What is happening in your Garden Today?

This area got some much appreciated rain yesterday afternoon as the storm fronts passed by. We managed to get a ball game between the four o'clock and seven o'clock storms.

My life started out Green today. We picked and used our first asparagus yesterday. The only thing better than asparagus to me is more asparagus. LOL
Had it served over a hamburger....well actually two hamburgers.

Sally do I need to rent out Penny and MaryChris to you and Stormy ? They have been after my vole, luckly they, that includes the voles, have not damaged any of my plants.

Love, sweet woodruff, the smell is released when the plant is cut and drying, That is one plant I don't get upset with DH if he gets to close with the mowing. I'll sometimes cut some and toss in cute little basket and bring it into the house to dry.

pgt, that care of that back, your going to have it for a long time.

Ric is working but I'm not. He has started on the gazebo floor. I'll post pics when it is done. Guess I over did it the other day, my back is killing me. Lucky it's just a muscle issue and will clear up with a little rest. Dr says use it don't abuse it. Yesterday I could barely move, better today. I have some potting up to do that will keep me busy and rest my back too.

We bought the Cabot's deck stain to seal the deck. When the stuff was going on I remarked to my DH that it looked different. I saw the color and basecoat on the label on top of the can and it matched the previous can that we used. It took longer to dry. After a rain I decided that it was dry enough to step on so I went to go down the steps. I took one step and fell the rest of the way. Upon really close investigation, I saw that the label read (at the bottom) for Deck and siding (lateral use is what I think they meant....not to be stepped on). At least I know that my osteoporosis medication works because I have not yet broken any bones when I have one of my crashes.

Needless to say, I am gardening very SLOWLY this week. Took lots of ibuprophen and threw around some seeds and picked some weeds with my long handled weed tool

Roses, how awful! there are so much to read on those cans, they should be made aware of this and put a big warning on the can "not to be used for walk on surfaces". I would contact the company.
Glad you did not break any bones, Been there, done that ! It really puts a damper on the gardening fun. Take care. Maybe a light coating of sand mix in with some sealer would help the slippery problem.

Oh that is terrible. Glad you didn't break anything but I know you will be sore for quite awhile.

Crazy mixed up weather here.....Thursday clear and seventy five degrees, Friday afternoon and evening thunder storms and today forty degrees and hazy skies. I turned the heat back on today.

YES! Crazy weather for sure!!!!

once MORE---I DID THE IN ANS OUT "DANCE"......Had taken a lot of plants outside a couple of days ago---and, tonight, when i got home around 6PM..I had to find places to stash everything---once more.....

I took all my Clivias out--and tonight I stashed them under my patio table and hung an old sheet to break this cold wind we are having....My Hibiscus and N.B.C. and Brazilian Plume Flower went in the shed.....They were all blown over when i got home....

The Tomatoes are approaching ridiculous height. More stem than I would prefer--but what can i do? Will have to plant deep....They are now about 12" tall--ALL of them! They don't fit under the lights any more.....so they sit on the top of my shelf unit close to a sunny window.

>b>***Serious note to self.....DO NOT start seeds until first part of April!!!!!
I had started all these on March 12th.
The days are so gorgeous---but the nights are a bummer......

G.

About ready to transplant.............Spearmint on the left and Stevia on the right. Enough there for teas all summer.

Doc,

Do you just drop a leaf of Stevia in your tea to sweeten it, or do you need to crush it or squeeze it or something else?

We has Stevia plants for sale at HD last Summer. They were with the herbs....
I tasted a couple of leaves and, yes!, they were sweet--but not as sweet as one would expect. Just....sweetish...

I was going to ask doc the same thing. How many leaves would it take to approximate a full tsp. of sugar?
Would drying them bring out more of the sweet? Crushing?

I will look on the well sweep page.. maybe they have something listed

no info on how to use...

