“… I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.” I somehow misplaced this second batch of great NYC flower market photos from December — thank you, Ema:
Lunar New Year lucky golden citrus special!
I am inundated with garden catalogs, and discovering I can’t focus on them when there’s no snow on the ground — probably because of the visual reminder I haven’t kept up with the *existing* garden, sigh.
But the first of the daffodil clumps are a good four inches tall and starting to swell buds… just in time for a predicted 9-12″ of snow Monday night…
***********
What’s going on in your garden (planning / prep / memories), this week?
War for Ukraine Day 717: The Russians Used Drones To Try to Burn Kharkiv
JPL
The pictures are beautiful and I’m pleased that you shared them. We are going to have stormy weather today and tomorrow, then a few dry days. Although I love looking out the window when snow is falling, there’s something to be said about temps in the fifties and sixties this time of year
BTW Where’s Taylor?
eclare
Such beautiful colors! Thank you ema. Here in Memphis we have another full day of rain, stocking up for summer.
raven
My wife planted confederate jasmine on a stone wall with a wood fence on top. The fence is falling down from the weight and she wants it replaced. I have no idea how I could do it!!!
Anne Laurie
Sounds like a job for a good contractor, old friend…
(Easier said than done, I know.)
raven
@Anne Laurie: No, you are right. There is no way physically I can do it anymore. We had guys come in and do the leaves and roofs so we’ll just have to bite the bullet on this too. We left it at “we’ll just leave it be for now”! We’re also in the process of finding a high school kid to mow and we’ll most likely have to buy a new mower for him to use.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I would say, “Send me a pic and I can give you a few ideas.” but you’ve already said, “There is no way physically I can do it anymore.” I too am running into the limits of what I can and cannot do (open a jar? “Honeeeey…”) and I don’t like it one bit.
I’m staring down the barrel of yet another rotator cuff surgery (if I’m lucky) but I have 2 major projects I have to get done before I can even think about it.
satby
I’m with all of you, though I’ve had to hire help for years with my yard and for household repairs. I used to be able to do some things, but not nearly as much as OH or raven could do. This year I won’t be getting extra income from the farmers market after April, so I need to go back to doing more myself. Especially since there are big repair projects heading my way I can’t do. And it stinks, but hiring help can be a more efficient way to get it done too, since I tend to wander off task.
Geminid
@raven: I don’t know how big your yard buy I’ve been cutting about 1500 sq. ft. with a Lowe’s Kobalt battery mower for 4 years now, and it works great. I think the battery would be good for another 50% more area. Simple, light weight and easy to use.
mrmoshpotato
@JPL:
🎶 Getting ready for some football!🎶
May the owl be superb!
mrmoshpotato
Excellent pictures. Thanks for sharing.
OzarkHillbilly
My gardens remain a mess. I was reminded that I need to get busy cleaning them up by the newly emerged greenery in my Iris beds. I have learned to ignore the daffodils early insistence that, “Spring is right around the corner!” Unfortunately I am busy with turning all the downed limbs and trees from last summer’s storms into cordwood. Pretty sure I won’t need to buy any, but I can’t say for sure until it is all stacked in the woodshed.
My greenhouse is turning green with all the lettuces, radishes, cabbages, and carrots growing. I am doing a small plumbing repair in there because I forgot to open a valve for proper drainage of the water lines. Hopefully it is the only pipe that burst. I’ll find out later today.
NotMax
@raven
Hear tell they’ve made great strides when it comes to electric mowers.
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I’ll do it when I get home from the rainy dog park! I think my only shot would be a wire fence. I have metal posts, a driver and fencing and I’ve done it before. Getting the existing fence out with the plants growing on it will be the challenge.
Raven
@NotMax: yea, there is a 10ah at Lowes that is supposed to be as strong as any gas mower. They cost nearly $900 and I’m not sure I can hack that when a good gas mower is half the price.
Ken
Followed by “My top inch of leaves froze off! Never mind, I’ll keep growing, because spring is right around the corner!“
Trivia Man
I plan to start seeds inside fir the first time. Best i can tell last frost is expected mid april in southern wisconsin.
The furnace room has light and stays about 65-70 so i hope thats enough. It also has a door (hi, cat!).
The plan is egg carton for the seeds because they are free. Do i need a hole in the bottom?
Jeffg166
@OzarkHillbilly: The bulbs under the crape myrtle out the kitchen window are coming up. I had to get the myrtle cut back before they got any taller. I stepped on a lot of them doing the job. In the past that would have really bothered me. Not anymore.
Now I have a lot of branched to cut up. I use the cut branched as stakes. I hope to get to them this coming week. It could happen.
Trivia Man
@Trivia Man: Pumpkins, sunflowers, basil, jalapeños, and zinnias on the list. Sunflowers shouldnt need it but ive had bad luck with planting direct. Southern Wisconsin and lits of squirrels.
Spanky
Here in the sub-tropics of Southern Maryland, we have snowdrops in full bloom. And now I spy crocus that is also in full bloom. The daffs, of course, have been out of the ground for a month, and now the flower buds are swollen up.
As far as electric garden tools go, I am here to trash talk Ego batteries. The land trust I volunteer for has seen a lot of battery failure over the past 3-4 years they’ve been using them. Mostly on the chain saws, which also have issues keeping the chain tension, but also on the mowers.
I think some benefactor had good intentions, and there wasn’t much of a track record back then, but from what I’ve seen now, nuh-uh. I have a Makita electric chain saw because I started with their 18 volt system decades ago, and the double-battery saw does a pretty good job. Not as powerful as the 56v Egos, obviously, but my batteries rarely failed over the past 2+ decades
ETA – the Ego batteries are bad enough that they usually fail within the warranty period, so they’re replaced for free. You would think they’d want to fix that.
