The Yellow Farmhouse Garden

May 9, 2013

Gypsy moths hatch

Filed under: Insects — bob @ 9:29 am

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog may remember a post from last fall. It was about a gypsy moth caught in the act of laying eggs. I decided not to destroy that eggs mass.

Early this week, the eggs hatched. In the photo you can see how small and seemingly helpless they are at this stage of their life. They are less than one-sixteenth of an inch long. A single rain drop could probably crush a baby caterpillar if it landed right on it. Or, at the very least, wash it from the tree branch.

Over a hundred gypsy moth caterpillars hatched from this one egg mass.

So how do these small caterpillars survive our spring rain storms?

Looking at the egg mass, I think I figured it out. The mama gypsy moth lays her eggs on the underside of a branch where the baby caterpillars are well protected from direct rainfall. I’m sure many get washed away but many survive to live another day.

This is also the stage at which they are most vulnerable to insecticides. You can imagine it wouldn’t take much spray to kill these pests now compared to later in the season  when they have grown into full-sized caterpillars.

Bob

May 2, 2013

Flowers for hummingbirds

Filed under: Birds,Flowers — bob @ 12:32 pm

Bees and butterflys are fun to watch  but, I think humingbirds are the most facinating visitors to a garden. No matter how many times you see them, they never fail to surprise and amaze.

Hummingbirds use a huge huge amount of energy in realation to their size.  Sugars found in flower nectar is source of this energy. Everyday they eat their body weight in nectar so they are constantly on the lookout for nectar-producing flowers.

You can encourage hummingbirds to visit your yard by planting the flowers they’re looking for.

They prefer red and orange tubular flowers but will feed on most brightly-colored flowers with nectar. There’s plenty of flowers that meet these requirements.

Here’s a partial list to consider: monarda, red salvia, agastache, honeysuckle vine, fushia, verbena, phlox, butterfly bush, daylily, trumpet creeper, cypress vine, coral bells, heirloom petunias, penstemnon, morning glory, bugle weed, red-hot poker, and many others.

Like people, hummingbirds also need protien and fats in their diet. They get those nutients by eating gnats, mousquitos and other small insects. So, having an area of wild plants — weeds — nearby will provide space for these small insects to grow.

If you have the space for it, a mixed garden like this will provide all the nutrients hummingbirds need. Tubular flowers for nectar and other flowers for small insects to live in.

Finally, hummingbirds need trees and shrubs to provide a place for them to nest and to escape from predators.

If you look around, you’ll probably see that most of the things hummingbirds need are already in your neighborhood.

Planting the right kind of flowers is the best way to get hummingbirds to hang out in your backyard.

April 25, 2013

Prune forsythia after flowering

Filed under: Flowers,Shrubs — bob @ 11:05 am

It looks like a good spring for forsythia this year. I’m seeing plenty of yellow flowers on forsythia shrubs all around our area.

Some bushes have loads of flowers while others look not quite as nice. The difference is,  gardeners with forsythia loaded with flowers have taken the time to prune their shrubs, while the others have just let their shrubs fend for themselves.

Unfortunately, some people prune their forsythia right along with their other trees and shrubs in the early spring while everything is still dormant.

Forsythia flower buds grow and form during the summer then, open up and bloom in the spring. So, if you prune in the spring while the plants are dormant, you end up cutting off those flower buds that grew last year.

The proper time to prune forsythia is right after the flower petals fall off of the stems.

Remove the largest, coarsest stems by cutting them off right at ground level. This will stimulate your shrub to send up fresh, new stems with plenty of those flower buds we’re looking for.

Next spring you’ll have a more balanced looking shrub with a profusion of yellow forsythia blossoms. Your neighbors will think you are a gardening genius.

Bob

April 18, 2013

Cool temeratures keep bulbs flowering longer

Filed under: Flowers,Weather — bob @ 2:57 pm

Many gardeners have been enjoying the cool spring this year — especially those who spent days and days last fall planting spring flowering bulbs.

In years past, I planted as many as 20 thousand tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth bulbs in one fall season. For many years I considered 10 thousand bulbs to be a light planting year. It took my helper and me several weeks to get those flower bulbs into the ground before winter arrived.

Tulips will flower much longer when the weather is cool.

Then I would wait until spring to see the results of all of that work. Most of the time spring progressed normally and the bulbs put on a show that lasted for weeks. Every once-in-a-while a week of summer-like weather would occur in early spring. All of the bulbs would shoot up out of the ground, bloom, and die-back all within about a week’s time. How disappointing those springs were — one week of spring flowering for six weeks of hard work in the fall.

This year we’re having a nice, slow start to spring. Our bulbs are slowly opening and their flowers look like they will stay fresh for sometime.

Spring bulbs are the best reason to hope for a cool spring.

Bob

April 11, 2013

Deciding when your soil is ready to till

Filed under: Soil — bob @ 1:32 pm

Tilling the garden is a spring ritual we look forward to all winter. And after our cool, slow warm-up this spring, many of us will be tempted to get out there and till on the first warm day.

Be careful though, it is possible to till too early. Tilling when there is too much moisture in the soil will cause it to form large clumps, ruining the soil structure.

I did that one time early on in my gardening career. Exposure to rain and winter freezing and thawing will eventually break down those clumps. But in my case, after two years the soil was still lumpy.

Squeeze the soil into a tight ball.

To help you decide when to till, use this simple test: scoop up a handful of soil and compress it tightly, like you’re making a snowball. Poke the soil ball with your finger. If it crumbles apart, then it is in good enough shape to till. If it stays in a ball, then it is still too wet to till.

Check each day until it passes the ball-of-soil test.

Bob

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