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Post by jen51 on May 10, 2017 20:27:58 GMT -5
We are in the process of creating a Mary Garden. We should have done it right when we got married. All of the flowers in it will be white. So far we have planted Iris, peony, calla Lilly and gladiolus bulbs. Also some alyssum for ground cover. Now that the spring bulbs are planted, we await the opportunity to plant fall bulbs. Here in a couple days we will transplant some garland daisies there. We transplanted our grandiflora rose bush to the front flower garden, and my husband has been breeding irises. We recently planted cucumbers and more beets. The broccoli is looking good, it should be ready to harvest in a couple weeks. We're still eating a ton of lettuce and spinach. Do you know which type of peony you planted? I've been thinking about planting some but far away from the house to keep the ants from wandering in. My tulips are not done blooming and I just cut all of the hyacinths down yesterday, this is going to be a late year. They are called Duchesse de Nemoure I tried to attach a pic of the ones we cut and brought in for a centerpiece today but it said the file was too large. Peonies are some of my favorites.
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Post by Clotilde on May 11, 2017 7:36:55 GMT -5
Do you know which type of peony you planted? I've been thinking about planting some but far away from the house to keep the ants from wandering in. My tulips are not done blooming and I just cut all of the hyacinths down yesterday, this is going to be a late year. They are called Duchesse de Nemoure I tried to attach a pic of the ones we cut and brought in for a centerpiece today but it said the file was too large. Peonies are some of my favorites. I can Google. They are beautiful. My mother doesn't like them because her mother had them. They always had ants in the house, and since the peony bushes were close to the house, I think they got the blame. I have tons of ants in my yard already, but I was thinking to try planting them on the side of the driveway that will attract them away from the house. Do you cut them down each winter? I'm thinking if I have to do that, it will be ok to put them closer to where the snow is high in the winter.
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Post by jen51 on May 11, 2017 10:48:20 GMT -5
Yes, I cut them down come winter. I suppose you don't have to, they'll still come back in the spring, but the dead stuff looks bad. Ants are quite fond of them
My grandparents have had a big patch of white peonies since I can remember. They have the largest blooms I've seen. My grandpa was the gardener. Now that I've grown up and have taken an interest in gardening, I'd like to know the name of them. I wish I could ask him (RIP).
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on May 11, 2017 16:53:21 GMT -5
I planted onions last week. I can't believe you are going to be harvesting broccoli already! I still haven't put mine outside but I'm hoping to be able to soon. I have no lettuce or chard yet this year but I've been taking care of other things and not going to be down about it.
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Post by jen51 on May 17, 2017 22:36:16 GMT -5
Today I planted bush beans and spaghetti squash, and I worked on getting the bed ready for summer squash. DH planted tomatoes.
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Post by Clotilde on May 19, 2017 22:52:06 GMT -5
Deadheaded most tulips, weeded, learned how to lift and store tulips, laid down some grass seed and cover, ordered more Nematoads because I need to do grub treatment again this year. Hopefully tomorrow I will plant the lilacs and at least, dig up a few bulbs for drying, and maybe get some summer bulbs in the ground.
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Post by RitaMarita on May 24, 2017 6:50:12 GMT -5
We have a quarter acre garden and about 1/5 of it is strawberries! We have already processed around 30 quarts or so over the past few days! I am ready for their season to be done! We also have about ten huge blueberry bushes about 5 ft. high by 5 ft. wide with hundreds and hundreds of berries. They will probably be ripe about the time that the strawberries are done! "No rest for the weary nor for the wicked..." Oh, and all our roses and other flowers are starting to bloom!!! I am so happy we have a flower garden!
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Post by Clotilde on May 24, 2017 6:54:59 GMT -5
We have a quarter acre garden and about 1/5 of it is strawberries! We have already processed around 30 quarts or so over the past few days! I am ready for their season to be done! We also have about ten huge blueberry bushes about 5 ft. high by 5 ft. wide with hundreds and hundreds of berries. They will probably be ripe about the time that the strawberries are done! "No rest for the weary nor for the wicked..." Oh, and all our roses and other flowers are starting to bloom!!! I am so happy we have a flower garden! I would gladly help you process strawberries and other fruits. It's actually one of my favorite things to do, I usually do it alone and I find it relaxing.
