Re: Spring?
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Spring?
  • From: A*@aol.com
  • Date: Sun, 1 May 2011 18:52:20 EDT
Spring finally seems in full swing here.  The sun has finally put in
an appearance for a couple of days.  It's not really warm, but nice
enough to be out without heavy coats - 60s and not too windy.
 
I've had my hands full making up the folders, exams, etc. for our
Horticulture School this coming week, I have neglected the garden
dreadfully, but finally got my onions in this afternoon.  Of course, here,
with spring weather you get shad flies which make itvery uncomfortable
to be out very long.
 
All the fruit trees are in full bloom.  The dogwoods look much better than
last year.  The magnolia, for once, made a good showing without being
frost-bitten.  Most years we have a frost just as the buds are opening, and
they are all blackened.  One very sad note, however, is that my redbud
(Cercis canadensis) seems to be completely dead.  It was especially
nice last year, so I can't imagine what did it in, unless it was the 
extremely
cold weather.  Most of my perennials came through the winter in surprisingly
good shape, which I attribute to the very thick snow cover that we had all
winter long.  Since the redbud was above the snow, maybe it just isn't
that hardy.  
 
APL
 
 
In a message dated 4/28/2011 11:06:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time, cyndi.johnso
n@edwards.af.mil writes:

We had the nicest day of spring so far yesterday - sure wish I had been
home to enjoy it instead of looking at it out the window. I sure hope no
one here is getting floods or tornados!
My roses are just starting, as are the bearded iris and the Dutch iris.
Lavender and erisymum are blooming nicely. California poppies are
blooming. My white lilac is blooming but the others finished weeks ago.
In the dry garden I have Shasta buckwheat, lavender, and a few
wildflowers - the salvias will be along shortly. I am late in moving my
plants out of the greenhouse, but I'm getting there. The tomatoes and
peppers are doing much better now, too bad I set them back so far when I
didn't have heat for them, but "it is what it is". 
I took my bay tree out of its pot and planted it near the greenhouse. I
think it might be marginally hardy in our winters but it surely isn't
doing well in the pot. Where I have automatic watering and would look at
it every day is in the shade; where it would be happy in the sun I
forget to keep it watered. Hopefully the gophers don't eat it. 
We are having such a problem with gophers! There must be hundreds of
them. Husband sets traps every night, but after 18 years of this I think
we have bred smarter gophers because he's not catching many. But nothing
to be done except keep after them. Baby rabbits got under my fence
around the lettuce bed and ruined two entire rows of lettuce. I blocked
the holes and spread some blood meal about, trying to discourage them.
Apparently they don't like spinach - next year I will put the spinach
and the cilantro on the outside rows, maybe that will discourage them
from trying to get under the barrier. 
I had a garage sale the Saturday before Easter. Whoo that is an
experience. Next time I will lock the gate before it's supposed to
start, they were ganging up on me at 6 a.m. The swarms diminished
drastically by noon so I started weeding out front and did quite a lot
in between the stragglers. 
It's windy again today but the forecast says it will die down this
weekend. Looking forward to quality time in the veggie garden and riding
my horse. 

Cyndi  

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