Garden thread
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I love having a garden every summer; I learn so much from what/where/how to plant. I just wish I'd remember it all come the next summer.
I bought this recently. I actually got as far as entering my perennials but haven't done anything with the annuals or vegetables yet. It has a page for each plant so you can enter the common name, scientific name, where you bought it, date you planted it, seeds or bedding plant, and a lot of space for notes and comments including harvest dates.
I have kept a garden journal for years. It's actually more of a phenology since I also record when various native (and non-native) plants first start blooming in spring, when I see my first Turkey Vultures and Osprey of the season (and other migratory birds like swallows, waxwings, and one of our two species of hummingbirds), what I plant and when, when things are ripening, etc. It's very useful to compare years to years. It's also nice to look at in the dark damp cold days of February to know it's really not long at all until the Indian Plum starts to bloom followed shortly thereafter by red-flowering currant and.....
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Oh my goodness, by oak-y you mean an oak tree! My husband says it's a weed, I am sitting here about bawling...I'm not but I feel like a fool. I do have over one hundred lavender seeds. I'll try again. Glad y'all told me...
Don’t feel like a fool! Everyone had to start somewhere! Every year I learn a little more... and even those with experience can misidentify (my friend has a degree in landscape design so she is my go-to for plant ID... sent her a pic of some new growth at a new house, we both said WEED so I went to hacking away, but left a couple out of curiosity because one had this odd seed head coming out... totally destroyed a BUNCH of beautiful poppies 
). I was clueless years ago, and had several garden beds get taken over by weeds before they grew enough for me to figure out what was what.
But yes, oak tree. You could always plant it as a fun reminder for years from now - I love plants with stories!2 -
moonangel12 wrote: »
Sadly I think that’s the case, looks very oak-ish to me@LoveyChar, do you know what type of lavendar that is? I know there are a bunch of kinds, most not hardy here. The ones I've grown have been narrow-leaved and thickly-leaved, gray-ish green foliage, and yours is very different, so I'm intrigued!
It was a seed (Sow Easy by Ferry Morse) but it only says lavender, not what type, on it. My daughter requested lavender to put under her pillow, as she heard it leads quickly to a peaceful lull. I'll be excited to see some flowers but not expecting any until spring (but not sure of that, either, as it may be sooner).
TBH, I think you have something that self seeded in your pot. The only lavender on the Ferry Morse sight has thin silvery leaves.
Oh my goodness, you mean I'm babying a weed...?!? I'm kind of disgusted.
If it’s any consolation at all, I am intentionally babying a couple oak trees planted by squirrels in pots because I decided it was a fun opportunity to have a portable piece of this chapter in our lives (unexpected move to another state 3 years ago for my husband’s job that has turned into a wonderful family adventure). Eventually, whenever we move, I’ll take it with me to plant - either at our old house if we go back, or at a new place with new beginnings!
ETA: a weed is only a weed if that’s how you label it. I dandelions and let the kids have fun spreading all the seeds they can while my father loathes them and seeks to destroy any and all in his yard. 2 -
@moonangel12 Very sweet, thank you...
To all of you that told me, thank you... My husband said he didn't think it was lavender but didn't want to ruin my joy (king of rude didn't want to ruin my joy?!) so anyway he lets me think I'm growing strong lavender. How sweet?! Eventually when it didn't sprout pretty purple flowers, I'd catch on.
But seriously, thank you... It's already uprooted. I'm disgusted, a little angry but it will all subside and I never want to talk about this again, 😕. I'm just kidding. I hope everyone has a lovely Saturday 💚!5 -
I love having a garden every summer; I learn so much from what/where/how to plant. I just wish I'd remember it all come the next summer.moonangel12 wrote: »That’s my downfall I am horrible at remember things from year to year, and also have some kind of mental block to actually write it down.
I know, why oh why won't I write things down??? Especially labeling harvested peas I'm saving for seeds - I always think I will remember which has the snow peas and which has the shelling peas but I don't 1 -
I love the annual journal idea that was mentioned and might give that a try, along with the additional info about the birds, etc. 0
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My latest bouquet from my 7year old son Intentionally took the pic in front of the window because we waged war on the weeds in the rocks but left the wild onions (or some type of allium) because the pollinators were enjoying them - he thought they were pretty and made a vase for me in my spot at the table.
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@moonangel12 Very sweet, thank you...
To all of you that told me, thank you... My husband said he didn't think it was lavender but didn't want to ruin my joy (king of rude didn't want to ruin my joy?!) so anyway he lets me think I'm growing strong lavender. How sweet?! Eventually when it didn't sprout pretty purple flowers, I'd catch on.
