Fall is here... what a year!

So Yeah. This year. It kinda sucked.

I didn't post all summer because things went terribly wrong! Not all were the fault of humans, but some was indeed... I LOST 3 LAVENDER!! AHHH!! i had a medical conference in Florida that I attended for a week! I loved it! Middle of June, hot and dry, bad time to introduce someone to lavender here. I had someone water my plants for me and they drowned them with love. Lol, oh well! I will start that again in the spring. None of my seedlings worked!! Ok, wait... the lemon cucs grew, but even they didn't produce anything! The only vegetables that produced were my peppers! Man I grew some hot ones this year! Hahah! Poor Pat! Next year... definitely more peppers, and I don't know what else.

Blueberries from my Elliott were delicious!! But then with the trip and stress of  the last year part of the plant died. I saved it, but we have another tough one ahead of us. My Pink Lemonade is doing well, she didn't produce nor grow a lot, but she is very healthy. Last winter was too warm and dry that we had many problems this summer, and it was a hot dry one. How to cool the plants without water logging them! OMG! This fall has been dry and warm as well, I am not one bit happy. I can only hope we get a wonderful winter full of snow! Our agriculture depends on it!

So the news for the blueberries right now... THEY ARE BUDDING!! A HHH!!! What do I do?!? They bud in the spring.. not fall. So confused poor things! I assume the buds will freeze and they will re-bud in the spring, but with how things have gone I have no idea! There was an article in the local paper a few weeks ago about how the plants were stressed and doing strange things all over the valley, pictures of Yucca blooming in October! I don't think I am alone!

And now to get rid of the damn spidermites that have infested my lemon tree... I will keep you updated. Hurray for floramite!!!

Beautiful ladies!

Today I know it got to 89 degrees. It is April 24. WTH? Seriously!  Tomorrow should be a little cooler and thunderstorms on Thursday.

Columbine

My columbine has opened beautifully!  We planted some vanilla marigolds near the front door. I just love those! They don't smell like the orange ones (I called the "skunk flowers" growing up) but still control insects the same (in theory). I have grown them once before to work on earwigs, and it did seem to work. The earwigs LOVED the lavender.

Did I tell you that I replanted my seeds? Well, I did. Lemon cucumber, cilantro, basil, thai peppers, mini bell peppers, and  strawberry popcorn. I started in Miracle Gro, and we will see if that works.

Now I know I told you I was transplanting my orchid to a hydro system. Well, I did it! I did say I would take pictures... but I forgot. Hahah! After a few days the orchid started drooping. BUT, yesterday it began to perk up again! It seems to be taking well! I did transplant my other one into a semi-hydro system. I found the instructions for that everywhere, but here is an example. Like this article says, the semi-hydro is essentially a normal orchid pot. The hydro system, however, is bulkier. It is a 3 gallon bucket with an air pump. So keep that in mind if/when you transplant! My brother feels strongly that the healthier system is the hydro, because it keeps the water cleaner by keeping it moving. So I am testing this!

Aphids and Mites

This is gonna be a LONG year.

I was proudly showing my brother my blues today and happened to look at the rosebushes. Holy aphid infestation batman! And it is only the middle of April!! This weekend I lost my pepper plants I had bought (pre-started) to stupid red mites!! The peppers were too young for me to do anything to save them, so they definitely died. I don't think that spread to the lemon tree I have.. we will see soon enough.
So I just did some investigating. Of course we all know (I think we do...) that ladybugs LOVE aphids. But isn't it too soon to buy those? So what else are my options? According to this site, I have a few. Diatomaceous earth, whatever that is; insecticidal soap; Pyrethrins and pyrethroids, from chrysanthemum (the -oids are the synthetic versions); or IGR, insect growth regulators. There are also natural bugs like ladybugs, lace wings, and birds. It also suggests spraying a hard spray of water at first to knock them off the plant. I just went outside and sprayed them off with water, but I don't have anything else yet. I will have to talk to the landlord and see what she wants to do about them. These rose bushes have been around for 10 years, so just taking them out isn't really an option.
Did I tell you that I was burning my sprouts? Indeed. The soil I was starting them in (anyways this is what I think was going on) had too much nitrogen and was killing sprouts. I have re-started all of them in a plain old Miracle-Gro vegi and flower mix. I will let you know how that goes in about a week or so!! I am waiting until the first of May, but I will be going back out to get the peppers again, and I still didn't get the artichoke. Oh well!
Now to the subject of the blog, the Blues! Man the Elliott is doing well! He is growing so big! And there are a lot of blossoms! The Pink is doing alright. She is hanging in there, still small and cute. A few blossoms about to open, but not many. And with how small she is, I would say that is not a bad thing! My azalea in that pot is doing well! The new growth is coming from the underside, and is nice and healthy looking. There is one blossom completely open, and 3 or 4 that should open this week. Now the strawberries... whoa! They are taking off! All kinds of green with numerous blossoms! Here in no time I will have those berries!

