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!