Gloomy Rainy Day. 27 March 24.

 Just gloomy, chilly, and rainy.  Mostly low 50s.  There was lightening and thunder, rare for here.

Topping Pepper Plant Seedlings to Encourage Branching. 27 Mar 24.

 Today I cut off the top tuft of leaves from the pepper plants.

After

Before

The top leaf tuft produces hormones that inhibit branching.  When you remove that tuft, then the lower buds leave dormancy and make branches.   Bushy, well branched plants, make for higher productivity.

Some people call it "pinching".  I use a sharp small scissors which I think is less traumatic to the cut tissues.

Planting Onion Seedlings. 25 Mar 24.

 I planted the rest of the Patterson hybrid onion seedlings.

Also planted the first of the Wethersfield onion seedlings.

The process is the same as before.  Dig a shallow trench.  Lay the seedlings in the trench.  Then move soil inwards to cover roots.

Every scoop of soil seems to bring up earthworms.  This soil is becoming more rich each year,

I think I will run out of space in this bed.  It's difficult to judge how many, when planting seeds.  I also planted some in one of the raised planters.

I wanted to get rid of the last batch of saved coffee grounds.  I don't like leaving stuff sitting around.  I sprinkled them generously between rows.  I saw possible evidence of slugs, so I scattered slug bait.  With the rains, I opened the coffee filters to cover the slug bait, then covered with leaves.

I just want to slow down the slug bait washing away.  I expect those filters to decompose in a few months.  I covered them with tree leaves that I still have in a pile.  Then replaced the anti-bird fencing tunnels.

This is all sitting-down work.  The height of the raised bed is a good match to the height of the gardener's stool.  The 2x4 flat laid side tops of the bed are good fir support, too.

Portulaca Seeds Spouting. 27 Mar 24.

 Some of the Portulaca (Rose Moss) seeds are sprouting.  Like others, on a warming mat.

They are difficult to see.  

These are from the packet that did not go through the washer & dryer.  I threw those away.

I didn't try very hard with these.  The seeds are so tiny - like dust.  I sprinkled them then soritzed with water.

This is about a week for these, I think.

Pre-Sprouting Four O'Clock Seeds - It Works! 27 Mar 24

 Here are the left-over Four O'Clock seeds that I soaked, then wrapped in a moist paper towel, wrapped in a plastic bag, for a few days.  They were under an LED lamp during the day, and on a warming mat.

I planted the sprouted ones in 4 inch pots.  So far, it's six out of ten seeds.

Some of the roots were an inch long and clinging to wet paper towel.  I just make it more wet and tear the paper towel to separate seeds.  If some paper towel sticks to the seeds, I plant that too.

I think those were incubating about three days.  Imagibe that.

Sunny Day. More 4:00 Seeds. 26 Mar 24.

 I have to pace myself carefully now.  Such a beautiful day.  Plants will be thriving.

I planted some more Four O'Clock seeds.  These were seeds I saved in 2020.  Will they grow?  I soaked overnight.  These photos are the source plants a few years ago.

I need to inventory and clean up my seeds.  There may be more recent ones with better chance of growing.  I can use moist paper towel method to test germination.

The Four O'Clocks will be a bushy hedge in front of the garden, outside the fence.  The size is perfect and they need minimal care once they start growing.  Herbivores and insects don't bother them.  They bloom beautifully as annuals.  Once established here, they usually become perennials.

Planting Snowpea Seeds. 26 Mar 24.

 I planted 4 4-inch pots of snowpeas.  I don't need a lot.

This year I'm doing something different.  Snow Peas are such a treat, sweet, crunchy, moist, great flavor.  Out of the garden, they are the best.

The seeds germinate easily.  Grow fast.  Then something  voles?  jays?  both?  always gets into the screening and fencing, pulls up almost every plant and eats them all.  Rarely, I'll get one plant.

This year I'm growing them in containers.   I might transfer to garden when they are a good or so tall.  I'll bring them inside at night until I think they are too big for the herbivores.

I planted two 4-inch pots with six seeds of each variety.  I might thin to three each, once they get growing.  The packet says, one plant every two inches in a row.  Translating to container growth, maybe three or four plants?

Planting The Rest Of The Tomato Seeds. 26 Mar 24

 This is just a little later than last year.  I thought I was a little too early in 2023 and they needed planting outside before it was warm enough. Still, it was a fantastic tomato year.

I think this year could be warmer, earlier anyway.  Farm life LOL.

Here are the other varieties that I planted today.

 Varieties

New Big Dwarf  - Pink, basically a dwarf Pink Ponderosa.

Tanunda Red - my most successful red slicer, a gift.

SummerTime Gold - havent tried this one yet.  Dwarf golden.

Puck - very very dwarf, produces quite a few, very very early.

42 Day - this packet had FIVE seeds LOL.  Well, they have to make a living.  I haven't tried this one before.

Paisano - paste type, gift.

Plum Regal - paste, really good last year.  tift.

There's a red cherry type in there Sugar Rush, gift.

Dwarf CC McGee - has done well for me.  Yellow.  I'm growing to compare with the other yellow ones.

