Hm. I'll look into the hummingbird feeder. I'd have to figure out how to hang it. I do have some fake flowers that I can put out there for now though. I read that zucchini is kind of hard to hand pollinate. Has to be done in the morning and apparently there's only one day where it's viable so the timing has to be right @Zombie Llama I personally would tomato cages, but my mom doesn't. But she also planted them primarily for her chickens since she doesn't eat tomatoes. To me, it just seems wise to keep the fruit off the ground and help with circulating air. More nature complaints. We've had barely any rain all of June. These past couple of days we've had scattered storms. J would report rain at work, but nothing here. I made the mistake of trying to count on rain that never showed up and my plants got droopy. So today, I thought for sure we would get rain because it was like 80% chance at around 2-3pm. NOTHING AGAIN. So my plants were particularly parched and the sun was out now so I went out and used about 8-9gallons of water to give them a really good watering because some were again getting veeeery droopy. 20 minutes later and it starts pouring
@Apples&Oranges I was just looking at this staked hummingbird feeder: https://www.etsy.com/listing/42635768/flower-pot-stake-hummingbird-feeder-bee?ref=cart
I have become obsessed with my garden, and I blame you all. S asked if I had started talking to my plants yet. Also, Carlos has so many new leaves!
I talk to my plants. My one sunflower that has survived the birds, squirrels and storms is still hanging in there. He is growing so slowly though I wonder if he'll bloom before it gets cold again and he dies. I keep going out and checking on him and giving him water every day though. He makes me happy
Science says it’s good to talk to your plants. Or at least, they grow better if you say nice things vs mean ones.
We have a tropical storm hitting so it's very rainy today. D looked out the window and told me "it's raining! You dont have to water [the] plants! Phew. That was a close one." I guess he has taken it to heart every time I comment on how my poor plants desperately need to be watered.
Lol! I was on D’s case to water the garden for longer (yay sprinklers) because it’s so sad. Big storms today.
It's incredibly hard to keep containers watered to just the right level. They dry out so fast. Some days I need to water them twice because they start drooping. Maybe this brand of potting soil just sucks, idk. But then if it rains a lot, it's easier for them to be over watered. Sometimes there will be mornings I have to water them because they're drooping, even though I know it's supposed to rain later, but there's no way they can hold out in the direct sun on the balcony until the rain arrives later at 5.
Zinnias are so pretty!! Last year I went heavy on the pretty (instead of say, broccoli for the bunnies) and had some that grew 2x as high as they were supposed to and took over the garden. Way better than the ugly marigolds the year before. I bet the new owners have volunteer zinnias in that box, I let them go to seed.
My lavender looks really sad. It says full sun but looks like it's burning up? We water every evening but maybe morning and evening are needed?
Could be. It has been so hot with little rain here (other than our stupid flash storm last week). I've been watering two or three times a day for short periods
Sunday, I threw some mini zinnia seeds in some leftover dirt my landlord had in the garage, fully expecting nothing (everything I've started myself has been in the aerogarden). And they are growing! I am fully addicted now.
Looking to fill some medium-sized planters with plants that can sustain some well-intentioned neglect. (I can promise to water every other day, probably not every day.) Area is mostly sunny. Even broad descriptions of what to avoid would be helpful.
Geraniums are the hardiest of Hardy plants. They survive and thrive in my gross, claggy London clay soil beds and plant pots, with very little sunlight or attention. Ours bloom red, pink, and white and come back every year after a good cut back.
Hardy geraniums may not be annual in your climate, shakes. They tend to survive frost, but idk about Minnesota winters. People in Montana treat them like perennials. I think you’re USDA zone 4b, same as I was in Billings, so I’ll just let you know what worked well for me. Bulbs like tulips and lilies did well there. My absolute favorite thing was a big patch of grape soda irises that were at the edge of the property. I’m not even sure our irrigation system touched them. The spring rain kept them thriving. Salvia is gorgeous and low maintenance. It’s in the sage family, which I found to be the hardiest of herbs in our climate. Russian sage is wild and beautiful, a giant tumbleweed of a thing with tiny blue/purple flowers that mesmerize all neighborhood pollinators. I’m not sure about putting one of those in a planter, but I think you’d like it in the ground. Echinacea (Coneflowers) are nearly impossible to kill and favor dry prairies. They grow like weeds. Other stuff that managed to stay pretty and not die under my careless watch: black eyed Susan, peonies, lavender, hosta, calandrinia, climbing roses, poppies. The property also had shasta daisies when we moved in, but I dug them out because I dislike their odor.
Petunias are perfect for planters if you just want some annual color. The trailing ones for taller ones. They do well with less than ideal water situations and are super pretty.
They’re so easy! They are tubers. You can get an established bush at a garden center or try your luck at a tuber in a bag from anywhere.
I inherited the bushes, but yes, they were planted from bush not bulb. The only real requirements are that you stake them when they bloom, because the flowers can get too heavy for their stems, and that you deadhead them when they're done blooming and cut them back before first freeze. The biggest downside, to me, was that ants love them.