Test of Potting Soil / Up-Potting Some Carnations. 3.21.22

Here are the little pepper plants that I up-potted into that Miracle-Gro branded potting soil about two weeks ago. They haven't grown at all and are starting to die off. This never happened to me before this round of starting plants. I used new, unused container and had sterilized my tools, so I feel certain the issue is the potting soil. Disappointing, after caring for these plants from planting seeds until now.

I bought a different brand, labeled "organic", via Amazon. Kind of pricy but I am not ready to go to the stores quite yet. As a test, I up-potted the next six-pack of carnations into some of the new potting mix. Since the past bunch of carnations all died within one or two weeks after up-potting into the MG mix, that seems like a good test for this one. I'm using fresh, never before used containers this time and everything else hase been cleaned and sterilized. Seedlings on the same rack but not up-potted are growing fine. I hope they take off and grow in their new medium and don't just sit there and gradually die.

What I noticed about the MG potting soul was that it has a LOT of fairly sizable chunks of fibrous plant material, like chopped straw or shredded tree chips. Maybe that contains fusarium or verticellium or other pathological fungus. Under the guise of "compost", there could be yard waste or other compost like is made locally at the recycling center, or animal manures. All of that could contain plant disease or herbicide residues. There is no transparency so we really don't know. I'm not trying to dis the MG products. I've used their products manyntimes before and likely will again. But if the replanted carnations grow, then the only think I have left is that the MG potting mix was really bad somehow. The new "Organic" mix also contains similar fibrous stuff. It must be a trend.

Statice Status. Seedlings. 3.21.22

 Statice seedlings are growing their first sets of true leaves.  So far, so good.

Depending on how fast the seedlings grow, I might skip the up-potting stage and plant them directly outside in May.  Also, I might put half in the deer park and half in the new big planter box.   Then I can test for deer resistance and have some on reserve if Bambi takes to eating Statice salad LOL.

Transplanting Itoh Peonies and Camassia Clumps. 3.20.22

It may not be the best timing, but it's what I have. These needed either moving, or just forget about them. This Itoh peony is about three years old. Huge root mass now. I tried not to break many roots, but a few did break. I cut them so the cut would be smooth.

I gave these a bit of granular organic vegetable fertilizer when I replanted them. 

The camassias looked like this one. In a few, I accidentally shoveled through a bulb or two.

After planting, the peony looks like this.

My helper helped a lot.

Peach Blossoms. 3.18.22

The genetic dwarf peaches are blooming profusely. I think this one is "Garden Gold".

The other genetic dwarf (eldorado) is much smaller but is also blooming. The full size but (I hope) peach leaf curl resistant tree, Nainamo, is blooming for the first time. I'm hopeful for some nice peaches this summer.

Things I Planted So Far In The Fence Border. 3.18.22

This area was a challenge. The neighbor used their entire 30 foot easement to put in ten foot wide drive, with the drive going all the way to the internal edge (my side) of the easement. With the fence, that leaves a hell-strip that is too difficult to mow, and which could potentially get overspray if they (illegally) spray chemicals. In the long run, I might add more plastic outside the fence to reach the edge of the gravel drive, so there is nothing left for them to spray. I need a border that won't be too much work in the long run, is deer resistant, doesn't need watering, hopefully ever, and doesn't need hand mowing. I propagated forsythia to grow a privacy hedge. That will need a few years to fill in and grow tall enough. Plus I need to propagate a dozen more for the rest of the hedge. Here are some of the first ones, that I planted last year. They are nice in bloom, and should fill in to give some privacy in a few years.

I moved tall herbs from an area that Ning is converting from a pollinator meadow to grow chicken food grains. I don't know if they'll survive but some look OK, such as this rosemary bush.

In addion to the rosemary bushes, I moved a half dozen lavender plants and a dozen sage plants. They were scraggly with a lot of dead wood, so I pruned them back, cleaned them up, and replanted them. The lavender alternates in the hedge with the rosemary. I planted the sage in a circle around this pre-existing fig tree, which I already had in this location.

Inside the circle of sage, I scattered poppy seeds. Most were Shirley poppy seeds I saved in 2020, but some were an old (2018) packet of oriental poppy seeds, and some were a new packet of red flowered California poppies. It will be interesting to see if they grow. I have also been moving Spring flowering bulbs and other perennials further into my yard away from the hell-strip - Hyacynthoides (Spanish Bluebells), An Itoh peony, multiple big clumps of Camassia, some Snowdrops, Rhubarb, Horse Radish, Lambs ears. Most of that work is done. Then what will remain is the wildflower perennials I've started, and annual flowers.

Above, are one of the rhubarb divisions, a horse radish division, and a snowdrop that I transplanted in bloom. I'm apprehensive about what the neighbor will do, spray or mow or whatever, on the drive side of the fence (which is still my property but they were mowing there last year). I am trying to avoid a dispute, so I'm doing the best I can to make the best of a bad situation. It should be a very fragrant border, with lots of very bee friendly flowers this summer and beyond.