Wall o Water

If you've never heard of Wall o Waters you either live someplace with really steady and predictable spring seasons or you didn't know they exist. In short, they are used as tiny greenhouses to extend the growing season of plants. I've usually used them to give a head start to my hot season vegetables like tomatoes and peppers. Especially when I lived in eastern Colorado where the weather has always been erratic in the spring, my family used these bad boys to protect our tiny plants from frost, snow, hail and wind.They can last for a long period of time, I got a bunch from my father and I'm not even sure how long he had them.

Basic construction is that they are a tube of heavy duty plastic folded in half and sectioned off. Words to describe the construction are failing me, here is a picture instead.

When unfilled, the wall o water is easy to store

They are usually either green or red, though I think my mom had ones that were clear.

So this is how they work. Each of the sections is filled part of the way up and the wall o water forms a little teepee that can be put over a small plant. When the plant outgrows the teepee the whole thing can be removed. By then, it should be warm enough outside and the plant should be big enough to handle a little wind

Little teepee over my baby tomatoes

or the tubes can be filled all the way up which will make the wall o waters stand up like a little fortress wall. I've never done that, I think it is useful in areas where it doesn't get really warm in the summer.

Even though it hasn't been very warm out (around 50) during the day, these little guys are warm enough to keep growing

When done with them for the season, dump out the water, let them dry out and they can be folded to a pretty small size to be stored away for the next year.

Seriously though, they are great little plant protectors and I can't recommend them enough

Bonus photo of carrot seedlings! I finally have had success in germinating carrot seeds!

Plants people love to hate

My husband hates irises. the only reason I can find as to why is that he once owned a house where the irises in his yard never bloomed. I'm pretty sure they were planted in too much shade and never watered so yes, they never bloomed. I'm trying to change his mind as I adore irises, they come in so many colors, they are hard to kill, and they self propagate.
Over the years I have discovered that people have very strong feelings about plants. Deep loves and deep hates. I myself, detest Bacopa. It's a commonly used trailing annual with white, pink or pale blue flowers. More information can be found here Bacopa Trailing Annual.  I am generally not a big fan of pale colored flowers to begin with but I hate how Bacopa smells. Especially when it needs water, it has this sour mothball odor that I hate. If it isn't obvious by now reading any of my blog entries, scent is really important to me. Bacopa happens to be a plant with a terrible odor and the color is not enough to make me like it. One of the reasons I hate Bacopa is from having thousands of them that were under my care in my horticulture classes. The greenhouse would reek of them on warmer days or when they started to dry out. One of my teachers kept telling me that one day I would appreciate their reliable blooming and easy to match colors. That day has yet to arrive.
There are plants that cause deep divides in the gardening community. Roses are one plant that I've seen people on both ends of the spectrum. Some people looovvvee roses and the amount of time and care needed for roses are not an obstacle. i have met other people who hhaaate roses and the extra demands that roses often require. Both sides have valid points and really a lot of plant hate is based off past bad gardening experiences.
I realize that a bad experience can color anything. Gardening is really no different in that respect. I acknowledge that I may never change my husband's mind on irises and I doubt I'll cange my mind over Bacopa either. It's one thing that I have to keep in mind when coming across other people's plant biases. Everyone has them and listening to the background stories on plant hatreds can reveal a lot about what some one wants in a plant.

Seeds!-2

It's been a couple weeks since starting some seeds and my impatience has bitten me in the butt a little. I assumed that none of the Datura were going to germinate after about 8 days so I tossed a bunch of them outside. Now I have 4 of the little buggers coming up. One that I just noticed this morning. Maybe the ones I half buried in the mulch will appear? At least I have a couple to work with and if I get a full seedpod this summer I will get plenty to work with next year.

Datura babies

The hibiscus outgrew the seed starter pots basically immediately so they've been moved to larger pots. I also started another round of seeds but they didn't germinate as well. Still I just wanted a couple, so having over 10 to work with and hopefully survive makes me very happy.

Hibiscus on the right

The ground cherries were slow to germinate so I started another set of them. Now the first ones are putting on their first set of true leave and the second set are really spindly and will more than likely flame out. Not sure what the difference was, at any rate, I am still looking super forward to growing them this summer.

Shiny happy Ground Cherries

I also started some flowers called Irish Poet Tassel flowers. Fast germination gives me hope and I have a feeling they will reseed themselves in my yard. Low maintenance for the win!

I of course want to start a bunch more stuff but my space is limited and really everything else only needs a 2-3 week lead up time to going outside. Spring has sprung and I am itching to plant like crazy

Seeds!

