Barriers

A female vole can have 100 offspring per season and, boy, do we have voles.  I have tried trapping (and releasing) them and vole repellents, both with minimal success (though circling vulnerable plants with gravel in a ring a few feet down surrounded by daffodils seems to work).  I have written about voles before.  These "meadow mice" live underground and tunnel through your yard and garden.  Unlike moles, which create obvious mounds in your yard and do not eat your plants, voles leave no obvious tunnels, just round holes, and do eat your plants. Voles have dined on my root crops, destroyed my snap peas, eaten a tomato plant (I found only the above-ground part of the plant, all the roots were chewed off) and gorged on hostas.  So, here is one solution: I build vole barriers from 1/4 inch garden cloth/wire fencing.  I plant the vulnerable plants right into these baskets into the ground, back fill with soil.  This gives the plants a chance to grow and really seems to deter the voles.  At the end of the season, when I pull out the plants, I find that the roots grew very well right through this mesh.  And I save them to use next year.  If you are making new garden beds, you can line the entire length of the bed with garden cloth to stop the voles!

Above: Vole cage in the making

Another creature to deter?  The bunnies who love nothing better than to eat emerging bean plants!

Beans under garden cloth/fence 

For what other creatures do I use the "barrier method??  Why, cucumber and flea beetles, of course:

Floating row covers over hoops to deter chewing insects.

When the plants are large, I remove the covers to allow pollination.  I will spray members of the squash family with Kaolin clay (sold under the registered trademarked name Surround)(this acts as a sort of barrier too- insects do not like the gritty surface)  which keeps these beetles from chewing the leaves and spreading viral wilts.  I might try it on my eggplants too, though they grew so huge last year, the flea beetles hardly bothered them!  These row covers often last two seasons, sometimes more, but might need a little patching (duct tape to the rescue!). I have heard that old, white sheer curtains can be used as well!

Happy barrier-method gardening!

Sedums

Judy here, again channeling my "Inner Bunny," the nickname of a college friend who could not hear a song without shouting "that's my favorite song!"  So, here's my new "favorite plant!"  from the family of sedums...

  Sedum rupestre

 Sedum grisebachii

"Sedum passalong":  passed from my childhood neighbors to my mom to me!

Sedums are very forgiving of hot, dry conditions and are thriving tucked into the rock wall around my pond.  They are also the easiest of plants to transplant and divide, just pluck off part of the plant, stick it into the soil and water.  They provide color, flowers and some, like the one in the top photo, Sedum rupestre turn orange in the fall and winter!  Sedums, however, do not respond well to foot traffic, so put them out of the way.  If you want to figure out what sedums you have, there are sedum identification guides online [for example: http://www.sedumphotos.net/main.php], but it is a big task.  

Happy gardening!

Oops! Be careful out there!

OK, maybe this is a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of post,  but a moment's inattention can have harmful consequences!  I read somewhere that most accidents happen in the home, and I am guessing that more than half of these happen in the yard and garden.  So far, I have been pretty lucky.  Just a few injuries to date:  I fell out of my apple tree while pruning it (luckily, I did not have the pruning saw in my hand at the time); I've banged my head numerous times on low tree limbs, mostly just getting small bruise, once a small cut; I "pruned" off the tip of a finger while deadheading some daffodils...and so forth.  This last one was a doozy:  I tripped and fell...onto a rock wall, breaking my fall with my chin and left hand.  Here are some of the factors in my fall:

Exhibit #1:  Tunnel-Digging BobTheDog

Exhibit #2: Tunnel-Digging Fluff (with the evidence on her paws and chin!)

Exhibit #3: Ill-Fitting Faux Crocs

Exhibit #4: Rock wall with Some SHARP rocks

And lastly, exhibit #5:  a beautiful, warm day after a dreary, cold, long winter, and the pent-up desire to garden!

Luckily, no broken bones, just bruises, a swollen left hand and 7 stitches on my chin. (Thanks to the PA who stitched me up- she did an excellent job!)

Be careful out there!

For a list of pollinator-friendly plants, from the Penn State Master Gardeners, with some plants that will work in the Mid-Atlantic states, go to:


 http://extension.psu.edu/plants/master-gardener/counties/lancaster/pollinator-friendly-garden-certification/2013-pollinator-trial-results/at_download/file

Passiflora

Photo Credit: Scott R. Vrana, use by permission only.

As the readers of this blog know, I develop "passionate" (ha!) interests in a particular species or variety of plant on a regular basis.  One year, banana plants, the next year voodoo lilies, then cotton.  For a long time, I had a strong interest in passion flowers and I still enjoy them to this day.  I started planting native passifloras in the garden and non-natives in pots about 5 years ago.  They are strikingly beautiful plants, and I have written about them before.  But native passifloras are quite strong growers, at least in my climate and yard. In the heat of the summer, they grown quickly, and need to be thinned or removed before they smother other plants.  However, they are not too difficult to manage.  Keep them sheared back and pull volunteers that are unwelcome.  If they fruit, remove the fruits before they fall to the ground and set their seeds.  Easy-to-grow, and beautiful to the eye, they do need some maintenance.

Oh, for information about the name "passion" flower, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora   This plant is named for the passion of Christ...not for other...er...connotations.

Happy gardening! 

Spring?

Well, spring has sprung, but you would not know it (and last year, we never had a winter).  By this time of year (late March) I would have planted my peas, lettuces and other greens and they would have come up.  I am not sure how this spring will turn out. If we have longer-that-usual cool weather, I should be able to get a crop of these early annuals.  I did have some plants growing under row covers (bok choy, chard), but this winter was colder than my simple row covers could handle.  I hope by April 1 to have planted again, and will keep my fingers crossed!
Any successes out there in central VA?

Best Plants for Pollinators

Photos by S.R. Vrana, used by permission only.

The Penn State Extension Service has published a list of the best plants for pollinators.  Because many pollinators are in decline (and they are very necessary for human life!), it would be helpful for all of us to plant more of these species.  For the list, go to:
http://extension.psu.edu/plants/master-gardener/counties/lancaster/pollinator-friendly-garden-certification/2013-pollinator-trial-results/at_download/file

Also, contact your local Extension Agent for more information!