Garden chat & photos for torts and people ♫ ♫

No gardening going on here, but it sure needs it! I will be planting some squash seeds in the SA tortoise yard, but that's about it for "gardening" today. The sun is shining, but it's windy, but I'm afraid my dirty, messy house is calling to me much louder than the work that needs doing outside.

Maro2Bear said:

Nice day for a hike at one of Maryland’s Wildlife Refuges.

View attachment 266715 View attachment 266716 View attachment 266717


View attachment 266718 View attachment 266719

Click to expand...

I'm surprised the creeks aren't frozen. Or have you had enough warmth to thaw them already?

jaizei said:

it gives you more time to plan

Click to expand...

That it does.

Jacqui said:

That it does.

Click to expand...

Indeed
My succulents are very confused right now because of the crazy temps.
Poor things

Jacqui said:

*looks out at yard* hmm is there something under all that snow?

Click to expand...

We found some weird fungi growing over the stump of the linden tree we had taken down. It's very wet out there now but I did put on some galoshes so I could pull out someone's litter that blew into our yard. There's a lot of work to be done out there this spring. I started my spring cleaning indoors thinking that might help bring spring here more quickly.

Oxalis said:

We found some weird fungi growing over the stump of the linden tree we had taken down. It's very wet out there now but I did put on some galoshes so I could pull out someone's litter that blew into our yard. There's a lot of work to be done out there this spring. I started my spring cleaning indoors thinking that might help bring spring here more quickly.

View attachment 267291 View attachment 267292

Click to expand...

That orangey one is odd.

Hey garden folk! Here in Vegas are temps are warming up so I’ve just planted squash & pumpkin. But today I was picking weeds for Koopa and came across one I didn’t know so got a photo so I could post it for plant id until I went to grab it and found it was attached to a potato! My sister throws organic matter in that bed and a potato or 2 have been tossed in there so Now we have potatoes!

Several weeks ago an older gentleman from the turtle club called and asked if I would like to have some potted plants that he and his wife no longer were able to care for. Naturally I said yes. He gave me a nice miniature rose bush, several dormant pots with I have not idea what's in them, several pretty sick-looking jade plant and several spider plants.

Today I'm feeling like I'm going to have a muscle spasm in my back, so decided to not do all the heavy lifting that the spring rains have left me a lot of work for, and decided to repot the spider plants instead.

One of the larger ones before:



During:



And after:



And where they're going to live, alongside a couple others that have been re-potted, until they've put on some growth:



I potted a bunch of them up in smaller pots so I can use them in indoor tortoise habitats eventually.

queen koopa said:

View attachment 268100 Hey garden folk! Here in Vegas are temps are warming up so I’ve just planted squash & pumpkin. But today I was picking weeds for Koopa and came across one I didn’t know so got a photo so I could post it for plant id until I went to grab it and found it was attached to a potato! My sister throws organic matter in that bed and a potato or 2 have been tossed in there so Now we have potatoes!

Click to expand...

HA! A potato plant!! One just never knows what may come up in their garden!!

Yvonne G said:

Several weeks ago an older gentleman from the turtle club called and asked if I would like to have some potted plants that he and his wife no longer were able to care for. Naturally I said yes. He gave me a nice miniature rose bush, several dormant pots with I have not idea what's in them, several pretty sick-looking jade plant and several spider plants.

Today I'm feeling like I'm going to have a muscle spasm in my back, so decided to not do all the heavy lifting that the spring rains have left me a lot of work for, and decided to repot the spider plants instead.

One of the larger ones before:

View attachment 268547

During:

View attachment 268548

And after:

View attachment 268549

And where they're going to live, alongside a couple others that have been re-potted, until they've put on some growth:

View attachment 268550

I potted a bunch of them up in smaller pots so I can use them in indoor tortoise habitats eventually.

Click to expand...

Why did you trim all their leaves off?

Oxalis said:

Why did you trim all their leaves off?

Click to expand...

They were unruly, plus with all the roots I cut off there would be a lot less life support.

Yvonne G said:

They were unruly, plus with all the roots I cut off there would be a lot less life support.

Click to expand...

Ah, I see. I'm sure they'll grow back in no time!

Ever since I lived in this house there's been a brick planter box in the back yard that sits empty. I think at first I had tried to plant something in it, but the bricks aren't water tight and you can't water it. So it has sat empty lo these many years.

Quite a few years ago when I made a "pond" for my snapping turtle I had some pond liner left over and I sat it out there on the bricks. Then several years after that, I dug out the dirt from the planter and positioned the pond liner around inside, putting the dirt back in to hold it in place.

So there it sat for a few more years. Until one day last week I decided to plant cactus in it. So I took my wheelbarrow out to the front yard to a spot where there is a bit of extra dirt, and brought a couple wheelbarrow loads of nice dirt back there for the planter. Then I planted a few of the smaller potted cactus from the greenhouse.