Two heating pads and one grow light should be all I need this year

This year I managed to carve a small seed starting space down in my basement so I can try growing things from seed. I may have gone a little nutty buying seeds from catalogs this year.

A small sampling of my seed obsession

I may have also been buying seed packets at nurseries too. I am interested in getting more specific vegetable varieties and seeds are really the best option. I want to try some new to me plants that I've never seen as transplants. I also want to better fill my garden beds with flowers and seeds are much cheaper for getting a lot of plants at once.
So far I have three different plants started, the three that need the longest lead up time before the last frost. Edible Hibiscus, Devil's Trumpet, and Ground Cherries. I am surprised the Hibiscus has been the fastest to germinate, there is little information on starting these from seed.

Hibiscus babies!

 The ground Cherry has been taking it's sweet sweet time, I've been worried that these seeds wouldn't germinate. The Devil's Trumpet has yet to have a single seedling and any info I have found about starting these from seed has varied wildly. I'm going to give those a few more days and if nothing pops up, I'm tossing them and starting over. I don't want to waste resources on blank soil.

The blank spot where the Devil's Trumpet should be

Fall planting

It is fall, almost officially by now, and the solemn promise I made to not buy plants over the summer has ended. I more or less followed that promise. I did buy a "Brandy" rose, the only rose I really wanted for my garden and a Hibiscus called "Midnight Marvel" with purple foliage and red flowers. otherwise I resisted with all my might.  Once September rolled around my personal ban ended and this also coincides with end of season sales at the local nurseries. Perennials, shrubs, and trees on sale, yes please! Fall is also a great time to plant, the roots can get a little established before winter rolls around and the plants are less stressed the next spring. Here is a great guide from Michigan no less, about fall planting. 10 Tips for planting trees and shrubs in the fall

 My crowning jewel for this fall is a Shagbark Maple. the more commonly used name is Paperbark Maple but I love saying shagbark, it is a much more fun name. The scientific name is Acer griseum and it has a fantastic cinnamon colored peeling bark with a clear red fall color.

Oh, how I love that bark!

 I have been waiting all summer to pick up one of these, holding out until the fall sales, when this beauty went from being $125 to $75. I wanted to buy one last year at the same sale but I didn't like the shape of the trees they had. They looked more like shrubs and I wanted to make sure that I got one that would need very little training or pruning.

The other must get this year was a clematis called "Sweet Summer Love". Some great info on it here Sweet Summer Love Clematis.  It is a late blooming purple clematis that is also fragrant. This plant is right up my alley. There is a person living nearby with a white late blooming fragrant clematis and after seeing that one I hunted down this fabulous hybrid. it will also serve the purpose of covering up a gap in my neighbors chain link fence that my dogs can fit through.

I also scored some half off asters, red lupines, Hot Lips Salvia, Balloon flower, ice plant, and delphinium. The asters may have to be temporarily planted since they are to be planted on the outside of a fence that does not yet exist. The balloon flower may go up in the front in a bed I am hoping to work on in a couple weeks. Everything else, well, I haven't decided yet but I'm sure I will find space somewhere

Some more of my goodies

Veggie update, or what to do with all the zucchini

The veggie garden is cruising along, the tomatoes are finally turning, the green beans are producing nicely, and the zucchini is under control. There is no other way of describing how my zucchini plant is politely producing two fruits a week. My plant also had an aphid infestation while I was away(more on that another day), so it is a little slow for a zucchini plant. Though my plant is under producing this year, I have a growing stockpile of interesting recipes to use zucchini. Zucchini bread is the classic but honestly, I've never been big on it. I'd rather do banana bread or rhubarb bread and let the zucchini get used in something a little less expected. Here is a list of my favorite recipes along with links, not necessarily the same that I use, but as close as I can get.

Lebanese Egg Fritters- eggy and delicious. As an added bonus these are a good way to use up some fresh mint

Zucchini and Sweet Pepper Refrigerator Pickles- quick pickles without needing cucumbers is a win. These are great on sandwiches or burgers.

Zucchini Mock Apple Pie-  Tastes like apple pie but with only zucchini. A great thing to take to a potluck to blow peoples minds.

Calabacitas con Elote  With tomatoes in my family, without tomatoes for my hubby. Either way it makes a nice side dish for chicken and things

Summer Squash Pizza Granted, this one I've only made once, but it was really good and goes through a lot of zucchini. I will be making it again

I have also heard of people drying out zucchini and using it as firewood. I cannot find any sources that talk about doing this so maybe this is an old wives tale.

