As the weather warms up, lettuce tends to become bitter. So far, only the romaine lettuce has been affected, and only just slightly.
This picture was taken before a large harvest. We've been regular ever since.
Compare what it looked like 50 days ago.
A shady garden and failure to inoculate seeds with helper bacteria, a good crop of peas do not make.
It's the first attempt at growing peas on the grange, but it seems that the unexpected shade and failure to inoculate the peas with rhizobia bacteria have harmed flower production. As a "nitrogen-fixer," a pea plant supplies its own nitrogen by plucking it out of the air with the help of rhizobia bacteria. According to some studies, pea inoculant boosts crop yield by over 75%. Never will the words, "rhizobia's for suckers," cross my lips, at least not in the backyard.
It's been said that knowing is half the battle, so next year bodes well for peas.
Sources: Oregon State, U. Idaho, You Grow Girl
6/4 - Mountain Laurel blooms, white clover blooms
6/7 - Fertilizer applied to lawn
6/8 - Peony "Sarah Bernhardt" blooms
6/9 - Snap peas set flower buds, 41 days after sprouting
6/10 - Hydrangea layering propagation started.
Emerging back on April 20th, it finally bloomed yesterday, about a week or two after most peonies in the area. Unfortunately not labeled when planted, this is most likely the "Sarah Bernhardt" variety, taking its name from a famous Victorian-era actress prominent when this variety was hybridized in 1906.
5/28
Overestimating the amount of sun the edge of the yard receives, it appears that the garden only gets 5 hours of direct sun. This probably explains why the leaf vegetables look relatively good while the other crops -- especially the beans -- look anemic.
My fingers are crossed, hoping for the best for this little guy, but, in all likelihood the bed will need to be moved next spring in order to escape the shade.
Dusty in appearance, underhanded in action, the boxwood psyllid, also known as jumping plant lice, starts out looking like some sort of powdery fungus (or lice on that dude sitting next to you on your morning commute). Fortunately, the damage it causes is mostly cosmetic, short-lived, and, as any second-grader with lice will tell you, primarily focused on social ostracism and exclusion from birthday parties.
Of course, finding this out before an insecticide was applied would have been good, but my spraying should at least prevent these guys from laying next year's generation of super psyllids in my boxwoods.
What You Need to Know
1) Eggs hatch at around 80 growing degree days and adults appear at around 300.
2) They cause the leaves to cup, which is mostly an aesthetic issue.
3) No treatment is necessary as they'll soon die off but not before laying next year's eggs in the leaves.
4) If you do spray, they appear to be relatively easy to conquer with permethrin. However, permethrin can cause all sorts of nasty stuff, so maybe it'd be better to to accept your new identity as the kid with jumping plant lice.
Sources: University of Massachusetts Extension
Planted three weeks ago, this puppy was in sorry shape. It quickly turned the corner and today it suavely conceals its lowly origins.
May 21 - Boxwood psyllids emerge; rudbeckia fulgida "goldsturm," echinacea purpurea "magnus," paeonia lactiflora "Bowl of Beauty," and phlox paniculata "Orange Perfection" planted in perennial border. Astilbes and spirea relocated within the border while a rhododendron was shipped to the backyard. Soaker hose and lots of mulch laid down.
May 22 - Chives in full swing bloom.
picture: peony bud
5/16 - Chives begin bloom
5/18 - 5/20 - Heavy rains bring vegetable garden to near standstill.
5/20 - Tulips lose flowers
5/7 - Temperatures fall to 32.0 F. The last freeze of the season?
5/11 - Azalea in full bloom
5/12 - Lilac in full bloom
5/13 - Rhododendron "Cunningham White" in full bloom
Had no idea this shrub was anything special until it started to set flower buds a few weeks ago.
Wandering the "wooded" part of the yard, I found another hosta that had been abandoned last fall. Resting upside down for the entire winter, above ground no less, the shoots had started to bend back toward the roots, which were now on top. Snatched from certain death or, at least, complete lack of attention, it was quickly planted on the shady side of the garage. Anyone think it'll make it?
What most people call a geranium is really pelargonium. (Yo' momma so stupid she calls pelargonium . . . wait for it . . . geranium! Oh, snap! There it is.) Cruel taunts aside, the plant's fairly easy to keep alive through the winter.
Nicked two cuttings last October, put one in water and the other in potting soil, kept them near a window for the past six or seven months and here are the results. The geranium pelargonium grown in potting soil became gigantic, even put out some flowers. The one grown in water doesn't look so hot, but it still deserves a spot - albeit a less vaunted one - on my driveway. (It's the smaller one in the dark green container. Interestingly, the imitation faux terracotta plant is the remnants of last year's herb container. Only the creeping thyme survived the winter outside. )
Source: University of Nebraska
5/1 - Grass seeds emerge, taking 10 days to germinate.
5/2 - Pole beans sprout, taking 11 days to germinate.
5/3 - "What a day for a mow!"
5/5 - All tulips in bloom.
5/6 - Soil temperature = 60F.
