Well, I keep telling ya'll I'm gonna change up this blog or add some stuff or blah, blah, blah and I haven't done crap! I will one day. There's just so much to distract me right now with this wonderfully warm weather and sunny days. I'm soaking it up like an old, dried up sponge that got kicked under the sink and laid there for a year or so before somebody found it. And then you throw it in some water and it poofs up!!! like a petrified blowfish! That's me alright! Poofed up and prickly. LOL!
And I took a good bit of this past Sunday to work on the flower bed (it's getting close) placing more stone, filling in with topsoil and moving a few plants around. Anytime the shovel comes out ZuZu is right there beside me. She knows what that means! Lots of bugs and worms and she doesn't have to do the digging! She inspects everything before I can fill any hole or place any root ball and talking up a storm the whole time. I wonder what she says; whether she's complaining or expressing her pleasure as she must think I do this just for her. She gets so enthusiastic I'm often afraid I'm going to chop off a toe or two (hers) when she jumps in a hole unexpectedly. But we've been safe so far!
This is just more gratuitous blooming photos. See how I layered the 2 blooming plants to get like, bloom overload. The reddish blooms in the foreground are a decorative crabapple I think. The past 2 springs have turned ugly with late frosts and got this tree before it could bloom properly but this year it made up for all that. Just loaded with big, full blooms. Maybe it will eventually get over 7 feet and actually be a noticeable part of the landscape.
And lookeeee!!! the asparagus are just starting to poke their little heads up!! I don't think I've ever been so enthused over a plant. Hhmm, maybe I need some more excitement in my life. Oh well. For some reason I thought the asparagus would sprout sometimes in early March or so but after reading a little I determined that April and actually May is normal. I also read that you should pull the heavy winter mulch off the asparagus at the first sign of warm weather. Does anybody else do this? I pulled about half the layer of mulch off and as I did this I discovered the few shoots coming up.
I also read that most fruit should be mulched with pine straw, so I've been working on that. I knew it was good for strawberries and blueberries, so they got a new top coating, and also went around the border of the garden mulching the grapes, raspberries and figs with it too. Do any of you use pine straw on your fruit or something else?
Sooo, lots of stuff going on around here and I'll have more to show before too long. I promise I am working on some stuff in the house too, so maybe a post about that soon.
8 comments:
Annie? Have I mentioned I loooove your gardening posts?
We don't mulch the asparagus very thickly to begin with so it just comes up on its own through the mulch. Although we had a spate of warm weather, it is cold again for the rest of the week. I expect our asparagus is still a couple two or three weeks from poking up.
I've heard about pine needles and fruit trees but since we don't have many native pine trees around, I've never tried it. Since pine needles are acidic, any plant that loves acidic soil thrives on them.
I've used pine straw to mulch around strawberries and around garlic.
Don't know if it's good or bad for the garlic, but if I planted the garlic in the fall and mulched it with pine straw it would still be there when the garlic was ready to dig up the next summer. Plus, it has kind of a cool smell.
I've always heard that you are supposed to burn off your asparagus bed in the spring to control those pesky little asparagus-eating bugs. But, I usually forget to do that until the asparagus is ready to pick, until I actually remembered to try the burning the asparagus mulch trick this year.
And, I found out that it is a royal pain-in-the-ass to burn a bunch of damp over-wintered mulch in an asparagus bed. Besides all that, I've got no experience with raking the mulch off either.
Hey Erin! lol! thank you!!
Hey Ed! Yes, my blueberries and strawberries really love the pine straw but wasn't sure about other fruits. Apparently so though. I would have thought, as cold as it gets up there, that ya'll would mulch the stuff heavier. Oh well; must be tougher plants than I thought!
Hey Rich! I used it on garlic too and it didn't seem to hurt it.
Never heard that about burning the mulch but yes, I would bet that is a pain in the ass! lol! I guess i'll just stick with what I've done but thanks for all the info.
I don't mulch or clean up any of the ferns from the previous year. I take a bale of straw and spread it over the bed and burn it. A good hot, quick fire. I believe it has helped keep the beetles way down.
Hey Woody! Great! thanks for the info! Since mine are already coming up I'll skip the burn this year but will certainly keep that in mind for next year.
Hi, Toots. Looks like you and Jack have been busy and have been doing very well. I have been trying to type more, but it is difficult. Sorry for not posting. I'm jealous of all your plants etc. I have a hard time growing a Chia pet, but I will try just working on my lawn this year. They are predicting a terrible drought here in Colorado. Some folks don't have enough for their house hold. I have to hide my coffee cup or every one grabs it. I'm still enjoying it.
Hey Dan! Good to hear from you! I've been wondering where you got off to. Jack and I have finally gotten over all the crap of the first of the year and are doing well; I hope you are doing okay. Glad to hear you are still enjoying that cup too!
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