I'm taking inspiration from your pictures with all the plants. We want to make a conscious effort to pretty up the deck with plants this summer.
I miss my summer garden
- Thread starter FrancSevin
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My amaryllis is Blooming
This is the water feature in my backyard
A work in progress.
A work in progress.
Have you ever ever used milorganite? I use it on some hardy ferns, and they seem to love it. It stinks for about the first one to two days, but then smell dissipates.
I have used Milorganite for over 40 years. Great stuff.
It is pure organic.
There is good reason why it smells.
Do you know from what and where it originated?
The answer is hidden in the name.
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All I know is that it's poopy stuff. I don't care. It works. I put it on my lawn one time but was concerned about my neighbors complaining about the smell. Nobody ever said anything. Now I just use it sparingly on green only plants. It really is great stuff. Does it work on flowering plants?
Milorganite was developed in the fifties as a lawn fertilizer. Back then, many homeowners accepted free delivery of it from the local sewage treatment plant dropped in bulk on their driveway to be spread out by the homeowner. Yeah, it stunk for weeks. But the greenest lawns on the block used it.
The city of Milwaukie got the bright idea to dry it out and bag it for retail sale. Hence the name Milorganite.
The packaging used to warn not to use it on food crops. I see no reason not to, as manure is the very same thing. And, we use it all the time on our food crop gardens.
At my water feature this morning, violets and tulips.
Our Bird sanctuary this morning
Our Bird sanctuary this morning
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No, I do have Crepe Myrtles but they are currently cut off at ground level having suffered the -15F cold last winter.
Those are Red Bud trees native to the Midwest. They bloom in spring. Crepe Myrtles bloom here in St Louis about late July and August.
I'm betting a lot of crepe Myrtles, even in Texas & Louisiana, are hurting.
Post 23 has my wild Plum blooming. After the Red Buds do their thing the tree next to the red Tulips blooms those beautiful white Dogwood blossoms. A large American Lilac sits under a big Walnut tree and is now blooming as well. Mid May the European Honey suckle fills the air with perfume blossoms.
I don't show it but I have a Bing cherry in bloom other side of the yard. Next to it is a Japanese Dogwood which waits until everyone else is done and can show off alone. From about mid March until midsummer, I have one tree or another in bloom
Your Azaleas should come back fine although blooms may be small or sparse. Give them a dose of Agricultural sulfur as soon
as you can along with some bloom buster from Miracle Grow. They have a liquid version (LiquaFeed (tm)) that works fast. Lowes carries it.
This should be done late February here in the Midwest, earlier in the south.
I am technically Zone 6 but at the northern extreme of it.
Where are you located?
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I did some research today after watching my cats eat the celery leaves. Turns out celery is good for cats. In fact you can cut stack pieces and feed it to them as treats.Grown, baby, grow
Mine eat it whenever they have stomach issues. Good to know it is safe and even of benefit to them.
Can Cats Eat Celery? Is Celery Safe For Cats? - CatTime
Can cats eat celery? The short answer is yes. The vegetable actually has a lot of health benefits for a cat, mostly in the form of its high vitamin and fiber content. But as always, you must ask your vet before sharing any human foods with your cat, including celery.
cattime.com
Yeah, they have been hurting a little but not like the azaleas. I was thinking I was going to have to cut some of the azaleas back to the ground. I'm going to give them a little more time though. I'll have to check out the sulfur recommendation.
East Texas
Then your Crepe Myrtle should be bruised but okay. Down there it grows to be graceful midsized trees. You might have some deadwood from the cold snap.
Here in St louis Crepe Myrtle is almost considered and annual.
Violets like stars fill my yard.
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Very pretty violets!
This celery plant seems to be spreading left/right instead of growing upright, may be because of more sun.
I bought a 6/8" croton, so I had to do a little switcharoo on the pots. The croton is coming into the house at the end of the summer, so I wanted it to be in the nicer pot. The celery got the growers pot.
Good to know about the celery being ok for cats. I have one cat who thinks celery is the Call of the Wild.
This celery plant seems to be spreading left/right instead of growing upright, may be because of more sun.
I bought a 6/8" croton, so I had to do a little switcharoo on the pots. The croton is coming into the house at the end of the summer, so I wanted it to be in the nicer pot. The celery got the growers pot.
Good to know about the celery being ok for cats. I have one cat who thinks celery is the Call of the Wild.
As Spring Progresses, so does my garden.
Bags of mulch to go down when I finish planting new holly trees in that space to the right . Lumber is for decking along the back fence.
One of my side gardens coming awake.
The white blossoms to the extreme left are mountain laurel from the Rockies. The redbud is from Missouri.
The dark Green Euonymus stays green all year.
Bags of mulch to go down when I finish planting new holly trees in that space to the right . Lumber is for decking along the back fence.
One of my side gardens coming awake.
The white blossoms to the extreme left are mountain laurel from the Rockies. The redbud is from Missouri.
The dark Green Euonymus stays green all year.
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Cee, The growth you see is natural. The long stalk celery you buy is trained to grow up and create the vegetable you see in stores.Very pretty violets!
This celery plant seems to be spreading left/right instead of growing upright, may be because of more sun.
I bought a 6/8" croton, so I had to do a little switcharoo on the pots. The croton is coming into the house at the end of the summer, so I wanted it to be in the nicer pot. The celery got the growers pot.
Good to know about the celery being ok for cats. I have one cat who thinks celery is the Call of the Wild.
Now if you want that, use a 3" tube to force upward growth and whiter stalks. You can make them out of newsprint but only as long as the height of the plant. As it grows replace it with a long, taller tube. Keep adding tubing inch by inch until about 10 inches.
However, if you want a house plant from which to harvest leaves, let it grow naturally.
I'm just going to go natural.
Your redbuds are really pretty. I had one, but the wind blew the roots out of the soil, and I had to have it cut down. I think around here the roots are very shallow.
We had snow today. Officially two inches of the stuff but none of it stuck. Tonight we get 25% F. UGH!
The dogwoods and redbuds will be fine. The violets close to the ground will do OK. But I have to bring in all my tenders like Fern and Hibiscus.
Green house heater will be on all night.
I have yellow roses that, sadly, will just suffer.
No signs of life yet from my Crepe Myrtle. This cold snap won't be helpful.
The dogwoods and redbuds will be fine. The violets close to the ground will do OK. But I have to bring in all my tenders like Fern and Hibiscus.
Green house heater will be on all night.
I have yellow roses that, sadly, will just suffer.
No signs of life yet from my Crepe Myrtle. This cold snap won't be helpful.