Category Archives: Oh Grow Up!

A southeast Missouri gardeners journal.

GBBD July 15, 2012

Posted on July 15, 2012 by | 3 comments

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day July 2012

I got the Morning Glory seed for this beauty for Renee’s Garden.

Containers and hanging baskets are getting water at least once a day now. Every year a few more plants are added to the drip irrigation system under the pergola on the deck. And, below the pergola on the patio, just outside the kitchen.

Senorita Blanca™ Spider Flower Cleome hybrid (Proven Winners trial plant.)

SUPERBELLS® Lemon Slice. Calibrachoa hybrid (Proven Winners Trial plant.)

Lemon slice and Watermelon (Proven Winners trial plants) These hummingbird magnets get watered twice a day. They are looking good despite the heat.

Lantana provides color all summer as long as it is well watered and fertilized.

 

Four o’clock “broken colors” from Renee’s Garden.

This odd zinnia is the result of saving seed produced by last years hybrid zinnias. You never know what you will get when you save seed from F1 hybrids.

Here we are in the middle of summer and gardens that haven’t dried up from the drought, been washed away by flood, burned up by the wild fires or just blown to another location by tornadoes, seem to be doing fine.

Global temperature change is taking it’s toll. I have friend who says, “I don’t have a dog in this fight,” and won’t discuss the matter. There is no joy in “I told you so.” So, lets just do what we can to help each other through.

Many thanks to Carol of May Dreams for Bloom Day. Anyone can participate, visit Carol for details.

There are more blooms around today, but I am really focused on the herbs and vegetables these days.

Vegetable Garden Report

Well, here’s my new pride and joy, Indigo Rose tomato. Just bigger than a cherry tomato, the area that is esposed to sunlight turns blue. The areas of this tomato that do not get direct sunlight are red/orange.

All the cherry tomatoes are producing and the big tomatoes are growing bigger every day. I still have chard in the garden. There are some red onions still in the ground but most of the onions, shallots and garlic are harvested.

Droves of squash bug thugs are in the garden. Squash hardly has a chance this year. A few eggplant, cucumbers and carrots are doing well. Peppers, both hot and sweet  are on their way. If I can keep them watered, it will be a good crop.

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Indigo Rose New Blue Tomato

Posted on July 13, 2012 by | Comments Off on Indigo Rose New Blue Tomato

I’m updating this story very often. Mainly because, it is rare to discover a new wholesome food. There are lots of hybrids out there but this is a completely new tomato. Read more.

Rose Marie Nichols said, “You know Patsy, this tomato has the highest level of Anthocyanins anywhere.”

I just nodded, hoping I appeared to know what she was talking about. But I went flying to the internet to learn more about Anthocyanins. It’s the pigment that makes blueberries blue and the reason they are so good for you.

Scientists are asking if Anthocyanins are helping fight cancer or wrinkles. But we do know that as stated in mybotoxla.com/coolsculpting site, anthocyanins are one of the best reasons we should eat deep colored fruits and vegetables.

Jim Myers, dept of horticulture, OSU is the wizard behind the research. He develops improved vegetable varieties to support gardeners, growers and processors in the Pacific Northwest (PNW).

This tomato plant is still evolving. Buy the time the University has completed it’s research, it is likely Indigo Rose will end up other positive traits like stronger disease resistance.

I grow tomatoes that tell a story, like so many heirlooms do.

Since every other tomato I grow is an heirloom, this is indeed unusual in my experience. I like growing tomatoes that come with a story and a history. Like Granny Cantrell.

Granny Cantrell produces big, one-pound tomatoes in my garden.

Seed from this tomato came from a WW II souldier who gave it to Lettie Cantrell on his return to the US.

Lettie said she saved the seed from the largest tomatoes every year. It was the only tomato she grew in the hills of eastern Kentucky. She grew this tomato every year from the 1940’s until she died in 2005.

I agree with Lettie. The Granny Cantrell tomato is a rich old fashioned beed steak type tomato.

If I could grow only one tomato, it just might be this one with big, red one – pound fruits.

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Todays harvest basket

Posted on July 13, 2012 by | Comments Off on Todays harvest basket

onions, shallots, tomatoes

I can never have too much garlic or too many onions. photo by PBH

Alliums for all. Onions and shallots  plus, tomatoes are slowly producing. photo by PBH

Most of the onions are sweet onions and will not keep well. I’ll make a big jar of pickled onions pretty soon. The recipe was on Pinterest.

