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Post by whollygoats on Oct 5, 2020 19:34:33 GMT
Ah...Well, just passing in their demands.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 9, 2020 19:29:34 GMT
Today, the front. The now dead alstromeria needs to be raked out, but I started with overturning the soil in the bed at the top of the eastern slope, next to the rosa rugosa. The rhubarb I'd tried to start there last year and the year before is all gone. Failure to thrive. I'm figuring that, provided the weather holds, it'll serve as a parking space for extra iris rhizomes. That way, I might find out what variety they are. This means hacking back the loosestrife, which is something of a PITA (although not nearly as bad as pruning the rosa rugosa).
Speaking (aside) of the rosa rugosa, this digging means I'll have to deal with the root pruning of the rosa rugosa. It has sent out a new root to a satellite shrub, which is how it expands over time. I guess it's time to find my good leather gloves.
Over on the west side of the front plateau, I've set up a mat of old camellia prunings and partially covered it with compost. I've the three types of spores to salt along with the dilute molasses, oyster, button, and morel.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 28, 2020 1:38:13 GMT
Well...It's been a while since posting. The weather has not been conducive, yet programs go ahead.
The spring bulbs had been sitting, sorted, on the dining room table...until today. Today, I embulbinated the pot pots. All six of them. I have ten large pots total, with six being 20 gallon pots and an additional four being 25 gallon pots, the larger pots serving as homes for iris. I've had three of the latter, half filled with soil and choked with overgrown, non-blooming, iris rhizomes. With those four, my objective is to save two of the older ones by emptying their contents in to two of the newer pots of the same size. I tipped one (at some expense to my aged body) and managed to effect the transfer by blasting the upside down potted material out in to the lower pot. It was a bit tedious and very wet, but all came out well. I finished that today, when I found space to get a hand trowel in the half pot to be emptied and needn't tip and blast.
So....The six pot pots each have:
2 'Mount Hood' white daffodils 4 'Sweet Lady' coral tulips 4 'Replete' frilly coral daffodils 2 'Empire State' mix hyacinth 4 'Prototype' miniature daffodils
So far, the iris tubs have
2 'Mount Hood' white daffodils 2 'Empire State' mix hyacinth and await the arrival of the 'Tete a tete' miniature daffodil bulbs to complete them.
Since most counts are 25 bulbs, I have leftovers which get plugged in to the 'catch-all' pot sitting in the center of the 'mater patch.
Then, I have 100 iris reticulata 'Harmony' bulbs to push in with a finger or thumb...as a finishing touch.
And....the artisan garlics came today. I have plans, but now I'll have to see how workable they are with what I got... ~ Krandasger Red ~ Leningrad ~ Asian Tempest This is a trial run.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 30, 2020 17:35:51 GMT
It took a few days, but that cold snap is finally showing. The rhubarb is fading fast. The climbing hydrangea that inhabits the basement outdoor stairwell is showing impressive colour. The grapes, of course, are going pale. The katsura next to the street is nearly bereft of its leaves. One good storm and it will be stripped. Ah, and the witchhazel, next to the walk, is doing its best autumn fashion.
I await the arrival of my last bulbs. Miniature daffodils from Pennsylvania, last sighted westbound in Cicero, Illinois. I have two XL pots awaiting said bulbs before bulking up to the soil line. I have another empty, awaiting crockery and compost for the bottom. I have one post filled with soil and strewn with unplanted iris rhizomes. I have one paltry bag of 'fluffy' compost, a bag of chicken poo, and a bag of worm castings (poo). I'm going to have to scrape up some soil from somewhere to fill the pots. Not a project done in the rain in these parts. Enthusiasm for gardening is fading in the face of lower temperatures and more precipitation. Airplane modeling looks a lot more enticing.
ETA: All four iris pots are now half filled and awaiting the miniature daffodils. I have one aged and disintegrating pot half filled with soil, columbine and more iris, which, along with two buckets of soil and the rest of the compost, will fill the pots the rest of the way up. I replanted some iris picks out front from those lifted in the back.
Oh...The six cannabis pots I salted with bulbs? Well, when finished, I had these pots filled with fresh soil and nothing visible planted in them. Just two nights and it is obvious that the SQRLz are intent upon turning my cannabis pots in to a new forest. Every pot, but the one I temporarily covered with iris rhizomes, was pocked with multiple divits, presumably each one covering some buried nut treasure. I smoothed them all over today, we'll see how they look tomorrow. Little buggers are being fed elsewhere; I have found peanuts in the shell buried in my pots.
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Post by Mari on Nov 1, 2020 17:43:13 GMT
That's a lot of bulbs...