O. Felix Culpa
We got snow yesterday–in Albuquerque! Much of it melted by midday, but there’s still some covering the garden beds. With the ever-optimistic daffodil leaves poking out.
Indoors, I have a bumper crop of tatsoi and bok choy using the Kratky Method of hydroponics. It’s super easy and can be done in mason jars, although I use 5-gallon totes and craft foam board to cover, cutting holes in the board for the net pots and growing medium. Works great. This method is best for herbs and leafy greens, and is pretty much set it and forget it.
Geminid
@Raven: The Lowe’s Kobalt mower I’ve been using is priced st $349. Its not self-propelled but it’s lightweight enough not to need that add-on. Depending on the yard area, that model may be sufficient and you can always get an extra battery for it.
Mousebumples
Not an expert, but I think it depends on what material your egg cartons are. Styrofoam? I’d vote yes for drainage. The more carton-y feel ones? (my brain is blanking on what to call that material) I think those could absorb some water if the soil gets too moist.
Good luck!
eclare
@mrmoshpotato:
Hahaha…
Trivia Man
@Mousebumples: Paper cartons. And im more afraid of forgetting to water as i don’t normally go in that room.
Hoping this old dog can learn a new trick
satby
@Trivia Man: Egg cartons are free, but seedlings will outgrow them very quickly. You can cut cardboard ones up to transplant the entire thing into a bigger pot, but the cardboard may decompose too slowly for the roots. If you use styrofoam cartons, you’ll have to scoop the seedlings and soil out and transplant them at a delicate stage. Yes, put holes in the bottom for drainage, but honestly am not bullish on your plan.
O. Felix Culpa
@Trivia Man: @satby:
I use this tool to make seedling pots out of newspaper, and put them in a plastic tray with dome on a heating mat plus a grow light to get the seeds started. When the seedlings get bigger, I transplant them into bigger peat or cow pots. If the newspaper approach doesn’t appeal, one can buy smaller starter pots that aren’t horribly expensive.
ETA: I bought trays like this ages ago and just keep cleaning and reusing them. You can also buy clear plastic domes to cover the trays during the early stage of planting. Helps keep the moisture and warmth in for the seeds to sprout. The trays, domes, and biodegradable pots are available at garden stores and online. Satby uses an all-in-one starter setup, I believe, which also looks handy.
ema
Thank you all!
MazeDancer
Lovely photos!
satby
@ema: yes, ema, lovely photos!
Kristine
Thank you for the lovely photos, ema!
Unseasonable warmth continues here in NE Illinois, though it’s supposed to get a little colder in a few days. 30s mostly during the days, which I think is pretty much normal. Crocuses have joined the daffs in sending up feelers, and the Pink Fizz hellebore is showing buds under the leaf cover. Received an estimate for tree fertilization from the arborist. It won’t be done for a while but it’s a sign they’re starting to gear up. Hoping last year’s treatment took care of the bur oak blight, but if further treatment is required, so be it.
I know we still must have snow sometime in the future but damn it’s feeling like the first hints of spring.
TerryC
This will be my third year grafting scionwood onto field stock, some of which I have planted over the years (a total of 16,000+ trees planted in the last ten years) and some of which are volunteers.
I had one success in Year One, a Baldwin apple onto a domestic crabapple that looks like it will produce fruit this year. In Year Two I had five successes, with three different domestic apple grafts onto a wild crabapple, a domestic pear on top of a wild Bradford (Callery) pear, and a cherry onto the top of a wild plum.
This year I am going wild! I have identified field stock and located scionwood I can cut myself, so no purchases of scions over the Internet this year. I plan to do more than 100 grafts. I’m also going to move a couple dozen or so daylily patches and some Miscanthus x Giganteus clumps.
I’d love to sometimes show pics. Is there a way to do that?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Late getting back but here’s a shot.
It’s hard to see the fence but it’s in there!
Glidwrith
@TerryC: Submit the pictures to Anne Laurie and she will post them sometime.
JAM
Those pictures are much nicer than the bug pics I was thinking of sending.
The winter sown natives are starting to come up in my containers outside. It looks like I will have a lot more liatris pycnostachya than I needed. I also see some solidago odora, a few orange milkweeds, and the most rare one, penstemon murrayanus, which I wasn’t sure I could germinate at all. So that’s encouraging.
JAM
@Trivia Man: If you like recycled pots, I’ve seen instructions online for folding paper towel and tp rolls into biodegradable pots that can be as deep as you choose. (You won’t have time to save them for this spring, but maybe for fall planting.)
StringOnAStick
@TerryC: i would love photos and discussion of your grafting efforts, and of the results. Every time you mention how many trees you’ve planted, my curiosity grows and I bet you could send enough photos and text for several posts!
To get it posted, email Annie Laurie.
Jeffg166
@TerryC: Email address for photos: [email protected]
Trivia Man
Thanks, everybody. I will rethink my plan.
Madeleine
My husband spotted a pair of daffodils in full bloom yesterday in our NW corner of NYC. So bright, so beautiful, so early! I worry.
kalakal
Been a lovely few days here, planning the big Spring prune for next weekend. This year featuring replanting a lot of the stuff that was housed in pots while the fencing was replaced
MomSense
Gorgeous blooms.
We are having the second day of unusually warm weather. All the snow is melting leaving my plants exposed. I hope we have more snow before the cold returns.