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You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Garden-ish Open Thread

Sunday Garden-ish Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  April 24, 20161:05 pm| 53 Comments

This post is in: Garden Chats, Open Threads

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I rarely participate in the Sunday garden discussions because my husband is the gardener in the family, and I don’t know doodly-squat about gardening. But here’s a picture of one of our tomato plants:

tomahto 2016

Like I said, I don’t know shit about plants, but those squiggly lines on the leaves look like trouble. I’m sure hubby is on it, though. We’ve already harvested and eaten quite a few string beans. Peppers of many varieties and eggplants are also under cultivation.

It’s sunny and in the 80s here today. There is more than a hint of summer in the air, which carries a different connotation in Florida than it does north of here, i.e., for us, it’s time to brace ourselves for the year’s most unpleasant season. Thank dog for A/C!

Despite the heat, we’re cooking out and hanging around in the shade while listening to the ballgame on the radio. What’s up in your neck o’ the woods?

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

53Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    April 24, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    I got a small cold I’m hoping to prevent from turning into a big cold.

  2. 2.

    tsquared2001

    April 24, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    It will be at least three weeks before the neighbor put his garden in my back yard. Planting tomatoes in April just blows my mind.

  3. 3.

    Roger Moore

    April 24, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    I’ve had to go in to work to finish fixing up a mistake I made during the week. There are many days when I love my job, but today is not one of them.

  4. 4.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 24, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    Just wanted to share the wiki article for my friend that passed this weekend. Maybe his audio engineering graced some of your viewing and gaming. RIP.

  5. 5.

    Eric U.

    April 24, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    @Baud: if Trump was president, it would be a yuuuuge! cold.

    I just saw my first Trump ad of the season. Netflix and Amazon prime is going to get a workout until November.

  6. 6.

    scav

    April 24, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    Last weekend was cherishing / nurturing a sunburn after finally being able to get into the adopted yard for serious cleanup and (constructive) stone-tossing post weird snow-bursts, come home to yet another bout of gearing up the steam-heat which achieves full momentum only the very day the outside has swung back to window-opening warm. Ah, the dizzy season of the middle.

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    @tsquared2001:
    Got mine in last month. All three have blossoms and are maybe a foot and a half. Roses are done and in dire need of hacking back, while the bottlebrush is in full bloom, and full of bees and hummingbirds. Summer is near and we’ve already cracked 90. So not ready, but heat records are for breaking, amirite?

  8. 8.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2016 at 1:27 pm

    @Eric U.:
    Got robocalled by Donald J. Trump encouraging me to go register Republican so I can then go vote Trump in June and take back that America that done got taken away from me while I was busy mixing drinks or something.

  9. 9.

    tsquared2001

    April 24, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    @trollhattan: We have greened up quite a bit in the last two weeks but the elms still look rather bare and the young tree in front of the house could act as a stick figure model.
    A late growing season for tomatoes is the worst part of Minnesota. Plant in late May and then feel compelled to gorge in August and September.

  10. 10.

    Steeplejack

    April 24, 2016 at 1:36 pm

    Yesterday was pleasantly dark and rainy in NoVA, which I hoped rinsed a lot of the pollen out of the air. I don’t think I’m allergic, but the sheer volume of shmutz in the air is daunting. It’s a constant battle: windows open for fresh spring air, but the fresh spring air brings in the pollen.

    Today is sunny and cool (currently 63°). No big plans beyond making lunch in a bit.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    @Baud: Go to the health food store right now and get yourself some Olive Leaf.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 1:38 pm

    @Roger Moore: We’ve all been there, and that’s never fun.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    I just bought a jasmine plant – totally an impulse purchase. I know it’s tropical so it will have to come inside over the winter; that’s not a problem for me except that I run low on space once I bring everything in for the winter.

    Other than that, have I done something good or made a terrible mistake?

  14. 14.

    debbie

    April 24, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    @Baud:

    Chicken soup.

  15. 15.

    Steeplejack

    April 24, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    I thought the SNL Prince special last night was a letdown. The Prince clips were good, but the Fred Armisen bits were practically the dictionary definition of “unfunny SNL skit.” And the much-hyped clip of Prince playing at the 40th-anniversary afterparty was a disappointment too: a slowed-down version of “Let’s Go Crazy” with self-conscious celebrities “rocking out.” Even Chris Rock looked un-hip.

  16. 16.

    debbie

    April 24, 2016 at 1:44 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    No idea where you live, but my mom kept one on her patio in the summer in Ohio.

  17. 17.

