Garden Update: Blueberries

This year everything in our area is about two weeks ahead of schedule, due to warm weather and good growing conditions. And, with that, I am pleased to report that we have grown our first blueberries! I found the first ripe one this morning. I'll wait a few days to try to pick a few more than one, but there won't really be that many. I think we might get about a dozen - LOL. I am still pleased that the bush is bearing fruit at all this year, since it did not produce any after I planted it last spring.

Other garden notes:
- The Lupine has bounced back with one more final stalk.
- The Foxglove plants have each grown about 3-4 smaller stalks all of which have bloomed, after the original stalks failed to bloom.
- The strawberries are done, with a total harvest of about 4 dozen berries over about 3 weeks.
- The lilies have all bloomed nicely - first the Stargazers, then the red lilies and finally the white lilies.

Garden Update: Pests & Strawberries

Something is eating my lupines :( First it was just the leaves, but then right as three stalks were beginning to bloom, the other 4 buds were eaten - two completely and two partially. I am so sad. This plant looked so fabulous a few weeks ago.

There have been a couple other casualties, including the foxglove which usually looks awesome this time of year. On one of the plants I have seen lots of little ants, but I haven't seen them on the other one and none of the buds are blossoming :( The slugs have been eating the daisies, but I think they are faring better than last year so far. Some tiny white slugs(?) ate every leaf off the pea plants that I had just planted on Sunday. So much for that experiment :(

On the bright side, the lilies have survived the Red Lily Beetles and two are blooming. The strawberry patch (!) is turning out about 8-10 berries every other day right now. A few are compromised by the ants/slugs but so far we have gotten to eat at least 20 of our own berries which is much better than last year. Hopefully the blueberries will survive until harvest.

Garden Update: Berries

The garden is coming along nicely so far this year.

The "original" garden, planted in 2007, is maturing. I thinned the tiger lilies, columbine and daisies, moving them to new locations around the yard. The lilies and lupines are looking good, and the bleeding heart has come up this year, no buds just yet (there are some on the one in the front yard though!).

The "expansion" garden, started in May 2008 and never completely planted, has some good things going for it. The blueberry bush I planted last year, which seemed practically dead after the hail storm last May, has blossomed - which still gives me hope that it will bear fruit.


The strawberries have multiplied like weeds - from 2 plants last year to probably 15 plants with flowers (and many more others).


And then there is the part that I have tried to grow wildflowers in for the past two years... well, I think there are a few wildflowers growing --- or possibly they're just weeds. Right now I think that I will be trying to move the wildflowers out and, after lots of soil preparation, moving the vegetable seedlings I have started in the house in.

And that brings me to the new gardens next to the new swingset... we'll see. One garden is planted with new plants the kids picked out - pansies, a white bleeding heart, yellow mini poppies, some transplanted daisies and some iris bulbs. No signs of the iris bulbs, but otherwise it is going well. The other garden is having trouble with weeds. The transplanted tiger lilies and columbine seem to be taking hold, but not exactly thriving just yet. And I haven't seen signs of bulbs I planted there (gladiola and dahlia), but that isn't really a surprise.

We have some more landscaping in the plans this year, hopefully fixing the "yellow & purple hill" (that is, it is so covered in dandelions and violets that the Tumbleweed claims it is 'impossible' to walk down it because you'll step on the flowers). But mostly I am hoping that the gardens bloom & grow and don't get out of hand by July, as they have in previous years. Green thumbs crossed!

They're Ba-ack...

I was right, the Red Lily Beetles are back. I had really been hoping that all of my hard work to get rid of them last year would have meant we were through with them forever, but we're not.


Fortunately, I am a month ahead of last year and have already killed 8 (3 pair while they were mating) and there are no signs of eggs or larvae [yet]. I am hopeful that this year's battle will easier than last year.

On the plus side, things are starting to bloom. I planted this Bleeding Heart root last year, but it didn't grow. I am so pleased to see it's first bud.

Butterflies & Wildweeds

Mid-July Garden Report:
Back in the spring I planted a big package of wildflower seeds that were supposed to attract butterflies. While the bed is full of greenery, it is mostly weeds & crabgrass. The few flowers that did come in don't seem like the type that will be attracting butterflies. This weekend I set out to weed the wildflower bed and plant another packet of seeds. I don't know if the new seeds will come in any better, but I consider the weeding work a success because I was able to capture this photo while I was in the garden...


Elsewhere in the garden, the Hollyhocks are blooming despite a terrible case of "rust". My first tomato has ripened, but has also been affected by the slugs :(. There are 4 more left on the vine - hopefully they will make it. And... my strawberry plants had babies! So far it looks like I will now have 7 strawberry plants (I had 2 this year).

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Amateur Gardener - 1, Lily Beetles - 0


As you can see, I have my first lily blooming, and several more are ready to bloom this week I think. For the time being, I have conquered the lily beetles.

