Gardening as therapy.

Amazed, there are vegetable seedlings already popping up, planted 4/12.
A mirage or possibly a delusion, I am sure!

If it's that easy, I am going to shop for my favorite: Sweet Pea flowers!

Glad, your garden of catnip is a cats dream come true. Haha

I have some hibiscus bushes that usually don't show life until at least mid May. They are looking green already! Daffodils and crocus have woken as have the scilla.

Crazy warmth has spring in full swing here - some volunteer lettuce seedlings have sprouted, the daffodils and forsythia are blooming and even though it didn't really need it I got out my mower yesterday to give the grass a little trim. But it's only April so there's snow in the forecast for next week, that is going to feel so miserable.

Thanks Cwillie, that sounds like it would work better than hiring a gardener.
Yay!

Also, it is the known habitat for Zink, the skink. We last saw him about a year ago, when he jumped up the stairs onto the front porch. We should protect the area.

In the meantime, I am studying dead man posts. When we were Camp Hosts at a State Park, the ranger there taught us to bury a post but put a cross beam at the bottom to make it more secure. Then it does not need to be buried so deep.

I would let it grow, you can always change you mind later if it doesn't behave. Can you hire someone to put in a sturdier post? A company that does fences should be able to do it.

The storms and wind bent over the Cape Honeysuckle in the front corner of my home. The vine had grown as big as a tree, and now is unstable at the roots.
It was constantly blooming orange flowers for the hummingbirds.

When cutting it back, pulling out the branches caused the roots to be more unstable.
(I did not do this). It is one hot mess now and looks unsightly.
However, it will grow. We just won't be able to allow it to get taller than 4 or 5 ft.

I could rent an auger to drill down, placing a post deeper down, add a brace underground, or a dead man brace above ground.

Wondering if I should keep it, try harder at more expense to stabilize it. The physical labor required was too much for both my husband and I working together. But we are in need of some shade for the summer.

Feeling conflicted. Taking it out fully could hurt us. Tying it to the porch looks really tacky. Any trellis we tried is not holding this thing up. My dH wants to keep it. It was so beautiful!

And then...we planted some vegetables to grow in the sun. I did this so poorly that doubt anything will grow. Peas, spinach, lettuce, carrots in gal. bottle containers to start. Nice effort, but that too was just too much with pain from fibromyalgia and arthritis. I will be amazed! I guess that I should have a watering schedule now. 😜

Wayyy too much for me. I am so happy! That is what feeling conflicted is all about.

Common mint and many other mint relatives are indeed a nightmare in the garden and yard, pulling the plants and roots as best you can and then smothering them under thick newspaper or cardboard for several seasons is the only solution I know of. Better to grow your mint in pots!

cw,

How do you get rid of invasive plants in a garden?

I love mint but have avoided growing it an an area where it would take over.

I have to find some new plants for my bathroom.

I have two purple orchids in there now. One on my window sill bloomed for years! It stopped. The other one by my tub is dropping orchids on me when I bathe! LOL 😆

Is the bathroom too hot and steamy for orchids? What plants survive well in a bathroom? Keep in mind that I take long, steamy hot baths and showers because of my allergies.

I like indoor plants but most of mine end up dying.

My mother in law grew beautiful African violets. She had them for years and years. After she died, my father in law didn’t care for them and they all died.

I've never grown catnip or catmint but I have grown lemon balm and it managed to pop up all over the place. All mints are a little invasive but I don't think either of these are too difficult to eradicate, just don't let it go to seed!

Somehow I have catnip invading my garden area. Literally taking over everything! I never even planted any. Where did it come from? How to eliminate it?

I love to see everything blooming! I just wish that I didn’t have horrible allergies. I’m allergic to just about everything. My father was too.

Spring and fall are the best seasons. We don’t get the beautiful fall foliage here but our summer season is brutal so I am always ready for the fall.

Ha, it was two men with a great big machine! I just wasn't quick enough :(

Scillas grew here for a while. Very pretty. Did a neighbour remove them?