But seriously, thank you... It's already uprooted. I'm disgusted, a little angry but it will all subside and I never want to talk about this again, 😕. I'm just kidding. I hope everyone has a lovely Saturday 💚!
Don't feel bad, we all have had mystery plants grow that we thought were something else. Good thing that you still have some seeds so you can try again. The Ferry Morse website calls their lavender "true lavender" which makes me think it is what is commonly referred to as English lavender.3 -
New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.0 -
New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
As long as you're watering adequately, there's adequate soil fertility**, and the parsley isn't shading anything else out, I don't think it's a big deal. If it provides a little leafy coverage in otherwise bare areas, it may even help hold *a little* moisture in the soil, vs. sun-baked evaporation.
** IIRC, parsley is a heavy feeder. Unless your soil is depleted, I don't say that to worry you. With normal soil, it won't draw on nutrients so severely it noticeably hurts other plants.
If there's potential shading happening, cut back the parsley in those immediate areas, and eat it. (Or, if sufficient quantity, freeze it in water or oil in an herb-dedicated ice cube tray, for later use in soups and such. Once the cubes are frozen, you can dump them in a bag or box to reuse the tray. You want a dedicated tray, because some herbs' flavor can be hard enough to wash out that you would get residual taste in regular ice cubes later, depending on the tray's material.) Making some tabbouli could be a good idea!
Where the parsley's in otherwise bare spots, don't worry about it at all. (Well, don't *worry* worry about it anywhere! 😉 It's NBD. Things can be planted tightly together, and generally do very well as the plants get adequate water, light, nutrition.)
Cut the parsley close to other plants first, as you need some. If you cut it rather than pull it, some of it will grow new top growth, also fine.
Note: In many climates, including some harsh Winters, parsley is a biennial. If it comes back next year, it will be sub-par foliage, and will flower/seed quickly in that 2nd season. If some comes up next season, I'd pull it out and start over, personally. Could pull it out when you're done with this season, for a start on that, if you want to. Just my opinion.1 -
New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
As long as you're watering adequately, there's adequate soil fertility**, and the parsley isn't shading anything else out, I don't think it's a big deal. If it provides a little leafy coverage in otherwise bare areas, it may even help hold *a little* moisture in the soil, vs. sun-baked evaporation.
** IIRC, parsley is a heavy feeder. Unless your soil is depleted, I don't say that to worry you. With normal soil, it won't draw on nutrients so severely it noticeably hurts other plants.
If there's potential shading happening, cut back the parsley in those immediate areas, and eat it. (Or, if sufficient quantity, freeze it in water or oil in an herb-dedicated ice cube tray, for later use in soups and such. Once the cubes are frozen, you can dump them in a bag or box to reuse the tray. You want a dedicated tray, because some herbs' flavor can be hard enough to wash out that you would get residual taste in regular ice cubes later, depending on the tray's material.) Making some tabbouli could be a good idea!
Where the parsley's in otherwise bare spots, don't worry about it at all. (Well, don't *worry* worry about it anywhere! 😉 It's NBD. Things can be planted tightly together, and generally do very well as the plants get adequate water, light, nutrition.)
Cut the parsley close to other plants first, as you need some. If you cut it rather than pull it, some of it will grow new top growth, also fine.
Note: In many climates, including some harsh Winters, parsley is a biennial. If it comes back next year, it will be sub-par foliage, and will flower/seed quickly in that 2nd season. If some comes up next season, I'd pull it out and start over, personally. Could pull it out when you're done with this season, for a start on that, if you want to. Just my opinion.
Thank you!!! I have nothing to worry about, then! I appreciate this advice, all of it.1 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.0 -
It's due to this rain we've gotten lately.0
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I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)2 -
New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
Here's a tip for new gardeners - be very judicious of what you start from seed
I only use seeds for beans and peas, and plants like Malabar spinach that I know I will not be able to find seedlings locally.
I used to use seeds for something I wanted to start indoors and so get a jump on the season, but honestly, the garden centers have kale and Swiss chard seedlings by the time I'm ready to plant them, and they do a better job growing from seed than I do. A six-pack of seedlings each is more than enough for the two of us. Seed packages have way more seeds than I could possibly use by the time they expire. (My pole bean seeds are good for 5 years - many seeds are supposed to be used the same year purchased.)
The first time I wore a face covering this year was to a garden center
They had closed the indoor store to the public, were just using the outdoor register, maintaining social distancing, and requiring face coverings.2 -
I need to write it down also. I put hundred of seeds in pots and in my garden in May and in June and I eventually gave up abandoned it. Some I put many, many seeds in one pot. I have so much stuff growing and it's crazy. I had some rosemary, parsley, lavender, basil, bell peppers, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, and sweet Spanish onions. I have no idea what's what now.
