Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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.