STE535 Stevia Rebaudiana Stevia rebaudiana TP FS - PS C, IU White 10 ADP 6.95
Used as a sweetener, Stevia is also known as ‘Sweet Herb of Paraguay.’ The plant’s sweetening agent, the
glycoside stevioside, is 300 times sweeter than granulated sugar and is also non-caloric. The herb reduces blood sugar
levels as it sweetens, making it a good sugar substitute for diabetics. The Indian women of Paraguay have used this
plant as a tea for contraceptive purposes. Laboratory tests have confirmed that Stevia does reduce fertility. This plant
thrives in rich, well-drained soil, full to partial-sun, and prefers temperatures above 45 degrees.

here this should work

http://www.stevia.net/recipes.htm

duh wrong page

http://www.stevia.net/growingstevia.htm

I had the plant once. I do remember it being extremely sweet when I chewed the leaves. It lasted a little while and then it went kaput. I probably didn't know how to care for it.

I read an article once about the frustrating search for a sugar substitute--but the sweetness of refined sugar is hard/ impossible to duplicate. Lots of chemistry involved.

Re: How to use Stevia: You can just add the leaves to steep with the other herbs for tea. Bruising them with a wooden spoon squeezes their essential oils out. They may or may not be good for drying. I hen I haven't tried it, so I don't know if it could improve flaor. Some herbs don't dry well. I have had a hard time with scented geraniums. They seem to fade and wilt in the process.

I grew stevia last year. It did well, but it needs a lot of pruning to keep it in shape. Else, it looks awful, with awkward branching. I did not like the taste of it--I bruised the leaves in hot water with lemon balm and KY mint to sweeten the tea, but it made the tea look an awful green and it tastes too sweet for me and distorted the other herbs' flaors. Chewing the leaves left an "after taste" like saccherine. I let the plant die in the cold last winter. Sorry. I didn't care to try to keep that thing alive in the house.

Yard doings: This weekend I propogated Lavender Lady cimicicifugas, and moved some hostas. I planted a new calicarpa (beautyberry) shrub. I also cleaned up the berry patch. I couldn't believe that the blackberries are the bullies. They have expanded to one of the raspberry beds. I also found a small tree growing in there. It is strange how things seem to show up overnight.

I had a wild blackberry show up in my garden last year, so I have already moved it to a better spot and pruned it. I am not sure I want to keep it, those thorns are reeeDIC yoo luss. No wonder they sell thornless kinds.

G'Gal, I know what you mean about those TALL tomatoes. Last year I just dug a long trench and laid them down up to the first set of leaves, planting the next plant right by the peat pot of the prior one. Had great tomatoes so no harm done. Will have to do it this year too. I started petunias at the same time, and am starting to get blooms, which is what I wanted. Need to color coordinate things you know!!! I may try putting some coneflower out after next weekend (going to Frederick to see my grands, so no gardening) and put a soda bottle cover over some at night. Hey I might even try that over tomatoes.

My tomatoes, by now, will require a 5gal, bucket IF I plant them this weed.....
This same thing happened to me in 2008. My Tomatoes were HUGE!

So far--I am holding off planting them--but I think i will this weekend......have to check the extended weather forecast....

Gita

AAAgh--that munching sound you heard was a bunch of skipper caterpillars stripping my columbines of about every leaf!!!! I hand picked some, then read something leading me to believe they are skippers so I let off picking. Must have been more than I thought and Gawd they are voracious!

Boo hiss and I think leaf miners are a pest. At least the leaves are still there just with interesting designs on them. LOL
Talking about Columbines, I have one going to open soon. I think it is the pink on that Critter gave me last year.

