I keep mixing up the other parts of the garden in the vegetable garden thread. I'll see if I can do a better job of separating it.
I can't spend as much time in the garden as I used to. I just get too tired, so I have to split everything into smaller tasks. But I do have a high maintenance yard, so things get behind a lot.
After the rains, the weeds pop up every where. My basic way to control weeds is basically weedblock and glyphosate. As long as it doesn't rain, it stays under control because I hand water so a lot of places won't get water except for rain.
The neighbors' hibiscus is coming through my fence again. One of these days I have to cut it back again.
The crepe myrtle also benefitted from the rain. It was looking shabby, but it is showing some new growth. it is still a long way from looking like it did.
The flower garden is being over run with weeds and grass. It will take some time to get it out. I even found some Fukien tea and fiddlewood in the beds. I have been pulling those seedlings out everywhere. The good thing is that the melampodium is actually spreading in the flower bed. But, I don't see any of the angelonia anymore. The alyssum is doing well in some places, but I have been pulling out the older plants. I want to expand the flower bed and decrease the grass. The flower beds on the otherside have been invaded by the grass and I will have to pull out the grass. It is even going into the neighbors hibiscus hedge. The hedge and palms cast so much shade that it is hard to find plants that are not high maintenance that will tolerate that much shade. I have nasturtiums and blue daze there. Normally, I would not have nasturtiums at this time of the year, but it has been cooler than normal. The rose struggles to get sun.
The gardenia is actually putting out a lot of buds. I have to feed it more. It has been awhile. The mussaenda is the only thing that is thriving, but so are the weeds under it, so I need to get rid of the California grass.
In the meantime, yesterday while I was out on the first "normal" day I seen in a couple of weeks, I found that at least three of my vandas are in bud or bloom. One, I did not even know I had. Most of my phals have been in bloom for months and it is the end of the season for them, so most of the blossoms are fading. The phais is putting out new shoots. Considering I lost half the plant after I repotted it two years ago, this is promising, but it is time to repot again. I do have another pink phal that is in bud.
The lehua is still blooming. I'll try to get some pictures today. Getting it in the camera is not hard getting it to upload to the computer is more challenging.
I got some pictures of the yard this morning. This is after a week of almost constant rain.
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- Five tier tower has some lettuce and beans were planted 3 weeks after the ones in the 7 tier tower. Peppers are growing. But most of the plants on the lowest tier of both planters are empty. (Green onions died) The weeds are getting very tall.
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- This is the garden after puling out the lettuce, bekana, and some of the bok choy and 2 buckets of weeds.
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- With all the rain, they thyme and spearmint need to be divided again.
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- more lemons on the way
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- Lemons are still producing
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- long eggplant will be ready soon.
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- Started a lot of seedlings.
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- Tendergreen and Maxibel beans are starting to flower.
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- A vanda in bud.
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- pink vanda blooming
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- I foujnd this vanda blooming after the rain. I didn't even know I had.
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30624
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Looking good! You really like those towers, it looks like? (I’m starting to think I might want one to try 
)
I kind of chuckled to see your strawberry jars that kind of looks like you are only using as “risers” for those other herb bowls (but I could be wrong — I might be projecting because my own one strawberry jar has been sitting idle for the past couple of seasons and really needs to be refurbished with fresh potting media and relocated where it can be useful)
Envying the citruses. LOVE the surprise vanda— lovely
)I kind of chuckled to see your strawberry jars that kind of looks like you are only using as “risers” for those other herb bowls (but I could be wrong — I might be projecting because my own one strawberry jar has been sitting idle for the past couple of seasons and really needs to be refurbished with fresh potting media and relocated where it can be useful)
Envying the citruses. LOVE the surprise vanda— lovely
Before covid, I had a stable orchid collection of about 300. I lost a few over the last 4-5 years and there weren't any shows or clubs meeting to get replacements. I actually don't know how many I have now. I do have a lot of duplicates because the ones that do well have been divided. My orchid clubs are meeting again. There is another orchid show on June 14-15 and my club is going on a safari to an orchid nursery. I probably won't buy as much as I used to, but I am hoping to find some good ones. Orchids are relatively easy to grow here with shading. The bench with the frame is actually one of my orchid benches. It was getting a lot of the western sun and the neighbor's hedge shook 3 of my 4 benches apart. So, I have been using this one for other things. I may have to evict some of these plants because I actually need to turn this back into an orchid bench because the 2 benches that still have shade cloth ae getting too crowded.
