Not asparagus

I *thought* the tiny bit of asparagus that survived the landscape redo had reseeded itself into a dense jungle of asparagus. That patch had become so HUGE I decided to cut it back. After hacking away for a while, I came across the original bit of asparagus... and realized what I was hacking down was not asparagus. I don't know what it was (horse tail?), but it's out of there now. Jeesh.

There is a city park near me that is mostly a working 1930's farm, but there is a small rain garden near the trail. When walking the dog there, I check out what is blooming, and right now it is marsh blazing star. That would be a great addition to my own rain garden, so it is now added to Project 2026.

We are in another heat wave this week. I'm keeping up with the upkeep - watering, mowing, a bit of weeding, etc. - but that is about it. It's been dry, so fewer lightning bugs, but the cicadas carry on. Here is a presumably dead one, belly up, for a up close and personal look.

Meanwhile, it's a good weekend to just hunker down and stay inside. Keep cool!

What's it good for? Ragwort

When the landscaper selected Golden ragwort (Packera aurea) as one of the primary plants for the front yard, waxing rapturously about what it looks like in bloom, I shrugged because I had never heard of it. He is right about the blooming, but before and after, the stems look kind of weedy. In previous years, I cut back the stems, but this year let them go. Then I observed one use for this plant: food for goldfinch.

The plant is a natural for my yard, as it tolerates wet soil and both sun and partial shade. It spreads by rhizomes and by seed, already showing up in other parts of the yard with no assistance from me. When not distracting me with its yellow flowers (which attract pollinators), it makes a great ground cover. And the foliage is one of the few larval food sources for the northern metalmark butterfly (which I've never seen around these parts). So I guess I'll keep it.

(Most of my ragwort information is from this site.)

Meanwhile, around the yard....

The ninebark is blooming, something I had not really considered when selecting it, as I was primarily concerned with the foliage. A nice surprise, though.

I do believe this miniature forest is volunteer asparagus, something I have never observed before. I love asparagus, but let the patch go except for a few hardy plants. Now it looks like I will have plenty in the future. My neighbor says it is good frozen, which is something to consider.

All four of the green bean seeds germinated, but two of them never formed primary leaves. I will replant them and have a staggered harvest, completely by accident.

Every year I say I am going to remove the climbing rose, but then it blooms. Red is my favorite color.

The hairy beardtongue is the primary bloomer in the front yard now. Ordinarily, it would be attracting fat bees, but the weather has been so erratic lately that there are few insects out and about, even on sunny days.

It hardly feels like summer, as highs have been stuck in the 60's. But Monday and Tuesday promise to be HOT. The neighbors had their pool filled with water today, so it must be true.

Asparagus syndrome

When I started square foot gardening, I followed the recommendation to place the beds close to the house, to improve the chances one would provide them adequate care. At least that is my excuse for where I put the asparagus bed. I have to admit it was handy to step out the patio door and cut a handful of spears for a meal. However, as my backyard became more crowded, the placement of the bed became more problematic. It was just plain in the way.

Meanwhile, I had started a second bed of asparagus (purple) in the garden proper. While the 4x4 bed by the house was fairly densely populated, the 8x4 one was not. Hence, yesterday's project to combine the two arose.

My original thought was to dig up all the crowns from both beds, then lay them out again, just like new. That idea quickly fell by the wayside, as digging up asparagus is a LOT of work. (One source suggests just starting over with newly purchased crowns rather than trying to relocate an existing bed. Now we know why.)

Thanks to the upper body strength of my SO, we were able to unearth the 4x4 bed. In the process, we learned something new: an asparagus crown will develop a LOT of roots and/or create NEW crowns. So while I may have planted 20 crowns, we wound up with a LOT more to plant.

Instead of digging out the 8x4 bed, we scooped out furrows between the existing rows and laid the "new" crowns in them. Then all was covered with a mixture of garden soil and horse manure. Today Mother Nature is watering in our efforts. Later, I will check to make sure everything is still underground.

A week or so ago, I succumbed to the store-bought asparagus siren call and purchased some grown in California. In NO way did that compare to what comes fresh from the garden. Establishing a productive asparagus bed takes time, but I am willing to wait.

I see asparagus

This past week as been the epitome of our fair city's nickname, Fort Rain, Windiana. The temperatures have not been all that bad, but when combined with the wet and the wind, being outdoors was just miserable. Today, however, is beautiful.