Yesterday I looked at the planter and noticed an awful lot of weeds growing in it. But upon closer inspection, it's . . . well, it's weeds, but in among the weeds are many squash seedlings and a few tomato seedlings. So I'm growing a salad!!



I posted the above post on April 4th and called your attention to all the little tomato and squash plantlets that are volunteering around the cacti in my new cactus bed. Well, folks, here we are a whole month later, and look at my "cactus" flower bed now:



It's been a lovely addition to my babies' morning food items. Lots of squash leaves to go along with the mulberry and grape leaves I find for them. But the poor cactus!

Check out these Giant Hibiscus!
So these seeds are sold on amazon for $1. The other hibiscus hardy Luna Red are 10 seeds for like $6. You think their hard to grow? Think they really can get that big?View attachment 269119

Yvonne G said:

Ever since I lived in this house there's been a brick planter box in the back yard that sits empty. I think at first I had tried to plant something in it, but the bricks aren't water tight and you can't water it. So it has sat empty lo these many years.

Quite a few years ago when I made a "pond" for my snapping turtle I had some pond liner left over and I sat it out there on the bricks. Then several years after that, I dug out the dirt from the planter and positioned the pond liner around inside, putting the dirt back in to hold it in place.

So there it sat for a few more years. Until one day last week I decided to plant cactus in it. So I took my wheelbarrow out to the front yard to a spot where there is a bit of extra dirt, and brought a couple wheelbarrow loads of nice dirt back there for the planter. Then I planted a few of the smaller potted cactus from the greenhouse.

Yesterday I looked at the planter and noticed an awful lot of weeds growing in it. But upon closer inspection, it's . . . well, it's weeds, but in among the weeds are many squash seedlings and a few tomato seedlings. So I'm growing a salad!!

View attachment 268990 View attachment 268991

Click to expand...

Those little cactus are too cute! I love finding an old spot for a new garden.

I've heard that you shouldn't grow certain plants next to tomatoes, like raspberries. Any idea if this is true, I assume because tomato's in the nightshade family? I'm not a tomato person so this was news to me. Would this kill the raspberry plant or just ruin the fruit that year?

queen koopa said:

Check out these Giant Hibiscus!
So these seeds are sold on amazon for $1. The other hibiscus hardy Luna Red are 10 seeds for like $6. You think their hard to grow? Think they really can get that big?View attachment 269119

Click to expand...

I have some Hibiscus moscheutos 'Luna Red' growing in my tortoise garden. I started mine from a plug, a bit bigger than a seedling, but I imagine it shouldn't be too difficult to grow from seed. It grows fairly easily; I make sure to keep the more aggressive plants away from it. It's herbaceous (has no persistent woody stem above ground) but the stems harden in the winter and can be cut back in the spring. Then it will grow new stems from the roots; the warmer the weather, the better. You should have no problem growing it in Nevada as Hibiscus spp. tend to prefer warmer climates, so long as it receives sufficient water. Torts just love hibiscus flower treats!

Here's a photo of my Luna Red in bloom (second photo in the post): https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/p...closure-and-garden.92343/page-10#post-1513474

We finally got a sunny, 70°F day where Steve could spend some quality time back in his favorite place. Here he is soaking up some sunshine before I cut down most of last year's growth. Lots of work to do in the garden this spring....

I don't know anything about the tomatoes-not-planted-next-to-other plants thing, sorry. My tomatoes are going to stay right there where they are, next to several squash plants, and I plan to feed the leaves of the squash to the tortoises.

Darn it. I have a picture of my giant hibiscus bloom but I can't find it. It's bigger than my hand.

Finally, some sunshine and temps in the 80’s here in Maryland. Big day exploring for our Sully.

Maro2Bear said:

Finally, some sunshine and temps in the 80’s here in Maryland. Big day exploring for our Sully.

View attachment 269287

Click to expand...

Those are some good looking dandelions already!

[QUOTE="Oxalis, post: 1728615

I have some Hibiscus moscheutos 'Luna Red' growing in my tortoise garden. I started mine from a plug, a bit bigger than a seedling, but I imagine it shouldn't be too difficult to grow from seed. It grows fairly easily; I make sure to keep the more aggressive plants away from it. It's herbaceous (has no persistent woody stem above ground) but the stems harden in the winter and can be cut back in the spring. Then it will grow new stems from the roots; the warmer the weather, the better. You should have no problem growing it in Nevada as Hibiscus spp. tend to prefer warmer climates, so long as it receives sufficient water. Torts just love hibiscus flower treats!

Here's a photo of my Luna Red in bloom (second photo in the post): https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/p...closure-and-garden.92343/page-10#post-1513474

We finally got a sunny, 70°F day where Steve could spend some quality time back in his favorite place. Here he is soaking up some sunshine before I cut down most of last year's growth. Lots of work to do in the garden this spring....

View attachment 269284[/QUOTE]
Oh nice, thanks for the info! I may come to you with questions further down the road.....

Oxalis said:

Those are some good looking dandelions already!

Click to expand...

Sully ate all she could find. A good game - hunt and eat.