Sally, I tried to google columbines and pests, and I did find something you may want to look into more. One site, someone mentioned a cutworm, but I thought that cutworms stay at ground level and a base of plants, but there is a climbing cutworm. I learn something everyday.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/m1225.html

or maybe these Columbine sawfly http://www.growwithmelinda.com/component/option,com_kb/Itemid,2305/article,1036/task,article/

Ever better for the Sawfly DG with pictures http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/5097/

This message was edited Apr 20, 2010 8:01 AM

This message was edited Apr 20, 2010 8:04 AM

Thought i would post the link below. it is from the Brugmansia Forum and deals with all aspects of "THE RECIPE"--a home-made mix of an amazing fertilizer. Have any of you ever hear of this???
It has been going around for a while--but it popped up again on my "watched" list....

Hope you have time to read through it....this link is Part #2--or maybe #3? Previous link provided at the top--as usual....
Gita

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/956114/#new

Well, I guess if it means a bad year for the darn miners it could be worthwhile. Oh nature. Thanks for the links with pics Chris. They do look like the sawflies now. Hard to see thy're darn little, need a photo and zoom!

I was kidnapped today and just "had" to go to the Nursery. More plants, they just followed me home. LOL

I have used little white sugar over the past four or five years. I think there was a taste curve I had to get used to. I use any and all of the substitutes thinking nothing of it today both ways like directly in my drinks and cooking. I'm sure if you are still a white sugar person the substitutes will taste funny.

The sugar plant I grow has a different taste at different ages. For a cool drink I use two to four leaves and rub the oil out of them with a spoon. In hot drinks it takes less. In both cases I like the combination of Spearmint and Stevia. This year I shall pot them up for picnic table growing and display. I do not get to wild with my experiments. Once I find something I like I stick to it.

Well we are slowly moving on with the weeding, cleaning and planting. Spent some time yesterday potting up plants I picked up 65 Mums from a DG Co-op and they came yesterday. I also up potted some of my plugs and dug and potted a few perennials for the swaps. I spent some time down in the new bed did some weeding and mulching. It looks pretty good I ran out of Preen so I stopped with the job only about 1/3 done. It is so nice to see many of the plants I received at last years swap coming up.

Even the unfinished side is looking pretty good. I picked up a couple of new plants for the bed. Snow in summer , Lavender Cotton and some pretty blue thing that I can't find the tag for. LOL I have a couple of daylilies and bearded iris to move over into the bed. I planted cannas in there and some of the mums will go down there plus whatever I bring home from the swaps and some annuals. By next year it should be filling in pretty well. I want to put a RR Tie edge down where the string is running, if I get it dug out Ric will move them over for me and place them.

Yesterday set two mouse traps, caught two voles. Reset the traps last night and put a trash can lid over them. Today, looked like a war zone!! One more vole caught, and something bigger seems to have dug in several spots around the lid, maybe trying to get the vole for an easy snack. I guess that area is gonna be a work in progress this summer till that giant vole colony is taken care of.
Otherwise, so much I want to do and so little time. I have put my three big Brugs and a Plumeria out for good (hopeing) and trying to decide on what to put in several pots, and by the front door.

Go get them Sally. LOL
Well we tried something a little different today. I use to do this years ago but it seemed to take too long to be practical. Ric wanted to try it and came up with a different twist. He got out his turkey fryer and we heated up a big pot of water and then poured it over the weeds in the patio, walkway and driveway. Seemed to work pretty good, I would do some weeding and clean up while each new batch of water heated up. Then we would use sauce pans as dippers and start pouring over the areas we wanted dead, then fill the pot with the hose and start another batch. This is what I worked on while waiting for the water to boil. Still a good bit of work to do here. But it is coming along.

Sally--you have done some of the things i did today.......but I think I got you beat!

In the AM portion, I mostly tried to catch up with all the "stuff" that is on all the tables and on the patio floor.....SO much to attend to! All kinds of pots and stuff--all scattered around....plants everywhere!
I "doctored up" the soil in the 2 pots of now growing geraniums that I had dormant for the Winter....They are almost fully leafed out! They have been outside for at least 3 weeks.

After my break--I seriously mixed soil with all kinds of "good" stuff and, permanently (for this year) potted up all 3 of my bigger Brugs that were dormant (they have been outside in filtered shade now for a couple of weeks) and also potted up the 4 rooted Brug cuttings that have been growing on my windowsill all Winter.