Some of you may remember that my street was under construction last year, today they have returned to finish up our driveways and put down topsoil and new grass. This morning I was pleased to see some scilla (or maybe chionodoxa?) blooming where I used to have a flower bed and I planned to go out and move them, but they are already gone 😭

Ages ago(before Arnica was in stores)my friends horse had some leg swelling. The vet suggested cold hosing& Arnica lotion. We finally found a store brand lotion & it helped. Natural products have always been interesting to me

Ana.

Thanks, that’s good to know. I find that the rainwater really perks up our plants.

My plumbago is growing new leaves since I pruned back the frozen part from the last freeze, so it looks like it will bloom soon.

Plumbagos are hearty! I love the blue flowers.

NHWM, we have a downspout that feeds into a rain barrel. A soaker hose comes out at the bottom to water plants that grow against the dry northeast side of our house. Our passive solar overhangs are 3’ or 4’ (I should know this) and most storms approach from south and/or west.

I also water from our pond so I don’t drain our well. Nutritious fish and frog manure.

Alva, copper sulphate (sulfate) was used as a fungicide, or herbicide. Blue-green crystals. Likely dissolved and sprayed. Used to keep tree roots away from weeping tiles, etc. I remember my father buying it 50 years ago but it may be restricted now.

I’m curious. Do any of you collect rainwater to water your plants or gardens?

Louisiana gets a fair amount of rainfall. I notice that after it has rained my garden seems to perk up more so than when I water it with my hose.

My mom would collect rainwater to water her plants and garden. She felt that plants preferred rainwater. Do you feel this way too?

Glad, yes, that's exactly this. And with all our rainfall, finally in California, it is at its worst this year. Guess I am down to that for sure, and it is a fungus, and copper is the answer. Big tree, would have to be an airplane spraying I think, hee hee. It does produce peaches, but like I said, squirrels get them before me. They go from peaches to apples to persimmons here, quite happily. Two massive Oaks in the two yards directly behind me, so some acorns as well. They are fat and happy creatures.

That was really a complete article on just what it is, what it looks like, and how it acts.

Glad,

Maybe he hasn’t and doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.

One of my favorite pies is peach. I prefer it to apple pie. It’s my favorite cobbler too.

He has never had a palisade peach!😊😊

https://matadornetwork.com/read/palisade-peaches/

Our FFA (Future Farmers of America) has their yearly fundraiser by selling cases of Palisade peaches.

Glad,

I always buy peach pepper jelly at my local farmers market and fairs. One vendor told me that he thinks peaches from South Carolina are the best. South Carolina harvests more peaches than Georgia does. California grows the most peaches.

I love peaches! I glaze a pork loin with the pepper jelly.

My mother in law preferred nectarines over peaches. I like both.

Palisade peaches are grown in the western part of the state. They beat a Georgia peach any day! 😁😁 I don't know if anything like that happens here. There is definitely problems with late freezes.

Copper isn't a pesticide, or is there a pesticide called copper?

Gotta love Google!
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7426.html

Maybe a question here for the Georgia Peach crowd, but am wondering if anyone knows?

I have an old peach tree and an old apple tree in the yard next door, that I love for their hanging over the fence into my yard with their bounties.
Each season the peach gets its lovely pink blossoms,
then a set of leaves that quickly go all curly and weird (almost a fungus sort of look); these then drop
and a SECOND set of leaves come in that are lovely for the most part.
It always grows great tasting peaches which the squirrels are loathe to share with me.

I asked an orchardist about it long ago; he may have given me a name of the pest, and he said "Oh, needs it's spring spray of copper".

Noooooooo. No pesticides for my garden with all the wild birds and squirrels. So we make do.

My question is this:
If you live in warmer climes, not so damp and without seasons, not so without hot sun in summer--do your peach trees STILL suffer from whatever this pest is?

Just curious really, and thanks to any experts.

Victoria,

Dawn dishwashing liquid is a multi purpose item. I love it.

We have so many deer here in the forest, so I grow a lot of zinnias & cosmos each summer. To take care of the Japanese beetles, I take a small bucket & fill it with dawn dish soap & water. I flick the beetles into the dishwater. It kills them almost instantly.

I have a nice patch of Johnny Jump Ups that come back year after year. 💐

Foxglove and digitalis