All the Dirt on Gardening

The Moon Carrot  (Sesli gummiferum) seeds are up and boasting a single set of true leaves. It grows well in part sun/shade and isn't particular about soil type or water. It is a biennial so I just have to keep it alive long enough to enjoy its fabulous buttons in pink and white.  These little tree-looking seedlings are Manfreda Agave Virginica or False Aloe or Rattlesnake Master They have been emerging slowly, changing very little for days at a time. These perennials enjoy a fairly dry, part-sun location. We have a bunch of places it will like. The Rattlesnake Master name comes from their use as a cure for snakebites. The leaves resemble tulip leaves and the scented flowers appear on a tall spike. The Pacific Bulb Society has a Manfreda page here that shows other varieties plus photos of the mature False Aloe. And, the snapdragons are growing nicely. They'll need bigger pots in a month or so.

Apples have a complex reputation to stand up to, including an apple a day to maintain health, a single apple brought down Eve’s world, a poisoned apple for Snow White, and Johnny Appleseed ensuring that apple brandy was available to get farmers through cold winters. Our lives would be less interesting without apple pie and cake, sparkling apple juice, candy or caramel apples, hot cider, apple sauce, apple butter, Apple Computers, and bobbing for apples. Most apples in the grocery store are from cool climates in Washington, but China is the leading world producer. The first apple, or Malus, trees were found in China but other countries bred hybrids to suit their climates and local tastes. Today there are 7,500 varieties. Growing them in hot, humid climates is a challenge but with planning and plant care, you can have beautiful, disease and insect free fruit from your own back yard. Two trees, one from each of two different cultivars will provide enough fruit for a family. Some va...

It's a tough time of year: Still 60 during the day but every sign of the fall garden has been knocked down by freezing nights. Just 10 days ago a few butterflies were lingering on the fall asters giving the illusion that winter might not come this year. Silly to even think about it, of course. But I know those late butterflies are hiding under the leaves out there and will emerge as early in the spring as they possibly can. Lettuce seedlings outside in a cold frame. The lettuce seedlings in the cold frames are doing quite well despite the 20-degree nights. I worry about them and wonder if they should come inside the shed and continue to grow under the lights in there. IN THE SHED The tropical plants that spend the summer by the hammocks get tossed into the shed at the first sign of cold weather. Later this winter, I'll take cuttings and grow more for next year. Plectranthus (on the left) blooms all winter in the shed. They continue to bloom inside the shed ...

Visit The Poison Ivy Center at this link . After we moved to our little 3-acre bit of the world, I had poison ivy rashes about 4 months of the year. The photos I had seen didn't really help much with prevention. Finally, when I took the Master Gardener class, Sue Gray taught us how to identify it and now I rarely have a problem. Also, when I'm weeding around trees in the woody areas, I use a poison ivy soap immediately after. Keith Kridler of Mt. Pleasant TX talked about Poison Ivy on Daffnet recently - "This vine creeps along the ground until it finds either a tree or wall or fence that it can attach anchoring roots to and within a few years the vine will be at the very tops of the tallest trees. Once the vine matures it begins to bloom profusely attracting all sorts of native and non-native pollinators to the high percent of the sugars in the nectar, but this nectar comes from minuscule blooms. In the fall there are tens of thousands of BB sized white fruit on ...

A sunny November day is just right for a nature walk though I'll admit that about an hour is what we enjoy - no marathoners here. The camping and lodging at Greenleaf are dated, but for a winter walk, the trails are quite nice. Water oak or Sassafrass? I'll admit we didn't pay much attention to anything but the color and the size of the leaves as we walked by. Have you seen the site " What Tree is This?"  I found it while searching for leaf shape/tree identification guidance this morning. The site is an online service from the State of SC - here's a link to the beginning page that is worth a read. Greenleaf Lake is visible from the much of the trail. Johnson Grass is a perennial, invasive weed that makes tons of seed on a beautiful seedhead, pretty enough to attract birds and small mammals to eat it and distribute the plant far and wide. Here's the walking path - gorgeous weeds aren't they?  Driving toward home - .. wonderful sunny early winter ...

The first pilgrims arrived in the new world in 1620 with little to prepare them for the winter they faced. The next year, the drought of 1621, led them to pray and fast and ask God for a bountiful harvest to keep them from starving. The crops were saved that year and the pilgrims held a communal celebration feast in the autumn. The tale is folklore, and, though we accept it, nothing was written to confirm the story. Despite that, Thanksgiving was declared an American national holiday in 1941. The symbols of Thanksgiving focus on fall harvest and giving thanks. In addition, many would add football, skiing, church and walks in the woods. Decorations for Thanksgiving include fall leaves, gourds, pumpkins and cornstalks. Early Europeans made a type of wicker scarecrow that they filled with fall harvest fruits, and that evolved into the scarecrows used today. Cobs of colorful corn have been a popular decoration for decades and across cultures. Native Americans were growing corn when the pil...

We went out early this morning - before my yoga class - to harvest mustard and kale. There is a vegetable lasagna in our future and the kale will be the green layer. Even though these greens will survive a freeze, they suffer some burning on the leaves. So, there we were in jackets, outside, before 7, with clippers and little pails. The sun coming up was beautiful on the leeks and broccoli. The garlic is in for a shock. With the recent 75F (23.8C) degree weeks, it has be coming up all over its raised bed. Ha! After the upcoming 25F (13.8C)degree nights predicted, it will be hunkering down again. Then, we'll scoop up the pine needles and mulch. Here's a shot of our little vegetable garden this morning. Center right you can see the clear plastic cold frames where the winter lettuce grows. The tree on the far right in the photo is a nectarine. Around the veggie garden fence and up the trellises, the Austrian peas are getting tall. They care not about the weather!