Pandemic Garden Club
Jun. 12th, 2020 05:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scrubjayspeaksWelcome to the June edition of Pandemic Garden Club! Growing good things in strange times!
Anyone is welcome to comment with what they're growing right now, things they would like to try, problems they're encountering, and questions they have. Share resources, answer questions, shout encouragement.
(Sorry for the late posting today. Had personal stuff going on.)
As for myself...
Further photo updates on the butterfly garden. It's full of flowers, which are full of bees! Exactly as intended! I saw at least three species of bee present when taking the pictures, with audible droning going on. *happy!*
(Photos are a bit small this month because I used my tablet. Didn't know that would happen, but that's where we are.)
The tall spikes of pink flowers are a California native called clarkia. They were part of a seed mix of natives from Botanical Interests, one of the brands of seeds I can find at local garden centers and, strangely, nice grocery stores. I'm sure I've planted from them before and just not particularly noticed. In any case, I was really impressed with the success rate from that one packet. Of all the stuff you see there, the borage and four o'clocks have made the most progress of other seed companies, with zinnia and morning glories making slower attempts at thriving. Everything blooming, though? That's basically all just from the natives mix.
Next year, I'm buying multiple packets and I'm going to seed the barren stretch just outside my bedroom window. I've decided I'm going to fill every unused inch of these ~10 acres with native wildflowers if it's the last thing I ever do. It'll take a few years, but so many reseed readily that I shouldn't have to work too hard after the first few rounds.
Other notable new appearances this month:
Bunnytail grass, which is exactly as adorable as I hoped. Planning to cut and dry these at some point.
Moss rose, the pink and orange flowers at center frame, which were leftovers from a couple years ago. That it germinated at all was amazing. I only seem to have these two from it, but next year, I'll put that back into the rotation of successful varieties.
Anyone is welcome to comment with what they're growing right now, things they would like to try, problems they're encountering, and questions they have. Share resources, answer questions, shout encouragement.
(Sorry for the late posting today. Had personal stuff going on.)
As for myself...
Further photo updates on the butterfly garden. It's full of flowers, which are full of bees! Exactly as intended! I saw at least three species of bee present when taking the pictures, with audible droning going on. *happy!*
(Photos are a bit small this month because I used my tablet. Didn't know that would happen, but that's where we are.)
The tall spikes of pink flowers are a California native called clarkia. They were part of a seed mix of natives from Botanical Interests, one of the brands of seeds I can find at local garden centers and, strangely, nice grocery stores. I'm sure I've planted from them before and just not particularly noticed. In any case, I was really impressed with the success rate from that one packet. Of all the stuff you see there, the borage and four o'clocks have made the most progress of other seed companies, with zinnia and morning glories making slower attempts at thriving. Everything blooming, though? That's basically all just from the natives mix.
Next year, I'm buying multiple packets and I'm going to seed the barren stretch just outside my bedroom window. I've decided I'm going to fill every unused inch of these ~10 acres with native wildflowers if it's the last thing I ever do. It'll take a few years, but so many reseed readily that I shouldn't have to work too hard after the first few rounds.
Other notable new appearances this month:
Bunnytail grass, which is exactly as adorable as I hoped. Planning to cut and dry these at some point.
Moss rose, the pink and orange flowers at center frame, which were leftovers from a couple years ago. That it germinated at all was amazing. I only seem to have these two from it, but next year, I'll put that back into the rotation of successful varieties.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-14 01:56 am (UTC)In less happy news, only one of my hot pepper sprouts is still alive. D: It's a teeny little seedling that's sloooooowly growing taller. Fingers crossed!
And neither my mint nor my second succulent (hens and chicks 'gray dawn') are doing very well. I truly haven't got a clue why for either of them. :(
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-14 04:59 pm (UTC)Aw, peppers! I've slowly learned that the secret of so much gardening, but especially food gardening, is to plant way more than you think you need. So much will fail to thrive or will go wrong somewhere along the way. Unless it's zucchini, of course, but that plant is nearly supernatural.
Hm, I've never tried to grow mint, so I have no insights there. Where/under what conditions are you growing the hens and chicks? I ultimately moved mine to the shade of a tree--they really don't like a lot of heat and direct light, which we have in alarming abundance. I've had several just abrubtly fail, though, even as others in the same pot grow just fine.