Gardens vegetable, flower or other?

[PADDY]

Totally agree..!!

How excited am I that Michelle Obama is planting a White House kitchen garden to grow veggies in!!! I say lets all bring back the tiny backyard kitchen gardens!!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Hi 'B'...I totally agree. I created an Italian herb and veg garden about 3 years ago and love harvesting the home grown food. I'm something of a DIY guy anyway and love the whole idea of creating 'your own' at home [huh]

I hope Michelle encourages others!!

 

[Miss 1929]

I turn it...

do you turn it Miss1929? It just takes time to make compost.
coffee grinds, egg shells, peelings, all but animal fat mainly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKlauRA7ugI

I ventilate it, I water it when too dry, I let it dry when to wet, I add compost starter, I add worms... nothing works.

It is all vegetable scraps, lots of tea leaves, egg shells, etc., layered with dry leaf and lawn clippings... to no avail. I think it's just to tightly packed and not ventilated enough, we are going to try a completely new method. And I have at least a 4' cube of material there!

 

[RBH]

Ran across this and thought it was to neat to not post it.

 

[Viola]

I want a print of this one.

 

[PADDY]

My 'Home Guard' potatoes going in...

I'm also replanting some herbs for the Italian Herb Garden. Rhubarb (I love Rhubarb crumble and pie! - yum) is coming along nicely (forcing it with buckets).
Victoria Plums are just flowering and the dwarf apples and pears (which I train along a willow fence) are coming into blossom also. Things are coming to life in my little Eden!!

 

[Idledame]

You're lucky you live somewhere with alot of rain Paddy. Otherwise, with all the time you spend traveling the world, all your plants would be dead! That's what happens when you live in Southern California, and you travel.

 

[Miss 1929]

Compost success!

Moving it from the pre-fab bin to plain old chicken-wire cylinders did the trick. Since things don't rot well in the bin I think I will use it for storage of the dry stuff.

We now have roto-tilled, and I am about to go out and start shoveling it all into piled up beds! We put the rotted compost on and a buch of manure so it should be fabulous. My dirt is black, rich, about 20 feet deep of topsoil - we can grow almost anything here, except very hot peppers, it doesn't get hot enough. Maybe mulching them with black plastic will help?

James Powers, I am in awe of your roses. I planted a "Sweetness" (named after Stephen Colbert's gun?) rose in the front yard and it's doing great.It has lovely lavender blooms. For some reason the ones in the backyard get fungi but the front yard never does. Maybe they like the pollution from the endless stream of cars!

Off to my shoveling... pictures to come...

 

[JennyLou]

I forgot about Graham Thomas. That is a good candidate as well. It is fairly bullet proof as well. Yellow roses come from a rose found in Persia so they tend to prefer hot weather and a good amount of attention---which is why I have very few myself. Sunsprite is beautiful but for the reasons above it can be tough to keep going. My mother forced me to take care of a Gold Medallion. It is still alive in her yard as well as her ancient Lady Hillingdon---not the original bush mind you. The original bush was on its last legs so I took a shoot from it and transplanted it across the yard where it has done pretty well.
Any Flower Carpet Rose is going to be tough as nails. They will survive quite well even if left alone. However, most roses when established will be able to fend off quite a lot.
My Tropicana is 40 years old so it has staying power that a new bush would not have.
Did I mention Purple Tiger?

I just love this rose. It is much more purple than it shows there.The there is Old Port:

Ok,ok. I'll stop.

That Purple Tiger is so beautiful. I usually grow squashes, sugar snap peas and other vegetables in my garden but this spring I think I might just have a rose garden for a while. I just love them.

 

[JennyLou]

Does anyone know what variety of roses are the most fragrant? I simply love the scent of a beautiful rose. I have come across some varieties that do not have a scent and I want to stay away from those when I start my rose garden.

I also want to know if anyone knows where (book, internet site) I can find information on the type of violet that grows wild in my yard? It has the most beautiful scent and I have never see this type in stores.

Thanks, JennyLou

 

[Viola]

'Zephyrine Drouhin' is my favourite rose in my garden for scent. It's bright pink, and a climber. My mom has it going up one of the lampposts out front and it looks great.

