Slowly but surely I am getting my energy back. Today I mowed part of my part of the lawn. It was in desperate need and I did pretty good.
We have a pretty good chance of rain tonight and tomorrow and the ground is bone dry so I emptied both barrels giving about half the stuff that needed it a drink. I am really hoping we get enough water to give everything a good soak. That should refill both barrels too.
After the transplanting, mowing and watering I decided to take a few pics. Here is what I came up with…
I transplanted some of the Brown Turkey figs into 1 gallon pots that I started from cuttings this spring. They were amazingly easy. Last fall I took 6-8″ cuttings and put them in a ziplock bag in the crisper drawer in the fridge. Early this spring I stuck one cutting into a 20oz cup of soil and kept them in the shade. It took a while to see anything but slowly they started coming to life. I could tell when the roots started because their growth really sped up. I waited till the roots started poking out of the bottom of the drainage hole to transplant. I ended up with about half of what I started with, more than I will probably find a home for.
This is a new plant for me this year. The Black-eyed Susan Vine isn’t related to a BES at all but some varieties have the dark eye like BES do. This is a yellow variety. An annual that gets pretty long, doesn’t seem to be bothered by any pest that I can see and tolerates this summer weather is a winner in my book. Rumor has it that I can save the seeds and start some next year. That is the plan so far. I like the way it drapes over the barrel. This one is just starting to flower, I got these in kind of late. I have some more filling some space in a couple of beds and a couple of other large planters. I do have some of the black-eyed orange variety too.
I have harvested a couple of handfulls of tomatoes from these little guys. The FB variety has tomaotes about the size of a golf ball while the FP are smaller cherry types. Good flavor and they really put out the fruit for as small as they are. I planted 2-3 per pot for a fuller effect.
Most of this Echinacea came from some that I started from seed about 7 years ago. I have 5 or 6 other areas where I have planted some volunteers and I have 6 or so in 6″ pots waiting to go somewhere.
The Butterfly Bush is in bloom and the butterflies have found it. Today alone I saw several swallowtails including this one that has seen better days, a monarch and several unidentified smaller types. A great day in the garden!
Hello. I saw your fig leaf picture with the brown spots on them (posted a while back). Did you figure out what was causing the spotting? My trees are getting the same thing, and some leaves are also getting holes in them.
Thanks.
JR
Hi JR
The spots ended up being fig rust. A weekly spray with the organic fungicide, Serenade did the trick. It has been so dry this year the rust (or powdery mildew) hasn’t been a problem, I don’t remember holes though. The leaves would yellow and drop before it got to that point. Have you seen any insect activity? Not sure where you live or what would be causing the problem as I’ve never had it here. Perhaps a sticky trap or two on the tree might trap the culprit.
Thanks for the reply, Kerry.
Two or three of the newer, smaller leaves are partially destroyed (with only half a leaf remaining). All the big ones are totally intact, but they are developing the brown stains like those in your picture. I just don’t know if I am underwatering, overwatering, or if there is an insect or what.
It has been overcast and humid the past 6-7 days where I live, with very sparse sunshine. Could that cause leaf rust?
I would hate to have to spray anything.
Thanks again.