Gardening, anyone?

GG27

I know the feeling about birds eating all your berries. I net the blueberries, but my DH built me a "raspbetorium" Keeps the birds out, looks really cute in the garden.... The cost to build it makes my raspberries worth about $20 a basket! GG

Ariom

ddfair, I wish I could do that too, it is a great solution, but this garden is a very old established one, the trees are big, the old Fig, alone, is way higher than the house and maybe 20' wide. People around here will net off, part of their trees, to save some fruit, but unfortunately, the birds get caught in the netting. I have tried all kinds of things tied in the branches, tin foil plastic bags, but none of these make any difference. I even have a pretty good looking replica Owl statue, but that doesn't work either.

GG27

This was posted on another thread & permission was given to share here.....

Teka

The following was taken from Facebook.

;o)

I took the following 2 photos of a bald eagle near a local library!

The tree is located on the bank of the East Branch of the Ausable River.

glennie19

Great sign GG!

Jazzygirl

GG- I saw that somewhere before and LOVE IT!

Teka- definately feels like spring here!

Charlottesmommy

Hello all. I am just emerging from about 2 feet of snow that melted this week. I will get to start my seeds (indoors) in another week or so, but I couldn't wait for my new blueberry plants. I put the rootstock I got into big planters, and they are sprouting leaves in my living room.

Jazzygirl

Good morning! I went to our local botanical gardens yesterday with a gardening friend and we saw these two types of flowers we could not identify and that had no posted information. Does anyone know what these are?

The first one seems to be associated with the tulip family. The second one I have no idea, forms clusters of either purple or yellow flowers?

Jazzygirl

Sodie1017

I took the master gardening class in Illinois and Tennessee. I live in Colorado now and should have taken a class since high altitude gardening is so different. Like you, magicalbean, I have to wait for the snow to melt! I can see my beds now, but it's only March 15 and we will get snow through April.

We have a large fenced in yard which keeps out the deer and bears. My husband built several raised beds lined with wire mesh to keep out the gophers and voles. He installed brackets to hold PVC pipe hoops and we cover the beds with plastic. Since we have such a short growing season, we use this greenhouse effect to warm the soil. Once the soil is warm enough, we plant our vegetable seeds and tomato plants. The threat of frost ends around Memorial Day and that's when we uncover the beds. We usually have a bumper crop.

I love flower beds. I have to wait until the end of May before I can plant anything. Gardening is great therapy. My project this summer is to re-landscape the front yard. Unfortunately, I'm looking at possible shoulder surgery so I need to hurry up this project!

Oh and my husband is a bee keeper. I like to have lots of flowers for the bees!

While you're waiting for the snow to melt, buy some graph paper and start drawing your plans and dreaming! Good luck!

Sodie1017

jazzygirl, I agree the red one looks like a tulip. The other one's leaves reminds me of crepe mertle ground cover. I looked at pictures in my Colorado Gardener's Guide and didn't find anything similar. However, I had crepe mertle in Tennessee and remember the leaves looking like that. Where are you in NM and what altitude?

GG27

Jazzygirl, You're right about the first set of flowers, they look like an early tulip, don't know the species. The second flower is Helleborus, there again, I don't know what variety it is, but I have many of them in my garden. I posted a pic from my garden on the first page, but realized I didn't say what it was. GG

Jazzygirl

Sodie- I am in ABQ, and around 5330 above sea level.

CC- for sure helleborus upon reading more about it. I have never seen it here before in the nurseries, etc. I am going to inquire about it at the nursery when I go to start planting in April! Thank you!

simplelife4real

Fun topic! I planted lettuce in flats a couple days ago. It's starting to sprout. Today, I started parsely and basil seeds in pots. Our last frost date is May 15 here so I need to have a way to protect anything I plant until then. I can move things indoors if I need to, otherwise....I'll cover them at night if it's going to be chilly. I planted some one-year-old asparagus plants last year that I think I'll be able to get one harvest out of this spring. I'm really looking forward to that. I mostly just grow herbs and cherry or roma tomatoes and buy my veggies from local farmers. In terms of flowers, I try to grow things that are hardy because I like to go out of town for a week or two at a time over the summer. Marigolds, petunias....things that are simple.

GG27

I'm only going to do pea pods & heirloom tomatoes. With our cool growing season here combined with the fact that I live on a sandstone island (I have no dirt) I have given up on doing much else. My raspberries do well & I can grow some flowers but I just get frustrated trying to get anything else to grow decently. GG

Jazzygirl

I may have figured out the other flower. Easter star tulip?

http://www.johnscheepers.com/flower-bulbs-index/tu...

Or wild tulip?

https://www.botanikfoto.com/en/categories/images-p...

Jazzygirl

quiltlibrarian

Hello fellow gardeners, I can hardly wait until I can get into the garden. I did plant lots of bulbs and seeds today, but it will be end of may before I can trust that we will not have any frost. Nothing better than the first veggies from the garden.

 

MagicalBean

Wow, quiltbrarian. I really envy you your warm weather. The ground here is still frozen and it was snowing this morning. It should warm up a bit by mid week but it was 17 last night. Enough already.

Jazzygirl

Hi all- it has been warming up here again after a few days of rain last weekend. My weeping cherry is really popping out now. I hope to get a good picture of it in full bloom in the next few days before I leave town for a few days.

quiltlibrarian

Magical, not outside yet. It is snowing outside right now. We had 6 inches and will have another 4 inches today. Sigh.

 

Jazzygirl

Quilt- hang in there. As I am sharing my stories of blooms here in the southwest, I am hearing there is snow around a lot of places still.

Someone posted this on FB today and thought it was great so I am sharing here!

Wren44

Jazzy, Love it!

Meow13

I just fertilized my roses. According to experts when the forthesia blooms it is time to fertilize.

I bought lewisia

Jazzygirl

Meow- how pretty is that pot and the flower in it!

Here is my blooming rosemary. It does really well out here in the southwest, known to grow wild all over the state too! I have two huge shrubs of it in the front yard, and the past few years, lots of little purple flowers all over it!

Wren44

UW's quadrangle planted with cherry trees. They are 80 years old and are expected to live 100 years, so replacements are being grown.

GG27

beautiful....

glennie19

beautiful pics!

Meow13

jazzy rosemary smells so good. I love the old uw cherry trees.

Sodie1017

It was beautiful on Saturday so we cleaned out the garden beds. On Sunday, we managed to cover two of them in plastic to start warming up the soil. It snowed today, but should be nice the rest of the week. As long as the wind is not blowing, we can get the rest of the beds covered this weekend.

My iris and tulips are starting to poke up so that gives me hope that spring will arrive in Colorado some day soon!