I've heard 'Ingrid Bergman' and 'Oklahoma' and 'Chrysler Imperial,' which I believe Jamespowers referred to upthread, are all three very fragrant red roses.

'Knockout' has some scent but not incredible perfume, just a light rose smell. It's a dead easy shrub though, and lots of flowers, so fun for beginners like me.

A lot of the Austin rose hybrids have good scent, and a very old-fashioned look, with longer bloom time.

I don't know of a particular violet guidebook, but maybe it's viola odorata? (Sweet violet, a wildflower)

 

[JennyLou]

'Zephyrine Drouhin' is my favourite rose in my garden for scent. It's bright pink, and a climber. My mom has it going up one of the lampposts out front and it looks great.

I've heard 'Ingrid Bergman' and 'Oklahoma' and 'Chrysler Imperial,' which I believe Jamespowers referred to upthread, are all three very fragrant red roses.

'Knockout' has some scent but not incredible perfume, just a light rose smell. It's a dead easy shrub though, and lots of flowers, so fun for beginners like me.

A lot of the Austin rose hybrids have good scent, and a very old-fashioned look, with longer bloom time.

I don't know of a particular violet guidebook, but maybe it's viola odorata? (Sweet violet, a wildflower)

Viola, I am so grateful to you. I have had these viloets in my house since I was little and had never knew what they were. Thank you so much. I thought for sure I would never know. I love them so much. I know that they are just little flowers but I decided when I was younger that if I ever got married the flowers at my wedding would be a combination of these violets and roses. i just love their scent. I'm so gald I know now- I am going to see if I can purchase some bacause over the years they seem to be dissappearing. I'm so happy I know!. Thank you. Also, thank you for the rose advice.
~JennyLou

 

[Viola]

You're very welcome - I love them too. They're very cheerful little plants.

Viola odorata is a common one, but there's a few others too, mostly all pretty. Google around a bit, you might be starting a fun collection, they're not expensive usually.

I love violets/pansies/the perennial violas - that's where the screenname came from. (Fun vintage girls' name you don't hear anymore, either) They brighten up shady places a lot. They come in purple, of course, and also white.

I know around here they grow all over. People actually consider them weeds. But they're so cute and they grow in shade where grass doesn't. I'm thinking of at some point getting some of the apricot-orange perennial violas to go with them under a Japanese maple, I think the orange might bring out their blueness.

If you're worried about getting yours to grow better, try moving them to partial shade, and watering them, but they really don't need much fussing.

 

[JennyLou]

Acutally they grow really good in my yard, my mom thought they were weeds and would take them up. That's why there are so few left here. Thanks.

 

[jamespowers]

'Zephyrine Drouhin' is my favourite rose in my garden for scent. It's bright pink, and a climber. My mom has it going up one of the lampposts out front and it looks great.

I've heard 'Ingrid Bergman' and 'Oklahoma' and 'Chrysler Imperial,' which I believe Jamespowers referred to upthread, are all three very fragrant red roses.

'Knockout' has some scent but not incredible perfume, just a light rose smell. It's a dead easy shrub though, and lots of flowers, so fun for beginners like me.

A lot of the Austin rose hybrids have good scent, and a very old-fashioned look, with longer bloom time.

I don't know of a particular violet guidebook, but maybe it's viola odorata? (Sweet violet, a wildflower)

Good choices. I love the black-red Oklahoma for scent. The Chrysler Imperial won the Gamble award for scent in 1954---if I remember right. [huh]
Others that come to mind are Fragrant Cloud, Scent-sation, Crimson Glory and Granada. For the English rose there are: Constance Spry and The Yeoman.
In the garden, I was happy to have three blooms on the new Distant Drums in the garden. I remember why I love this rose enough to have it custom propagated for me. My Reine des Violettes really wowed me last week after nearly a year of foundering after I planted it. It is really a show stopper:

More on topic, I planted six tomato plants this year and was left one on the porch by a local realtor---so that makes it seven. Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Pruden's Purple, Black Krim, Mortgage Lifter and the others I can't remember now. :eusa_doh: The one that was left on the porch was tagless so it is anyone's guess. The Damson is really doing well this year. However, even my two year old has told me that the birds are likely going to get more than we do. :eusa_doh:

 

[jamespowers]

That Purple Tiger is so beautiful. I usually grow squashes, sugar snap peas and other vegetables in my garden but this spring I think I might just have a rose garden for a while. I just love them.

