GTS 11-22-09

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Every Sunday I think to myself "I should really post something for Green Thumb Sunday." Then I do nothing. Yesterday I thought about it, and decided to try and take some pictures today. Nearly all the flowers have died, but I found these snapdragons and Calendula plants in my Mom's garden.

Gardening News

*On a whim I decided to see if I had any drafts for this blog and found this one. I probably never posted it because I didn't have any pictures to put in it. Still no pictures, but I figure better late than never, right?*

I've been pretty busy, as I'm sure most garden bloggers are. I got my veggie garden planted, and everything seems to be growing well. I did lose one Mrs. Benson tomato, but had an extra one to replace it with. I also wound up with 5 extra zucchini plants, as the garden center was sold out of single zucchini plants. The peas are falling over due to a nasty windstorm (thanks Scott Hetsko) they are also at the top of their poles. My parents bought some taller ones that I will install as soon as the wind stops.

My flower garden on the other hand, is not doing so well. I planted the Four o' Clocks and Flashback Calendula, and they all promptly keeled over and have not revived. Out of 9+ Four o' Clocks, only 2 appear to have survived. I planted some seeds in the garden, so maybe those will come up. The rest of the flowers I started keeled over and died before I even got them outside. I am planning to scatter seeds in my garden bed this week, so hopefully I will have some flowers by the end of the summer.

Remember the grapevine I pulled off the trees a few months ago? Well, I made some of it into a really cool trellis...as long as you don't try to stand it upright. It's rather lopsided. I tried to fix it, but due to the windstorm (thanks again, Scottie!) it looks worse than ever.

The good news is, I now have my own camera. My parents were contemplating helping me buy one, but then on one of the blogs my Mom frequents, the blogger got a new camera. Mom knew she wanted that one and offered me the 'old' camera. (It's not old in years,but in technology.) I decided that if she was going to buy a new one anyway, I might as well take it until I can save up enough money to buy one of my own. Oh, the point of that paragraph was that I can post more pictures since I don't have to share the camera with Mom anymore. Thanks Mom.

~Sarah

Garden Makeover Update

Everything appears to have survived so far. It's kind of hard to tell with the Bee Balm and Anise Hyssop since they had already died back. They don't look any deader, so I guess that's a good thing. The Cosmos and Calendula plants I saved revived nicely. I broadcast some cosmos seeds over part of the garden before I replaced the mulch. Hopefully they will germinate next summer.

Today I took some Mandevilla cutttings. I'm trying to root one in water and the other with rooting hormone in a potting soil mix. As for the rest of the plant, since Mom doesn't really want it dug up and brought inside, I'm going to cover it with straw, a rose cone, and possibly some burlap.

We are expecting a frost over the weekend, so I brought some containers into the garage. I discovered that one of the plants in the herb container had grown through the drainage hole and into the ground underneath. I think it's the fennel since it's the largest plant in the pot. I also rummaged around in the shed and unearthed a cold frame. I put it over one of my remaining basil plants and some lettuce. I'm hoping to be able to grow lettuce all winter, or at least get an early start in the spring.

Here are some pictures from Wednesday:
This is from after I finished replacing the mulch.
This is from June, so you can see the changes I made. (The pictures are not taken from the same angle. The picture above is the front of the garden and the one below was taken from the left side of the picture above.)

My Horehound:
And last but not least, my 'supervisor':
Farewell~
Sarah

Vegetable Garden Becomes Slug Buffet

Tuesday was unseasonably cool, and when I was out gathering some Basil for dinner, I found slugs all over it, and the peppers. So, having solved the mystery of what was eating my plants, I started researching how to get rid of the slimy little things.

Ortho's Bug-Geta was recommended in several places, and since we had some on hand I'm trying that. Also on the list of things to try: coffee grounds, salt, cleaning up any debris on the soil, trimming any leaves that are on the ground. And if all that doesn't help I'll find something else to try.
Yesterday I put out the Bug-Geta and applied Sevin as I read that it can also help deter slugs (and whatever else might want to munch on my peppers).
This morning was hot, humid and sticky, just the sort of weather slugs enjoy. So I took a metal can from the recycling bin, put some salt in the bottom, and started picking slugs. Ugh. I went out again this evening and found some more. In case you're wondering why the salt, slugs are mostly made of water and the salt dehydrates and kills them.

I finally got around to making my pesto - it was delicious, but time consuming to make. It would help if we owned a food processor, but I made do without. I also burned the walnuts the first time I toasted them...anyway, I put it on some chicken, put it under the broiler for a few minutes, and Viola! A meal everyone likes.

My flower bed is surviving, but not thriving. I get a few seeds now and then, but not as many as I'd hoped for. I noticed that the Calendula mix that I gave my Mom is growing much better than my Flashback Calendula. Probably due to a slightly shadier location.
The Pennyroyal is still alive, and seems to be adjusting well. It rained today, so maybe the ground will be soft enough to dig a hole for the Horehound - it's still pretty droopy.

I finally got all my pictures organized, so now I can start going through and decide which ones look good enough to put on the internet. Which reminds me, it's about time for another photo shoot of the gardens...which means I'll probably have another hundred or so pictures to sort through and label by the end of the week.

It seems I won't be running out of things to do for a good long while...maybe I'll get caught up on everything in time to start planning next years garden.

Keeping Busy~
Sarah