In the photo: French red shallots, chippolino and red torpedo onions. A fewwhite and yellow onions that did not get picked for green onions in the salads.

What kind of onions to you grow?

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Todays Harvest June 27, 2012

Posted on July 13, 2012 by | Comments Off on Todays Harvest June 27, 2012

Todays harvest included onions, carrots, chard and Chinese cabbage

 

I’ll make cole slaw out of the cabbage. It is a lighter version of slaw. I never make that mayo based dressing any more.

The chard will go into green rice.

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Posted in My Gardens, My Homeplace, Oh Grow Up!, Ozarks Travel Examiner

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Raised beds and high hopes

Posted on July 6, 2012 by | Comments Off on Raised beds and high hopes

Tomatoes

I have raised beds and high hopes for Southeast Missouri garden, zone 6A. We are still a couple of weeks away from the juicy giant tomato of my dreams.

“Do you want a tomato sandwich?” I yelled out the back door last summer.

“Tomato sandwich? You mean without the Bacon?” Jules replied.

This was an un paralleled act of generosity on my part. I was offering to share the first big red, ripe tomato of the summer.

Jules won’t come in for a lunch-time tomato sandwich.  He will come in for a Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Let’s share our tomato favorites throughout the season. Leave a comment, please.

Indigo Rose Saladette tomato. photo PBH

I have a new raised bed that is 4 ft square and I plan to see just how much I can produce in this small space. My point is that we can have fresh home-grown produce in the space of an apartment balcony, or a suburban front porch.

I’m growing great tomatoes in a 5 gallon bucket. Plus, there is room to tuck in a basil plant, some thyme or, some chives.

I am also growing a brand new tomato, Indigo Blue. It is a saladette tomato, meaning bigger than a cherry tomato but smaller than a Celebrity. Saladette is a GIANT Cherry or a really small beefsteak.

All my garden seed is from:

Renee’s Garden

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed

Nichols Seeds

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

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GBBD June 15, 2012

Posted on June 15, 2012 by | 1 comment

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Vegetable Garden Report

This is named Watermelon Charm. What a great name for this watermelon colored annual from Proven Winners..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These sweet Superbells survived the winter and are blooming again this summer.

They are Calibrachoas, named Sweet Tart and Grape Punch.

 

 

 

 

 

Pepperbox Poppy grown from seed. Renee’s Garden has several varieties of poppies.

Echinacea or Coneflower, Little Annie. Perennials aren’t at their best till they are fimly rooted and call your place their home. I had little hope for Little Annie last year. Now she’s a garden show off.

Calendula in several golden shades is blooming everywhere in the garden, all planted from seed.

Our Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hostess with the mostest is Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Vegetable garden report. 6/15/12

Cucumbers, tomatoes and beans are blooming away. We’ve picked beans a couple of times already. I’m ready to harvest loads zucchini, as you can see on by my Pinterest Courgette board. Can’t wait to try that refrigerator zucchini pickle recipe.

I pulled up all the lettuce because it was so bitter.The chard is beautiful this summer. Who knows if we will have eggplants, the plants are being eaten up by bugs.

I lifted the garlic this week and it is curing in the shade. There are still onions, shallots and leeks in the garden. I thought I planted too many onions, but not so, we eat more green onions when they are handy and plentiful. The alliums and potatoes are busy growing underground.

We ate our first successful harvest of carrots last night in a cold pasta salad. There are a couple of celery plants, several kinds of basil, 6 or 8 pepper plants just blooming and a few setting fruit.

We will see how long we can stretch the garlic harvest.

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What’s wrong with my plant?

Posted on May 26, 2012 by | Comments Off on What’s wrong with my plant?

Hey garden guru. Picked up some PW super bells. Yard boy (otherwise known as Dan) planted them… And two days letter they are a wilted dying mess. Any ideas what might have gone wrong?  Becky

Becky, You made a good choice. Superbells are a favorite summer anual. I suggest you give it plenty of water. Even if the plant was well watered the surrounding dry soil will wick off the moisture.

A newly planted flower has yet to establish it’s root system. It needs extra water and attention for a few days until it is well rooted in it’s new home.

The Yard Boy did everything right, in fact, he deserves many tall, iced drinks.

