Gardeners: how's it looking?

[AmLitHist]

I'd never heard that dill is a cool crop.  Here is steamy, hot Central Illinois (and Southern, where I grew up), dill grows like weeds.  The new one I planted in April just sat there, 6" tall, until the heat kicked in about 10 days ago; now it's 2" tall and filled out, and growing daily.

Speaking of:  if it weren't so hot and humid, I'd take a chair and sit and watch the sunflowers grow.  We measured, and they've put on 8" since Tuesday morning!

[namazu]

I'd never heard that dill is a cool crop.  Here is steamy, hot Central Illinois (and Southern, where I grew up), dill grows like weeds.  The new one I planted in April just sat there, 6" tall, until the heat kicked in about 10 days ago; now it's 2" tall and filled out, and growing daily.

Speaking of:  if it weren't so hot and humid, I'd take a chair and sit and watch the sunflowers grow.  We measured, and they've put on 8" since Tuesday morning!

Hmm.  I may be wrong about the implications of its alleged cool-weatherness, then, as it seems your experience provides at least one counterexample (as does, perhaps, the fact that it grows all the way down to zone 11!).  It may just be more able to tolerate colder temperatures -- but I was also under the impression from various sources that it tends to get scraggly and bolt quickly (and lose its oomph) in hot weather.  I'm in a similar climate zone to yours, but I've personally had much better luck growing dill inside hydroponically than outside during the summer. (Possibly user error on my part...)

Re: sunflowers: just bought a couple of dwarf sunflowers from our local farm.  One had its lovely yellow head bitten off within a day.  The other had its pot knocked over today, and also had its heads eaten off.  I'm not sure if it was chipmunks/squirrels, or whether a deer managed to reach in through the (not-to-code, widely-spaced) rails on our deck and nibble it off.  Hmph!

[Puget]

It went from cool to hot here in a hurry this year-- we'll see if the peas make it (they really don't like heat and I got them in later than I should have since this was the first year for the garden at the new house). Trying to keep them very well watered to compensate.

Everything else seems to be enjoying the steaminess though. Zucchini and tomato plants are setting fruit. Just in the last week the bush beans have gone from two leaves to really bushing out. The strawberry starts that come just as bare roots are all growing leaves. Lettuce and mesclun mix coming up.

Today I planted more seeds-- dill (so we'll see about the hot weather thing), cilantro, sorrel (which I've never grown before), kale, and arugula.

I've been out mowing, weeding and planting all day in the heat, and came in just now as a big thunderstorm hit. Sitting inside now with all the windows open letting it cool down the house--- lovely, and even the cats are pleased and sitting on the windowsills.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

It went from cool to hot here in a hurry this year-- we'll see if the peas make it (they really don't like heat and I got them in later than I should have since this was the first year for the garden at the new house). Trying to keep them very well watered to compensate.

Everything else seems to be enjoying the steaminess though. Zucchini and tomato plants are setting fruit. Just in the last week the bush beans have gone from two leaves to really bushing out. The strawberry starts that come just as bare roots are all growing leaves. Lettuce and mesclun mix coming up.

Today I planted more seeds-- dill (so we'll see about the hot weather thing), cilantro, sorrel (which I've never grown before), kale, and arugula.

I've been out mowing, weeding and planting all day in the heat, and came in just now as a big thunderstorm hit. Sitting inside now with all the windows open letting it cool down the house--- lovely, and even the cats are pleased and sitting on the windowsills.

Sorrel is quite good! It's definitely a perennial down here and has a tart flavor- almost like a Granny Smith apple.

[San Joaquin]

A new thing I started growing was shiso (perilla, sesame leaf).  Comes in greens and purples, very pretty.  Takes a lot to get going, but once it does it produces nicely savory flavored leaves to add to salads or wraps, or to eat as a side dish/appetizer.  Technically, it shouldn't have grown at all in the 5b where I had it.  I guess some of these plants just don't know the rules.

Just moved back west again, and now I have a serious balcony to populate.  Western exposure, so shade planning is merited.  It'll take a couple paychecks to get going.  Patience, my not-strength... :-)

[polly_mer]

It went from cool to hot here in a hurry this year-- we'll see if the peas make it (they really don't like heat and I got them in later than I should have since this was the first year for the garden at the new house). Trying to keep them very well watered to compensate.

Everything else seems to be enjoying the steaminess though. Zucchini and tomato plants are setting fruit. Just in the last week the bush beans have gone from two leaves to really bushing out. The strawberry starts that come just as bare roots are all growing leaves. Lettuce and mesclun mix coming up.

Today I planted more seeds-- dill (so we'll see about the hot weather thing), cilantro, sorrel (which I've never grown before), kale, and arugula.

