peppers – Page 3 – variegatagal

Behold the blue

Is it a Mum? An Aster? I found the blooms hiding underneath the faded Oertel’s Rose yarrow. They looked nearly identical to the scabiosa blooms just barely a foot away, but smaller–about the size of quarters.

We had quite a thunderstorm last night, with strong winds that broke tree limbs and scattered debris across our yards. Of course the storm dumped quite a bit of rain as well, which probably gave rise to some new blooms in the morning.

I sowed a new flat of peppers (Jupiter bells, Thai chilis, and banana), chives, parsley, and Red Rubin basil. This time, I’m using 3″ pots with MiracleGro garden soil for flowers and vegetables. I’ll be growing them under lights and clear cover in order to promote faster germination. By the time they are ready for transplanting, it should coincide with the proper planting time for peppers. Fingers crossed.

The community garden in early summer

Despite searing temps hot enough to cook an egg, the man and I braved the heat to check out the community garden next to Coppell city hall. The garden was awash in summer colors of yellow and orange. The cosmos were in full, rampant bloom, along with zinnias, lantanas, loosestrife, sunflowers and roses. It gave us an opportunity to observe how the vegetable plants fared in this heat. We saw several pepper plants fruiting, in addition to tomatoes, blackberries, squash and melons.

Pepper dilemma

I’m down to 3 4 healthy pepper specimens in the herb garden: two Jupiter bells, 1 Thai chili, and 1 habanero.

One pepper, a Jupiter bell, that recently became infected is looking much worse off than all the others. The hunny suggested we try the hydrogen peroxide method. I’m a bit hesitant we use H²0², but the more I observe the damage, the more it seems likely that a fungus is indeed attacking the roots. After reading about positive results in a Gardenweb forum thread, I’m ready to take the challenge. The worst I can do is lose 4 plants, which seems unavoidable at this moment. The same forum thread references a very useful chart for mixing hydrogen peroxide with water.

I might also consider washing down the ornamental peppers with the same solution.

Update: it looks like the Bayer Advanced 3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite Control ready-to-use spray is at fault here. Maybe I should have read the fine print. In any case, this means the peppers are most likely inedible, even though they may be coaxed back to life. Which means they’re headed for the compost pile. Whenever I get one.

I hope the Ortho Elemental Insecticidal Soap spray I currently use is less dangerous on vegetables (unless it was a combination of the Bayer and Ortho sprays that killed the peppers). I’ve been using it on the hostas, though maybe companion plantings of slug-repellent herbs would be the more practical solution.

Veggies!

I have a hankerin to grow some veggies. Of course, being late in the season means very few direct-sow options left. Here’s a short wishlist of ideas:

Soy beans (edamame)
Bush/French beans (preferably stringless)
Okra
Peppers (yes more of them!)
Swiss Chard (ornamental)
Sweet Potato (ornamental)

According to Burpee, these veggies can be direct sown into the garden this time of year. More regional-specific reading can be found at the Aggie Horticulture site.

Question of the day: what’s eating my Lobelia erinus Regatta Midnight Blue?

Seed starting 2011 part 5

This weekend I filled up the 2nd tray of Jiffy 7 coir pellets (Professional Greenhouse 72), 72 seeds in all. For the harder-to-grow seeds, I attempted to triple and quadruple some of the seeds in hopes that stronger seedlings result.

The list? Easy Wave (The Flag) Petunias, Seabreeze salvia farinacea, Lady in Red salvia coccinea, Impatiens Xtreme Hot! Mix, Origami Blue and Red Columbines, Stardust Delosperma, Durango Outback Mix marigolds.

On our trip to NHG this past Saturday, we bought a Midnight Blue rose (with several closed buds already on it) and a Lime-scented thyme. For some reason I did not find good specimens of Coconut thyme at NHG…so I will most likely pick them up elsewhere, maybe Calloway’s. I also bought two packets of seeds: garlic chives and lime basil. Too late I discovered that a couple of chives are just now sprouting in the same pot as the Iona Blue pansy. Based on a pot of chives I saw at NHG, I sowed 6-7 seeds of the used packet of chives that I had left over in 2 3″ pots. Perhaps growing them thick is the key.

I brought out the tray of vinca seedlings into the light. With counter space at a premium, I’ve had to do some fancy rearranging in our bathroom greenhouse. I decided to put out all the pepper plants, including the ornamentals, out in the yard to make room. I’ve also set out the tallest of the hosta plants. I imagine I also be putting out the 2 cupheas sitting in the bathtub…they haven’t done anything since I put them in there, so I believe they would prefer a stronger light source.

I noticed that through neglect one of the Oriental Limelight artemisias nearly died back into the pot. Luckily, a little water restored it, though some stalks were lost in the process. I’m still trying to decide if I should turn them loose in the landscape or just keep them potted.

By the way, I found this free online planner that meets most of my criteria for designing a garden bed: http://www.smallblueprinter.com/garden/planner.html

The following sights currently on view in the garden: plumes of foxtail ferns shooting up, a healthy crown of leaf buds on Prairie Sky Hosta, blue flowering Chocolate Chip ajuga, sword like fan of leaves on the hardy amaryllis, daffodil buds peeking through the ground, white loropetalum in full bloom, violas and scabiosa also blooming heartily, purple oxalis looking spectacular.

Also this weekend, finally accomplished setting down weed mat on the salvia wall. Next mission: gravel or mulch, not sure yet. In the herb garden, transplanted one of the golden oreganos and the lime thyme. I’ll need more soil/compost to finish transplanting the rest of the herbs in the cinderblock wall.