Planting Tomato Seeds. 25 Mar 24.

 Today I planted most of the tomato seeds.  There will be a few more tomorrow.

My beds have room for 11 dwarf or bush tomato plants.   This yearI'm not growing much more than that.

The slicers are all open pollinated, dwarf varieties.  They do the best for me.   Some are home saved seeds or old packets.  Some new varieties.

The paste tomatoes are about half heirloom Roma, half new hybrid.  The Roma are better flavor but smaller and less productive.

Varieties, mostly dwarf slicer except Reisentraub.

BrandyFred, Chocolate Champion, Reisentraube, Sleeping Lady, Tanuda Red.

Paste.

Roma VF, old seeds of Plum Regal F1, new seeds of Paisano F1

I will start more for my neighbor too, and a few more for my garden.  I need to choose between two yellow types, not sure which one yet.

The six packs in blue holders are Portulaca.  I left a packet in my pocket, which went into the washer md dryer, so only half as many as planned LOL.

My best performer of slicers is Tanuda Red.  First quality, huge, juicy, red, prolific slicer.  BrandyFred is less productive but so delicious.  Chocolote Champio  is up there too.  Reisentraube is a bit big for cherry tomato but excellent. I have not grown Sleeping Lady before.

They are on seed warming mat.

These are in re-usable seed starters.  After using, I wash them, then run them through dishwasher to sterilize them.  

Four O'Clock Seeds Planted. 25 Mar 24.

 I planted the Four O'Clock seeds (Mirabilis jalapa) today.  They soaked about 24 hours in plain water.  

This year, I'm starting them in re-usable silicone six-packs.  These are big seeds, so I just used potting soil and covered with a layer of seed starting mix. That will be better for evener moisture and makes a dent in use of peat.

The humidity cover is a plastic Amazon bag, repurposed.

They are on seed starting mat.   There were extra seeds.  I wrapped those in moist paper towel, wrapped in a plastic bag, and placed on heating mat too.

Which will work better?

Spring Flowers. 24 Mar 24.

 Some daffodils.  I like this idea of overwintering the containers in the vegetable garden, then moving to the front deck when blooming.

Hyacinths.  Something pushed the bulbs over during the winter.  Brilliant colors!

Some are just beginning to come up.  Maybe they are not OK?

Muscari.  When we had the old deck replaced, these were in a planter there  - 4 inches deep, under an awning so almost no water, and on north side of house.  For years.  I just laid the mats of growth on top of the soil in this rose planter.  And there they are!  Such resilient bulbs.

Leucojum.  These have been divided and moved twice.  The original clump came with the old house, so they are kind of a hand-me-down heirloom.

Helleborus.   These take virtually no effort and bloom like crazy every year.

Starting Some Four O'Clock Seeds. 24 Mar 24.

 I'm pre-soaking some Four O'Clock seeds to plant tonight.

I don't always get good germination with these when I buy the seeds.  Better with home-saved seeds.  I don't know why.  They do have a hard coat, and I pre-soak per directions.

Here are my notes from 2014.  My experience then was, they germinated better on a seed warming mat, on moist paper towel in a zip lock.  I'll try half of them that way and half in seed starter containers.

I'll see if I have some saved from last year and try those too.  My own are not variegated.

Just for fun, a highly vintage image of Four O'Clocks.

Overwintered Alstroemeria. 24 March 24.

 I overwintered two super-dwarf Alstroemeria in the dry / chilly garage last winter.  I brought them outside and started watering again, last week. Also cut off all of the dead leaves and stems.

Here is the purple one.

There are several new shoots, plus one that was already up.  No growth yet on the yellow one.  It was low to wake up last year.

My rationale for overwintering dormant in containers is that not all Alstroemeria descend from fully cold winter places.  I don't know the ancestors of these highly hybridized dwarfs.  They are very nice deck plants.  It takes almost no effort to store them over the winter in the garage.

Here's a clump of tall, not as nice, Alstroemeria that has been growing outside in my fenced orchard / garden.  Plus a dandelion.

I grew those from seeds about 20 years ago.  These are divisions from divisions from those original plants.  They have survived every winter outside in the borders.

The newest seedlings (Ligtu hybrids) should ad some new and brighter colors to the orchard clumps.

Overwintering Echinacea. 24 Mar 24.

 Here's the Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea that I overwintered dry, in light, in garage.  I moved it outside a week or two ago, cleaned it up, and started watering.

I haven't looked at the ones that I left in the ground over the winter.   The plants that I left outside in a container dried out and died.

These are nice plants.  I hope some of the others survived too.

Planting Some New Daylilies In Containers. 24 Mar 24

 Here are some daylilies that I bought at Costco last month.

Here they are before planting.  I could have planted them any time during the past few weeks.   They were sort of "out of sight / out of mind" in the garage. They have been growing, some upside down.  I tried to unbend them a little and plant focused on having the roots pointing down.

Daylilies are resilient.  I think they'll recover fine.  With those root masses, they might even bloom this summer.  Might. 

