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Post by casimira on Aug 2, 2021 18:14:42 GMT
They look glorious and graceful to me but that's indicative of my garden style. I see you are aiming for a more tidy look in that bed and that's why you want to take them out.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 2, 2021 19:50:13 GMT
That is really happy news about the fig finding a home, Casimira!
Bjd, I think the gaura would be beautiful interspersed among the dahlias.
When you posted that picture of the agapanthus falling over last week, I was wondering what made them do that. Now, looking at that row with agapanthus and gaura, I see the problem. I believe the hedge behind them forces them to reach toward the light. My two cents is that both the agapanthus and the gaura would be a lot happier & would grow better if they were in a more open spot.
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Post by bjd on Aug 2, 2021 19:54:56 GMT
Yeah -- well the problem is that the hedge is in the neighbour's yard, up against the fence. So indeed, things lean forward but I can't plant things in the middle of the garden.
And the problem with the gaura interspersed in anything is that they multiply and take over.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 3, 2021 3:05:31 GMT
I am a big dahlia fan due to my grandparents' garden.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 3, 2021 11:55:52 GMT
My new little deep freezer was installed yesterday - only space near but far is in my laundryroom. It's going to be filled with our homegrown vegetables! Sunday veg haul from the garden.
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Post by casimira on Aug 3, 2021 14:17:56 GMT
What a bounty Tod!!! You've got everything one could desire and never have to seek out produce in the grocery or markets there.
I am impressed the most by the brassicas featured. Try as I can to get them to grow here, is a roll of the dice because of our unpredictable weather pattern. Some years they will perform beautifully if we have a cold snap. The problem is, the one year out of five or so that might happen. That one year seems to be the year I didn't bother to plant any because of the previous year's disappointing yield. This is the case with certain flowers as well. It is so maddening.
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Post by bjd on Aug 3, 2021 14:46:26 GMT
What an impressive harvest, Tod. The summer this year has not been very good for vegetable gardens. Several people I have talked to said their tomatoes are suffering from mildew because there hasn't been enough sun. Even the gardener I met who sells tomatoes to the public told me on Sunday that all his plants/tomatoes were sick and he can't sell them.
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Post by casimira on Aug 3, 2021 14:57:47 GMT
We had the same problem here BJD. All the rain we had caused mildew and rot and the figs were tasteless and too soft.
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Post by lugg on Aug 3, 2021 20:13:18 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 3, 2021 20:43:54 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 4, 2021 5:29:17 GMT
I buy fresh chillies of all sorts, red and green, Asian, Antillean and African, regularly at my Chinese supermarket and always end up with far more than I need. I just keep them in a little wicker basket in the kitchen and most of them dry just fine without my intervention. When I see one that has gone bad, I just pluck it out and toss it.
Of course, I can easily imagine that you would want to take special care of chillies that you have painstakingly grown yourself.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 14, 2021 15:59:57 GMT
I guess I could put this in the trauma thread, but I came here where I can probably get the most sympathy. These are pictures of what I woke up to this morning. I am so pissed off I could eat nails. This is why I hate, effing hate cat owners who smugly parrot that crap about how "cats are free spirits". These are the same goddamned people who would have a fit if a dog were to crap on their lawns, or a toddler permitted to pull things off a grocery store shelf. There is a constant parade of cats across my roof and the roofs of the neighbors. Some of them are pets and others are offspring of unneutered pets. They crap in the backyard, leaving a stench, and also have their offspring there. They taunt my dogs from the roof edges, causing the dogs to bark, which of course is not acceptable. We wouldn't want the neighbors to be disturbed, would we? Yesterday I saw five of the satan's spawn leaping from roof to roof in the back, including a kitten I would have thought too small to do that. Last night, while I was peacefully asleep in my hammock in the new room downstairs, I was jerked awake by the pounding of cat feet across the polycarbonate roof. But all the preceding, which totally sucks every single day, was not nearly as bad as this assault on my patio. Note that I picked up a few things before it occurred to me to take pictures -- the big crown of thorns was on its side between the dog lounger and the plant stand, & some of the pots lined up on the garden bed were actually on the ground or in the bed.
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Post by casimira on Aug 14, 2021 16:15:24 GMT
The cats did all that? Usually, they are looking for a place to poop and it's fresh soil that they go for. I have had to put down cayenne pepper to deter them when I create a new growing space. My sweet pea bed was slightly disturbed by my own cat until I put down some pepper. I also use chopsticks stuck in the bed to keep them out.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 14, 2021 17:03:41 GMT
That is dreadful bixa. I’m so sorry. Don’t know what to suggest,
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 14, 2021 21:29:56 GMT
Thank you so much, Mick -- that means a lot.
What royally pisses me off is how much has to be done because of these intruders into my space. Well, not just mine. The backyard space is for the landlords and my landlady has spent I don't know how much time picking up cat crap. Her husband has tried stuff to keep the cats out, but to no avail.
Obviously I have fixed and repotted what I could. I can never give back the years of growth on that big Thai crown of thorns that's been broken to bits, though, nor miraculously repair the thriving hibiscus I grew from a teeny cutting that has been split and broken all the way down to the ground. And no matter what I fix, where can I possibly put it where it will be safe from the marauding vermin?