Last summer I grew some beautiful superbells :

Beautiful! Proven Winners Superbells

Because we had such a mild winter, these Superbells survied the winter and are blooming again this year.

I’m growing more superbells this year.There is a new bright yellow and white striped superbell coming. Next spring, look for ‘Lemon Slice’ at the garden centers.

 

This year, I’m growing containers of mixed annuals. It is a test, to see if I can keep these full sun flowers well watered and blooming.

Superbells are a Calibrachoa. This  new type of plants looks like little Petunias. They are related.

Plants in containers live or die because we remember to water and fertilize. I love that you dont have to deadhead old flowers or pinch back stems.

Once established, water only when the top of the soil feels dry. Too much water makes  roots rot. Full sun. Fertilize once a month.

Only 6 – 10 inches tall, these long, trailing branches cascade over the sides of hanging baskets and containers, or spread over flower beds.

These superbells are hummingbird magnets.

 

 

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Cat Control

Posted on May 18, 2012 by | 1 comment

Are the kitties using your garden as a litter box? Here is a solution that Betty Ward uses.

forked

Plastic picnic forks deter the cats from digging in the mulch. Photo by Betty Ward.

Momma Cat scaled a privacy fence to get in the back yard with a tiny kitten in her mouth. The fenced back yard seemed like a safe place for the momma cat to raise her lone little kitten. Those two cats who sought shelter in Betty and Louie’s well manicured back yard decided to stay.

No telling what unfortunate circumstance brought  the cats to the back yard.

But the Momma Cat was weak and exhausted though she continued to nurture her kitten. It was clear Momma Cat had been through a harrowing experience.

And she too needed to eat, but there was no cat food in sight. That’s because the residents didn’t want a cat, weren’t interested in ever having more pets.

Still, the cats stayed. Poor weary momma cat needed some nurturing too. So cat food found its way into the couple’s grocery bag.  The cats were finally safe and well fed. Slowly, the couple allowed the cats into their hearts.

And since the cats are now residents, they needed names. Momma Cat and Babe now officially live in the well manicured back yard. They go to the veterinarian. They even have their own cat beds.

Just one problem. Instead of the littler box, the cats use the beautifully landscaped  gardens. So, that is why there are little plastic forks in the mulch. The forks are meant to be a cat deterrent.

UPDATE – It worked! Forks kept the kitties out of the garden.

If you have had success with this deterrent, or if you have a better idea leave a comment.

The kitten is grown and both cats are well cared for. They have no intention of leaving. And the couple have no intention of having more kittens in their back yard cat sanctuary. So, the cats have been spayed and neutered.

Babe and Mama cat

Babe is the black cat. The tabby cat on the right is Mama Cat. photo by Betty Ward

Spayed and neutered. What’s that? Spaying is a general term used to describe the ovariohysterectomy of a female animal. Neutering is a general term used to describe the castration of a male animal. However, neutering is often used in reference to both genders. The surgical procedure, performed by a veterinarian, renders the animal incapable of reproducing.  –  American Humane Association

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day April 2012

Posted on April 17, 2012 by | Comments Off on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day April 2012

 

GBBD April 2012 Show stopper in my front yard, Dream Catcher™ Beauty Bush Kolkwitzia amabilis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double Play® Gold Spirea Spiraea japonica and Lily of the Valley are highlighting the colors of spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these tiny little bells, and am always surprised by the sweet fragrance.

 

 

Columbine is showing up everywhere. They are multiplying in every crack in the in the sidewalk and edging. I pull up dozens of the plants every year and still have more the following spring.

 

Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, garden bloggers from all over the world publish what is currently blooming in their gardens.

 

 

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Beauty of Moscow Lilac

Posted on March 31, 2012 by | 1 comment

Syringa vulgaris ‘Krasavitsa Moskvy’

White lilac with double blooms and very fragrant. Flowers have a touch of pink, turning white in full bloom.

Bred in Russia by hybridist Leonid Kolesnikov.
Said to be very resistant to pests and disease. Reaches 15′ high and spreads 6-12′ wide, though I’ve had mine for 3 years and it is just a whispy stick or two.

The photo is the total bloom production for the year.

pink buds open to bright hite fragrant.white lilac

Ideal for zones 3-7. this lilac takes full sun to partial shade.

If you are looking for deer resistant shrubs, choose a lilac.

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