Category: Propagation

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Growth in rainbow beds during rain – July 1

This rain barrel normally catches rain during light storms but Thursday afternoon’s downpour was too much.
This barrel’s gutter downspout is often very aggressive and sure enough it hit the rain barrel perfectly.
After the downpour (and after work), I got bits of sedum to press into the mud. Hopefully they can root since it’s supposed to be in 80s for a few days longer at least.
If you zoom in, you can see I put two rows around each of the rainbow beds on the side slope.
You may also note that the zinnias are doing well!!
The back bed got smoothed down more by rain. See my previous post for how I continued shaping it on the next day (Friday). So glad I’m almost done with the major earth moving.
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Quarter Gram = 1.76 kg

I left this zucchini too long and it was 1.76 kg (about 3.9 pounds). Gram the cat weighs about 14 pounds last we weighed him.
Paula’s moss rose has a lovely flower!
Briar yawns. Photography of plants is borrrriiiiing.
Several inches of rain is settling down dirt over geothermal pipes nicely. Once it’s not slippery mud, I’ll go spread it out more and continue leveling and shaping.
You can see seedling ‘Will Rogers’ variety red zinnias on the right, and harder to see are ‘burning embers’ Linnaeus marigold seedlings near the peach tree, for quick orange.
Briar looks over green and yellow bed. A triangle of Fordham giant chard with lacinato kale in the middle. The two scraggly plants are coreopsis recovering from being potted up for a month. Around it are dwarf marigold seedlings for more quick yellow.
‘Country gentleman’ sweet corn is flowering.
Supervisor exhausted by his earlier brush with the monster zucchini.
Book “Bean by Bean: a cookbook” by Crescent Dragonwagon. Lent by the Bean Queen herself, thanks Heather! Lots of interesting bean trivia. More focused on cooking than bean varieties (ie differences among Lima, green, cowpeas, lentils, etc, not varieties within those).
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After work, garden times

Plant instructions said to let them readjust to the world before planting, so they are outside in indirect light to start.
Cilantro turning to coriander (the seed).
White currant tomato seeds saved from last year grew true to variety!!
Garlic harvest was very sparse. I guess the big February deep freeze got more than I thought.
Moon and stars watermelon leaf has such adorable “stars”! I can’t wait for the fruit.
Added more cardboard to my backyard Bermuda grass killing operation. Thank you Dad for this excellent giant cardboard!!
One area of Bermuda grass in the backyard seemed dead enough to reseed with buffalograss and curly mesquite grass.
A beautiful very smooth gray moth.
Maybe an Arctiid? I need to look it up.
My finger for scale.
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Opening the box

No time to plant until after work, but my live plants arrived this morning!! Very clever packaging. Source was Mountain Valley Growers, in California, a new place for me.
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Some seeds in the ground for my rainbow!

Also got mulch back in place over some cardboard. Seeds in ground are two kinds of marigolds (for yellow and orange), red zinnias, purple verbena (unfortunately a non native one that I ordered accidentally but it doesn’t sound awful), and standing cypress (which would bloom next year). I need to start butterfly milkweed (orange) cold stratifying.
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Assorted day off activities and observations

Several strawberry runners took root so I snipped the runners.
I set out a tray of dirt to try to capture more strawberry runners.
The Chef helped me cut down the yaupon holly that was planted in a bad spot. It kept hitting the garage roof and gutter. Nine of ten water barrels are now in place for use!
Dinner… I made it this time. It includes a few of the new tomatoes (as well as a store tomato) and fresh garden basil and oregano.
Got mail!!
Drying coriander (the cilantro seeds) for later harvest!
Tepary beans reaching up!
Wild poinsettia (A volunteer).
The prairie and its rain barrel.
Rudbeckia is looking great.
A true bug.
Standing cypress about to bloom!
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Pleasant surprise

Mom gave me Rudbeckia amplexicaulis seeds last year and I hadn’t seen any seedling candidates, but apparently I missed some! Here are very small ones flowering!