Category Archives: Uncategorized

Getting Ready for Planting…

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I’ve been slowly getting ready for this season’s planting.

I’ve already pulled up some old (and bolting) Bok Choy, Daikon and Swiss Chard to make room for Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant.

Nanay Harvesting Swiss Chard

I’ve been looking for tomato cages, but can’t seem to find the big ones; I’ve only seen the dinky 3 foot ones which are not tall enough. I did some searching online and found tomato cages made of PVC. That was an idea, but I found a welded wire mesh called Tomato Guard at OSH and thought I would try it. It rolls out to 5 x 20 feet and is enough to make 4 or 5 cages.

I’m going to use my old short Tomato Cages for Eggplants and Pepper.

While reading some forums online, I read about those water retaining crystals. I’ve known about these and seen them, but haven’t thought of getting them to the garden. They seem to be pricey, but I found a company that sells them in large quantities for a good price. I ordered 2 lbs. of medium polymers for $17.95 (includes shipping). I’m going to add these to my veggie beds and Coleus pots, because they then to dry out quickly.

Mourning Dove

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My Mom capture this Mourning Dove that got stuck in our backyard patio.

Captured Mourning Dove   Released Mourning Dove

I was afraid she wanted to keep it, but she said she just wanted me see it and take a picture of it. After photographing it, my Mom released it.

New Coleus (Yeay!)

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I got my Coleus order from Rosy Dawn Garden today. I ordered 13 total, plus they gave me a bonus one.

Me and My Package   Coleus Batch 1 (of 3)

Coleus Batch 2 (of 3)   Coleus Batch 3 (of 3)

Here’s a photo set that contains each one photographed individually.

You Know You’re a Gardener… (#9 Quiz)

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You know you’re a gardener when… you take a “How much of a gardener are you?” quiz.

Your gardening self-score is 79%.

 

This is a pretty serious passion for you, isn’t it? You’re out there, digging, amending, turning the compost, killing the bugs or even encouraging the beneficial insects. When you can’t be outside because of weather, you’re inside studying, diagramming, building, planning. You get everything out of your garden that you put into it, and probably soon you’ll be scoring even higher on this quiz.

How much of a gardener are you?
Make a Quiz

I found this in penguingardener journal.

Aquilegia flabellata ‘Nana Alba’?

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Aquilegia flabellata 'Nana Alba'?

I am so excited to see that one of my four surviving Columbines planted from seeds is just beginning to bloom… I’m doubly excite to see that it may be Aquilegia flabellata ‘Nana Alba’ which I have wanted for some time now.

The seeds were sent to me by fellow LiveJournal/Flickr user, lblanchard/lb_philly… Thank you so much Laura… They were difficult to germinate, but a few did. When they were big enough to transplant, all the ink on the tags faded and I couldn’t read them, so I didn’t know what varieties I had. I basically have to wait until they flowered.

I’ll keep checking this plant until the flower open, so I can snap a photo of it :)

Busy Nights…

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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

I asked Micheal, (one of my best friends) who started his own garden design business a few years ago, if he wanted some Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearl’. He did, so I planted three more six-cell packs outside.

Later after dinner, I sowed more seeds from penguingardener (Maraming Salamat!):

– Tomato ‘Bloody Butcher’
– Easter Eggplant Hybrid

I then got zealous (is that the right word?) and even though it was late, decided to transplant the Tomato and some Eggplant seedlings into larger drinking cups.

Repotted Tomato Seedling Batch 1

OMG!!! That took a while… It was really really late, and I was only about half way done, so I decided to do the rest next next day.

Oh yeah… I found a mutant Tomato Seedling.

Mutant Tomato

This Tomato seedling either…
1. had a leaf bending down that went through a side stem, or
2. had another seedling fuse right into the stem, pinning one of its leaves.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

I started hardening off the Tomatoes and Eggplant seedlings I transplanted yesterday by taking it outside when I left for work, then bringing them in when I got home.

Michael emailed me asking if I can also plant some Bells of Ireland, so I passed by Target after work and bought some seeds.

I transplanted the rest of the Tomatoes into more drinking cups. I have so much!!! I think I have about 26 individual plants in drinking cups.

Repotted Tomato Seedling Batch 2

I then sowed some Pepper seeds:

– Tricolor Variegata Pepper
– Carmanola Rossa Pepper
– Topepo Rosso Pepper

The last two are from penguingardener (Maraming Salamat Ulit!):

I also performed surgery on three dying Coleus (Velvet Lime, Amazon and Dark Star Hybrid) that I mentioned yesterday.

Coleus I.C.U.

I really hope they survive!!!

I’m Going to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show!!!

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I heard that the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show starts Wednesday, so I asked my boss if I can to take Thursday off so I can take my Mom to it.

I’ve never been to a Flower & Garden Show, so this’ll be an experience…

Coleus I.C.U.

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We’ve had nice weather the past few days, but it started to rain today. I’ve slowly been hardening some of my plants and taking them outside, but I haven’t started on my Coleus… except of 4 healthy ones. I just don’t want to chance a few days of cold weather killing or weakening them.

Overwintering can be a pain to maintain, but keeping a majority of my babies alive is worth it to me. I’ve gotten a little bit discouraged because a few Coleus have died after all those months taking care of them… and the mealy bugs are driving me crazy!!! I hate trying to control them. At least, I think a majority of the ants are gone.

Earlier this week, three of my Coleus seem to have just wilted. One day they were healthy or semi healthy, then the started drooping… I think something happened inside the stems and water stopped going up (or something like that).

I’ve have to do emergency precautions and snip the tips which I think will survive, and immediately dip them in water to relive them. It worked for one at home; the other two are at work and I will see how responded in the morning. I hate seeing some of my babies in I.C.U. but last year I had one Coleus that looked like this… recover and look like this.

BTW, These are half of my overwintering Coleus which are at work:

Overwintering Coleus at Work 1 Overwintering Coleus at Work 2 Overwintering Coleus at Work 3 Overwintering Coleus at Work 4 Overwintering Kong Hybrid Coleus at Work 1 Overwintering Kong Hybrid Coleus at Work 1