Lavender Cuttings

I've decided I'd better try to start some lavender from cuttings, in case dividing the big plan doesn't work out well.  I have three going - we'll see what happens.  They've been in pots two or three days.  I'll check for roots in a couple of weeks.

Here are some good instructions from Gardening Know How:
Taking Cuttings from Lavender Regardless of the type of cutting, you should always cut healthy, straight, vigorous stems for rooting. Choose stems with good color and no buds. Use a sharp knife to take a hardwood or softwood cutting measuring 3 to 4 inches long. Cut hardwood stems just below a bump that indicates a leaf node. Remove all of the leaves from the lower 2 inches of the stem and then gently scrape the skin off the bottom portion of the stem on one side with a knife. Set the cutting aside while you prepare the container. Fill a small pot with commercial starting medium or a homemade mix of half vermiculite or perlite and half peat moss, with a little bark added to facilitate drainage. Dip the stripped tip of the cutting in rooting hormone, if desired. Rooting hormone helps prevent the tip from rotting and encourages quick, strong root development, but lavender roots well without it. Stick the lower end of the cutting about 2 inches into the soil and firm the soil so that the cutting stands up straight. Cover with plastic to form a greenhouse-like environment for the cuttings. Lavender Cuttings Care Softwood cuttings from lavender root in two to four weeks, and hardwood cuttings take a little longer. Check to see if the stems have roots by giving them a gentle tug. If you feel resistance, the stem has roots holding it in place. Wait several days between tugs as you can damage tender, young roots by tugging on them too often. Remove the plastic bag when the cutting has roots. Set the new plant in a sunny location and water it when the soil is dry an inch or so below the surface. Feed the plant with one-quarter strength liquid plant fertilizer once a week. If you plan to keep the plant in a pot for more than two or three weeks, transplant it into a larger pot with regular potting soil that drains freely. Commercial potting soils have plenty of nutrients to maintain the plants without supplemental feedings. Propagation of lavender from cuttings is easy and more likely to be successful than growing the plants from seeds. With cuttings, you can rest assured that your new plants will be exactly like the parent plants.

Gardening Know How: Propagation Of Lavender: Tips For Rooting Cuttings From Lavender http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/lavender/rooting-lavender-cuttings.htm

Tomatoes - August 16th

I'm noticing a difference in the way the tomato plants look in different parts of the garden:

vs.

These are all from the same 6-packs (don't know what type they were - can't find the tags), but the ones on the right side as we come in the door are much more lush with larger leaves than the ones in the bed at the end of the U.  Perhaps the big ones are getting more sun, as the end of the U is often in the shade of the tree at the corner of the shed.  Something to think about next year.


These are the ones on the far side of the shed (Champion II).  They appear to be doing well, but not much fruit showing yet.  The leaves are always curled up, even when they're not dry.  I guess it's just the type of plant!  They're supposed to be more disease-resistant than other tomatoes, so maybe that's why.

Here are some of the varieties we put in the buckets.  We definitely need to use different soil in the buckets next year.
 These (Heat Wave) are quite tall, and have fruit on them already, where the others don't.

 This one (Celebrity) isn't really doing much yet.

 It doesn't seem like Early Girl is doing much, either.

 This is Super Sweet 100 - cherry tomatoes.  Some fruit, seems to be doing OK.  But the plants in the buckets aren't as full and dark green as the ones in the beds.  Probably the dirt.

Dividing Lavender

Well, I may have really goofed!  Yesterday I decided to divide my oldest lavender plant.  It was planted near the yucca, and didn't have much room.  It was getting pretty big and woody, and didn't produce many flowers, so it seemed sensible to just move it.

I did.  I dug into it, removed a couple pieces, and put them into the southern front flower bed.  Then I took the rest, broke it into two big chunks, and put those in the new bed by the pampas grass.

Today I read an article that said only divide your lavender plant as a LAST RESORT!  Apparently there is a high probability of death after division.  Rats....  I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.  I still have the one next to the front steps, so if the older one kicks the bucket maybe I can propagate more plants from cuttings.

I wonder if I'll ever think to look things up BEFORE I do them.

Flower Bed Update - Summer 2016

I just figured out what that flower between the Russian sage plants is.  Jupiter's Beard (red valerian).

Tomatoes - Determinate or Indeterminate?

Every year we just guess when we pick out tomatoes.  Why didn't I write down the kind we had last year?  They were terrific, and I have no clue what they were.  So THIS year I have good intentions...

First of all, I had to look up the difference between Determinate and Indeterminate tomato plants.  Apparently determinate plants are more compact and bear a crop over a short period of time.  Indeterminate plants bear fruit all season long.  They grow larger and need to be staked or caged for support.

So, I think we want to grow INDETERMINATE varieties from now on.  We can always buy a couple boxes of locally-grown tomatoes if we want to can them, and just enjoy eating our garden tomatoes all season long.

One of the varieties we planted this year was Champion II.  It's an indeterminate variety that is bred to be disease-resistant and to provide medium-sized solid meaty fruit.

Spring 2016

I've ignored this poor little blog, and now when I need information, it's not here!  So I'd better start keeping up with my gardening here so I can come back later.

First...I want to paint the names of my herbs on stones to use as markers in the beds.  But to do that I guess I kind of need to know what herbs I have.
 

So this is a panorama I put together at one point, with labels...but it's so small I can't read the labels.  Back to the photo editor and camera, I guess.

Summer 2016 NOTE:  I moved the cat mint across the drive, over by the pampas grass, because it was getting so big it started killing the creeping juniper.  The tricolor sage and chrysanthemums are dead.  I moved the blue fescue to the front of the bed, but the rabbits eat it down to the ground.  I'm trying to move the juniper thyme to the front of the bed, as it doesn't look too good where it is now.  Also, the red/yellow columbine is over by the garage now.

 

Obviously, things have changed since I first planted these and took the pictures.  But this might give me some ideas of what things are when they start coming up again.

Notes on Herbs

Garlic Chives - divide or transplant in spring or fall

The care of garlic chives is pretty straightforward. Water as needed. Although the plants are drought tolerant, they do enjoy moist soil. Other care of garlic chives instructs fertilizing them at the start of the growing season with a slow release fertilizer.

After a long term freeze, garlic chives will often die back only to return again come springtime.
Garlic chives not only have a multitude of culinary uses, but are said to be beneficial to the digestive system, stimulate appetite, promote blood circulation, and have diuretic properties.
Clip the stems either all the way to the ground or with two inches remaining to allow the herb to grow anew.

Garlic

While the plants are green and growing, fertilize them. You will want to stop fertilizing them after they begin to “bulb-up.” If you feed your garlic too late, your garlic won’t go dormant.

The easiest way to know when to harvest garlic is simply to look at the leaves. When the leaves are 1/3 brown, you will need to start testing the bulbs to see if they are the proper size. This is easy to do. Simply loosen the dirt above one or two garlic bulbs and get an idea of their size while still keeping them in the ground. If they look large enough, then you’re ready to make your garden garlic harvest. If they are still too small, then your garlic will need to grow a bit more.

You don’t want to wait too long though. Once the leaves get to be 1/2 – 2/3 brown, you should harvest the garlic regardless of size. Putting off harvesting garlic until after the leaves are completely brown will only result in a inedible bulb. Your garden garlic harvest will normally happen some time in July or August.  Remember, dig, don't pull.