Photo of the Week: Crabapple in bloom

Gardening: Nature is an Autocrat

As the title says, Mother Nature is an autocrat. All of the cantaloupe seedlings died and all but one of the sunflower seedlings died. So here comes Round 2. Tons of bird and squirrel-planted sunflowers have popped up though. I also scattered a bunch of marigold and California poppy seeds a little over a month ago and they are just no beginning to grow. I've also sown columbine under the existing crabapple tree (because I'm sick of mowing under there) and butterfly weed seeds in the mulch around the house.

As for trees the potted maple has begun leafing out although it's been slow going. I repotted it into a larger pot to try and help it out. Lazarus has has also leafed out although the main stem appears dead as it's begun sprouting leaves from a new stem. I've taken two cuttings from a ginkgo tree and potted them so here's hoping that in ~2 months they'll have taken root. I've also managed to save and pot two crabapple seedlings. Most exciting of all is that I was recently eating an apple when I discovered that a seed had sprouted inside of it, producing a root about a quarter-inch long. So I potted that and am now praying that it will survive. The Lord taketh but He also giveth.

Spring is here!

That means it's time to start planting and with fuel prices rising and food shortages on the horizon there's no better year to start. Last fall I harvested a "wild" sunflower growing near my house and this year I plan to grow numerous sunflowers along the south wall where there is currently nothing but peonies, spirea, and bare mulch.

One head of sunflower seeds and some crabapples.

Along the west wall there's more mulch, spirea, and sedum. I intend to plant cantaloupe in the bare areas here. I have grown cantaloupe in a pot before, producing one baseball sized melon.

In the northwest corner there is more mulch, spirea, daylilies, and coneflowers. I've also planted about 7-8 apple seeds here and am hoping at least one will sprout. In the southwest corner of the property I intend to plant the maple sapling I collected last summer.

Better days...

Winter was hard. The leaves dried up and fell off. I'm praying this means it's just dormant and not dead. Moving to the front yard I'll be removing the shroud from Lazarus the mulberry in a few weeks and praying that the rabbits don't get to it.

Lazarus

Just to the north of Lazarus I planted a sycamore seed. If that one fails to germinate I have several seed balls I can take more seeds from.

Lastly, I may or may not take some of the cedar saplings and transplant them to the north or northwest (if the apples fail) yard to create a windbreak and privacy screen. An alternative is the possibility of 'guerilla' planting them around town.

An abundance of cedars

Those are my gardening plans for this year.

Tree-mania

    I've recently become obsessed with planting and growing trees. I want them for fruit, for shade, and for windbreaks. I'm trying to cultivate a diverse 'forest' but locating seeds or seedlings from anything other than mulberries and cedars is difficult. I pulled what I think is a maple that was growing in a crack in the pavement near the shipping dock at my place of employment and put it in a pot.

    It's been about a week and it seems to be surviving. I hope to transplant it outside next spring. I also pulled up three small plants again growing in the pavement at work. I think they're cottonwoods or aspens but I'm less sure than the maple.

    Unfortunately when I got them home I immediately put them in direct sunlight outdoors and they have since shriveled up and died.

    Today I tried my hand at cuttings. I took two mulberries, one small and one big, and a mystery plant whose leaves and stem resemble a branch from the crabapple in my backyard. I put the small mulberry in a cup of water and placed it on my dining room table. The large mulberry and mystery plant are in a jug of water sitting on a patio table outside. Time will tell if they survive and root.

    Later this year I plan to walk around my town collecting seeds from various trees, primarily oak acorns and sycamore seeds. I know of two locations in my town where there are sycamores and there should be plenty of oaks in the town parks.