Gardening, anyone?
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Jackbirdie, Tent caterpillars can hurt trees. Their webs look like tents and may contain hundreds of caterpillars. Just watch for them on your small trees. Anything 50 ft would probably be OK even if they were on them. If you see the tent before they hatch and take action, you can avoid a lot of grief. It probably isn't tho. If you can catch one a garden store could probably tell you - or perhaps a science teacher at a high school or college.
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If you have tents with caterpillars in them, just break the tent with a stick or long pole. The caterpillars will fall to the ground and the birds will get them. Break as many tents as you can reach and as the trees mature, the tents will have less of an effect because the tree will develop chemical defenses against them. It worked on my young trees.0 -
Chilly morning here today, feels more like March than May. But that did not stop me from getting to the herb festival here at the local nature center.
Here is my take away: herbs in the containers at the bottom include stevia, lemon balm, mints (choc, orange and pepper mint), and two kinds of basal. Plants include left to right, a mexican primrose, a pink salvia, and a variety of dianthus called cheddar pinks. These three varieties of flowers do well in my garden, so I am adding some different species of these to my back gardens where a couple things I planted last year don't seem to be coming back.
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thanks for the advice on the caterpillar, wren and everyone. I will look for him today and take him to the garden center. They have master gardeners usually at our weekly Farmer's Market, but the next one isn't till net Wednesdy. So I could keep him in a jar. As a caterpillar does he need some leaves to eat until then? Damp? Does he need moisture for hydration?
And the lovely herb pots! That will surely brighten up a chilly day
I had applied for our master gardener program this year and was accepted. Days after I learned I would be having chemo, so I bowed out, hoping they could save my long application (you don't get into that program easily), but I guess next year may bring other things
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Perhaps the Master Gardener programs vary in admission standards based on the number of people applying. I would sign up to my local one, but they require 20 hours of work in our local public gardens as the admission price. I would be glad to volunteer but I just have too much to do around our 2.5 acres. I hope this is the last year I spend trying establish interesting "bones" to the space while still keeping the time it takes to mow down to 3.5 hours and that's with a large riding mower.0 -
yes that's s lot of work. Here they give you the option to work off all but $50 of the tuition. But right now I couldn't even manage the classes
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One of my good friends here did the Master gardeners class this year and now is doing her community service part of it. She loved it, but if anything comes up along the way, hard to sustain. She got through the classwork but now pausing for a few weeks as she has a stress fracture in her foot and a boot on. As a result, she was unable to go to the herb fest today so I just went on my own (and that was okay too!)
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Happy Mothers Day one and all. I hope some of you get some nice flowers and/or plants on this special day! A perfect gift for any and all of you!
I put my herbs in pots today and now the herb garden feels done. From left to right 1) three kinds of mint 2) lemon balm 3) stevia and 4) three kinds of basil.
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Looks very pretty
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we had a beautiful sunny day today and the clematis really opened up. And the roses a bit more. Wanted to share:
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Beautiful weekend. Spent Mother's Day mowing the fields!
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Monis-whoa sister, that is quite a mower you have!
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Monis- you look like you're having fun! That IS a big mower!
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My mower looks like a toy compared to yours, Monis. How many acres do you have?
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It appears we have two gardening threads going. What fun. My first flowers from the gardens.
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What is the other gardening thread?
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Thanks Ananda. I see some of the same ladies as the ones here. I think I will stick with this one!
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We have a total of 10 acres. Around 7 are a forested hillside and the other 3 are huge expanses of grass. We'd have plenty of room for animals like horses, goats, chickens, etc. but with both of us working full time we don't have the time for "farming". So, we have our large vegetable garden out back with some fruit trees (all protected from the voracious local wild life) and some flower beds out front along the front walk way. It's been a lot of trial and error to find plants that the deer won't eat. Even some of the ones that say "Deer Resistant" seem to be on their yummy list!
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Monis- it looks and sounds so lovely!
I live in a tucked away little part of a small urban area that seems like the country. We have marauding hungry deer here who have lost so much habitat they eat things they aren't supposed to like. I took a chance and made a rock garden outside my fenced and protected area with all deer resistant plants. All my neighbors just shook their heads. But so far, using natural concoctions (and maybe the sounds and smell of Jack) I've been lucky. It's just getting started so doesn't look that great yet. Here is a pic from a couple of weeks ago. It's 4:30 am so I can't post a current pic but will do so later
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Jackiebird- I LOVE rock gardens (have one in the front yard but different from yours). What types of plants have you included here?
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Beautiful flowers Teka. You got up to the 80s, too, I am impressed!
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counted my tiger lilies, so far 152 are up .this is not including my Asiatic lillies. can't wait for more to poke through.
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Tika- that is quite similar to my recipe. I think I use a bit of hot sauce too. And I hang bars of Irish Spring soap around. And beautiful tulips!
I have sweet woodruff, anenomes, poppies, viburnum, lambs ears, brunnera, an unusual foxglove (species perennial), several catmints, a black pine, a couple of crape myrtles, achillea, can't think of what else. It's looking really good but it's pouring with rain now, so the photo waits again.
Charger- I cannot begin to imagine the bounty of your lilies! So many! I will be needing updates on these! I love all kinds of lilies.
PS just remembered some hens and chicks
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Teka- the trees are fabulous too! How wonderful a feeling that you've enjoyed the special beauty of these spring flowering trees since childhood..
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I so enjoy the pictures of all the gardens. They motivate me to become a competent gardener. I think it's going to be a lifetime task.
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MagicalBean - I love, flowers and plants, and have tons of them, but I have just learned as I go. I have often thought about taking the master gardening class in my area. I'm so glad I found this forum so I can keep up with how your class goes, and maybe learn some new stuff from others! I have had 1/6 Chemo treatments. This is day 14 and I have had no SE so far, (PTL) so I have been digging in the dirt, filling containers, trimming etc. trying to get things done in case I do get some SE's. Now I am off on a hunt for more flowers...still have empty containers!
Hope everyone has a great day!
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ok finally stopped raining so here's a few of my <6 mo old rock garden. Hope not too many pics. They'll prob look like the last ones haha.
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thsizit7, I am looking forward to learning from you about container gardening.Jackbirdie, Your rock garden is getting better and better. It will really be something in another few weeks.
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I forgot to mention a peculiar problem we have been dealing with for the last 10 years. The original owner installed a water softener system and hooked it up not only to the house but also to the outside hose bibs. The watered the trees and garden patches with salt water for years.We have been using gypsum to neutralize the salt that is deep in the soil and this year we finally are seeing an improvement in the grass and trees. We still have a way to go, but things are looking up.
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