April Showers

This weekend we are supposed to get rain! Thank goodness!!! We have one of the driest winters ever here, and it is really showing. The ditch water is in too!

Nothing much has been happening on the plant front. I water, they drink. BUT... here is an updated picture of the Elliott blossoms (just in case you didn't know what they looked like!) and the azalea that is getting ready to open.

Open Elliott blossoms

AZALEA!!!

I have not been feeling great, so this has been a week of maintaining status quo. I plan on getting my hydro orchid all set up this weekend, and I will post what that looks like as I do it, if anyone is interested! Desert Bloom Hydro got me all set up for that! They didn't have the feed I was told to try, so we are testing plain old Miracle-Gro Orchid Food.

Strawberry blossoms and pruning blueberries

Good afternoon! It is a beautiful and warm end to March!

Strawberry blossom!

I was watering my strawberries the other day, and I found two blossoms!!! I can't believe so soon! They are all greened and ready for the year. The columbine is growing like a weed and she is looking great too! Daffodils have opened and irises are not far behind. 

The blues... are so wonderful! Elliott is leafed out and the flower buds are just about to open. And he is loaded with them this year. I am wondering if I should prune some of them off... but I am not big on stopping production. I am not big on pruning in general, but I need to since they are in a container and they are not dwarfs. The cranberry I bought this spring is not doing well. I am not sure why either. Since the ones I got last year, with the exception of the one, also died, I am thinking they are a no go.  The Pink blue is a week or so behind the Elliott. She is starting to leaf, and she definitely doesn't have as many flower buds. She is also a smaller plant and was planted in the summer last year. I am guessing she will behave one year behind the Elliott.

I have switched to fertilizing once each week. I am pretty sure I have nicely established the growth for this year. I am not having any luck with my seedlings! All of the seeds I have planted have sprouted wonderfully! They grew to big healthy seedlings, and then die. I had my brother come look... and we think we know the problem. My soil. I had re-potted a few plants this winter and had used Happy Frog soil. It is a great soil! So I used what was left for the seeds. But it appears to have too much nitrogen for the sprouts and burns them, causing death. SO... I will be trying again (after payday) with some standard seed starter.

I went on the look for some information on pruning blueberries, and I found a few links! They say to prune late winter, before the plants come out of hibernating, so we have missed it for this year. Luckily I did prune mine before they greened up, so I was set anyways.

Just a side note... I am going to try growing an orchid hydroponically! I found some information and they are perfect for that since they are not grown in soil anyways! I will be getting my stuff from Desert Bloom, so I will let you know the prices and what I need. I will also let you know when I start the system and how it goes!

Salt

Yeah, I am pretty sure the salt accumulation on the Elliot is from the fertilizer. I went ahead and washed it off, and will keep an eye on that. Oh it is such a lovely day today!! Warm, sunny, and springy!

I think the herb sprouts are not supposed to be kept as moist as I have been keeping them. They keep sprouting, and then dying. Starting today I will be keeping the lid off of the seed starter. I am going to have to plant the peppers soon! They are out growing the trays they came in! Well I have plenty of pots the last until it is safe to plant.

Well, we have made it through a few nights of frost! Hopefully we are done, but this is Colorado. One day it is 70 degrees, and the next we have winter storm warning and it is snowing in the 30's!

Elliott Blueberry in bud. 3/21/12

Elliott Blueberry leafing. 3/21/12

The apricot trees are in full bloom, and the cherries are budded. My Elliott blue is leafing, and the Pink blue is getting ready to open. I have planted the cranberry I just got, and she is looking good! Azaleas are green too! Oh it is spring! Sprouts are all sprouty and well, and the lemon tree is growing beautifully! Did you know that lemon trees have spikes?
I have a salt-like deposit on the Elliot, and I am not sure where that is coming from. I will be looking into that. I am wondering if it isn't from the fertilizer splashing...

