Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

[TJMcG139 22]

I love raised beds - they look easier to work on. These metal ones look great, and I like the oval shapes!

I'd say you got pretty good mileage out of those plywood originals.

Over the years, the plywood needed periodic replacement, and a few years ago, I sold off the bulk of my woodworking tools, so it would be much more difficult to maintain them now. These were easy to assemble, and we were able to reuse much of the soil from the old beds. I just wish we hadn't bothered with the cinder block one, I don't see that lasting like the metal.

 

[SquarePeg]

Finally some signs of life in the garden here in New England! Lots of buds on the cherry and magnolia trees as well as on my newish (3rd year) white Japanese lilac.

The roses have been pruned and are covered with new growth. Tulips have been eaten by the bunnies as soon as they pop up. The honeysuckle and clematis are waking up as well. I’m working on adding bottomless pots to all of my clematis to bunny proof them.

 

[cgw143 168]

Finally some signs of life in the garden here in New England! Lots of buds on the cherry and magnolia trees as well as on my newish (3rd year) white Japanese lilac.
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The roses have been pruned and are covered with new growth. Tulips have been eaten by the bunnies as soon as they pop up. The honeysuckle and clematis are waking up as well. I’m working on adding bottomless pots to all of my clematis to bunny proof them.
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Waaay behind you! Snowdrops up but early bulbs bravely showing just under an inch of green. That's it! Well-established winter aconite spreads at the family ruin popped a week ago under retreating snow. The old dowager roses there ain't budging. Private concern that the infamous "French *****," the hyper-fragrant showy damask my late sainted MIL adored didn't survive winter. Basement gro-op is in and under lights. Micro-greens planted soon. Horrid, lingering winter up here. Snow two days ago...
underway. Even the case-hardened forsythia is only budding tentatively

 

[snowbear142 73]

I took a walk around the house and yard this afternoon. I wasn't looking at the stuff along the edges of the back yard closely, but I noticed buds on the big maple in the side yard, the big old lilac in front, and the rhododendron (I think) in front. I'll make a more thorough look tomorrow, along the creek and pond shore.

I planted a couple blue carpet junipers (very small) behind the garage last year and they are still mostly green, so at least I didn't kill those. I'll find out if I killed the peonies we brought up from the old house later. MLW's boss gave her some roots to plant, but I can't remember what they are (maybe iris). The squirrels dug them up back in the summer and I replanted. I'm hoping they make it through.

Andy (Androscoggin) County Soil & Water is sponsoring a native plant sale in May, so I'm going to try to pick up something. I want to cover the hill-that-can't-be-safely-mowed is some nice groundcovers and wildflowers.

Maple (I don't know what variety)


Lilac


Rhododendron or something else that flowers

 

[terri60]

I think I posted this in the Coffee House maybe a week ago:

Hyacinth and crocus. I raked over the mulch and tidied up the area - now I see some shoots coming up in the grass. I'm leaving them alone.

The daylilies have pushed through in the backyard - no pics though. The tiniest action had started on the honeysuckle, but we've dropped below freezing here a couple of times and put a stop to that.

March is a tough month around here - the next couple of weeks should be more stable with the temps.

 

[terri60]

I've started some Morning Glory seeds under grow lights. The seeds were kindly sent to me from @Ysarex and I stuck in some from a store bought packet at random, too.

Hubby used to start heirloom tomatoes with these lights, many moons ago. Somehow during packing up the growlights and stand, we lost the cord and plug during the move. I was able to rescue the stand by removing the old bulbs and tie-wrapping two new LED grow light strips along the length of the stand.

I just planted the seeds on Monday. After scarification they had an overnight soak. Put them into the starter soil and watered. Popped the lights on to "full spectrum" mode and have kept them on ever since. Warming pad underneath.

Already?

I was just down there checking the soil for dampness and this shocked me. Only 2 pots in the back don't have shoots yet. The reading I did said it would take a good 10 days to germinate.

I dribbled in a little more water and replaced the lights. They're about 3" above the tallest ones in the middle, and the warming pad is still on. They're in the unfinished area of my basement on a table.

Anyone who knows more about starting seedlings under grow lights is welcome to tell me how to keep them happy!

 

[TJMcG139 22]

My wife starts most of her vegetable garden in our office/studio. I rewired some ceiling lights to plug into the wall, and she has lettuce, peppers, and tulsi (holy basil) under here now. They are on a timer, come on at 7:00 AM and go off at 7:00 PM.

 

[SquarePeg]

My winter sowing mini water jug greenhouses have almost all sprouted. The only things still not showing any life are the parsley and the butterfly weed. The Gomphrena is a bit hard to see because it’s purple. They are all a bit overseeded but I like to use the hunk of seedlings method when I transplant them. I either divide or thin when they get a bit better established in their permanent pot or bed. If you haven’t tried winter sowing yet, I highly recommend. No lights or warming mats or indoor space needed. By the end of May, the traditional planting time here due to possible late frost, these should all be ready to plant out.

