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Rick’s plants. All grown from seed except the ones on the bottom row purchased today
The plants are doing fairly well. They should be almost ready to be placed outside to acclimate, however, the weather....
He didn't have good luck growing begonias from seed this year, so I went out looking to get some. There is a company that sets up shop in the parking lot of a closed business and sells plants...Price is good, likely close to the plants at the big box stores. I stopped by to check out the begonias, the selection wasn't great, and the plants weren't impressive.
I move on to a local green house that still grows what he sells. He had greenhouses full of amazing, healthy plants. His price was about $2.00 more per four pack, but what nice, healthy, large plants I got. Well worth a few more $. I also bought a couple small pots of sunpatiens. Hopefully, the yard will look pretty soon.
Bugs are crazy in our garden so far this year. Having to keep a close eye on the smaller seedlings which are most vulnerable and then found we had a lot of grubs this year, so going to add some beneficial nematodes to help with those.
That and rain rain rain rain rain .... today ... no chance of rain ... has rained most of the day. I have not been able to mow for 2 weeks due to rain and my yard is literally knee deep in some areas
I do use Neem Oil as well. But, not sure it will help with grubs as they are sub surface. It does great on the aphids and squash bugs though. I have Insecticidal soap and Neems around for those emergencies I typically see Aphids once, and on the pepper plant leaves. One application of Insecticidal soap and they are typically gone for good.
For the grubs and underground stuff like that (and ants) the beneficial nematodes are supposed to be extremely effective and also good for the soil in general. They hunt down and kill grubs Not to be confused with the bad nematodes that feed on roots of tomato plants.
Now, if anyone has any tips or tricks for preventing horn worms on tomatoes, I am all ears! Trying to find and pick off the eggs before they hatch is pretty tough and for those not familiar with them, one or two worms can eat FEET off the top of tomato plants in a day or two. We lost the tops of most of our plants last year because we were out of town when they hatched. Plants recovered but obviously we lost a lot of potential harvest from it. I stood their spraying one with neems and it pretty much just ignored it. Have to pick them off and toss them into a bucket of soapy water. And given it is a food garden, neems, insecticidal soap is about all I really want to spray on my plants. I know the moths lay their eggs around mid/late June here since they hatch around the first week of July. I did think about using shade cloth during those times to reduce the egg laying but not sure if it will work.
Pic I stole off the internet of them. For those that have not encountered these little demons. At least a blacklight is helpful in finding them once the sun goes down but they blend in super well.
I'd lean towards a groundhog. Something substantial did that.
Good guess but it was none other than ....... she tries to dig up mice and chipmunk holes near and under our plants. She did a nice job on a second hole since I posted the picture.
My wife is Portuguese, her family hails from the Azores islands, where streets are lined with hydrangeas for miles upon miles. It is her favourite plant by far. When we moved to our current home she had ideas of planting hydrangeas here, as we had a lot of them at the previous home.
We put in some hydrangea plants in the front garden in 2023. This weekend we created a small hydrangea garden in the back yard. It was more work than it look, despite it being a small garden. This is a new area, so removing the grass and our heavy clay soil was a bit of work. It turned out pretty good though, and the wifey is happy. Two new hydrangea plants have been placed in the garden. My wife likes the blue / purple colours best. The plants react well to used coffee grounds, so I do my best to create as much espresso coffee grounds as I can to keep the hydrangeas nicely coloured, lol. .
Last edited by zeroptzero; 05-20-2024 at 05:05 PM.
Joey,
you can control the color by what fertilizer you use. https://frisellanursery.com/how-to-c...#39;s%20system.
more phosphorous and you get pink, cut back on the phosphorous and add aluminum and you get blue.
5-21-3024. It's my last morning in California until later in June. I've enjoyed sitting on my patio and listening to the birds here singing while looking at some potted flowers. I'm never sure what flowers will be blooming.The plumaria are just budding leaves.
^No sun due to May gray.
The sun came out. Such a mood lightener. The sun didn't come out the first three days of my visit here.
Gladiolus.
Geranium. They grow well in Colorado but die in the winter.
Alstroemeria with plumaria. Alstroemeria seeds itself wherever it wants.
Joey,
you can control the color by what fertilizer you use. https://frisellanursery.com/how-to-c...#39;s%20system.
more phosphorous and you get pink, cut back on the phosphorous and add aluminum and you get blue.
Thanks Jerry, yeah I need to look into those products to control colour. My wife still wants to add coffee grounds and egg shells ? lol.
05-15-2024, 11:57 AM
I typically see Aphids once, and on the pepper plant leaves. One application of Insecticidal soap and they are typically gone for good. 
....... she tries to dig up mice and chipmunk holes near and under our plants. She did a nice job on a second hole since I posted the picture.