For the bigger Brugs--using the pot-in-pot method---it took a lot of soil to fill both. A couple of the bigger ones were not all that big--but still--dormant from growing all last Summer--and ready to "march on"....

Had my "baby" Maya---my straight as a broomstick, 5' tall pink Brug (still need to ID it) that I got from Chantelle at Swap--but it was mis-ID'd and I do not know the name.....
Then--I also had a pretty well-established Rose Souvelons, which I also got from Chantelle---but it was ID's as a Dr. Seuss.....It is not! Whomever it was that gave these to her and tagged it wrong--needs a spanking!

Root-pruned and top-pruned my Tropical Hibiscus and potted it up in a bigger pot.....I know I will have to wait for it to re-grow so i can get some blooms--but I feel it was the right thing to do. Had it inside all Winter--and it kept growing and, sporadically, blooming. By now, all the stems were almost 3' tall. NOPE! Time to prune!
I bet it will be gorgeous when it re-grows!

Then--I also potted up 13 small divisions of my dark-leafed, red/orange blooms Canna--the roots were maybe one bud each. Might be good for the Swap--IF they grow out any.
Still have to plant the remaining 4 larger divisions--tomorrow???? OH! To find space!!!!

Tomorrow---Need to plant my 3 Daturas (have several more!) and dig in a couple of the potted up Brugs in a bed.
Mostly--I think I will be digging up my beds to prep them for planting of anything/everything....
.
I am also going to dig up a couple of large clumps of NOID daffodils that did not really bloom this Spring.
WHY give them the space--if they do not bloom? I realize they may be too crowded--but I have nowhere to transplant them to if I were to divide them!
SO! Will have a bunch of bulbs to share--maybe at work---maybe at the Swap....

Was fighting the impulse to go shop for annuals at the "Md. Flower and Foliage"---but decided to see what all I have first--so as not to buy things in haste.

Today--I also had my 2 Clematis delivered that I ordered from "Brushwood Nursery".
I got the Estonian Clematis "Piilu" (Little Duckling)--a small-blooming pink one suitable for containers---and the "Clematis Lady Betty Balfour" ( a purple one) for my side bed.
They arrived in quart pots--VERY well packed and with growing vines on them.
Tired of waiting for our HD to get any Clematis in--and when they do--the shipment will all be of one kind!

OK! Sounds like a full day tomorrow.....Then, there is still Saturday I am off.....Will get a lot done....IF I stop taking breaks that last 2 hours to "play" on DG!

This is the Estonian Clematis--"Piilu"---I will be growing it in a pot on my Patio....

And this is the Lady Betty Balfour Clematis..... (group 3)....

another use for the turkey fryer.. I love it!!!

Not much time to write this morning but I'm so excited and I have to post a quick update! I was "bad" yesterday and worked in the garden :( BUT, the good part about the "bad" is I got so much done! I'll be posting pictures soon on the "Projects" thread of my new 'Welcome Garden' :) I was thrilled when Rick dug the huge hole I needed to plant my Forest Pansy Redbud in the new garden, even planted a Spirea and 'Dallas Blue' Panicum designated for this garden and I was anxious to get everything else started. I had no idea I would get so much accomplished yesterday but I redesigned my "plan" early yesterday morning and by noon I had the willow chair in place, the post up with the birdhouse and fence attached and was ready to start planting. We were supposed to load the truck yesterday afternoon but Rick said with the rain coming I should get as much planted as I could - yay!!! I still have more plants to add but by the end of the day I was watering in everything I planted and even got it all mulched :) Obviously it doesn't look "quite" like this because the gold Smokebush on the right is only 6" tall right now! Plus I still need to make my Clay Pot Lady, that chair is looking a little lonely right now! LOL So this morning we're loading the truck, taking off this afternoon and I'll be back on Sunday and try to get pictures to show you.