The only edibles in the garden so far are garlic, rhubarb, and as of today, asparagus. Inside, I have broccoli, lettuces, and peppers started. I plan to transplant the lettuce plants to "lettuce bowls" for myself and as gifts for friends.

The Meyer lemon is producing tiny green lemons, but the plant is starting to look a bit peaked again, presumably because of my neglect regarding fertilizer. I top dressed the pot with some potting soil formulated for citrus. Other options on hand are: fish emulsion (which I don't like to use indoors because it stinks, plus the cat may find it irresistible) or manure/compost tea, which if odor free, would work. Or I could shell out some bucks for something more appropriate.

For some reason, lumber labeled as being 8" wide is actually closer to 7", which I find not quite deep enough for my raised beds, especially for potatoes. The plan is to double the height of three beds each year. Today my (handsome *and* handy) SO brought power tools and accomplished that task.

The movable fence has not yet been erected for the season. I wish I didn't need it - I love having a clear view of the garden. Finn does an admirable job limiting the rabbit, mice, and vole populations, but he won't take on woodchucks.

Having a higher vantage point now helps, though. Pots are coming out of hibernation along with patio furniture. I'm looking forward to morning coffee on the deck.

Current bloomers are daffodils, hyacinth, and something tiny and white that I can't identify. Inside, the mother plant for the coleus has been decimated, and nine babies are establishing their root systems. I'm also starting black eyed Susan vine inside this year, as last year they did not germinate very well outside; unfortunately, they aren't doing very well inside, either.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

My SO and I just returned from a weeklong "family obligation" vacation to New England. I left my garden and seedlings in the care of my daughter and everything survived. It helped that it stayed cool for the duration of our travels and even rained a bit.

I managed to get one mowing in before leaving, so the property did not look abandoned upon our return. Most of the daffodils are done (and they did not put on much of a display to begin with, thanks to the extremely cold spring weather). The rhododendron popped, as did the service berry.

The "old" asparagus that I thought had succumbed to the winter temps has broken through, and I have been enjoying a daily dose. It is amazing how tender it is, fresh from the garden, even the grossly thick stalks. I'm glad I planted more this year.

I am also glad the Meyer lemon appears to be recovering. It did not bloom this year, which is fine with me because I was not going to let it bear fruit anyway. I just need to be more careful about watering and feeding it, so next year it can once again be fruitful.

(BTW, in the process of finishing the garden fence, I moved the bird feeders. Later, I saw the squirrel sitting on the fence, looking longingly at the now too distant feeders. Foiled!)

Baby steps

The weather has been fairly temperate recently (except for the wind), so the garden is progressing appropriately. The onions are hanging in there, presumably putting down roots, as the tops look less than stellar. The garlic and rhubarb have made an appearance....

This past week, I planted peas, snap peas, spinach, lettuce, and radishes. And the daffodils are in bloom.

One problem with gardening in raised beds is perennials have a tougher time withstanding the winter weather since their roots are not deep within the earth proper. So far, I have not had a problem with garlic, which I mulch heavily. Last fall, I neglected to mulch the the asparagus and strawberries, both of which look not-so-good this spring.

I'm not happy with the strawberries anyway - the everbearing variety didn't everbear - so I am replacing them with a June-bearing variety. In all fairness, the strawberry bed probably did not receive enough sun, so it will also be relocated.

The asparagus may have bit the dust, as it is showing no signs of life. I'm not very experienced with asparagus; maybe it is too early? Regardless, I decided to plant more asparagus, a purple variety, which I did yesterday. I also gave the 25 new plants more elbow room room than I gave the previous 20 plants in the current bed. The new bed is also in a sunnier location.

In the never ending battles against rabbits and groundhogs, my SO is helping me build (and by "helping", he is doing most of the work) a garden fence. The idea is to run hardware cloth from the bottom to prevent digging and chicken wire from the top to prevent climbing. There will also be no posts set in the ground, so I can move the fence if need be. (I seem to change my mind a lot about the yard.)

Under the oh-ye-of-little-faith category, I am happy to report that all the indoor seedlings sprouted, with the exception of the 'Abe Lincoln' tomatoes, which I replanted yesterday.

I was planning to plant potatoes and transplant blueberries today, but "they" are predicting snow a few days from now. My gardening muscles are suffering a bit, but not as bad as I expected. Although the back of my neck felt like it was getting burned yesterday, it's not.

How does your garden grow?