My cherries and the nectarine tree are just starting to bloom, with the cherries (at left) opening a little quicker. The nectarine (below) has quite attractive pink blossoms, and you can see they’re just getting ready to open. The apple trees aren’t quite as close to blooming, and the crabapples have a little ways to go as well. Many of our shrubs are starting to leaf out. This photo shows a group of Alpine Currant shrubs that have leafed out pretty well. I gotta get those weeds and wild grass removed from the gravel area in front of them! It’s…
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At left is my Forsythia shrub this week. It’s not doing as well as in past years. I don’t know if it’s because of our unusually cold winter/spring or if I didn’t give it enough water or fertilizer last year. I don’t think I’ve given it fertilizer since maybe 2006. I’ll have to change that this year. This flowering plum is the earliest flowering of all the flowering or fruit trees I have. I need try pruning this tree this year to thin out some of the crowded branches. The blooms below show my penchant for purple. I really need…
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I “oiled” my fruit trees and some of my roses last Saturday. By “oiled” I mean that I sprayed dormant oil all over the trunks and branches to kill overwintering insect eggs and things. I believe it kills some diseases, too, like fungal spores. The oil I used was Volck Oil Spray from Ortho. It’s mixed with water in a sprayer, according to instructions, and then applied. It’s important to apply this before the blossoms open on the fruit trees or it could damage the future fruit. I’ve been doing this every spring since I planted these trees, and I…
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My little milk jugs have some more seeds sprouting in them now. I mentioned a few days ago that the Alyssum were sprouting. Now I also have the California poppies sprouting, and just the beginning of some action with the Lychnis. I think the Callirhoe are starting to sprout, too, because I believe I’m seeing a few little “tails” poking out of the seeds — the beginnings of a root. Also, I took some cuttings from the petunias growing in my basement and started trying to root them last night. I had some of them sitting in a cup of…
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This is pretty cool. My wife made a deal with a neighbor who was wanting to get rid of a greenhouse he made some time ago when he was in the glass business. It’s made with strong aluminum framing, all welded together, and real glass — frosted on the sides and clear in front and back. It’s not really big (about 4′ x 8′), but it was darn heavy, and I had to get six guys to lift it over the rose hedge and carry it about 30 feet to its place. Glad it made it intact! Now, I need…
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This was my backyard last Sunday (March 16) in the morning and then the same shot late that afternoon. Here’s to hoping that the snow is gone for the season! On Tuesday, we were supposed to have a pretty cold storm, and it was for a few hours, but then it blew away and warmed up again that very afternoon. Oh yeah, here are the first flowers of spring, our crocuses:
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I posted a message in the GardenWeb roses forum about how to prune my Ruby Meidiland roses. I’ve been cutting the canes back to 18″ or so at the end of each winter, but I thought I’d read somewhere that they do well with little or no pruning. Here’s the best answer: Ruby Meidiland belongs in the landscape series of Meidiland roses. I’ve grown Scarlet, Alba and Fuchsia Meidiland for the graceful cascading effect with hardly any pruning, except dead canes. Arching canes build upon arching canes resulting in fountain shape when they mature. Oldest canes (usually closer to the…
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I’m trying winter sowing this year, although I’m a little late getting to it. I’ve been busy working on my basement, trying to get it framed and then hoping to finish the whole thing this spring. Winter sowing is basically planting seeds inside a plastic container (I’m using gallon milk jugs) and letting them sit out in the cold so they can freeze, thaw, warm in the sun, freeze again, etc. This freezing and thawing breaks down tough seed coatings and allows the seeds to germinate when they’re naturally read to start growing. The seedlings are hardier and stockier than…