Posted on May 13, 2022May 13, 202205/13/2022 garden checkup Sweet basil seedlings. Butterfly milkweed is up in the backyard too but hasn’t flowered yet (same as front yard). Yellow flax still blooming! It’s annual, so I hope the seeds like it enough here. Whitlow-wort gone to seed. Another native annual from TX home. False gaura that I planted from potted last night is doing well. Texas verbena has bloomed! It’s a perennial. The rattlebox had adorable seed pods as promised. The Rocky mountain bee plant from the botany club plant sale is blooming! There were ants at the blooms. The Phacelia is really fun. The prairie bluet is flowering a bit. I’m worried since it’s early that this means it’s not happy. However, it’s a perennial, so hopefully it will do its thing now and be less worried next year. The twice-moved yucca is making new little leaves! This yucca is in the shade which I figure is probably okay at this age. Many plants seem to like to have nurse plants. The baby winecups are starting to get true leaves. Second year for this mystery plant with no blooms. It does have a square stem. Abby suggested Monarda, which I did seed here at one point, so fingers crossed!! Slippery silk beans and several other varieties are up!! The two leaf senna didn’t have a lot of roots when I planted it from a pot last night. So, I put two containers of water so it would gradually keep it damp for now so it can get established. It’s my only sprout from the seed and I love this plant! It’s a host for Cloudless Sulphur butterflies.
Posted on May 12, 2022May 12, 202205/12/2022 all the not dramatic regular stuff Walking onions from garden, assorted farm share veggies, with glass noodles and chicken. Pulled a lot more Maximilian sunflower this evening. I put it in a tub with some potting soil to keep until they can go to new homes. I found a baby spittlebug on one sunflower stem! I took it over to the sunflowers we’re keeping so it can keep eating. In the front yard, a few winecup seedlings are coming up in the ground cover orchard area. More baby winecup! I pulled up two more native black walnut seedlings and potted them. Hopefully this one can make it with only half its remaining food. Anyways, this makes a total of four. I have found good homes for most or all of them now. Our lot is too small for another big tree.
Posted on May 4, 2022May 8, 202205/04/2022 Home from doggie daycare. I need to look this one up again but we have a lot. It’s native. It’s Solanaceae. Edit: Mom says Solanum ptycanthum. Yellow flax (Linum rigidum) and showy evening primrose. The sadly too common Canis bordum A winecup seedling!! More winecup seedlings!! A few leaves have stayed green on the fragrant sumac. I’ve been using the terracotta pot to dribble out more water to it. Desert blue curls!! (Phacelia campanularia). I was really baffled about the little purple spotted seedlings but this is it. Yay!! Cactus planter prickly pears doing well. Asian long bean from my aunt are growing well. Knock on not-rotting wood, the Roman chamomile hasn’t been eaten by earwigs unlike the last batch. Pink buckwheat blooming. Mom, is this the Liatris from home? (Also some pretty Dicanthelium grass) Widow sedum about to bloom!
Posted on May 3, 2022May 3, 202205/03/2022 morning primroses By the front door and garage. Close up! In the rock garden! A baby Missouri fluttermill primrose. The other two babies. Only three came up this year, last year the germination rate was higher. While I was at the plant window, I saw the Ashy Sunflower seedlings are still alive in their humidity chamber!!
Posted on May 1, 2022May 1, 2022Strong plants and strong ants Horsetail just shoves the hard soil out of the way!! More Stark Surecrop Pie Cherries. Soaker hose hard at work for the winecups and chamomile. The hose has a leak so I put the leak over a pot of Maximilian sunflowers. The Chef spotted ants carrying away this insect. Maybe a soldier fly?? He also spotted this milkweed bug. Hi milkweed bug! All three butterfly milkweeds in the front yard rainbow garden are up, plus the wild milkvines are pushing up everywhere too.
Posted on May 1, 2022May 1, 202205/01/2022 ashy sunflower from moldy humid container, attempt 2 The ashy sunflower humid tupperware had those two new seedlings. Last time I transferred out into soil, they shriveled within a few days. So, this time I’m making them a little greenhouse to get adjusted. This pot actually has two: one seedling and one I found sprouted with a root but the cotelydons (seed leaves) weren’t out yet from the seed husk. The upside down lunch meat container doesn’t quite seal over them, so I put damp paper towels as a sort of barrier. We’ll see if it works! Accidentally knocked off some flowers of showy evening primrose by the sidewalk when going back and forth to get pots and soil.
Posted on May 1, 2022May 1, 202205/01/2022 winecup sprouts The winecup sprouts are now in assorted soils. A few in a big pot, lots in sprouting pots. The rightmost pot is one of the purple and pink perennial pots. Lots of winecup seeds and sprouts to hopefully become ground cover where the soaker hose is! While I had the potting soil out, I also repotted the Missouri fluttermill primrose seedlings. There are three total – one kept wilting, so I figured they needed more soil to have a stable moisture level.
Posted on May 1, 2022May 1, 2022A prairie gardening book with nice species accounts and germination information The Prairie Garden: 70 Native Plants You Can Grow in Town or Country by J. Robert Smith with Beatrice S. Smith. The authors founded a prairie seed and plant nursery that’s still in business. I’ll have to check them for plants in the future! The table of contents is available online at Google books too. You can get your own copy new or used. It’s still in print!
Posted on April 25, 2022April 25, 2022Report from Mom’s garden 04/25 Red rubin basil came up! Italian large leaf basil Green wave mustard Fordham giant Swiss chard Scotch blue curled kale Marigolds
Posted on April 23, 2022April 23, 202204/23 a bit of planting On the left, you can see the now three containers of white currant tomato. Around the culinary sage, I split up the thyme into three chunks and planted it around the sage’s edge. To the right, you can see two containers with baby Mexican plums that have not found immediate homes. Now they’re potted and can keep. Behind those is lemon balm I divided in two as a coworker wants some.