Note: Seeds that have been sitting in pots or in a garden may germinate even if you think not. Obviously they don't just become "duds" that quick.
If you look online for "beet seedlings" (or whatever), a search engine is likely to provide photos of how the tiny plants look, if you need figure it out. It's hard to tell before the plants get their first set of true leaves (the first pair are 'seed leaves' or 'dicotolydons', and tend to be same-y across quite a range of plants). A few closely related plants (turnips and radishes, say) may have similar baby true leaves at first, but many of them will be distinctive enough to tell apart from just the first true leaves.
And yeah, rainwater is kind of magical - plants mostly like it better than well/city water. (Maybe well/city water is analogous to "highly processed foods" for humans - not as healthfully sustaining? 😆)
Thank you!1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
Here's a tip for new gardeners - be very judicious of what you start from seed
I only use seeds for beans and peas, and plants like Malabar spinach that I know I will not be able to find seedlings locally.
I used to use seeds for something I wanted to start indoors and so get a jump on the season, but honestly, the garden centers have kale and Swiss chard seedlings by the time I'm ready to plant them, and they do a better job growing from seed than I do. A six-pack of seedlings each is more than enough for the two of us. Seed packages have way more seeds than I could possibly use by the time they expire. (My pole bean seeds are good for 5 years - many seeds are supposed to be used the same year purchased.)
The first time I wore a face covering this year was to a garden center
They had closed the indoor store to the public, were just using the outdoor register, maintaining social distancing, and requiring face coverings.
I'm going to visit a gardening center soon and I definitely agree that you get way more seeds than you need in a packet, and I would and will buy seedlings in the future. In some cases seeds are good, such as my friend who shared her basil seeds with me and I offered her some of my seeds as well. I recently discovered ETSY and I'm somewhat addicted to "window shopping" there. I'm planning to buy some plants off there next month for my birthday. Strawberry is one and I want a plant, no seed, because I trust many of the growers and sometimes (not always) go with positive reviews. I don't know what else I'll get but I'm going to have some fun with it!0 -
I'm saving green bean seeds to plant next year. Is there a way to successfully save cucumber seeds also?0
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kshama2001 wrote: »New gardener dilemma 1,567,309:
In June when I first had my garden built and before I had a drip system, I planted my little plants. The only seeds I planted were parsley (then) and I planted hundreds in one straight line. I watered for a few weeks and nothing happened, so I gave up. Typical summers here are dry, dry, dry and up until September 1st it was dry. Then thanks to the rain from the hurricane, I now have hundreds of parsley sporadically placed in my garden. It's everywhere, all over the garden like a parsley bomb went off. I'm grateful for the rain because we need it, desperately, but in this situation I have no idea what to do. It popped up yesterday out of the blue. Do you think it will destroy the growth of my other plants? I'm not worried about my jalapeno pepper and tomato plant because they're well established. But I'm worried about the sweet potatoes I just planted over a week ago. What would you do? It's Italian Dark Leaf Parsley, whether that makes any difference or not. Anyone have advice? Thank you.
Here's a tip for new gardeners - be very judicious of what you start from seed
I only use seeds for beans and peas, and plants like Malabar spinach that I know I will not be able to find seedlings locally.
I used to use seeds for something I wanted to start indoors and so get a jump on the season, but honestly, the garden centers have kale and Swiss chard seedlings by the time I'm ready to plant them, and they do a better job growing from seed than I do. A six-pack of seedlings each is more than enough for the two of us. Seed packages have way more seeds than I could possibly use by the time they expire. (My pole bean seeds are good for 5 years - many seeds are supposed to be used the same year purchased.)
The first time I wore a face covering this year was to a garden center
They had closed the indoor store to the public, were just using the outdoor register, maintaining social distancing, and requiring face coverings.
I'm going to visit a gardening center soon and I definitely agree that you get way more seeds than you need in a packet, and I would and will buy seedlings in the future. In some cases seeds are good, such as my friend who shared her basil seeds with me and I offered her some of my seeds as well. I recently discovered ETSY and I'm somewhat addicted to "window shopping" there. I'm planning to buy some plants off there next month for my birthday. Strawberry is one and I want a plant, no seed, because I trust many of the growers and sometimes (not always) go with positive reviews. I don't know what else I'll get but I'm going to have some fun with it!
For strawberry plants, check to see if there is a local gardening group near you, like on FaceBook. Strawberries make "babies" and every spring and fall I give away plants. In my FB gardening group we give away lots of other plants as well.2
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