For now, they are just North of the house.  Today is chilly, rainy and overcast.  Ad they grow and the chlorophyll fills in and darkens, I'll gradually move them to sunnier locations.

Think about what plants had to survive during the great era of botanical explorations, during the 1500s to 1800s.   I imagine some of the survivors of those sailing ship journeys were the ones capable of enduring all sorts of difficulties.  Maybe some of those passed their resilience to their descendants (as mine did, to me). 

Bringing Out Overwintered Container Plants. 19 March 24.

 These were in the unheated, attached garage.  They were in a west window, and not watered during the winter.

These include two potted, dwarf Alstroemeria, a Dorotheanthes "Mezoo", two Lycoris that I planted last fall, and a dried out burgundy leaf oxalis.

I watered them.  Next they need cleaning up.  They might not grow.  I think they will.

Planting Onion Seedlings. 19 March 24.

 I planted the first row of onion seedlings.  These were the yellow long-keeping hybrid, Patterson.

I started the seeds in January.  They are ready to plant.  These also, are in a high raised bed.  I can sit on my garden stool and plant them.  The soil was prepared last fall and covered with tree leaves, so it is soft, moist, and weedless.

I covered them with fencing tunnels.  Without those, Jays pull up the onion plants.  Sometimes they do, anyway.

I have five more pots of onions, and two of leeks.  I will see if I can plant one pot a day.

The New David Austin Roses. 19 March 24.

 Three of the new David Austin Rose bushes look pretty good.  They have plump buds with red or green growth.

Darcey Bussell

Boscobel

I forgot to photograph Silas Marner.  It's about the same.

Give Me Sunshine had the longest, palest shoots.  I had hoped that shade and cool weather would protect them.  Instead, they have dried out and wilted.

I'm still hopeful that new buds, not yet emerged, will grow and form the new bush.  The stems themselves still look good.

Rose Cuttings Update. 19 March 24.

 Today must be rose update day.

Here are some of the rose cuttings, starting by the "cut a stick in early winter / push it into the ground / mulch / forget it method".  

They seem to be taking and growing well.  Without roots, a bud might swell and make a leaf or two, but eventually it will dry out and die.  They are safer during the chilly weather of Spring, but they can only grow so much without roots.  These seem to be nearing the point where, without roots, they will wither.

Really, I think roses start almost as easily from hardwood cuttings as forsythias, willows, and figs.  

First Crop Of The Year. Scallions From Egyptian Walking Onions. 19 March 24.

 Today I harvested scallions. These were from  single clump of Egyptian Walking Onions.  They need a little more cleaning up than regular scallions, because they emerge from last year's bulb.  That needs to be removed, and the scallions washed.

It feels amazing, having a crop on 19 March.  I could have earlier, had I looked.

The row looks like this.  I think it's about two years old.

Without going into detail, I'm a lot more physically limited compared to last year.  I can't do nearly as much as before.  Over the years, I've been building a garden that is focused on accessibility.  Now, even though I can get up a bit, a lot of my gardening is done while sitting.  This row of Egyptian Walking onions is in a high raised bed.  That format helps make it possible to garden, for the physically challenged like me.  It helps so much.

The onions also work that way.  Egyptian Walking Onions are perennial.  If you don't harvest, the  clump will just keep growing larger.  Every couple of years, they should probably be dug out and replanted.  It doesn't matter much, when.  I'll try covering the ground with leaves from my pile, to keep weeds down better too.

Mini Rose Rescue Notes. 19 March 24.

 Here's one from the first group (yellow flower) that came from a pot that had crispy leaves and dead flowers.  I had cut them back, removed the dead leaves, washed off the original crummy soil, and repotted in good quality potting soil.  That was 21 Feb, so one month.  They get watered with dilute Schultz houseplant fertilizer (7 drops per quart of water) and are now outside 24/7.  I move them into full sun all day long.

This is the first with a flower bud.  It's interesting that happened so quickly.  The new leaves are larger and a richer color, compared to the few remaining original 

It will be nice if they bloom.  I check every day.

Here's the red mini that I gave the same treatment a few days ago.  The flower petal edges already had that sunburn.  They'l get cut off soon.  The plants really didn't miss a beat from that treatment.  They look healthy and vigorous.

These three plants were smaller than the five yellow ones, so I had planted them together but in a larger pot.

The better looking red one is waiting for a new pot.  It needs watering twice a day, so I better get to it.

Still looks very nice.  I think it's a newer variety.

Oops. Replanting Dahlia Seeds. 19 March 24.

 I dropped both 8-packs planted with dahlia seeds and spilled most of them.  So I replanted.

I could see that a number of seeds had germinated.  One seedling remains.  I just put the potting soil back into the eight-packs and replanted with fresh seeds.  Not that much time was lost.

Peaches In Bloom. 19 March 24

 The genetic dwarf peaches are blooming.  I think this one is Garden Globe.

Half of the cover blew off.  I don't know if that will result in peach leaf curl disease.  It was protected for part of the winter.  Now that it's blooming, I should select branches to prune.  I don't want it to be any taller than it is.

This is El Dorado.   A lot smaller.  Might have peaches this year.