Sorry to go on and on, but I just feel like crying. Well, crying and killing.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 15, 2021 9:49:15 GMT
Oh deary me Bixa - wat 'n gedoente! (What a happening...in English)! To me it looks like there may have been a cat fight in amongst your pot plants. Now I know cats are mad for Catnip. Can you perhaps plant some outside your front gate so that the cats go there to eat all they can before pushing off back home. I also think you need to pay a visit to your local vet who may be able to give you some traps. Then the cats can be neutered and stop breeding. Otherwise nature will dominate and you will be plagued with cats in the future. Hope someone can assist you soon.
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Post by casimira on Aug 15, 2021 15:23:30 GMT
I believe Tod is on to something. Must have been a major kerfuffle among them to cause that much damage. So sorry. I know you must be fuming.
Because they are nocturnal by nature, there's little you can do as they go at it at 3 a.m. or thereabouts when you are sleeping. That's when I hear the ones around here get into it.
Or, maybe they were going after a rat or mouse. That would definitely do it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 16, 2021 5:37:50 GMT
I think they were warding off a visiting coyote.
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Post by lugg on Aug 16, 2021 19:23:51 GMT
Yikes - so sorry for your trauma Bixa . Lemon juice works well to ward them pesky cats off . Pretty chiles! What kind are they? Capsicum annum ‘Apache’Thanks for the advice - they are still outside some are now turning red , but some are going dark , almost black - but not rotten. Any advice - is that ok ie will they still ripen ?
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 16, 2021 20:51:14 GMT
some are going dark , almost black - but not rotten. Any advice - is that ok ie will they still ripen ? Lugg, that is completely okay. Some chiles just do that. The chile paradito (another kind of Capsicum annum) always goes from green to dark green to black to red.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 19, 2021 15:46:01 GMT
I ripped out all the peas. My mistake was to plant "pea pods" as a vegetable instead of PEAS as in a shell. I am enlightened now. So what goes in their place? Well only thing I thought of that would survive hot temps would be green beans. So in they went. 5 days and one poked its head out. 7 days and some that emerged came out with two leaves!! This is like a baby born with hair AND teeth! Lots of blank spaces so I'm ready this weekend to stick in a few more beans in the blank spaces.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 19, 2021 16:21:11 GMT
Most seedlings have two leaves unless they are monocotyledon plants with one leaf such as orchids grasses and bulbs. Aloes are monocots.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 19, 2021 16:31:09 GMT
It’s dried peas that you sow btw tod.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 20, 2021 9:19:31 GMT
Yes yes, I know. Should have said the description on the pea seeds packet said "snap peas" so they ended up as mangtout not nice pods blistering with peas inside. By the time I waited for the pods to fill up it was almost too late to get any kind of helping for the pot. Silly me. These are the bean shoots at the moment. Notice the long container at the far end with no shoots. Why? All beans were planted the same hour of the same day! I actually asked the gardener if he did forget to plant any in that one but he says he did. I will wait until Monday for some little heads to show and if not I have another packet ready to plant.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 20, 2021 10:30:36 GMT
Last container looks a bit dry?
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 20, 2021 10:45:04 GMT
And also sorry tod. I honestly thought you had planted actual pea pods and expected them to come up!
Rather surprised me as you know your gardening but people have done stranger things.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 20, 2021 11:51:55 GMT
I must make myself clearer and not scoot around a comprehensible answer! It may look dry but that''s only the very thin layer on top as it rained last night but maybe is drying out quicker?
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Post by bjd on Sept 26, 2021 7:06:39 GMT
I pulled out a whole lot of gauras and took them to give away to friends when we went away last weekend. Now I have pulled out a few more, as I move things around in the garden. I replanted a few along a path where nothing else grows well and will take the rest to the dump.
I bought some clay cat litter, as suggested by the gardener I mentioned a few months ago. Mixed it with good soil and replanted a couple of peonies. I know they don't like to be moved, but they weren't blooming anyway. I also moved a tree peony that I planted last year but which got completely overgrown by long grass and wasn't getting enough sun.
I would really like to plant a red rosebush, but don't really know where to put it. On the one hand, I tell myself to fill spaces with bushes that won't need too much work, and on the other, I like to have colour and flowers. Dilemma!
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 24, 2021 14:54:22 GMT
Lovely warm sunny day today.
Had a good clear up, spread manure over the veg bed and planted up pots of daffs and tulips. Checked greenhouse.
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Post by casimira on Oct 24, 2021 15:22:46 GMT
I am trying to dig up and transplant a slew of perennials, bulbs and rhizomatic plants from the front garden to the back to keep in pots until the whole demo is complete. The ground is bone dry from a lack of rain and I have no source of water. My next door neighbors have graciously allowed me to hook up a hose to their outdoor spigot to do some watering for the plants that have already been moved back there. This however, will entail using a whole lot more water to soak the areas where I need to dig. Am hoping it rains today as predicted but time is running out and my patience is running thin. I just want it to all be over and done with.
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