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No Vacation from Gardening
It's June and I need a vacation; an
escape from gardening. I'm tired of watering my vegetable garden and keeping
potted plants from wilting into oblivion. I'm not all that anxious to see
what my June water consumption might be either. I wasn't thrilled with water
usage in May. Sine June is always the largest water bill of the year I make
an effort to cut back by sending much of the vegetable garden to the compost
bin by mid month.
When potted plants look dreary
from the summer heat, they also find their way to the compost bin. Once
decomposed they are added to the vegetable beds for fall planting.
Fortunately I have gardening
related projects that don't involve water and growing plants that I can work
on in June. All I need is an endless tall glass of iced-tea and a shady
spot to work.
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The greenhouse
grown Tumbling Toms were prolific producers for such small
plants. |
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The gold finches
are regular visitors to these pot grown zinnias. |
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I'll keep harvesting
tomatoes as long as the plants produce and I have a few Black Beauty
eggplants that like the summer heat. The greenhouse has done quite well
this spring with the Container Choice tomatoes and four plastic10-inch
hanging baskets of Tumbling Tom. The bell pepper plants look a bit
spindly but there are maturing peppers and the leaf cutter bees and ants
won't get a chance to decimate the plants this year.
June is the month where I
try to maintain my garden's plants and not add anything new that would
have to struggle to get established under our harsh summer conditions.
Recovering from Pruning
Shock
Last month I mentioned how I did a
bit of necessary pruning on several mesquite trees. A few days later a
large branch was suddenly a different color on one tree and the leaves
eventually fell off leaving one large, sterile looking branch. I almost
removed the branch but decided to hold off to see what happened. I'm
glad I waited because the branch has leafed out and is getting ready to
produce a few seed pods. All I can figure is the tree limb was
traumatized when I removed an adjoining branch. I'm sure I'd go into
shock if someone came after me with a chainsaw. Guess I'll have to
develop a better tree side manner next time I prune the mesquite.
Worm Food
When the winter parsley starts to go
to seed, I pull it up and place it in the compost and plant new seed in
the fall. This spring too many gardening projects kept me from
maintaining the vegetable garden and the parsley had a chance to set
flowers. When I did finally take a closer look at the parsley, I noticed
the flowering branches had quite a collection of small colorful
caterpillars.
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First time the
parsley was allowed to go to seed in my garden and I get an
abundance of colorful parsleyworms. |
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At first the one inch
parsleyworms didn't quite match other photographs of parsleyworms I tracked
down on the internet. They had the same color pattern but mine had more
white in their body than the green the other pictures illustrated. As the
worms matured and consumed more parsley they took on a green hue to match
the photos I used to identify them.
I could pull the parsley and
toss it in the compost but the little worms are supposed to transform into
black swallowtail butterflies. I don't mind a few butterflies fluttering
through my garden so I think I'll let the little worms mature providing the
birds don't find them first.
Feeling Blue About the
Blueberries
I purchased two Sunshine Blue blueberry
plants on sale from Park Seed over a year ago. They were small, sickly
specimens and one quickly met its demise. The other was planted in a large
clay pot near the front entrance and left to its natural ability to survive.
I'd toss in a few used coffee grounds and fertilized maybe once. The plant
didn't thrive but it did grow until winter when it lost all its leaves. This
past spring new leaves arrived followed by one small cluster of flowers.
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When these few
flowers showed up on the Sunshine Blue blueberry bush, I
wondered if I'd really get blueberries. |
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There weren't many,
but they were blueberries. |
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I kept a close eye on the
flowers as they turned to little berries and then the last week of May I was
rewarded with four ripe blueberries. They were tasty but there weren't near
enough. Not enough for a single blueberry muffin. There are still several
berries left that should be ripe before too long and I hope I get them
before the birds. Maybe next year there'll be enough berries for at least
one muffin or a topping for a bowl of cereal.
Coleus from Seed
I've always liked the colorful foliage of
Coleus, Solenostemon scutellarioides, and try a different cultivar
or two planting the seeds in flats in the greenhouse each spring. I still
have three or four Coleus standards (trained like a tree with one main
trunk) that are three or four years old that sit near my front doorway.
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These two Coleus
standards were photographed in 2003 and were in need of some
pinching to give them a better shape. |
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This is the trunk
of a Coleus standard (probably Rainbow mix) that's three to four
years old. The plants are extremely brittle and need to be
staked and protected from the wind and animals. |
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They survive the winter in the
greenhouse but usually lose all their leaves putting on new growth with the
arrival of spring. The standards can be stunning plants but difficult to
maintain because branches are easily broken and the mealybugs, as well as
the javelina have a fondness for them. A couple of my larger specimens were
bitten in two by passing javelina.
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The serrated edges
of Carefree mix coleus makes them a bit different from other
cultivars. |
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From the left,
Color Pride, Scarlet Poncho and Red Velvet coleus planted in
2003. |
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Last year I planted Color Pride,
Red Velvet, Giant Exhibition and Scarlet Poncho. This year its Carefree Mix
and Black Dragon. The problem is I plant the seeds, transplant to larger
containers and then pretty much forget about them because I don't have that
many shady spots in my garden. I guess I could transplant them to larger
pots and move them into the house but I'm afraid they'd get spindly. They
seem to need constant pinching to keep the compact shape and to keep them
from flowering.
By the end of summer I have lots
of mealybug infested coleus that generally end up in the compost. This year
I'll have to make an effort to pot a few and find a shady spot for them to
grow and be seen.
Garden Shed Almost Completed
It's taken nearly ten days of work to
complete my garden shed that was constructed next to the gate leading to the
vegetable garden. Boy, are building materials expensive. The shed still
needs some finishing touches, such as painting, and the porch needs a
potting bench. The design seemed to work because I managed to get all of my
garden tools and gardening supplies into the shed and onto the shelves with
space to spare. The photograph below shows the back side of the shed with
four doors that lead to more shelves for storing fertilizers and pots.
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This yet to be
painted garden shed was built from scratch without any plans. It
has all the features this Tucson Gardener wanted in a garden
shed. |
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Construction costs, materials
and other information about the shed will be presented in a story in the
near future when the shed is totally completed. Is it better to buy a ready
made shed or to make your own? I'll let you know what I think when I've had
more time to ponder the cost and practicality of the design.
June Survival
As the temperatures climb I pretty much
go into hibernation. I'll be out in the garden in the early morning and as
the sun sets. The rest of the day the garden is going to have to get along
without me. I don't want to see the potted plants wilt or feel the heat of
the noon day sun beating on the back of my neck.
This is the month where I'll get
my hammock time in the evening. I'll still have to prune my lantana hedge
along the walk and pull the unwanted weed. Mainly I'll be watching the
wildlife, harvesting tomatoes and squash, watering and taking it easy.
My urge to garden in June pretty
much evaporates with the arrival of 100 degree temperatures.
The Tucson Gardener
June, 2004
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