I am writing this on the bus; I love technology, when I was living in Tampa I once paid my credit card while I was sitting at the beach on a very warm December day (this will not seem beguiling to people in the Southern Hemisphere, I know)
Today, with the use of technology, I am happy to share with you a ‘sixy’ glimpse of my garden even if you are on the other side of the world.
A couple of times a week I cut back my Swiss Chard, kale and spinach. I have always disliked kale up until this year. I did not realise the reason I hated it was that when you buy it from the shops it is really old, hard and bitter. If you grow your own and cut young leaves it tastes really good, who knew? Yet another reason to grow your own whenever you can.
Today I laid the last pavers and ground cover, technically not fruit nor flower but the ground cover is in bloom so I think it counts.
Those are the flowers of the heath pearlwort – named such that the flower look like pearls on the ‘grass’. They are really tiny but will look pretty once the cover has grown in and en masse.
I have all round pollination problems; my courgette are only making female flowers – does anyone know how to get some male flowers to even out the mix and get some actually pollination up in this yard?
Corn is coming along nicely but I don’t know if it will become corn on the cob as the male flowers above came out at a different time and I don’t know how long the pollen lasts.
More tiny fat babies but I don’t know what the male flowers look like or indeed how to pollinate with them. I am hoping nature will sort it out for me – there are ants in the flowers so maybe it will be ok soon.
During Garden Update I asked readers to suggest what to do with a section of my garden that is quite empty and undecided at the moment and someone suggested hydrangeas for the shaded area. I am not really a fan of the pale pink or blue choices but when I went to the nursery they had these advertised as ‘red’ in colour. Red is my favourite colour and although it is not actually red but more of a hot pink they are quite nice and will grow up along the fence. (I bought three small plants for the same price as two big ones). The nurseryman could not tell me if they were bred to stay this colour or it was really just the very basic soil they had grown up in (acidic soil if you want blue ones).
Also as part of the same purchase because I can’t help myself I bought a dahlia that caught my eye. A very simple flower but the yellow petals against the chocolate foliage appealed to me at the time. Although, the rules were no buying any more plants unless they go straight in the ground; this one is still in the pot pretending to be in the ground until I decide that is definitely where I want to plant it.
Lastly, the final stage of the peony which I guess is no longer a flower but a ‘fruit’ (really just a seed pod). I don’t know the name of this variety so I need to germinate these seeds if I want more plants I will leave these on the plant until they look ready to sow. If anyone has suggestions on how to successfully do this I would appreciate tips.
That’s my lot – head over to The Propagator for more Six on Saturday goodness. I hope you have a lovely weekend (with or without Monday off)
Tiny Urban Farmer 
You make a very good point re: kale. Home-grown allows us to grow a much wider range of veg too – there was something in the news about how we need maximum variety in our diet for optimum gut health. I think peonies are notoriously difficult to grow from seed, which is why they are expensive. But if anyone can, you can!
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Thanks! I think they take a year before the sprout leaves and then another two before blooms. I grow many more things than I would buy in the supermarket.
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Nice dahlia! About corn, wait a bit … I had the same problem because the male and female flowers didn’t arrive at the same time but it was successful. Otherwise, this year I mainly have female flowers on squashes, pickles, courgettes, … I don’t know why. I will look for reasons this weekend
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The hydrangea is a gorgeous strong colour and I hope it stays that way for you. I laughed about your buying plants rule.. who can possibly stick to that? I grew corn once and it was really successful. I think if you put the plants close together you get pollination. Yours look as though they’re developing cobs to me.
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Actually my husband’s rule trying to curb my buying. He collects scotch so it would be the same as me saying you can’t buy any more varieties until you have drunk everything. Not possible (or one hell of a party)
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Ha ha, love it!
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Corn need quite a bit of heat so they might not grow as well here. You are supposed to plant in a close block instead of rows – I did that but I only have six so it is hard to make a block.
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I just came in from cutting kale. So delicious when it is young. You have the same Silestone quartz countertop that I have in my kitchen. Ten years later I’m still trying to decide on a backsplash. And I have had the same problem some years with lots of male flowers on my squash and no female flowers. I’m looking forward to hearing from others if there is a solution.
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Ha! I don’t think our counter is that fancy. Top of the line IKEA is all. I am just going to pick the courgette and hope for the best – I saw one male flower but it won’t open in time for the current females. Oh well, still plenty of weather left for more to grow
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Maybe your countertop came from Ikea but it looks exactly like the man made quartz Silestone that I paid a bundle for. I have a small kitchen so could do that, but if we remodel, I will check Ikea. LOL
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Ha that is amusing – well I can always pretend it is fancy but it definitely is from IKEA – I like it – it has lots of storage for all my various cooking ventures
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I hope you don’t mind me saying but I think your hydrangea’s are a bit too close to the fence, they will get a lot bigger and need more space I’m afraid. It is not a problem to dig them up now and replant them further from the fence, you just have to water them well.
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I think you are right – I have a tendency to do that as they look good at the time. I might move them before they truly grow into the soil (Your blog is not linked to your name so this comment when to spam. Only rivofa.wordpress.com)
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Ok, I have had problems with wordpress over the years, my blog at the moment (gwenniesgardenworld) is already the 3rd blog I started here as I can no longer add to the 2 others (gwenniesgarden and gwenniesworld) but I can still see them on here. I’m not so good in computering I must add ! 😀
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You can change which blog/website is associated with your name in My profile and Account settings.
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ok thanks will try that
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So much going on in your garden! The males always appear late in my cucurbits — takes some patience, but hope they arrive for you! I have no business attempting to grow corn here in the Pacific Northwest, but I do, and it is usually a flop. Yours look good!
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The males appeared first and then the female – both for a while but then now only female which is only slightly less than useless. At least they are more edible than the males. I thought if you have some warm weather you can grow them anywhere – is your season too short?
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Oh I just saw you are in Olympic Peninsula – I guess the season is too short. Do you grow in a greenhouse?
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I like the look of the ground cover plants you have put around your paving stones. That’ll look great when it grows out a bit.
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Thanks, I think it will look quite nice and no mowing as it never gets long. A bit of weeding now and trimming later though
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All female cucumbers produce fruit without being pollinated, presumably with no seeds in them. Presumably courgettes are the same. You can get only male flowers early in the year when temps and light levels are low, maybe you get all females when it’s too hot?
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Hmm I am not sure about this – the unpollinated ones on the courgette never grow and eventually fall off – that’s why some people hand pollinate inside greenhouses where there are no insects. There are some cucumber types that have been bred for female only flowers that grow full fruit but not all cucumbers are like that.
Perhaps you are right though about the temperatures; unfortunately though they never grow into edible size fruit without the pollination.
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As I said, I also have a lot of female flowers and no males … Maybe because of the hot weather as Jim presumed. I tried brushing female flowers on each other on my 2 plants but also with pickles flowers near them and it works: Since May 19, I can see 8 small cucumbers that will arrive soon , thanks to this technique ( Maybe because they are F1 plants??…)
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You pollinated female flowers with other females? Yeah, I think there are some F1 cucumbers that grow only female flowers presumably pollinate each other (they are the ones they say to pick off male flowers for better taste) The open pollinated plants need male and female I guess like in the wild. My courgette is F1 but I don’t think bred the same as a cucumbers are sadly.
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Yes female with female… it’s weird but I didn’t want to lose all my female flowers so I tried to brush them. Last year I had male flowers but always less than female.
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I guess I don’t have anything to lose trying it; although I am not hopeful – I saw one male but it’s not ready yet. The cooler weather should make more
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