    AdamK

    April 24, 2016 at 1:45 pm

    I have a question for gardeners: I have a trellis in a not-too-sunny spot next to my deck. There used to be a climbing rose there that didn’t do well and never bloomed, so I dug it up and planted a wisteria. The wisteria did fine. Now a bit of the rose has come back from the dead and climbed up the base of the wisteria. I’m inclined to leave it alone and see what happens, but I don’t want it to kill the wisteria. So my question is, is the rose likely to kill the wisteria or might they coexist happily for a year while I watch what they do?

  18. 18.

    Roger Moore

    April 24, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    @debbie:

    Chicken soup.

    With matzo balls. It is Passover, after all.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, I thought they were aiming pretty high with the SNL Prince special and I was not terribly hopeful that they meet expectations. If you’re gonna do something like that, you need to make sure you do it incredibly well.

  20. 20.

    Splitting Image

    April 24, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    The white lines are probably caused by leaf miners, a kind of grub. You may want to trim the infected leaves.

  21. 21.

    debbie

    April 24, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Yep. I went to make some this morning, only to realize I’d forgotten to buy eggs. Rats!

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    @debbie: I’m in Illinois. I know something about a lot of plants and flowers, but it turns out I know absolutely nothing about the jasmine.

    Of course, last year I brought home a tree peony, having no idea that it was a tree peony and not a regular one. That turned out pretty well – tree peonies are amazing. Here, at least. I have 7 huge buds on my tree peony and can’t wait to see it bloom. It had one flower on it when I brought it home last year, so at least I knew what the flower would look like. Of course, I’ve slept since then.

  23. 23.

    hamletta

    April 24, 2016 at 1:50 pm

    @AdamK: I have a black thumb, but I don’t think anything can kill wisteria. In fact, if that trellis is up against the house, the wisteria can grow through the clapboards and stuff. Most people here grow it far away from the house.

  24. 24.

    Amaranthine RBG

    April 24, 2016 at 1:52 pm

    @Splitting Image: Yep.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    @AdamK: I am not a rose person so I can’t really offer much except to say: Google “wisteria hard to kill”.

    Here in Illinois, wisteria is considered invasive because it can displace native plants and kill trees and shrubs. That may be different elsewhere.

  26. 26.

    debbie

    April 24, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    I stopped watching when the skits started. Most of my knowledge of Prince is from hearing him on the radio, so seeing him perform was new to me. I honestly had no idea he could play a guitar like that.

  27. 27.

    AdamK

    April 24, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    @WaterGirl: My wisteria is just a year old and is very well behaved for a toddler.

  28. 28.

    AdamK

    April 24, 2016 at 1:56 pm

    @hamletta: It’s at the edge of the deck and just small.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    April 24, 2016 at 1:57 pm

    @AdamK:

    There’s a guy in my neighborhood who has trained a wisteria up a very tall pine tree. I think the frost took the buds this year, but last year, it looked like a huge purple tree. Amazing.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 1:57 pm

    @AdamK: I’m sure it’s very well behaved now! But do some googling and see if wisteria is a good choice in your neck of the woofs. If it’s not, you will want to take it now before you are stuck with it forever.

    They actually sell creeping charlie as a perennial in our local garden center. I couldn’t believe they would sell that to unknowing people. I have tried for years to get the creeping charlie out of my lawn.

  31. 31.

    CaseyL

    April 24, 2016 at 1:58 pm

    I don’t usually wax lyrical about technology, but: I love Skype!

    I know Skype has been around quite a while, but in the past I’ve only used it for work meetings. Now I’m using it to video-talk to my mom (in Florida) and my brother (in Norway). It’s amazing to see them (esp. Mom, whom I hadn’t seen in over 15 years, long story).

    Yay Skype!

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 2:02 pm

    @CaseyL: That’s a happy technology story!

  33. 33.

    dexwood

    April 24, 2016 at 2:09 pm

    @Splitting Image:
    That’s what they are. I can never eliminate them in my New Mexico garden and they can be found in damn near everything from grape leaves eggplant leaves. They really don’t do much damage and an old dude gardener i knew told me once to forget about them, you’ll never get rid of them. I never see them in my chile plants, though.

    My yard is organic, but I have a real problem by mid-summer with leaf wilt and powdery mildew. I’d love to end this problem once and for all. So far, no suggested remedy has worked. About a year ago on a garden post someone here suggested a commercial spray that can be used to control both problems, but I failed to write it down. I think it is OK to use in organic gardens. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    April 24, 2016 at 2:15 pm

    @hamletta:
    There’s a well-known Wistaria in Sierra Madre (and they insist on the “Wistaria” spelling rather than the more common “Wisteria” because it was named for somebody named Wistar) that’s alleged to be the world’s largest flowering plant. It’s well over 100 years old, has spread across three back yards, and has its own local festival every year.

