One to Seven
November 7, 2011 – 10:10 amThat’s gin to water – the brew I put together in order to stunt the growth of one of the containers of paperwhites I have on the go. I’ve never tried the stunting potion before. I typically plant paperwhite bulbs in the bottom of a tall glass vase so I don’t have to stake them once they start to bloom. The vase provides the support. But this year I’m doing a side by side comparison, gin and no gin. I’ll post the results in a few weeks when the flowers are in full bloom. Cheers to that.
Almost Missed It
October 24, 2011 – 10:10 amI almost missed bulb-buying season.
We have had a beautiful fall this year. The leaves have actually had time to change colour, as compared to recent fall seasons where leaves were frozen green.
I’ve posted before about not having any success wintering over bulbs in the alpine troughs on the balcony, much to my disappointment. But I always like to go for a little shop, have a look and at least buy some paper whites. This year I decided to force some bulbs, so was really caught be surprise when I finally went shopping and found out that all the bulbs were on sale and the selection was very limited.
I did find paper whites and picked up from the sales table some crocus and snowdrops. I bought Snow Crocus, Snowbunting, a pretty little white crocus with a yellow throat and a bag of mixed Snow Crocus – white, pale purple, dark purple and gold. Crocus will top off at about 10 cm (4 inches) high. Of similar stature are Snowdrops – I bought the last two packages of Galanthus, Perce de Neiges.
So the bulbs are now in the fridge for about 12 weeeks. I’ll check them every week or so to make sure that they aren’t drying out (or going moldy) and look forward to the new year when they will be planted.
What’s Up, Doc?
October 10, 2011 – 10:10 am
My goal this year was to grow carrots that numbered more than a handful and were big enough to warrant more than a wipe with a gardening glove before popping them into my mouth.
Goal accomplished. This is two handfuls. Plump, juicy and sweet, these little carrots were planted on May 17 and harvested just over 4 months later. When I dug them out, the soil was full of fibrous white rootlets, so I understand better why they wanted water every day.
The east facing clay trough that the carrots were thinly seeded into seemed to work well, daily watering was an easy routine and the thinning challenge was a patience-testing exercise that I finally figured out this year.
Grow carrots again next year? I think I will.
And Repeat
October 4, 2011 – 10:10 amAnd four months later ‘The President’ blooms again. Kinda unusual to have a new flower showing off so late in the season. It had made promises of a repeat performance, but I really didn’t believe it was going to happen. Faith in Mother Nature restored.
Floating Fronds and Moss
September 20, 2011 – 10:10 am
As we head into the fall, the plants in each of my three stone trough ponds are starting to change colour. Salvinia natans, the floating fern, is starting to fade. Throughout the growing season this plant grows agressively and its new shoots are bright green. But as temperatures drop, the leaves loose their green glow and slowly start to darken to a dirty green-brown.
But Azolla carliniana, the floating fairy moss takes another path. It turns a bright purple-pink as temperatures cool. A true sign that the pond temperature is now cold more often than not.
The fishes are starting to slow down a bit and seem to be nibbling on the plants. Must be getting tired of a summer of only fish food and the ocassional insect. Can’t blame ‘em for wanting something fresh every so often.
Easier to Order Than Grow
September 19, 2011 – 10:10 amI bet you ordered edamame beans last time you went to a Japanese restaurant. I know I did.
So I grew some this summer. The brand was Container Gardens, Mr. Fothergill’s Edamame Beans, packaged in England and purchased at a local nursery. They were marked as needing a 90-day growing season, so seeds were in the ground by May 17. I subsequently had miserable luck with all of the beans I planted. So I ended up replanting the edamame.
Once the seeds finally sprouted (less that 50 per cent germination on the replant) and the plants started to grow, progress was very slow. This is a hairy little plant and the bright green pods are fuzzy too. The plants grew to about 40.5 cm (16 inches) high and I ended up adding bamboo stakes to the container to give the plants a bit of support. The beans wouldn’t necessarily need to be staked if planted in a container with other ornamentals that could provide some support.
The edamame bean plants finally started to hit their stride about a month and a half ago, as I was headed out on vacation. Isn’t that always the way. But the pods filled nicely, although there were not very many on each plant.
The harvest? – pretty small. These plants didn’t like the drop in evening temperatures that happened here in early September. And as a result the leaves and beans that were still to be picked turned yellow pretty quickly. So if you grow these watch carefully around harvest time – I found the window for harvest to be pretty narrow. That means one day they are ready and just a few days later the beans and pods have hardened and are too tough.
Grow again? Yes, I think I’ll try again next year – but in a container that gets a little bit more heat and is more protected from the wind. And I’ll probably seed a week or two later, just to ensure the weather is a bit warmer and settled. In the meantime, I’ll keep ordering them at the restaurant and buying them frozen – and be a lot more appreciative of what it takes to grow these fuzzy treats.
The Pollinator Bed
September 5, 2011 – 10:10 amI like Elaine’s Pollinator Bed. And on the balcony, I’m trying to do my part by growing sedum, thrift, aquilegia, clematis and potentilla to encourage bees to visit and pollinate my containers.
My parents garden in BC in Zone 6. It’s hot in the summer – +30˚C and mild in the winter, typically with good moisture – lots of snow. My mom has a pollinator-friendly flower bed that is in the full sun, so roses and liatris under-planted with thyme and lavender thrive. Local honey bees are pretty happy and active too. But although there seems to be a bee on every plant, there aren’t as many as there used to be. My dad used to have beehives, but retired them because of problems with the Varroa Mite in the area.
We all know the role of the pollinator is increasingly important. Another reason to have a bee-friendly garden on your balcony.
