How is your garden looking today?

Johnathon is fine, tree line is assisting in keeping his leaves longer.
This years pumpkin total is fourteen.
Birds too busy to notice second season raspberries.
Kale thinks it is spring time.

I purchased a jar of apple butter from a road side stand two weeks ago.
It was my first time with this indulgence.
I never made apple sauce, jam, jelly, butter. I have a bushel of apples.
Hm.

Just got finished planting my tulip bulbs for the Spring. At little over a hundred of them.

Of course though, as soon as I went outside to tackle the task, I needed to first cut back the wormwoods, clean out the birdbath, get all the leaves off the garden path, try to dig up the start of a hackberry sapling (couldn't, just dug down as far as I could and cut it off as deep as I could.), stared at some type of bushy thing my neighbor it letting grow over onto my patio, etc.

My nails are dirty, and I'm rather satisfied with myself.

Apple butter. I think I may be addicted.

Almost time to start seeds and turn over the soil in the gardens. What are your garden plans this year?

I'm going to put in a few varieties of tomatoes, grow a few peas and green beans, some lettuce, maybe a cucumber and zucchini. Might stick some old corn seeds in the ground when it warms up to see if they have any life left in them.

Hoping we get some blueberries and peaches this year. They didn't do anything but flower last year. Last year's invasion of grasshoppers didn't give anything a chance to keep buds or leaves for very long.

We still have fleeces on our containers. But warm air is heading towards the UK this weekend - perhaps we can uncover all but the most tender plants.

I'd like to grow some tomatoes, lettuce, and herbs this year. Will they be successful in containers? I'm still new to container gardening, but the forty odd I planted up two/three years ago seem to be doing well.

Anyhting to do with lettuce, basil or other plants that slugs love, Vonny, I would strap the container with an adhesive copper tape.

Easy peasy...pull the paper off the back and stick it round the container, about four to six inches off the ground. Watch out for "paper cuts" when dealing with the copper tape, as the edges are quite sharp when being handled. Once it's stuck in place, it's fine.
Make sure the container surface is clean and dry whilst sticking it on.
You can probably find the product much cheaper on something like that favourite auction site.
Slugs hate copper, and will rarely cross it, if ever.

As far as toms are concerned, loads of manure or well rotted compost at the bottom, regular feeding with tomorite and good staking.
Personally, if garden space is limited, I find trailing cherry toms produce much more, in hanging baskets.
See here....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/5054902/Best-tomatoes-for-hanging-baskets.html



Herbs are usually Mediterranean plants that have evolved to thrive in harsh, hot climates, and are usually as tough as old boots.
Lavender hates wet roots and acid soil.
Rosemary thrives on neglect and the odd splosh of water now and then, as does Thyme and many others.

Most of them love heat and a good deal of sunshine.

Good luck!

I had a quick look at the link to The Telegraph - good one, thank you. (I'm still new enough to computers not to think of looking things up when I need answers).

I've heard of the copper tape, and will certainly buy some. I think our local garden centre stocks it. Slugs are certainly a problem - I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time picking the little devils off shrubs. Monsters!

I already grow lavender as a border plant in the front garden - three varieties, all grow well, but I've never tried it in a container. I guess I can give it a try - nothing to lose and lots to gain. Currently I buy little pots of herbs once or twice weekly from Sainsbury's - not really ideal!

Last year, being a basil addict, I got fed up with buying it from Sainsbury's.

What I did was to buy three or four and pot them up into pots twice the size, then I fed and watered them until they'd grown to three times the size.
Then, when feeding my addiction with tomato and basil salad, I simply nipped off the top leaves just above where the stem has two baby stems sprouting on each side.
Use the tops in the salad, and watch the babies grow. Repeat. If you spread your harvesting equally over the three or four plants, then they will all have time to recover and grow new baby stems.
They like tomorite occasionally as well.

When stopping the dastardly slugs with copper tape, you should always avoid the foliage of those plants touching anything else, because as sure as eggs is eggs, slugs will climb up on something else and enter your tasty plant via the top, thereby avoiding the copper.

I also do a round up early on in the season. As soon as the slugs are around, I go out when it's been dark for about an hour with a bucket and torch.
Stick a lid on the bucket when you've finished, and take them with you when you walk the dog next day.
Usually about half a mile away, down by the river in the park works well for me.
My record so far is 80.

Herbs in containers - RHS Link......

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=142

Ive started my early flowers like aegeratum and green leafy veggies like mesculen, romaine, etc. I transfer these to hotbeds after they get an inch or so high and have 2 real leaves.

Its gonna be close this year, Its been cold for so long.
Next week looks like a warm-up begins

They sell basil plants in the supermarkets for clipping while cooking. I take these plants (Its usually 4 plants for about 3.99) and repot. It gives us a jump on the basil year. My wife makes a damn fine pesto

Wish I had known this when I was living in Sacramento and had the invasion of slugs there.



Do you put it around the outside or inside of the container? If the outside, what stops the slugs from getting in through the drainage holes on the bottom?

Got any tips for grasshoppers, leafhoppers, locusts and the like?

We've had invasions of those the last three years in ABQ. Didn't do a garden last year in hopes that it would starve them out and they'd go elsewhere.

No such luck, I'm already seeing the younguns flitting around the mulch in search of tender leaves.

Putting a piece of aluminium gauze (the stuff sold for car repairs) over the drainage holes to stop the ingress of small molluscs and woodlice is one solution I've heard of.

For flowers and shrubs, I use the old-fashioned trick of liberally dousing plants with soapy water - washing-up liquid or soap flakes dissolved in warm water. It seems to keep a lot of bugs away from plants.

"Do you put it around the outside or inside of the container? If the outside, what stops the slugs from getting in through the drainage holes on the bottom?"

The copper goes round the outside, above the usual rain/mud splash level....6 inches, maybe?

I have a big roll of weed supressing "gauze" that I bought from Costco about a year ago, and regularly snip bits off for this and that, including sticking it around drainage holes. A bit of clear bathroom sealant usually holds it in place for a season, I find.

Iris bed as of today. Click photo for yesterday's look.

Front yard as it looks today.

Click image to see the emerging spring bulbs.

Such a pleasure, Neko.

I'm proud to say that my Chilopsis liniaris - desert willow - that I started from a volunteer is now about 3.5 feet high and has green leaves again. I don't have a photo of mine, but here, from this website - http://www.sungardensinc.com/Desert-Willow-Trees.html

Spring arrived here yesterday....
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Just the early crocuses (click for a larger view).