Your summer garden plans?

[summer_gphib]

We've harvested a lot of herbs, and some tomatoes and a few peppers. Unfortunately I think our season is over... We start a lot earlier in south central FL than most people do, but we will replant a fall garden in August/Sept. We've had a stupid rat eating our tomatoes and peppers, and I'm tired of fighting it. We live on a lake with a nature preserve. Thank GOD the garden is at the back of the yard AWAY from my house. We've used our humane trap to catch and relocate one, but haven't gotten this new one yet. Hubby pulled all the green peppers and apparently we didn't ripen them right in the house. They got a really weird rubbery texture. So they went to the compost bin.

My Lemon Verbena came back, which makes me very happy. I love that stuff. I actually have had the same chive plants for four years, and have had a lot more luck with my herbs than I have with my tomatoes and peppers!

[aephi alum]

I have to container garden as there is a large deer population in my area. Fortunately, I have a large deck. I also got a late start this year.

I have 3 Earthboxes. (These are awesome. They are not cheap, and they are difficult to move once fully loaded with soil, but plants really thrive in them.)

Earthbox #1: 2 tomato plants. A critter (possibly a squirrel) got to one plant and it died, but the other has set flowers.

Earthbox #2: 3 cucumber plants. They all have flowers and I see some fruit developing.

Earthbox #3: Basil, oregano, catnip, stevia, and an accidental cucumber that was supposed to go into Earthbox #2. All are thriving. The catnip and stevia are experiments. My cat loves catnip, and the stevia is a sweetener experiment (I currently use sucralose).

Planters: Lots of chives, a cherry tomato plant, and some rosemary.

The hydrangea in front of my house was looking beautiful, but sadly the heat has taken its toll. Spring flowers (forsythia, azalea, rhododendron) were lovely, though.

[carnation]

Harvest time!

Tonight we had a berry cobbler courtesy of God's garden and Blazercheer!

[carnation]

I knew this would happen. Last fall our Encore azaleas were reblooming heavily, even into November! They clashed majorly with our Halloween decorations. Now they're giving us very few flowers.

If they pull that again in the fall, I'm going to remove the blooms so we can get a spring bloom again. In other news, I don't know if we can have a vegetable garden this year, other than in a few well-placed pots, because our son's giant lab puppy (that we have until our son's summer marriage) would get into one and happily trash it.

[clemsongirl]

Oh jeez, reading through this thread makes me long for the gardens we have at my house. The dorm landscape just isn't doing it for me, even though the dogwoods and cherry trees have been beautiful. Only 10 days until I'm done with school!

I have eight houseplants sitting on my dorm windowsill, but I'm sure my mother is sick of looking after the 50+ ones that I have at home. She continually mentions how much she hates my palm tree, because palm trees do not get enough sunlight in the New England winters. I know I miss them dearly. As for the outdoors, all I know is that our azaleas got nibbled at by dear, robbing them of all blooms Apparently the deer have figured out that our dog isn't out at night. I hate deer with a mad passion, especially since they discovered the joys of eating our tulips.

[aephi alum]

I haven't even thought about my garden this year, what with my mother's health issues.

My forsythia is lovely, and the hydrangea is putting out some leaves. The azaleas are flowering. I'm going to have to hit everything with the deer repellent spray - azalea flowers = deer snacks

My parents have a beautiful camellia bush. 20 years ago, they thought it was going to die ... and then it put out one single flower. Today, it is in full bloom. I took a pic with my phone but it hardly does it justice (overexposed). Next time I visit I'll bring a real camera.

[honeychile]

I know that this is an older thread, but I have a serious question. I have some gorgeous Rose of Sharon bushes that are very sentiment to me. I started them from seeds I bought at Mt. Vernon when I was about five years old!

Anyhow, it seems that I never have time to pluck out a few when I'm in PA, so I can transplant them. I was wondering if there's a very specific time when the seeds have to be harvested, and how to do it. There seems to be every color, although I love the deep pink the most. Also, when is a good time to transplant them, and how does one do this long distance?

Any suggestions?

[carnation]

When the pods turn brown and start to open, you harvest the seeds. I always plant mine in a pot first so I can watch over them.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by carnation

When the pods turn brown and start to open, you harvest the seeds. I always plant mine in a pot first so I can watch over them.

Thanks! I have to see if I can get someone to do this for me. The plants are in PA, I'm in exile in IL.

[carnation]

Jen, use a high-phosphorus fertilizer to encourage the berries. I'm about to go buy some geraniums because I've seen some studies that say that the scented-leaf kind discourage mosquitoes.

Kevin, I am impressed!!!!