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Post by jen51 on May 24, 2017 22:36:00 GMT -5
Picking berries is one of my favorite things to do. Strawberries sure do take over quickly. Good thing they are so delicious!
What does your family do with all of your strawberries and blackberries, Rita?
Lately we have planted tomatoes and peppers, picked about 6 gallons of strawberries, done a lot of weeding and harvested rhubarb. I also planted some candytuft flower seeds.
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Post by RitaMarita on May 27, 2017 6:44:00 GMT -5
We have a quarter acre garden and about 1/5 of it is strawberries! We have already processed around 30 quarts or so over the past few days! I am ready for their season to be done! We also have about ten huge blueberry bushes about 5 ft. high by 5 ft. wide with hundreds and hundreds of berries. They will probably be ripe about the time that the strawberries are done! "No rest for the weary nor for the wicked..." Oh, and all our roses and other flowers are starting to bloom!!! I am so happy we have a flower garden! I would gladly help you process strawberries and other fruits. It's actually one of my favorite things to do, I usually do it alone and I find it relaxing. I also find it relaxing too, except when I have SO MANY other things to do also!
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Post by RitaMarita on May 27, 2017 6:46:10 GMT -5
Picking berries is one of my favorite things to do. Strawberries sure do take over quickly. Good thing they are so delicious! What does your family do with all of your strawberries and blackberries, Rita? Lately we have planted tomatoes and peppers, picked about 6 gallons of strawberries, done a lot of weeding and harvested rhubarb. I also planted some candytuft flower seeds. We often cut up and freeze about 100 quarts a year and then use them in smoothies on pancake or in crisps throughout the year. A lot of my roses died this year because it got so warm and then froze again... I like candytuft!!!
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Post by Clotilde on May 27, 2017 21:12:37 GMT -5
I have been drying up tulips but still have not been able to plant anything other than flowers due to bad weather. I can't even put tomatoes or peppers out.
I inspected my fruit trees, I have peach leaf curl from one of the ones from HD. It's not a big tree so I should be able to get it under control. My next issue is checking the apples for coddling moth. I ordered some netting for the cherries and possibly the Saturn peach (I don't know if birds eat those). Those trees are looking healthy. Blueberries are on track. My herbs look beautiful and I'll be putting the rest of them in on Tuesday. I still have to do tubers and bulbs, I think I have gladiolus, dahlia, and begonia.
I will be spraying a round of nematoads for the grubs. They were not too bad last year but we had a drought and I am betting it killed the nematoads too.
Someone tipped me off to a wholesale place that sends bulb plants in gift baskets, they have a factory outlet sale and I bought a ton of daffodil and jonquil varieties. I think they will keep me busy dividing and replanting them.
I bought all of the cool hybrid mints today and I can't wait to have mint all year long. I ran out at Easter. I also bought one Thai pepper plant, I will buy enough peppers to fill in the rest of my garden. They were an afterthought and I didn't get the seeds started in time.
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Post by jen51 on May 29, 2017 22:23:50 GMT -5
That's a lot of strawberries, Rita! Our beds aren't big enough to get that kind of volume yet, but eventually.
So far we have frozen some strawberries, and I have a dehydrator full drying tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at fruit leather, and perhaps the next day I'll make some jam.
Next year, since we'll have more strawberries, I've already decided I want to make some strawberry wine, and also see if I can come up with a decent strawberry rhubarb concentrate.
Sorry about your roses....
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Post by jen51 on May 29, 2017 22:24:44 GMT -5
How do you use your mints, Clotilde? I struggle with finding uses for them. Today I drank lime peppermint water and it was decent.
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Post by Clotilde on May 29, 2017 22:38:20 GMT -5
How do you use your mints, Clotilde? I struggle with finding uses for them. Today I drank lime peppermint water and it was decent. I eat a lot of Greek/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food. I love Apple mint in lemonade and water.
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