 

[SquarePeg]

Got the bottomless pots added for about half of my clematis plants. I had a few that were the appropriate size and also found some at Ocean State for $6 each. I cut the bottom out of the pots and covered with mesh baskets or chicken wire. Also succumbed to temptation and bought 2 of the $8 no name clematis plants they had in stock. The roots looked good. We will see if they are true to the described colors.

Some of these have soil in them with a new plant and others are empty and protecting plants that have been in the ground for a few years from the hungry bunnies.

 

[terri60]

Got the bottomless pots added for about half of my clematis plants. I had a few that were the appropriate size and also found some at Ocean State for $6 each. I cut the bottom out of the pots and covered with mesh baskets or chicken wire. Also succumbed to temptation and bought 2 of the $8 no name clematis plants they had in stock. The roots looked good. We will see if they are true to the described colors.

Some of these have soil in them with a new plant and others are empty and protecting plants that have been in the ground for a few years from the hungry bunnies.

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Hey! I see a hungry bunny right there!

 

[terri60]

My winter sowing mini water jug greenhouses have almost all sprouted. The only things still not showing any life are the parsley and the butterfly weed. The Gomphrena is a bit hard to see because it’s purple. They are all a bit overseeded but I like to use the hunk of seedlings method when I transplant them. I either divide or thin when they get a bit better established in their permanent pot or bed. If you haven’t tried winter sowing yet, I highly recommend. No lights or warming mats or indoor space needed. By the end of May, the traditional planting time here due to possible late frost, these should all be ready to plant out.

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You definitely have a lot of sprouts coming up. I don't think I've heard of this method. You're just (over) seeding into small plastic jugs (like an old water bottle size?) and covering them with plastic? Are they indoors, in the basement - just away from the winter cold?


@TJMcG - wow! Those are coming along very well! I still have my tiny seedlings on 24/7 full spectrum lighting. I'm going to go for about a 6-8 hour dark mode when they're a little larger. What I'm growing are morning glory vines - at this tiny stage they're apparently susceptible to getting leggy quickly without a lot of light and they'll keel over.

I'm totally new to this and playing it by ear. Still waiting for all the pots to show me growth, though some are definitely on the way.

 

[Bigfoot 51]

Fun with an oldie. Pentax K5ii, all 16 megapixels of it, with a, twenty eight year old, Pentax F28-80 macro lens. The autofocus is noisy and slow, that's when it will focus. It hunts and occasionally totally refuses to focus. But it was fun to get away from modern day instant technology

 

[SquarePeg]

You definitely have a lot of sprouts coming up. I don't think I've heard of this method. You're just (over) seeding into small plastic jugs (like an old water bottle size?) and covering them with plastic? Are they indoors, in the basement - just away from the winter cold?

They’re outside in a sunny spot on top of one of my raised dahlia beds. I just put them out a few weeks ago but you can start as early as January. I had left my bag of potting soil and my empty water jugs outside behind the shed and they were covered by 3 feet of snow, so I had to wait for the snow to melt before I could get started. There’s a ton of information on YouTube about winter sowing. I use a soldering iron to poke holes in the water jugs then cut them open leaving a hinge. I add about 3” of potting soil, sprinkle in the seeds and then tape the jugs back together with painters tape and put them in the sun. They’re like mini greenhouses. The seeds will germinate when they’re ready. No stratification or soaking required. You shouldn’t really need to water them unless it’s unusually dry. Once the weather gets warm you can open them up. No need for hardening off or anything. Works great for most annuals and perennials.

 

[cgw143 168]

We decided to go long-term and start annuals and perennials from seed. Nursery prices looking to skyrocket this Spring hereabouts. Prolly 3 weeks away from doing much beyond clean-up at the family ruin. Looking at dead tree removals soaking up a few bux.

 

[terri60]

They’re outside in a sunny spot on top of one of my raised dahlia beds. I just put them out a few weeks ago but you can start as early as January. I had left my bag of potting soil and my empty water jugs outside behind the shed and they were covered by 3 feet of snow, so I had to wait for the snow to melt before I could get started. There’s a ton of information on YouTube about winter sowing. I use a soldering iron to poke holes in the water jugs then cut them open leaving a hinge. I add about 3” of potting soil, sprinkle in the seeds and then tape the jugs back together with painters tape and put them in the sun. They’re like mini greenhouses. The seeds will germinate when they’re ready. No stratification or soaking required. You shouldn’t really need to water them unless it’s unusually dry. Once the weather gets warm you can open them up. No need for hardening off or anything. Works great for most annuals and perennials.

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That's fascinating! I'll look into this for Michigan and suggested start times. Thanks!