Now if I could only conquer the slugs... my strawberry count is up to 6 harvested (there should be at least 4 more by the end of the weekend). Slugs have gotten another 6, and the lovely rain has rotted 3 or 4 more. I suppose that is six more than I have grown before.

Slugfest 09

Calling all slugs --- there is a big party in our backyard! I even left some beer out there for you [be careful, it might be a trap].

There are slugs & wormy things of all shapes & sizes taking over my garden. We must have the best plants in the neighborhood because every time I go out there are more slugs. This morning it was only sprinkling lightly, so I went out to check on things and found the slugs munching on my strawberries (again). I collected about 15 more slugs. Uggg slugs.

So anyway, we have picked 5 edible strawberries from our garden. The slugs have eaten 4. There are still more growing --- hopefully we get a few dry days soon. The ones that we have harvested have been pretty good sized & quite delicious.

In other garden news... the weeds have officially taken over the wildflower garden, some of my "infested" plants seem to be rebounding but none are blooming yet, and I haven't seen a lily beetle in a long time.

Did I mention that we had a hummingbird last weekend? They seem to love the columbine, that's where we saw one last year too.

Ack! and Eww!

It has been rainy for several days, so this evening was the first chance I had to get outside and check on my garden. My garden has problems ---- first it was lily beetles, then the hail storm damage, and now many of my plants are dying or deformed from unknown sources. In the spring I was so optimistic about how beautiful my garden would be at this point, but now I almost dread going out to see what new ailment has descended upon my flowers.

So after all of this rain --- regular watering is good for plants --- I was hopeful. I noticed some good things first:

1. I don't see any lily beetles or their larva on the lilies. Lily buds are getting bigger.

2. One of the tiger lily plants (all of them sustained heavy hail damage to the leaves) has 5-6 bud stems.

3. There are multiple strawberries growing, one is starting to turn red.

4. My lupine is blooming! [I bought a plant about a month & a half ago, after failing to grow them from seeds the past two years --- they were the only plant that was eaten by a pest those years!]


After my initial enjoyment came "Ack! There's a slug!" Sure enough there was a slug munching away on my wilted-looking daisies. And after closer inspection, there were LOTS of slugs & wormy-things all over my daisies.


Thinking quickly, I grabbed a bowl of water and my garden gloves and headed out to start picking them off. After touching the first one (with my gloves of course), I couldn't help but think, "Eew! Slugs are really gross." In the end, I think I got at least 20 suckers off my four daisy plants. I hope that helps. I also set several "slug traps" (a jar with 1 T. cornmeal in it laying on it's side) for any that I might have missed.

Grrr... why must my garden have issues?!?

My New Toy & Garden Update

In an attempt to be able to manage the yardwork while the Eagle travels for his new job, we decided to put some reward points towards a reel mower. This way, I can take care of the front lawn (the part people see) while he is away and I don't have to use the gas mower.

It arrived yesterday, so this morning he assembled it and gave it a tour of the front yard.



It was nice to be able to have the kids outside while we were mowing - and you could even talk while pushing! It was a little tough to push at times, at little hills or under bushes, but overall very doable for me.

In the back yard, I checked in on the garden and must say, I am a bit frustrated. Several of my plants have yellowing or holey leaves and the flower buds are looking a bit deformed. I am exploring several theories... 1- Hail Damage, 2- Bugs, 3- Virus. I can't decide. It seems as though the flowers at one end of the garden are worse than others. I am still hopeful that I can find a solution and they will bloom, although it already looks like some will not :(

Also disappointing is that my wildflower garden is not seeming to grow. Maybe I will try prepping the soil again and re-seeding.

On the plus side - I have been policing the Lily Beetles, and snagged some more larvae from the leaves. I haven't seen an actual beetle in about 2 weeks. Here is what the larvae looks like on the leaves.



My strawberry & tomato plants still look promising, and the blueberry bush I planted is 50/50. I also have a beautiful purple & white lupine blooming, some pretty columbine flowers & one surviving foxglove... Hopefully these will bring the hummingbirds back this year!

I am at War

It is me against the Red Lily Beetle. And they are multiplying into an army.

I have to admit that without the internet, I would have not had a clue that I had a problem. But, I saw a little red beetle on my lily plants and decided to look it up. [I saw them last year and didn't pay them much attention]. Apparently these little buggers are a big problem. They can eat lilies all the way down to the ground. And they can last all summer and will overwinter and come back next year! I knew last year my plants had holey leaves, but I didn't realize that by not killing them then would help them takeover this year.

After a little research about how to get rid of them, I went out and knocked the beetles into a cup and then smushed them. I think I got about 10-12 beetles, several of them while mating. Phew - I was feeling pretty good about that. Some people reported killing them by the hundreds.

