floppy Fennel
Mary Leek
13 years ago
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MissSherry
13 years agobutterflymomok
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Evan's Garden
Comments (18)I do plan to attend the trade, Kathy, and I would love some Forget Me Nots. A great suggestion for a memorial garden. I love the sensory garden ideas, mcrean1. My son, Duncan, is only 9 months old, but he already loves digging in the dirt. I think he would really enjoy touching and smelling plants and flowers in his own garden. I saw a neat idea on GW about finding cultivars that have the same name as the deceased loved one. I've already found a couple of things with the name Evan. I'll be looking for some Duncans, too. Now if the weather would be more agreeable on the weekends, we could get a good start. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Pam...See MoreHelp with Eastern Black Caterpillars?
Comments (18)Flashawnee- I have lots of bees on my Salvia - already got stung twice this year by something. I did plant several pots of parsley, dill and fennel - that's what they have been eating and the later pots that I started didn't make it - it doesn't grow very well in the heat. I couldn't find most of the cas yesterday while I was in that area of the yard weeding - hope they were still tucked down hiding. Have we met? The reason I ask is that a gal I met last fall was into bees. We have some property in Mulberry that has a bee hive in a dead branch of a tree. We tried to get someone who wanted the hive to remove it - no one would attempt becuase of the Africanized bees. My DH has been down around this one and he says its not AB, he can get to close and they seem to ignore him more than anything. Still would like someone to get the hive out without charging $500.00! That was the only bid we got last fall. Overall, I have fewer butterflies than I have ever had since butterfly gardening. I thought it was the drought at first and the wind we had for so long. Now, I am concerned about all the spraying my neighbors have done in their yards. I have only seen one ZLW this season, about a week ago and it didn't hang around. I have a couple Polydamas that have hung around and I have cats on my vine. Gulf Frits are around and are most of the year. Had two Spicebush eggs laid and lost one of the cats - the other will make a chrysalis soon. I have had a couple Monarch that laid and have released a half dozen butterflies from them - no milkweed now due to MW beetles. EVen the Sulphurs are few and far between. Don't know where the EAstern Black came from - never saw the Mama lay eggs. Good to hear from a fellow Lakelander. I live off Hallam....See MoreAttracting Beneficial Insects to Your Landscape
Comments (39)Absolutely. Leaf-footed bugs are not your friend. If you learn to recognize and kill them while they're young, they won't live long enough to do a lot of damage in your garden. I'm going to link a page that has a photo of the immature leaf-footed bugs in the center near the top of the page. When you see a bunch of little bugs like that clustered together, they generally are leaf-footed bug nymphs and you're doing your garden plants, especially tomato fruit, a big favor by killing them all. If you see a similar-looking bug that is alone on a plant, that usually is the nymph of an assassin bug/wheel bug that is beneficial. I always leave the lone ones alone because they're the beneficial ones, but I kill the ones I find in clusters. Usually I start seeing the wheel bug and assassin bug nymphs in May, but I usually don't see leaf-footed bug nymphs until June (or even July in a really good year, and this was not a really good year). With pests like squash bugs, stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs, I try to kill all the young ones I see early in the season in order to keep their population growth slowed down. Stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs are incredibly damaging to tomato fruit, and you know what a tomato maniac I am. I'll share my garden space with lots of pest insects and leave most of them alone, knowing the good garden helpers like toads, frogs, lizards, birds and beneficial insects will get them, but I never miss a chance to kill a squash bug, stink bug or leaf-footed bug. Leaf-Footed Bug Info...See MoreHelp me design the vegetable garden of my dreams!
Comments (13)I think that the first year, a few experiments are fine, but really spend that year getting to know your site. Light patterns are important but it is also good to know things such as prevailing wind, which can change during the year. Start paying attention to micro-climates. Begin checking out books from the library to give ideas a chance to gestate. You do not state your experience level. If your gardening experience is limited in your climate, do not bite off too much at once and have all the joy zapped out of a project you just spent big bucks on. When it comes to design, I do love potager designs. Mine keeps getting larger. I agree with the above about having a perimeter bed. The fence is good for trellising and it can be deeper for berry vines, etc. It is also an efficient use of space. On my latest extension, I am building long beds to be used for crops that take quite a bit of space (pumpkins, potatoes and corn). These beds will be 20 feet long. The length was chosen because many supplies come in lengths divisible by 25 feet (like soaker hoses), so the 20 feet allows me to use those easily (the extra 5 feet allows for curves in the house). Many other supplies such as row cover, red mulch, etc use these lengths, so the aim is to have things be interchangeable in the beds. Many of my regular beds are 10 feet long so I have shorter versions available for them. While I wanted more round beds in my design, they complicate the process of covering things in inclement weather, etc. so I have limited their use in my design....See Moreangie83
13 years agoLisa_H OK
13 years agosusanlynne48
13 years agofighting8r
13 years agobandjzmom
13 years agoMissSherry
13 years agoMary Leek
13 years agosusanlynne48
13 years agobutterflymomok
13 years agoMissSherry
13 years agoMary Leek
13 years agobandjzmom
13 years ago
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