I am always willing to encourage rose gardening. It is a hobby that I truly enjoy. It is a lot of work but if you really like it, it is not work at all---considering the pay off.

 

[jamespowers]

Moving it from the pre-fab bin to plain old chicken-wire cylinders did the trick. Since things don't rot well in the bin I think I will use it for storage of the dry stuff.

We now have roto-tilled, and I am about to go out and start shoveling it all into piled up beds! We put the rotted compost on and a buch of manure so it should be fabulous. My dirt is black, rich, about 20 feet deep of topsoil - we can grow almost anything here, except very hot peppers, it doesn't get hot enough. Maybe mulching them with black plastic will help?

James Powers, I am in awe of your roses. I planted a "Sweetness" (named after Stephen Colbert's gun?) rose in the front yard and it's doing great.It has lovely lavender blooms. For some reason the ones in the backyard get fungi but the front yard never does. Maybe they like the pollution from the endless stream of cars!

Off to my shoveling... pictures to come...

Roses get powdery mildew and other fungus diseases when there are warm days and cool nights. The moisture left over from the day does not burn off and mildew grows. However, where you plant and which variety you plant helps. They need good air ciculation and enough sun each day to dry the morning dew. Unfortunately, in my experience, orange roses are most effected by fungus diseases. Orange Sensation and Tropicana are most effected. I just haul out the Funginex every few weeks and keep it down.[huh]
You should be able to use black plastic to heat up the soil but you can also insulate it with a 2 inch layer of that well rotted compost too.

 

[Viola]

Ooh, Jamespowers remembered one I had been thinking of but forgotten. Scent-sation is gorgeous in look and smell - I want one of those, and the similarly-coloured Double Delight as well.

I am trying my first vegetable garden. I have three kinds of tomato, a bell pepper, a chili, and an eggplant. I'm going to, for once, be faithful about watering. Wish me luck - veggies seem harder to grow than herbs and perennials.

 

[jamespowers]

Ooh, Jamespowers remembered one I had been thinking of but forgotten. Scent-sation is gorgeous in look and smell - I want one of those, and the similarly-coloured Double Delight as well.

I am trying my first vegetable garden. I have three kinds of tomato, a bell pepper, a chili, and an eggplant. I'm going to, for once, be faithful about watering. Wish me luck - veggies seem harder to grow than herbs and perennials.

I forgot about Double Delight. :eusa_doh: I used to have that in the garden at the old house.

I bought it for a friend of mine. I am going to have to get one for myself now.
Vegetables aren't harder to grow. They just require more soil preparation.
I till in chicken manure that I add in January-February when the weather starts to warm up and the soil dries out. That is usually March for me. Tomatoes require enough calcium in the soil to prevent blossom end rot so add it at the time you plant them or top dress around the plant after. I add this and mix with the soil that I remove when planting the tomato plants:

Bell peppers will last a few years in the ground out here. I had chocolate Bells for a few years.
Chili and eggplant are both fairly easy as well. Support the chili plant as they get larger---depending on the variety of course.
Tomatoes likely will need water every three days or so. More when it gets above 80 degrees and less when it is cloudy and rainy. At least that is the way it is here in Zone 8-9. Tomatoes self pollinate so you can simulate wind and lightly shake the plant to help its fertility along when flowers appear. There are a million tricks and tips that I just don't remember at the moment.

 

[macollins]

My family has had a "victory garden" since I was three! Over the years we've grown lettuce, corn, beans, carrots, snap peas, beets, tomatoes, raspberries, and strawberries. I look forward to one of my own when I get my own house.

 

[jamespowers]

My family has had a "victory garden" since I was three! Over the years we've grown lettuce, corn, beans, carrots, snap peas, beets, tomatoes, raspberries, and strawberries. I look forward to one of my own when I get my own house.

That's the spirit! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap You can, of course, help your parents out in the garden in the mean time. Us parents can always use the help.