Pandemic Garden Club
May. 7th, 2022 09:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scrubjayspeaksWelcome to the May 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.
As for myself...
Do I have the slightest idea what the weather is doing? No, no, I do not. It cooled off, it heated up, it froze, it got, as they say, fucken wimdy. We're firmly in "idk, just let it happen" territory.
In desperation, I finally took some of the winter office plants outside while it was mild even at night so they could get a good drink of water. I can't really saturate the big ones while they're in the house; I also can't take them back to their normal places outside when we've got lows in the mid-30s predicted again.
Speaking of which! The good news is that the pachypodium cross that took serious frost damage back in, jeez, October or whatever it was, is not dead! The first frost last year took us off-guard and a few plants, despite being in the cold frames, got very sad. All the leaves shriveled up, and I wasn't sure if the caudex had survived the experience. But this past month, it started sprouting new growth all along the caudex and stem. I'll probably have to prune it at some point to get a proper shape going, but for now, I just want it to regain its strength.
Also in the category of surviving unexpectedly, this clump of Palmer's penstemon just keeps getting bigger. I wasn't sure if it would overwinter, but it's happier than ever. And it's got lovely little clumps of bunny tail grass threading through it, since that has reseeded enthusiastically. It's nice to see something getting well-established in the castle garden.
Also, the California poppies are still blooming in waves. I think this might be the red variety I added this year, but I can't tell for sure until they open.
One of the dyckia decided to bloom as well. I've had one of the others bloom once before, but they've all been pretty reluctant to put up spikes. I don't know if that's their normal habit or if they're not fully happy with their lifestyle here. In any case, damn, look at those colors.
Finally, these are my mum's iris. I have nothing to do with them, but I couldn't resist sharing them. We've been cutting some to bring in the house, though they don't hold up well at all. The sea of them out front of the house looks lovely though.
We've gotten all of the corn--sweet and popping (or possibly ornamental, but I keep forgetting to look at the packages again)--in the ground, with marigolds and sunflowers as companions. The corn has juuuuust started to sprout, and I've seen a couple of sunflowers putting up leaves, but there's not much to look at yet. Once the corn is 6-12 inches tall, we'll plant beans, and then the squash/pumpkins will go in. Yes, we're doing the full Three Sisters method. Fingers crossed that it works out as planned.
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.
As for myself...
Do I have the slightest idea what the weather is doing? No, no, I do not. It cooled off, it heated up, it froze, it got, as they say, fucken wimdy. We're firmly in "idk, just let it happen" territory.
In desperation, I finally took some of the winter office plants outside while it was mild even at night so they could get a good drink of water. I can't really saturate the big ones while they're in the house; I also can't take them back to their normal places outside when we've got lows in the mid-30s predicted again.
Speaking of which! The good news is that the pachypodium cross that took serious frost damage back in, jeez, October or whatever it was, is not dead! The first frost last year took us off-guard and a few plants, despite being in the cold frames, got very sad. All the leaves shriveled up, and I wasn't sure if the caudex had survived the experience. But this past month, it started sprouting new growth all along the caudex and stem. I'll probably have to prune it at some point to get a proper shape going, but for now, I just want it to regain its strength.
Also in the category of surviving unexpectedly, this clump of Palmer's penstemon just keeps getting bigger. I wasn't sure if it would overwinter, but it's happier than ever. And it's got lovely little clumps of bunny tail grass threading through it, since that has reseeded enthusiastically. It's nice to see something getting well-established in the castle garden.
Also, the California poppies are still blooming in waves. I think this might be the red variety I added this year, but I can't tell for sure until they open.
One of the dyckia decided to bloom as well. I've had one of the others bloom once before, but they've all been pretty reluctant to put up spikes. I don't know if that's their normal habit or if they're not fully happy with their lifestyle here. In any case, damn, look at those colors.
Finally, these are my mum's iris. I have nothing to do with them, but I couldn't resist sharing them. We've been cutting some to bring in the house, though they don't hold up well at all. The sea of them out front of the house looks lovely though.
We've gotten all of the corn--sweet and popping (or possibly ornamental, but I keep forgetting to look at the packages again)--in the ground, with marigolds and sunflowers as companions. The corn has juuuuust started to sprout, and I've seen a couple of sunflowers putting up leaves, but there's not much to look at yet. Once the corn is 6-12 inches tall, we'll plant beans, and then the squash/pumpkins will go in. Yes, we're doing the full Three Sisters method. Fingers crossed that it works out as planned.