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 1, 2020 19:28:42 GMT
Yeah...Ten llarge pots full, plus. With the last order of 100 miniature daffodils and the still unaddressed 100 bulbs of iris reticulata, although they'll be concentrated in the iris pots, they'll also be spread out amongst the other pots and in places in the ground. I'll probably keep the iris reticulata in pots only, though, as they are pretty small and early and blue, thus easy to overlook.
I have a few bulbs scattered throughout the property and, of course, every April is greeted with the mass woodland hyacinth bloom, a legacy of an earlier property owner. This investment will liven up the back garden, specifically the cannabis pots in mid-spring and the tops will be nearly gone by the time I set out my cannabis starts.
I figure I might be able to get away with interplanting pansies, or violas, on the iris pots, but, still, I want to minimize competition for light to the iris rhizomes in midsummer.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 1, 2020 20:50:49 GMT
This year, the attempt at sweetpeas on the back fence was a dead loss. So, remember when I moved the chook chalet? Swung it over so that it sat with its back to the back fence? I have now erected one of my tall showdog cages as a trellis on the outer east wall of the garden shed and filled in with several inches of compost underneath. All for next year's try at sweet peas.
I intend on trying some dark blue morning glories from a pot hidden by the sword fern next to the shed porch. And, hang some potted fuschia for the hummers above the morning glories.
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Post by Mari on Nov 2, 2020 7:23:39 GMT
Sounds lovely and colourful. Are the bulbs one year wonders or of the more lasting kind?
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 2, 2020 13:23:31 GMT
I'll find out. My usual experience is that they bloom well for two to three years and then not so well for several years thereafter, before disappearing entirely. They ARE Dutch Grown "from the family farm in Holland." That must be good, right? (I avoided the very upscale sounding 'K. van der Botchthatpronunciationeverytime' outlet because their prices were significantly higher and they didn't have the frilly pastel apricot daffodils. I'll bet those bulbs last forever....on the strength of the retailer's handle alone.)
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Post by Moose on Nov 5, 2020 1:38:33 GMT
Mari, do you remember the bulbs you gave me? They lasted for years but the last few years they've not come up .. why would that be?
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 5, 2020 2:49:53 GMT
While waiting for Mari to enlighten us, the number one reason for missing bulbs here is moles. Bulbs are mole candy.
Then, there is rot, usually because the soil is too wet for too long. Sometimes, fungal diseases kill.
I also understand that if they are 'naturalized' where the tops might get mowed off before they are done re-energizing the bulb, on a continuing basis, it induces a 'failure to thrive'.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 5, 2020 2:55:32 GMT
I finished enbulbinating all the pots; topped off the iris pots and shuffled them in to place. Then, I started pushing in iris reticula bulbs as the finishing touch.
I've still some 15 or so miniature daffodil bulbs. I've plugged a bunch in along the footpath past the clematis. I think the rest should go out front.
It will have to wait for the weekend, though, and colder temperatures. Heavy rains tomorrow and early Friday, with snow expected in the mountain passes.
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Post by JoeP on Nov 5, 2020 12:21:01 GMT
Then, there is rot, usually because the soil is too wet for too long. Do you have wet soil in Cumbria Moosie? :innocentlook:
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 5, 2020 18:03:01 GMT
Well, the 'heavy rains' forecast has yet to materialize and it's midday.
I should be out pushing bulbs in to the ground.
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Post by Mari on Nov 6, 2020 15:11:51 GMT
Mari, do you remember the bulbs you gave me? They lasted for years but the last few years they've not come up .. why would that be? I... erm... what the Goat said? I never planted bulbs myself, though I've got a lot of them in our garden planted by the previous owners. From what I understand though, the energy in the bulb runs out at some point.