Pollinator gardens

I know that I am a small voice in a very large chorus calling for providing more food and habitat for pollinators in the garden. At this point most gardeners are very concerned about colony collapse of honey bees and about planting milkweed for butterflies. Gardeners are also very aware of the shrinking habitats of many other beneficial insects. In my own yard and even neighborhood I see very few flying insects. Living in an urban/suburban where everyone has a yard nearly full of grass, there isn't enough for insects to eat and few places for them to nest.  The other part of it is though there is a lot of press in the USA about the disappearance of honey bees, honey bees aren't native to the new world. They were brought over from Europe centuries ago. There are lots of native bees to the United States, thousands of different types that live all over North America. Here is a great list of some of them Native Bees of North America, they like different flowers and a lot of them are solitary. My favorites are the solitary bumblebees that are ground nesting and squash bees. Squash bees are adorable, sometimes I find them sleeping in squash flowers in the morning, waiting for the sun to warm them back up. Solitary bumblebees are also adorable, though I usually find them after scaring them awake.
I will be making my yard more insect friendly. This benefits myself, by making my fruit trees and vegetable garden more productive. It is also good for the environment. Here are the vows I am making to make my yard a more diverse ecosystem.
1. I vow to leave my yard a little higher and not try to remove all the weeds from it. Part of me would be totally fine with never mowing my yard but I think I can be ticketed by the city if I don't. When I mow my yard a little on the long side, I keep more of the clover flowers. In fact I think I am going to seed more clover into my yard, I love seeing the flowers all summer and of course, the flowers are frequented by bees. Leaving it a little taller also makes it stay green a little longer into summer. It is a pretty common practice to not water lawns in my city during the dry summers. taller grass also eaves more places for insects to hang out, like spiders and ants.  By not trying to take out all the dandelions, early emerging bees, like mason bees, get something to snack on in my yard. If they come for the dandelions, they might stay for cherry trees that are blooming about the same time. In the summer, nipplewort throws up their flowers and can lure more bees in my yard.
2. Next year I am getting mason bees and making a bee hotel.  There are 150 types of Mason bees in North America. They vary by region but all are solitary and they all nest in tunnels. You can buy mason bee larva to release into your yard and they can find their own places to nest, however, they may not settle down nearby. So building a bee hotel for them is a good idea. Most mason bees are active early in the year so I must make sure there are things to eat in early spring. I have that partially covered by early blooming fruit trees and dandelions but I will need to look into it more. They also need mud to repack their tunnels so a bare patch in the yard will be a good plan. Here is a good page on making and managing places for mason bees Attract Mason Bees.
3. Plant some native plants to bring native insects to my yard. The Xerces Society has some amazing lists broken down by narrow regions through the US here Pollinator Plant Lists. I fully recommend these lists since they are really detailed. I already know I want goldenrod and asters, the combination late in the year is really pretty. I also have my eye on some vine maple cultivars, as mentioned in a previous post.  Planting natives in my yard is already in my mind because I work with native plants currently so I can see how they look in combination and get ideas for plantings. Plus I know where to get the native plants I like, which nursery gets and grows what plants. There are advantages to working in the plant industry when planning and designing gardens.
4. Encourage my neighbors to do similar things. No pollinator garden is an island and making a great garden in only my yard will be good, but it can get better. Getting a few of my neighbors to plant some bee friendly flowers will give the bees more places to live. Some of this will be by talking to them directly about what I am doing and why. A majority of the work will be showing how pretty and vibrant my yard will be. Nothing encourages gardening activity like having a really nice garden in the neighborhood. Maybe it is jealousy, maybe it is a curb appeal thing but, one really nice flower filled yard can encourage other people to garden too. Plus, I will be able to divide out plants and gift them around the block. It may be a little devious but preaching at people about the importance of pollinator habitat can backfire. nobody likes being lectured at, most people like free low maintenance plants.
5. Using a minimal amount of herbicide/pesticides in my yard. I garden mostly organically anyway so this will be easy for me. I only use herbicide when there is no other way of controlling the weed.  Pesticides are saved for when I see damage that is beyond what I can stand. Even then I follow all the guidelines for the herbicide/pesticide and use the appropriate herbicide/pesticide for the job.
I know that this will not all happen overnight. This will be a multiyear process that I will be committing to. I will be celebrating my victories through extra garden bounty and by watching the increase in activity in my yard.