The orchids I have probably won't do well except maybe the phalaenopsis which are often grown as house plants because they have low light requirements. These vandas are being grown under 50% shade cloth or under trees. I am growing warm house orchids. Where you live, the orchid species you could grow would fall under the cool or intermediate house orchids. I can grow some intergenerics that have crosses between warm and cool growing orchids, but I actually am not cold enough to grow the cool growing ones.
I used to have more strawberry pots. Some of them have broken and the larger ones are nearly impossible to find now. I am using them mainly for bases now. They are good for strawberries, but not a lot of anything else. Mint would take over the entire pot. Succulents do ok for awhile, until they outgrow the pot. To make use of all the pockets, the pot would have to be on a stand in full sun
I really do like the towers. I can get 30-36 plants in a 2 sf footprint. People do grow bigger things in them, but strawberries, bush beans, peppers, and lettuce have done the best. I had grown kale, chard, and bekana, but they get too big especially since I do cut and come again and don't harvest them small. I've seen people plant tomatoes and cukes in them, but they will get bigger in their own pots and they won't block the other pockets. I have seen herbs, root crops, and flowers in the towers before. It does have to be fertilized often because it leaches. I took off the mover and they are both on spinners now so they can be turned to water as well as to get more sun. I could stack fewer tiers if I don't need it so tall. It is on a paver base so it won't sink in the ground again and it keeps it level.
I belong to 3 orchid clubs, one bonsai club, and I just joined the cactus and succulent society. I am also a member of the grafting hui ( even though I have 100% failure in grafting. I do grow trees from cuttings. I am better at doing that.) I am also going to the plant shares that are nearby. I end up collecting even more plants that way. That is where most of the starts I am growing will end up since there is more than I can possibly use. I can get orchids, and succulents at club meetings. Those are usually meeting takeaways. The bonsai club, I joined because I was having my friend bring my bougainvillea bonsai to the club for the sensei to work on, then I later joined the club. The club just had its first post covid bonsai sale. I got a couple of pots and some wire. I have gotten some starters from the bonsai club, mainly they were plants that were donated by people who could no longer take care of them and every once in a while people will bring plants to sell. I have a couple of other starters, a couple of jade, schefflera, a couple of junipers that still are being grown out and not ready for shaping yet. I also started to shape the miracle berry, but I may just make that topiary because the leaves are too big and it would not look proportional. Miracle berry is also a slow grower. I have euphorbia cotinifolia which I usually grow as topiary. I have a very diverse landscape. I actually have a lot of plants, but not a lot of the same thing. I like more exotic plants that most people don't have and some are rare, but not showy, so a lot of people would not appreciate them, like the endangered native species.
I don't have a lot of succulents but I do have air plants , adenium, dragon fruit, and some true cacti. I can only grow the ones that are more tolerant to rain because I live in a relatively wet area. It is also why I grow mostly vanda, cattleya, oncidium, and phalaenopsis because they like it cool and can handle more water. I have only a couple of dendrobiums that can handle more water. The cane dendrobiums like to be hotter and drier and they do well at my mom's house but not mine.
The orchids I have probably won't do well except maybe the phalaenopsis which are often grown as house plants because they have low light requirements. These vandas are being grown under 50% shade cloth or under trees. I am growing warm house orchids. Where you live, the orchid species you could grow would fall under the cool or intermediate house orchids. I can grow some intergenerics that have crosses between warm and cool growing orchids, but I actually am not cold enough to grow the cool growing ones.
I used to have more strawberry pots. Some of them have broken and the larger ones are nearly impossible to find now. I am using them mainly for bases now. They are good for strawberries, but not a lot of anything else. Mint would take over the entire pot. Succulents do ok for awhile, until they outgrow the pot. To make use of all the pockets, the pot would have to be on a stand in full sun
I really do like the towers. I can get 30-36 plants in a 2 sf footprint. People do grow bigger things in them, but strawberries, bush beans, peppers, and lettuce have done the best. I had grown kale, chard, and bekana, but they get too big especially since I do cut and come again and don't harvest them small. I've seen people plant tomatoes and cukes in them, but they will get bigger in their own pots and they won't block the other pockets. I have seen herbs, root crops, and flowers in the towers before. It does have to be fertilized often because it leaches. I took off the mover and they are both on spinners now so they can be turned to water as well as to get more sun. I could stack fewer tiers if I don't need it so tall. It is on a paver base so it won't sink in the ground again and it keeps it level.