  35. 35.

    tsquared2001

    April 24, 2016 at 2:15 pm

    @WaterGirl: I was actually laughing like a loon over Fred Armison as Prince. Like all SNL skits, it went on too long and was dated but still funnae

  36. 36.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    April 24, 2016 at 2:20 pm

    @Steeplejack: I was disappointed as well. Fallon looked (to me) to be incredibly uncomfortable in introducing the clips. I did enjoy the clips, and it was interesting to see how Prince recovered when he realized his guitar wasn’t plugged-in in one of them.

    Fred probably was a great fan of Prince, and Fred is great, but the “Prince Show” clips were cringe-inducing. Maybe one, maybe, but that would have been plenty. The “after party” was Ok, but hardly earth-shattering. The shaky camerawork didn’t help. Maybe they didn’t have anything else to fill-up the 90 minutes.

    I’m glad I watched. I was never a huge fan of his though I knew people from HS who were. He was a great talent, and original, and it was good to see a small portion of his range via those performances over the years.

    RIP.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  37. 37.

    John Revolta

    April 24, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    @WaterGirl: I love “your neck of the woofs”

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack

    April 24, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    @debbie:

    Yeah, as someone said yesterday, Prince almost downplayed his guitar skills on his recorded music.

    At least they back-loaded the skits last night. Although I’m sure a lot of people, like me, hung on in the hope of seeing another actual Prince clip.

  39. 39.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2016 at 2:24 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    Have one on the property line hellbent on ripping the electrical service off my house. Other than one fragrant week /year it’s basically a very active weed, and the only thing holding up the neighbor’s pergola.

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    April 24, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    @tsquared2001:
    Late May. You must look at those 80-day varieties and think “as if.”

  41. 41.

    Steeplejack

    April 24, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    @dexwood:

    I seem to remember someone—Anne Laurie?—recommending something called Serenade, but I have no direct experience.

  42. 42.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    April 24, 2016 at 2:39 pm

    @Steeplejack: Good memory – Anne Laurie mentioned it in 2012 (and maybe other times).

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who hasn’t used it either.)

  43. 43.

    dexwood

    April 24, 2016 at 2:39 pm

    @Steeplejack: That’s it. Thank you.

  44. 44.

    Mnemosyne

    April 24, 2016 at 2:53 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Ugh. It’s always harder to lose someone who’s a peer. My condolences.

  45. 45.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    April 24, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Condolences to you. I’m very sorry.

    Thank you for the pointer. He clearly enjoyed and excelled in his work.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    @dexwood: Here’s how you treat powdery mildew:

    Get a spray bottle.
    1 part milk, 7 parts water
    spray on the tops of the leaves when they are dry
    repeat as necessary

    The milk changes the PH and the powdery mildew doesn’t like it, but it doesn’t harm the plant at all. If you spray at the first sign of powdery milder, it should never get out of hand. If it rains, let the leaves dry and apply again.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    @John Revolta: Must have been a freudian slip! (or a typo) But I might have left it that way even if I had noticed it. I like it, too.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 3:29 pm

    @WaterGirl: That should be mildew. I caught the autocorrect once, but I missed it in the other instance. Why would it think milder is a word and mildew isn’t???

  49. 49.

    evap

    April 24, 2016 at 3:30 pm

    I planted tomatoes, peppers, and green beans yesterday.

    Is anyone else counting the hours until the Game of Thrones season premier is on?

  50. 50.

    satby

    April 24, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Condolences,Major 4x. He was way too young to go.

  51. 51.

    AdamK

    April 24, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    @WaterGirl: My problem is euonymus, the Satan of plants. When it’s hiding in the myrtle it looks just like myrtle, but when it’s killing a tree it grows huge tree-like leaves. It creeps through the grass like a snake, killing as it goes. No matter what form it morphs into, it’s unkillable. I hate it with a passion. ETA: and they still sell it as a ground cover, and a hybrid as a shrub.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    April 24, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    @AdamK: That is creepy!

  53. 53.

    J R in WV

    April 24, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Major^4 – so sorry for your loss. He seems to have been a great contributor to culture and online arts. Probably a good guy if you were his friend. I’ll stop now so I don’t stick my foot in my mouth.

    Hang in there….

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