Return to the Maine Gardening Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
Posted by MarthaCR z5 Me (My Page) on Wed, Apr 20, 05 at 10:51
I planted my first crop of peas yesterday. I guess I could have done it a lot earlier- the ground is BONE dry!
Wow, I never stopped to think- there was relatively NO mud season this year. You'd think with all the snow this year and the melting and runoff issues around the state, that the ground wouldn't be so dry.
I took the day on Monday to hit some nurseries and see what was around. I had to leave my cat at the vet for the day, so I had time to kill. I went to Skillins, Estabrook's and Allen Sterling and Lothrop. I needed pea seeds, drip irrigation parts, and wanted to try some Black Beauty grass seed. Nobody had many perennials out yet, but the ones I did see at Skillin's looked huge and vigorous! I suppose they use chemical fertilizers on them, though which I don't like to do.
Estabrooks had some nice forget me nots out. They are kind of a nuisance in my garden, but these were a beautiful medium blue instead of the lighter blue I have, and they had a lovely medium pink also. I was looking for some epimedium to take home but no one had any out yet.
I picked up some Neptune's Harvest (2-3-1) to try on my seedlings. I have had some trouble with slow growth and very small roots on seedlings in the past. I tried to find something organic that would be close to 10-10-10, and that was the closest I could find. I'm still hunting for the "perfect" fertilizing schedule. I always get so wrapped up in weed control after planting, that I forget to fertilize! As the kids say- My Bad! (note to self- buy more weed fabric and mulch)
The only place I could find peas was ASL. I love that place! They always have lots of seed and tools. They had strawberry, asparagus and rhubarb plants out. I'm going to try Tall Telephone this year in addtion to my traditional Green Arrow. Maybe this year, I can get some to the table instead of us all eating them raw first! I've never had enough to freeze!
Picked up a free lawn mower the day before- is self propelled and has a bagger, but testy gears. It does supposedly work, though. Maybe good enough to run over my leaves and try to thatch my old old lawn...
Nursing a spring cold today- yuk
Martha in Vinalhaven
|
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| I broadcast some wild flowers today in a 1/4 acre lot, cleaned out the goat yard, moving all the spent straw into my flower beds. I cut back all my rugosa roses and honeysuckle. I enlarged 2 gardens by edging out 6 inches and turning the sod up on onto top of itself. I plan on filling in the inside of my gardens with compost tomorrow. Allen Sterling and Lothrop, never heard of them. I am glad that you did find what youwere looking for. Are you planting eating peas or sweet peas? I would assume eating peas, but just curious. Now Martha, just need to get better, I think Spring came early this year! :) Hope you have a great year! |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| I've put in the first 200' of peas, 200' of beets/beet greens and 80' of spinach. I brought a lot of rhubarb home today and will get that planted tomorrow. |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| arhhhhhhh...Robin you always make me feel competitive, veilchen does that to me as well! I must have a keep-up- with-the-gardeners osmosis syndrom. LOL ok, my rhubarb got a good shot of composted manure on it a few weeks ago...the leaves are getting large now.
I have plans to do peas, spinach,onions and beets ( thanks for the push, Robin) first of this week....or when ever the rain stops. I wanna see everyones pix on these gardens! |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| The extent of my garden work thusfar has been cleaning out the 3 front perennial beds and raking out the lawn in the center of the driveway circle. I still have lots of do. I did manage to get some pansies in one of the cement urns, though (very pretty, pale yellow ones). I'm loving the rain this weekend, was shocked at how really dry everything has become. More raking and clean up next week, some compost on some beds and maybe some balanced, organic fertilizer. Neptune's Harvest is good stuff; the helpmeet has been using it for years in his vegetable garden. It would be nice to get some crab grass preventive down, too, as well as the bulbs that were forced for Easter into the ground. |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| I was away all last week and I am dying to get into the garden after this rain stops! Took a peak the night we got back, but it was nearly dark and I couldn't see much. I think my peas were finally up (or was it weeds?). Too dark to see if the carrots were up. Little onion transplants standing straight up just like I had left them. Johnny's 'All Greens Mix' needs to be thinned out. It hasn't stopped raining since Sat. a.m. and I think today I will at least venture out there with an umbrella. A few buds open on forsythia so now I can seriously prune the roses. Hopefully the rain will stop long enough today so I can get out there and divide the phlox 'David' and some delphiniums. Am scared about dividing the delphs, never done it before, but they really really need it. |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| Not much happening here yet. I do have some crocuses and iris reticulata blooming in my large flower garden. But mostly things are still to soft/muddy here to do to much. And then my shade garden....well I just went out and took this pic...it'll be a little while before I can do anything in there yet! :-( Did buy a six pack of pansies at our local Agway the other day tho...still need to get them potted up. Gonna start seeds inside today too. Cathy 
|
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| Daffodils are here, croci are pretty much gone, the Forsythia just opened and the Magnolia stellata is in full bloom. It's headin' your way, chicken lady! I promise. :) |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
My Leonard Messel Magnolia keeps looking better every year.
Hostas putting up their noses, a few unfurling. Have to make a new bed for the potted ones that spent the winter in a ditch that was supposed to have been made into a bed last summer. Recued the pots just as the snow melt was beginning to soak the ditch. But the pot of corkscrew willow loved it. All but 5 of last years potted clematis putting out new leaves, even got 2 planted already, before the rains came.
Just stopped at home depot, lowes & walmart last Saturday when there was too much rain to play outside. And ordering from the web & bidding on ebay. |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| I ordered for the first time through Gurney's - unfortunately the first shipment of 2 apricot trees, a bayberry, a blue rose, and a mock orange arrived while I was working out of town for the week. My husband left them in the box and when I got home and opened them, they looked like so many sticks wrapped in plastic - dry and dead-looking. I put them in anyway last weekend, and today I went around scratching a little of the bark away and it appears that everything but the mock orange is still alive. I'm hoping anyway!! They all showed green under where I scraped a little piece away, except that one. That's the only sign of life though - they all still look like I planted sticks... So far it looks as though I had less winter-killed plants than last year - all the roses survived, and everything else seems to be coming up as they should. It's so fun to walk around and see the old friends coming to life. And it feels so good to get my fingers in the earth again. I just received some back-ordered stuff from Gurney's - winter hardy glad bulbs and some flower and herb seed packets, but don't dare to put them in yet! |
RE: Meanderings on first plantings and nursery visits
| | |
| I got the fever and notice a great compromise between housework and yardwork now. I know to work as fast and crazy as one can before the mosquitoe and black flies find me!!! Hurry! LOL |
|
|
|
|
