made such interesting sounds, especially the turkeys.

Bummer, I was going to make strawberry jam today only to learn that the farm I go to was flooded in January with very limited crops at this time: only flats available on weekends for the big crowds and a limited number then. Boo hoo.

I will join in the dance of joy ^_^

The gifting of the dahlias was very successful. There were more new Dahliaholics joining in this year.
All the dahlias are planted and very happy.
I have almost finished the bed that is a new dahlia patch.
It is warm and sunny and I have a tan!

I'm celebrating too! Winter storage went better than ever for me this year, and I think the saving factor was getting those that started producing eyes in flats of soil. The resulting early start and a super spring have lead to my earliest Dahlia blooms ever- my first was the last week of May! I had lamented this winter while unpacking tubers that I didn't run across my red w/ white tips border tubers, and realized I had no memory of digging them. I truly celebrated when I noticed all 3 had survived the winter in ground! Those have buds now :-)

Here I was thinking I had all the Dahlias in the ground, and ran across some tubers I'd forgotten all about! They were wrinkly, but growing, the poor things. They're in the ground now- thank goodness I found them before it was too late!

Pooch, the mental image I have of your slug slaughter is hilarious!

This border type brought a pleasant surprise when it combined the colors of the Poppies and California poppies surrounding it so nicely :-)

This message was edited Jun 17, 2009 4:02 PM

I think this is 'Christine', and her little friend seems to think she's as delicious as she looks.

These 'Christine' have more polite friends, Oriental Lilies.

Turkey grit is ground up oyster shells. It's coarser than chicken grit. They don't have teeth to grind their food so if you don't feed them a feed that includes grit you have to provide it so they can properly digest grains.

Yes, it works like diatomacious earth but it's waaaaaaaaaay cheaper.

This yellow border is planted in a wicker laundry basket I painted, along with Callas, Begonias, Coleus, and Hummingbird Salvia.

All lovely, gemini_sage. You're having a great year. Whoo hoo! I wonder if your little red and yellow isn't Raz Ma Taz? Sure looks like it. Small flowers 2-3" or so?

Luvly gemini_sage ^_^

Thanks Pooch :-) I think that one was mislabeled and was supposed to be Art Deco. I remember expecting solid orange blooms last year. The flowers are 2-3", and it sure looks like the plantfiles pics, so I'd bet you're right on it being Raz Ma Taz.

Thanks d-nut! I fall prey to addiction easily- I think Dahlias and Japanese Iris are the latest dangers, LOL.

Neal, all those blooms look wonderful. Am glad you are having a nice flower season so far.

I walked around the garden this afternoon and noticed that 'Skywalker' is just about to open up. My most always, faithful, 1st bloomer! Glad to see that it is still numbero 1, LOL

A few more dahlias are trying to open up their buds. What is interesting again this year is that the plants seem to be shorter than normal. Don't know if it was the cold spring or what. Am wondering if they will get bigger with some heat here. It has been cloudy the past few days, which I like really, but the plants like their hot sun tho.

Carol, I can't believe you have buds opening already. Lucky girl! That's really tremendously early, or isn't it for you?

I saw this earlier today: for inspiration for the season
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5489020273591963234&ei=1p85Suy5GYu2qAP556n-Aw&q=dahlia+bloom+time&hl=en&client=firefox-a


IT'S RAINING! I had to put the lawn tractor in because it began to spit for exactly 30 seconds, didn't even dampen the sidewalk completely, but now it's a shower with real gusto! This is grrrrrrreat! Just what we need.

No, Annie, I looked back at some of my dahlia pics from 2005 & 2006 and I had 'Skywalker' open up much more on June 11. So it is late for it by almost a week or more. Things are later around here due to the cold spring. I just hope we have a long summer ahead to be able to enjoy all the work I have done in the yard this year!

Rain? What is that? Haven't seen it for awhile here. So guess you won't be watering for awhile. I would love a good 1" of rain to be dumped gently overnite around here in OR.

Very nice time lapse photography, Annie! Recently Hammacher Schlemmer had a digital time lapse camera (waterproof) in their online ad. It's so tempting.

Neal, I can't imagine what you're talking about with the plant addiction! ;>) Love the color on Christine.

I got some nice "annual" dahlias on clearance at Walmart for $1.25 the other day. They look very healthy.

Pooch I see 3 blooms in your picture,so I know you've already passed the number 2 blooms!!!LOL

I think it's Hart's photo you referred to Tropic, I'm weeks from blooms yet :( Hart those were a steal for $1.25. Today, something bright red/orange caught my eye in the big 3 ft planters on either side of our office building doorway. Little dahlias, of course! Just the small bedders but very nice tucked in with other uprights and draping plants in the planters.

Happy Summer all! Enjoy any and all sunlight you can.

Haha-almost shot coffee out my nose when I read geminisage's comment about Christine's "friend"!!!
Here's one of my new friends who've been visiting me more and more lately. Of course, they have to meet my other friend, Mr. Shovel.

There green relatives have arrived in town here!!!!!!!!

What are they?

Some kind of face-eating grass hopper! They scare the peeps out of me. Normally I try to co-habitate with most garden creatures but not these guys. If I don't get them first, they'll start dragging off my kittys!
Tropicman-give 'em a smack and a how-do-you-do!

This message was edited Jun 21, 2009 11:22 AM

Nasty bug!

It's those itty bitty green ones with the long whiskers,and they crawl on you before you know it,then feel something nibbling on you,and you quickly brush it off before you even see what it is,then you look down on the ground,and step on it about as fast as you brushed it off! I hate those little suckers!!!!

Whiskers,LOL I meant antennas!!!!!!

Okay, I whined on the what's going wrong thread, so I thought I'd also post a positive or two.
I was very pleased to see several sprouts recover from their main stems being stepped on and bent at a 90 degree angle. A doggie, who shall remain nameless, must've spotted her arch nemesis, Seymore Squirrell and hopped my 4' high border. I sadly re-tied them, thinking they were toast, and 2 days later they're all up and perky. Yay for stubborn dahlias! And my "Seduction"s which took quite a soaking and struggled for a while are now growing at a marathon pace! Trying to find some positives amongst all this depressing rain!!!

I'm celebrating one of those once in a blue moon, ideal growing seasons this year! A very pleasant break from the awful droughts we've had the last couple of years. So far we're getting timely rains and temps have been fairly mild, unlike our typical humid scorchers this time of year.

The biggie I'm celebrating now is a strange absence of Japanese beetles. The last couple of years my Dahlia blooms have been a writhing mass of nastiness right about now, but I've only seen 3 of them this year! I thought it may be a result of the Milky Spore I inoculated the soil with last year, but friends nearby are reporting seeing very few of them as well.

Have any of you noticed a reduction in the JB population this year?

Very few here.

Pirl, is it unusual for you to see so few of them (as it is here)? They usually start emerging in droves by mid June here. I think this is the first time I've seen leaves on my plum tree in July, LOL.