Gita, I LOVE Brushwood! Dan's supposed to be at the Maymont sale this weekend and I'm anxious to see what he has with him, he always has great plants :) I want to plant a Clematis at the base of the post and this is his last year exhibiting in Virginia before moving to Georgia so I want to get something now!

Oh I love that, have a good time at the show. Can't wait to see the real pics when you get back.

You all have so many big plans and so much nice stuff I can hardly make individual comments
~
I had 3 action packed hours in the garden this morning and got lots done. Potted up some seedlings, Dug five clumps of Verbena bonariensis, potted two, new spot for three. Moved some extra sprigs of tall phlox. Squished another two dozen asparagus beetles- when will they stop coming? Moved a variegated petasites; this is its 'leap' year. I had gotten this little thing from 'jody' several years ago.It is now in a place it can roam and will turn a leftover black hole of the garden into a stunner ( I think.) Pulled and potted some yellow archangel for Swap. Planted mum that made it thru winter in a pot. Sunk my Plumeria with a good dose of compost, and then am planting some small amaryllis around the pot so they can both make use of good fertilizer and water I will give, on top of the nice compost. Have picked spots for Brugs to go for the summer. Decided what to do with two pots that flank the front door, and one by the mailbox.
It's just a relief to have some of these many decisions made about how to use all these great plants! And there's lots more that can be fooled with. Now wish I had time to re-bait my vole traps- that'll have to be done later. I must have hundreds of voles here, but am working on the dozen or so atcively hassling me for now.

Haven't really done much of anything in the garden except pulled some weeds, mulched and cleaned up the backyard ^_^

Got lots of stuff coming up and already blooming - clematis among others - everthing seems to be earlier this year? Or is it just me?

I have tons of seedlings I need to divide and get into pots - a truly therapeutic weekend ^_^

Sally--
Have you thought of the CO-2 "bombs" that are used for Moles?
Just like a road hazard flare--you light it and then trow it down a hole....The CO-2 eventually kills them...at least I think it would???

OK! Today--after all the morning "things--breakfast, checking Dg, etc....I decided to go to Lowes to buy a couple bags of the "Organic Choice" garden soil while it is stil on sale for $4.97 (through Monday--reg. $6.97).

Oh, my God! Do they have a lot of garden plants!!!!! Spent a lot of$$$
--Wave petunias in the big 4" pots--$1.25!
--Beautiful, 5" premium annuals--$4.98--got 3 pots of Osteospermum (sp?) daisies. They grew so well last year!
and one of those "Million Bells small Petunias...DEEP blue!
--6-packs of annuals--$1.50 and $1. 88
--All Bonnie 3" and 5" potted veggies and herbs--Buy one, get one free....(HD had that too).
Mamma Mia! Our HD pales in comparison! But then--we ARE a VERY low volume store! The Lowes here rocks!!!!

Then went to my neighborhood produce/garden stand and bought 3-4" premium annuals ($3.50), but the kind that you do not find easily.....Got 2 Non-Stop Begonias and one pot of Bicopa. Also 3 MP's--one of them with 6 Melanpodium (??) which you do not, usually, see in market packs...(.$2.15) and 2 MP's of wax Begonias.
Was holding off--as I have so much to plant from what i already have.....

What did i accomplish in my garden? After running around........
Positioned 2 of my Brugs where they will grow....Planted the Wave petunas and the wax begonias in the bed where my Wintersweet is. Dug up and potted up the 4 W-Sweet seedlings....
Planted all 3 of the O. daisies ans some of my seeded Zinnias...also some of my older Coleus rooted cuttings...

Tomorrow--I HAVE TO plant the 2 Clematis I got! Don't want anything to happen to them.....I know rain is in the forecast.....but I can work under my patio roof trying to duck all the leaks.

Still off tomorrow--I sure tend to waste my days off by running around--and then go into overdrive towards evening....

OK! Tasss all, Folks! G.