The Yellow Farmhouse Garden

May 16, 2013

Remove flower stalks from tulips, hyacinths and daffodils after blooming

Filed under: Flowers — bob @ 9:08 am

Most of our daffodils, tulips and hyacinths are done blooming for the season. That doesn’t mean that we can forget about them.  There’s still some work left to be done that will greatly improve our chances for flowers next year.

Right now the plants are beginning  to form seed pods at the end of the flower stalks — where the old flower is attached. This is normally what happens when the plants are left to fend for themselves.

The seed pods are formed on the ends of the flower stalk where the old flower is attached.

The problem with seed pods is they take too much energy to grow and we don’t need seeds to grow tulips, hyacinths or daffodils. To conserve that wasted energy, we need to remove those flower stalks as soon as possible after the flowers have faded. I try to cut the flower stalks as close to the base of the plant as I can being careful not to cut off the leaves. Plants need their leaves to produce energy for growth, reproduction and other plant functions.

Since I don’t plant as many bulbs now as I did in past years, this job for me is not as demanding as it used to be. This year I only have a few hundred stalks to cut.

Bob

May 15, 2013

Common mistake when sowing carrot seeds

Filed under: Seeds,Vegetables — bob @ 9:42 am

One common mistake beginning gardeners make when sowing carrot seeds is planting them too deep.

The seed packages say something like “place the seeds in a furrow, cover with soil and press the soil down firmly”. This makes it sound like you have to dig a small trench and heap garden soil over the top.

Actually, carrot seeds only need a shallow depression about one-quarter of an inch deep or so.

Cover them with a small amount of loose garden soil. Mixing some sand with the soil you use for covering will help keep it from crusting over. Crusted soil will hurt seed germination. Finally press the soil down firmly enough so the seed has good contact with the soil particles.

A shallow furrow for carrot seeds should be no deeper than 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.

Carrot seeds take anywhere from one to two weeks to sprout.

Bob

May 9, 2013

Gypsy moths hatch

Filed under: Insects — bob @ 9:29 am

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog may remember a post from last fall. It was about a gypsy moth caught in the act of laying eggs. I decided not to destroy that eggs mass.

Early this week, the eggs hatched. In the photo you can see how small and seemingly helpless they are at this stage of their life. They are less than one-sixteenth of an inch long. A single rain drop could probably crush a baby caterpillar if it landed right on it. Or, at the very least, wash it from the tree branch.

Over a hundred gypsy moth caterpillars hatched from this one egg mass.

So how do these small caterpillars survive our spring rain storms?

Looking at the egg mass, I think I figured it out. The mama gypsy moth lays her eggs on the underside of a branch where the baby caterpillars are well protected from direct rainfall. I’m sure many get washed away but many survive to live another day.

This is also the stage at which they are most vulnerable to insecticides. You can imagine it wouldn’t take much spray to kill these pests now compared to later in the season  when they have grown into full-sized caterpillars.

Bob

May 2, 2013

Flowers for hummingbirds

Filed under: Birds,Flowers — bob @ 12:32 pm

Bees and butterflys are fun to watch  but, I think humingbirds are the most facinating visitors to a garden. No matter how many times you see them, they never fail to surprise and amaze.

Hummingbirds use a huge huge amount of energy in realation to their size.  Sugars found in flower nectar is source of this energy. Everyday they eat their body weight in nectar so they are constantly on the lookout for nectar-producing flowers.

You can encourage hummingbirds to visit your yard by planting the flowers they’re looking for.

They prefer red and orange tubular flowers but will feed on most brightly-colored flowers with nectar. There’s plenty of flowers that meet these requirements.

Here’s a partial list to consider: monarda, red salvia, agastache, honeysuckle vine, fushia, verbena, phlox, butterfly bush, daylily, trumpet creeper, cypress vine, coral bells, heirloom petunias, penstemnon, morning glory, bugle weed, red-hot poker, and many others.

Like people, hummingbirds also need protien and fats in their diet. They get those nutients by eating gnats, mousquitos and other small insects. So, having an area of wild plants — weeds — nearby will provide space for these small insects to grow.

If you have the space for it, a mixed garden like this will provide all the nutrients hummingbirds need. Tubular flowers for nectar and other flowers for small insects to live in.

Finally, hummingbirds need trees and shrubs to provide a place for them to nest and to escape from predators.

If you look around, you’ll probably see that most of the things hummingbirds need are already in your neighborhood.

Planting the right kind of flowers is the best way to get hummingbirds to hang out in your backyard.

April 25, 2013

Prune forsythia after flowering

Filed under: Flowers,Shrubs — bob @ 11:05 am

It looks like a good spring for forsythia this year. I’m seeing plenty of yellow flowers on forsythia shrubs all around our area.

Some bushes have loads of flowers while others look not quite as nice. The difference is,  gardeners with forsythia loaded with flowers have taken the time to prune their shrubs, while the others have just let their shrubs fend for themselves.

Unfortunately, some people prune their forsythia right along with their other trees and shrubs in the early spring while everything is still dormant.

Forsythia flower buds grow and form during the summer then, open up and bloom in the spring. So, if you prune in the spring while the plants are dormant, you end up cutting off those flower buds that grew last year.

The proper time to prune forsythia is right after the flower petals fall off of the stems.

Remove the largest, coarsest stems by cutting them off right at ground level. This will stimulate your shrub to send up fresh, new stems with plenty of those flower buds we’re looking for.

Next spring you’ll have a more balanced looking shrub with a profusion of yellow forsythia blossoms. Your neighbors will think you are a gardening genius.

Bob

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