Lemon Cucumbers

top: Jalapeno    bottom: Tabasco

It is still chilly and a touch breezy today, but the sun is bright and warm! I took all of the babies outside for the day. The two new blossoms fell off of the lemon tree. :( But that is ok, it probably shouldn't fruit this season anyways, it is just a baby still!

Gone Shopping

Today I went shopping for a few more plants. I found 2! I will be adding the Tabasco pepper and a Jalapeno pepper to my pepper garden! I had to go ahead and get pruning shears too, I need to snip some dead branches from the blues. It is still too early here for a great selection of plants, I mean it is only March 12! I will still be getting brussel sprouts, thyme, and garlic. I am contemplating artichoke, but I will decided on that later.
My sprouts are all doing well. All of the lemon cucs are up, and a few of the basil. The lemon tree has 2 blossoms open! I will have to go pollinate them! Today was a bit cooler, so I did not take the plants outside. Tomorrow is to be a bit warmer, so I will then.
Yesterday I fertilized my blues and cranberries. My brother gave me a sample of Earth Tonic. *as always... PH is uber important with these!  A gentleman that he works with is also growing blueberries here. He is using orchid feed when they are in bloom. I will try that and see! Last year I did not fertilize, being their first year. This tonic is supposed to be applied 3 times a week, so for me that is about every watering. I will post pictures of the sprouts tomorrow!

Welcome!

I want to welcome you to my new and wonderful blog! This is a blog about container gardening, mostly. I rent my house, so I don't have the option of adding a garden, or doing landscaping! I am newish to this craft, so join me as I play around and learn what is best!
I have gardened for a few years in my back yard. Plants like tomatoes, lettuce, weeds. But last year I decided to change some things up. I bought blueberries! Yes I did! And no, they do not grow in water. They are very specific with their needs. I turned a wine barrel into two containers, filled with peat moss and an acidic soil, and planted two varieties of  blueberries. Because I felt they were lonely, one was planted with cranberries and the other with an azalea.  As a mulch, I covered each container with Hydroton (grow rocks made of special kiln-fired, lightweight aggregate) purchased from Desert Bloom Hydroponics.
None of these plants are native to Colorado, let alone the Grand Valley. I think I wanted to try them just because "they" said I couldn't. My first blueberry I bought at Lowe's. Just a standard Elliott blueberry. This is the one planted along with cranberries. I ordered my cranberries from Stark Bros. Nursery. I think I planted this one outside sometime in April, but I am not sure. The second blueberry I also got from Stark, it is a Pink Lemonade. My niece had just given me a beautiful azalea, so I decided to plant those two together.
In August of last year I had to move, luckily just across town. But in the process I did lose 2 of the 3 cranberries. One managed to hang in there! The blueberries had suffered from spider mites, and were recovering from the Floramite I had to spray them with. They got these from a local garden infested with them, *sigh*. Wow! The Floramite was rough! But it worked! Through the rest of the growing season the blues managed to recover and prepare for winter.
I was so nervous about the winter! It can get rough here! But, it was not rough, unless you count having to water in January rough. It was too warm and dry! Finally this Feb we actually got snowfall! Poor peach farmers!
Well here we are to the present, March 10. It has been 3 days at 60 degrees! Nights have not gotten below freezing in that time. It is still WAY too early to start planting, but I have sewn seeds for this year. Lemon Cucumber, Genovese Basil, Cilantro, Thai Hot Pepper, Mini Bell Pepper, Kumquat, Gourds, and Strawberry Popcorn. The only plants I plan on adding to this collection are Brussel Sprouts, Thyme, and Garlic. A few days ago I received my ...   LEMON TREE!!! Oh she is beautiful! They can grow here, outside in the summer and inside in the winter, in a container. It has not gone into much of a shock, so there is hope that it will be fine. Of course the day it arrived it was snowing.
Because of the warm days, I have been taking my seeds, and my lemon outside. I purchased another cranberry to attempt again, and this is acclimating. The blues have buds, and some new growth appearing. I think spring is here! Yes, I realize this is Colorado, and March. I know we will have one more big snow storm... but all you can do is go with the flow and protect your babies from a freeze when it gets here.
I do indoor gardening also. I have a bonsai (that my cat loves to eat... some kind of grass...), a cymbidium orchid, and a phalaenopsis orchid. The phalaenopsis is blooming again! So excited! I have never had that happen before!
So here is to a productive season!