I've been out mowing, weeding and planting all day in the heat, and came in just now as a big thunderstorm hit. Sitting inside now with all the windows open letting it cool down the house--- lovely, and even the cats are pleased and sitting on the windowsills.

Sorrel is quite good! It's definitely a perennial down here and has a tart flavor- almost like a Granny Smith apple.

I love sorrel, but I'm bemused by the idea of planting it.  It's an edible weed where I grew up so one just picked it where it grew wild.

[archaeo42]

Is there any metal in the ground on the side where the leaves are dying?

Or is there a metal support for a whirligig or garden sign nearby?

We used to have them in the back of the yard along the alley and they grew like weeds...I don't think we every really did anything to take care of them.

But a soda can, lug nut, or piece of chain may be poisoning them.

I'd check that first.

M.

No, no metal in the ground. It's in a center garden bed I have to weed regularly.

I'm going to try pruning back the dead stuff and see what happens. Part of it that hasn't leafed yet is definitely green so I'm hopeful.

[mamselle]

Right, I think there's a thing about apical dominance sapping the nutrients by forcing them to the tip, but if there are no leaves to metabolize them they go to waste and the plant suffers.

Something like that...a biologist can probably correct me if that's wrong, but yes, pruning would be the next good plan.

M.

[namazu]

I have a vindictive chipmunk (I think -- could also be squirrel or any number of other critters)!

First it ate the heads off my sunflowers (which were not yet to the seed stage!).

Then it nibbled off my flowering Mexican sage stems at the base and left them for dead on the deck, each in turn on subsequent days.

Today it's excavated my succulent pot and nibbled off one set of leaves.  Maybe it's thirsty...

Need better protection for my potted plants against chipmunk antics.  Any ideas (besides hoping one of the neighborhood snakes visits and acts as a...deterrent)?  I could cage/cloche some stuff, and have laid down pieces of tile/rock on patches of bare dirt to discourage excavation.  Maybe could put down some chicken wire over some dirt in some places, but I'm not sure how to work it around the existing plants without damaging them.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I have a vindictive chipmunk (I think -- could also be squirrel or any number of other critters)!

First it ate the heads off my sunflowers (which were not yet to the seed stage!).

Then it nibbled off my flowering Mexican sage stems at the base and left them for dead on the deck, each in turn on subsequent days.

Today it's excavated my succulent pot and nibbled off one set of leaves.  Maybe it's thirsty...

Need better protection for my potted plants against chipmunk antics.  Any ideas (besides hoping one of the neighborhood snakes visits and acts as a...deterrent)?  I could cage/cloche some stuff, and have laid down pieces of tile/rock on patches of bare dirt to discourage excavation.  Maybe could put down some chicken wire over some dirt in some places, but I'm not sure how to work it around the existing plants without damaging them.

Cover everything in hardware cloth, or bird netting (all 3 dimensions). Buy some rubber/plastic snakes?

[mamselle]

Yeah, chipmunks and squirrels are soooo cute...and death to gardens.

I gave up when, after constructing a 3' x 3' cover out of chickenwire and old 2x4's, I saw the squirrel perched on top of the thing, reaching in through the mesh to grab the last of the tiny green baby cherry tomatos I'd so hoped to see go red. His weight had lowered the top to a point where he could get at it.

So make sure it's further than squirrel's-arms' length away and tightly taut...

Little varmints....

M.

[Puget]

I have a vindictive chipmunk (I think -- could also be squirrel or any number of other critters)!

First it ate the heads off my sunflowers (which were not yet to the seed stage!).

Then it nibbled off my flowering Mexican sage stems at the base and left them for dead on the deck, each in turn on subsequent days.

Today it's excavated my succulent pot and nibbled off one set of leaves.  Maybe it's thirsty...

Need better protection for my potted plants against chipmunk antics.  Any ideas (besides hoping one of the neighborhood snakes visits and acts as a...deterrent)?  I could cage/cloche some stuff, and have laid down pieces of tile/rock on patches of bare dirt to discourage excavation.  Maybe could put down some chicken wire over some dirt in some places, but I'm not sure how to work it around the existing plants without damaging them.

Too late for this year, but all my tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas and strawberries are in two of these:
https://www.gardeners.com/buy/raised-garden-bed-with-frame-and-covers/8596999.html#start=56&sz=38

[Thursday's_Child]

First cherry tomatoes starting to show color!

[AmLitHist]

The winds from Christobal laid my sunflowers over every which way yesterday. They're starting to straighten themselves up again, mostly.  I might have to put up some stakes and string for them by the weekend.

[mamselle]

The way those (relatively) thin stalks support those big, seed-filled heads always astonishes me.

Sorry yours were bowing in the wind....hope they don't break.

With staking they'll probably be OK.

M.