I belong to 3 orchid clubs, one bonsai club, and I just joined the cactus and succulent society. I am also a member of the grafting hui ( even though I have 100% failure in grafting. I do grow trees from cuttings. I am better at doing that.) I am also going to the plant shares that are nearby. I end up collecting even more plants that way. That is where most of the starts I am growing will end up since there is more than I can possibly use. I can get orchids, and succulents at club meetings. Those are usually meeting takeaways. The bonsai club, I joined because I was having my friend bring my bougainvillea bonsai to the club for the sensei to work on, then I later joined the club. The club just had its first post covid bonsai sale. I got a couple of pots and some wire. I have gotten some starters from the bonsai club, mainly they were plants that were donated by people who could no longer take care of them and every once in a while people will bring plants to sell. I have a couple of other starters, a couple of jade, schefflera, a couple of junipers that still are being grown out and not ready for shaping yet. I also started to shape the miracle berry, but I may just make that topiary because the leaves are too big and it would not look proportional. Miracle berry is also a slow grower. I have euphorbia cotinifolia which I usually grow as topiary. I have a very diverse landscape. I actually have a lot of plants, but not a lot of the same thing. I like more exotic plants that most people don't have and some are rare, but not showy, so a lot of people would not appreciate them, like the endangered native species.
I don't have a lot of succulents but I do have air plants , adenium, dragon fruit, and some true cacti. I can only grow the ones that are more tolerant to rain because I live in a relatively wet area. It is also why I grow mostly vanda, cattleya, oncidium, and phalaenopsis because they like it cool and can handle more water. I have only a couple of dendrobiums that can handle more water. The cane dendrobiums like to be hotter and drier and they do well at my mom's house but not mine.
It is 77 degrees. The trades are back but there are still occasional showers. It finally was less windy this morning so I was able to get out to do some weed control. There are some places where I will have to bring digging tools and cutters to get through but at least I should be able to spot those weeds once the forest is tamed.
I have to step up the watering because it is windy, the plants are drying out faster so I have to get into the habit of watering everyday instead of every three days. The prolonged rain got me out of the routine, so I have to get back into it. It is much easier to fall out of a routine than it is to start it again.
I haven't seen any more snails. but it took me almost three hours to do the weed control today. I should put out the slug bait just in case. At least that is easy to do.
I have to step up the watering because it is windy, the plants are drying out faster so I have to get into the habit of watering everyday instead of every three days. The prolonged rain got me out of the routine, so I have to get back into it. It is much easier to fall out of a routine than it is to start it again.
I haven't seen any more snails. but it took me almost three hours to do the weed control today. I should put out the slug bait just in case. At least that is easy to do.
It took a few days to find one that wasn't so windy since the trades came back, but I got sprayed the weeds. the nutsedge was about 8 inches tall when I finally got around to weed whacking it yesterday. Some of the other weeds are also dying, but some did not. I will try to pull some up and if that is not enough, some of the weeds are resistant, I will have to try to dig them up to move up to tryclopyr.
I did get one green can out early this morning. So, it is empty again.
I have a grafting hui trip tomorrow to do some topworking on mangoes. I am just going to watch. It will take up most of the morning. It is 30 miles away and will take 40-60 minutes to get there, if I don't get lost ( I am not counting on not getting lost).
On Sunday, there is a plant share, but I am not sure I will be going. It is a lot of walking and I can't walk very far. I can make a different one, there is a share every week or two. In the meantime, I have started some plants for the share but I may be able to use some of them at the Second Saturday at the Garden event next week. June is pollinator month and I do have some mint and thyme and some other starts I can donate. I am not going to donate the glove amaranth or mini roses, since I want to get them bigger and propagate them.
It rained a little overnight, but I need to water, it won't be enough.
I did get one green can out early this morning. So, it is empty again.
I have a grafting hui trip tomorrow to do some topworking on mangoes. I am just going to watch. It will take up most of the morning. It is 30 miles away and will take 40-60 minutes to get there, if I don't get lost ( I am not counting on not getting lost).
On Sunday, there is a plant share, but I am not sure I will be going. It is a lot of walking and I can't walk very far. I can make a different one, there is a share every week or two. In the meantime, I have started some plants for the share but I may be able to use some of them at the Second Saturday at the Garden event next week. June is pollinator month and I do have some mint and thyme and some other starts I can donate. I am not going to donate the glove amaranth or mini roses, since I want to get them bigger and propagate them.
It rained a little overnight, but I need to water, it won't be enough.