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Post by Mari on Nov 6, 2020 15:17:40 GMT
I'll find out. My usual experience is that they bloom well for two to three years and then not so well for several years thereafter, before disappearing entirely. They ARE Dutch Grown "from the family farm in Holland." That must be good, right? (I avoided the very upscale sounding 'K. van der Botchthatpronunciationeverytime' outlet because their prices were significantly higher and they didn't have the frilly pastel apricot daffodils. I'll bet those bulbs last forever....on the strength of the retailer's handle alone.) Now I'm curious about the name. I wonder how Dutch grown Dutch grown is. Owning a farm in the Netherlands doesn't equal growing your bulbs in the Netherlands. Not that I think it actually matters where you grow them if the soil etc is equal.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 6, 2020 17:14:47 GMT
I'll find out. My usual experience is that they bloom well for two to three years and then not so well for several years thereafter, before disappearing entirely. They ARE Dutch Grown "from the family farm in Holland." That must be good, right? (I avoided the very upscale sounding 'K. van der Botchthatpronunciationeverytime' outlet because their prices were significantly higher and they didn't have the frilly pastel apricot daffodils. I'll bet those bulbs last forever....on the strength of the retailer's handle alone.) Now I'm curious about the name. I wonder how Dutch grown Dutch grown is. Owning a farm in the Netherlands doesn't equal growing your bulbs in the Netherlands. Not that I think it actually matters where you grow them if the soil etc is equal. It's K. van Bourgondien. (It sorta looks like some Burgundian was away from home when he got tagged with that moniker, and it stuck.) And, in looking it up, they go by DutchBulbs, so maybe I did buy from 'K. van der Botchthatpronunciationeverytime' and didn't even know it. Hey....It's all one big Dutch combine, right? A huge conspiracy of bulb growers. Y'know, funny bidness in the nether regions? (They're prolly assembled in China and shipped out with a nether regions label. Everything's made in China, anyhoo.)
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 6, 2020 17:35:37 GMT
So...For those curious about such things, the best autumn foliage viewing in my immediate vicinity is the first week of November. I've been watching it from the balcony.
In yesterday's run up to the rainstorm, there was some of the most glorious fall colours I'd seen in some time in the neighborhood. The persica parrotia across the street drew me down to the walk, where I spied a glorious red Japanese maple on my side of the street a block to the west and a yellow maple just beyond it. It was luminous.
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Post by Mari on Nov 7, 2020 6:34:41 GMT
And that is why Autumn is my favourite season.
That name seems more French than Dutch, except for the "van" part. No idea how it should be pronounced.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 13, 2020 19:34:19 GMT
Torrential rains overnight and through much of the morning. Even the cats refrained from exit. At least until the heavy rains let up.
It, of course, makes me lazy as all get-out.
I note that the SQRLz have discovered the hanging suet. Bits of the suet block spread from hell to breakfast.
ETA: The SQRLz have torn down the hanging suet cage.
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Post by Moose on Nov 13, 2020 21:09:51 GMT
Going back to my poor, much missed bulbs - I don't think we have moles here (I mean, we do have them here in the UK but I don't think we have them in my garden, or at least I've never seen evidence of them). Maybe I should dig down where they were and see whether they are still there
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 13, 2020 21:37:23 GMT
First...How long ago did you plant them? Did they produce tops, aka leaves, but not flower? Bulbs are usually pretty demanding of a lot of sun, so if you planted them in a location with too much shade, they would fail to thrive and eventually rot in to the soil. If that has happened and it has been more than a couple of years, you won't find them.
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Post by Moose on Nov 14, 2020 21:41:50 GMT
It was probably about 12 years ago. They flowered every spring but haven't for at least five years . I just sort of ... bunged them randomly in the front garden.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 15, 2020 21:45:06 GMT
It was probably about 12 years ago. They flowered every spring but haven't for at least five years . I just sort of ... bunged them randomly in the front garden. If you haven't seen them is five years, I'd guess they've done the ultimate 'naturalizing'...they've composted in to the soil. As Mari noted, if they were low-grade bulbs, then you prolly got max production off of them. The scenario you describe is very near to my personal experience with spring bulbs and why I haven't really dabbled with them much. I tried gladiolus bulbs this year and flower production was crap. Discount bulbs.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 17, 2020 15:29:35 GMT
The kousa in the western front is now full bronze. The leaves shan't last long.
The katsura, at the street, is now naked, while its neighbor, the unloved maple, looks like crap, but still has most of its leaves.
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Post by Moose on Nov 18, 2020 0:26:43 GMT
Trees do not fair well in winter Even if they keep their bits there's a chance someone will cut them down and then cover them in gaudy decorations.
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Post by whollygoats on Nov 18, 2020 1:08:41 GMT
I'll have none of that in this household. I will not sacrifice an innocent evergreen tree to baby Jeebus.
I'm curious as to how my new neighbors in the 'Temple of Azathoth' will approach the coming holiday season. At the moment, they're still sporting the front being festooned with rotting pumpkins. They put up lights all 'round the front porch, so I'm assuming they'll up the glare as we approach the apex of conspicuous consumption display season. We shall see.
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Post by Moose on Nov 18, 2020 2:08:22 GMT
We have a nice artificial one
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Post by Mari on Nov 18, 2020 18:54:49 GMT
Apparently because of corona people here have taken to doing their house up in Christmas style since October. Usually the madness doesn't start until after sinterklaas (December 5th).
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Post by Moose on Nov 18, 2020 22:27:44 GMT
Yeah it's been happening here too. I do like Christmas lights and things but not putting any up till December.
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