Lighting Enhancements for Indoor Growing, Fall Planted Spring Blooming Bulbs and Pruning Thornless Blackberry Bushes

-
THE SHED SAGA
If you are a regular reader, you already know about the rainbow ceiling in the new garden shed. This is a photo from yesterday - more changes and improvements were made today - the tweaking continues. The new feature today was the addition of reflective insulation material on the wall to the right to take advantage of the sets of grow lights hanging there. Reflective material on the wall behind the grow shelves maximizes the use of artificial lighting.

THE ONE THOUSAND BULBS
A gardening friend from Daffnet (the daffodil conversation online) told me that

Brent and Becky's Bulbs is having a last of the last sale (25% off).


So I ordered.


It is now official: We will have put in 1,000 bulbs this year when they arrive and get planted. The photo below is one of the beds - it now has 700 bulbs in it. We can see this bed from the kitchen table windows.

Two things about the Brent and Beck's sale: 1) My online friend said they didn't have in stock everything they advertise as available; and, 2) she said they did not give her the discount so she had to call them to remind them to credit her.


Well, here's a third thing: I ordered online last night, received a confirmation email last night. Then this morning I received an email from them that said something like critical information and looked for all the world like a virus-type email so I called their order department. The woman there said that she has received other calls about the danger-danger style of the email subject line. At any rate, it is actually from B & B and is harmless.
If you want to print out that particular email confirmation of your order and the prices you will be charged -you must have the most recent Adobe and some other piece of software installed. I didn't seem to have the right software they wanted so I didn't bother printing it. If the bill is incorrect, I'll call them then.

BLACKBERRY PRUNING --- I started cutting back the thornless blackberry bushes today. This year's yield was terrific and we have several bags of berries in the freezer to use over the winter. All the blackberry pruning advice says to remove the canes that made fruit this year. Anyone know how a person can tell which ones they are? They don't appear to have any markings that look different from the new canes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Moldy Tulip Bulbs

-
Image
Moldy tulip bulbs are a big disappointment when you are hoping to fill a bed or some pots. It is not that unusual for their skins to have a bit of penicillin mold but these are beyond that tad bit stage. Mold penetrating tulip bulb  Mold on emerging tulip bulb growth  So, what to do? The plant references say to throw them out and buy new ones but I already spent $22 for 50 of these white tulip beauties. First, they got a soak in 1% bleach solution in the kitchen sink in the hope that the bleach would stop the mold from continuing to grow without killing the life force in the bulb itself. After a good slosh around, I wiped them off to see how much damage was beneath the blue and black.  This tulip bulb is soft to the touch and there is little chance it will thrive in the soil. This basal root on these have been ruined by mold. The final step I took to try to salvage part of them  was to spray them thoroughly with fungicide.  They are all planted in the
Read more

Propagate Begonia Stem Cuttings in water - Cane-like Angel Wing Begonia

-
Image
Propagating by stem cuttings is just about the easiest way to make more begonias for next summer's garden. During the fall, I regularly trim off 3-node long cuttings and put them into the growing pots where they take root. Now that cold weather has arrived, I root the stem cuttings in a vase of water. It's a great way to produce more pots of Begonias for next summer's garden. Water the plant well the day before. Take a cutting about 4-inches long, with 3 nodes, from a healthy stem. Use a perfectly clean container. Rinse the container with a drop of bleach if you are uncertain about its spotlessness. Remove all but the top leaf or two. There should be no leaves in the water. The cutting should  have a healthy leaf node at the bottom. Don't leave a stub below the node. Place the cutting into the water, and place the container out of the sun. In a couple of weeks, you will see new roots beginning to form. Check the water periodically to make sure it is still f
Read more

Create Nesting Areas for Birds and Wildlife

-
Image
From the website, Choose Natives , this lovely and instructive article helped remind me to continue to increase the amount of habitat and nesting that we provide in our garden. Many, though not all, are native or considered to be native in Oklahoma. So, I did a little research on each recommended plant and provided a link to more information. You'll see the plant name in italics - those are my links for your edification. Here's the post Derek Stoner, Project Coordinator for the Delaware Nature Society, helped restore the 860-acre Middle Run Natural Area by “intensive habitat management”, including planting 12,000 trees and shrubs.  His lecture, ‘ Native Plants for Nesting Birds: Connecting Flora and Fauna’,  given to a group of enthusiasts at the Millersville Native Plant Conference   in Pennsylvania, focused on his observations. Here are Derek’s landscaping recommendations for attracting birds: Plant shrubs in clusters (“habitat circles”) that will create the dense
Read more