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.

A brief gardening update

It's late fall here in Iowa meaning there won't be much to do in the way of gardening until April but I do have a few things to share:

• I cut the end off of a plastic downspout and placed it over Lazarus to try and protect it from rabbits during winter.
• The potted maple is indoors and still green although some of the leaves have brown spots.
• I potted two cedars hoping I could get some growth out of them over winter.
• I found an American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) seed ball in the parking lot of Hilton Coliseum and have potted about five of the seeds from it. If I can get one seedling out of it I'll transplant it outside when spring comes.

Lazarus the Mulberry

    Just posting some photos of Lazarus. For before photos just imagine a stick with crunchy, brown leaves attached to it.

The three mulberries. I haven't decided which one to keep yet.

The tallest one had its top snipped off by a rabbit.

I also happened upon a mantis lurking on some Sedum, waiting for a bee or wasp to come close.

Lazarus the Mulberry

     A very brief update about some plantings. A while ago I tore up (literally yanked them out of the ground) two mulberry saplings less than a foot tall and transplanted them to a more preferable growing location. Very quickly their leaves turned brown and dried up. I thought I had killed them. Despite that I continued to water them everyday since then and when I went to water them today I noticed that both had small leaf buds sprouting up and down the length of their stems.

    To say I'm thrilled is an understatement and because of that I've decided to name one of them Lazarus (I'll have to kill or relocate the other since they are growing six inches from each other).

Photo(s) of the Week: The Ipatiev House in color

    Like many of the photos saved on my computer I don't remember where I found these. The four color photos depict the Ipatiev House or House of Special Purpose where the Tsar and his family were killed in 1918. The photos were likely taken sometime in the 1970's, shortly before the house was torn down.

    In gardening news a squirrel gifted me the seed of a Juglans nigra or eastern American black walnut this past Saturday. It even helpfully removed the husk so I didn't have to stain my hands brown. I planted this in the front yard, almost in a straight line from the front door. As for my cedars, the backyard tree is still green as far as I can tell, one front yard and one north side windbreak have started turning brown/yellow, the other front yard and second north side windbreak are still green but haven't grown much at all, and the third north side windbreak is not only deep green but seems to actually be growing.

    Also in the front yard are three small plants that have sprouted up. I assume they are mulberry trees but at this stage they are far too young for me to accurately identify.

    To wrap things up my potted maple is doing well although it has dropped some of its lower leaves while every last one of my cottonwoods has shriveled and died. I'm also planning on sowing my apple and cherry seeds starting this week.

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.

Growing cedar, cherry, and apple trees

    Recently I have taken up an interest in growing trees. My house currently has only one crabapple tree, located in the backyard. I have tried in years before to grow trees but this year is my first major undertaking. To this end I have transplanted ten cedar saplings that were growing round one of my downspouts. I planted six in the front yard, three on the north side of the driveway (with the explicit intent of preventing snowdrifts during winter), and one in the backyard garden. My transplant method was little more than scooping them out with a garden trowel and depositing them in the selected location where I simply slammed the trowel into the ground and opened a small hole.

    The last time I was able to check them (thank you 12-hour work shifts) only one was turning yellow, perhaps not a coincidence that it was also the smallest of the bunch. I also possess seven apple seeds and eighteen cherry pits. I plan on planting the apples in the backyard and the cherries in the front yard, with three cherries to be planted in the verge (the area between the sidewalk and the street).

    I'll take pictures of them this weekend and post them here, assuming more haven't begun to die since I was last able to water them on Tuesday.

    I've also considered letting one or more of the mulberries that the birds "leave" everywhere grow although I'm not sure what my neighbors will think.