But, the window was still open on my computer later and I read another site that my google search had found. The larvae are the big eaters. I hadn't killed the larvae. Nor had I looked for eggs.

The eggs I found without much difficulty. They are bright orange and layed in rows on the underside of the leaves. I found 5-6 leaves with groups of eggs and crushed them. That just left the larvae.

Now the larvae are the hardest because they disguise themselves. As best I can tell, they look like little black specks all over the leaves. Holy cow - I had a lot of little black specs!!!! Oh-no! That can't be good.

The advice I found was to wipe down the leaves with a soapy cloth. This took a while (I have about 12 lily plants), and I am sure I didn't get them all. Maybe the soap will kill them? Well, here's to hoping. I am going to keep a close eye on them for the next few weeks.

The last thing left to try is sprinkling black pepper on the leaves & soil below. I only found this in one place, but I have pepper, so why not give it a try.

Hopefully, with all of this work I will end up with some nice lilies this year.

Garden Update

Here is an update one month after my "Plant or Weed?" post.

Plant or weed?
#1 - Plant: Gooseneck - I planted this, but it spreads! I think I am going to have to thin it so it doesn't take over the garden.
Then:
Now:
#2 - Not sure yet - It definitely spreads like a weed, but is still possibly something pretty.
Then:
Now:
#3 - Plant: Hollyhock, I think. Still looks relatively the same, with bigger leaves.
Then:
#4 - Plant: Foxglove Three plants almost ready to bloom :)
Then:
Now:
#5 - Weed - at least I think so. I keep pulling and it keeps growing back.
Then:
#6 - Plant: Daisies They are a lot bigger than before but not much different.
Then:

#7- Clover ... still letting it grow, but might pull it.
Then:
Now:
#8 - NEW - can't tell what this is. Any ideas? (Tiger lilies are growing behind)


....

A few other gardening notes...

The strawberries & tomatoes are looking good. As seen here:













My thumb may be turning slightly green after all. We'll know when the green fruits turn a nice ripe red.

I have bought & planted lots of new perennials throughout the yard, some will be flowering soon. The seeds I started inside and transferred to the garden a few weeks back didn't make it. Oh well. Two weeks ago I put down "Butterfly Garden" wildflower seeds along the remainder of the walk. I have yet to see any plants (other than grass) coming up. Today I am going to try using some some plant food and see if I can get something to grow!

Feel free to comment if you know what the unidentified plants are! Or even if you don't :)

It's a Surprise

This weekend we tackled some of our many yard work projects. The main focus of the weekend was raking the yard to remove leaves, dead grass, moss and about a million ice storm sticks so we could put down grass seed in yet another attempt to have a pretty & even lawn this summer. Mother Nature gave us a nice deadline with some rain arriving around dinnertime yesterday, so we frantically worked during the Dandilions' naptime and managed to get it done. Now it is a waiting game to see if the grass grows.

Today I finished cleaning out my garden bed around the deck. This proved to be quite a challenge, as it had gotten quite overgrown by the end of the summer. Under the layer of leaves, I found some of the plants that returned from last year - 2 Strawberry plants, tiger lilies, columbine, and lilies. I also found some other new growth, but I can't tell what it is and if I planted it - or is it a weed I should be pulling?

So here is a little quiz. If you know what any of the these things are please comment - it would really help me out!

Plant or weed?
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7

Hummingbird

Well, despite the fact that I haven't been able to get out to garden during the past few weeks, we still had a visitor. I was out talking to a friend who came over to help weed the garden, and a hummingbird happened by! It stopped at one snapdragon and several columbine, giving us quie a show before darting off. I wish I had my camera, but maybe he will be back soon.

The Path is Complete

The Eagle spent a lot of time out in the yard today. After much sweat, a trip to the Depot, and too many rocks to count - our path in the back is finished! My garden is a different story, but the path loks great. He even put the seed down in the barren areas around it, so maybe we will have grass soon!

Backbreaking work

Well, we took the plunge and headed to Home Depot to buy things to landscape the yard aroung the deck. The Eagle ripped out all of the dead grass and we started laying a path and planting a garden. I want the project to be finished, but it is pretty tiring work, so I think it might take another weekend. It is very hard to keep the two kids happy so we can both work - so far my attempts have maxed out at 20 minutes. Ugh.

The grass is always greener...

in someone else's yard. Literally. Our grass is not green. It is mostly dead in the back yard. I am starting to think they used special "annual" grass seed that only grows one year. Ugh. I really wish we could go out in the back yard and play in thick green grass, but that is not the case. I really hope we can fix it.

On a positive note, I transplanted all of my gift plants - Easter Lily and two Mother's Day seedlings. The Tumbleweed and I also transferred a few of the seedlings that grew from her seeds. One planter done... lots more gardening to do!