An Update With Questions

After I finished the No Rain saga - it rained! Tell me God doesn't answer prayers. Yep - the squash leaves unfurled, the tomatoes look spry, but there is no helping the lettuce. There are even new blooms on the beans!

I was researching the brood time for chickens the other day - the neighbors chickens are in my barn sitting on her eggs - and found that a chicken will sit on the eggs for 21 days, going without food or water during that time. They only move to rotate the eggs - if not rotated the yolk will stick to the inside of the egg shell and cause deformities (didn't know that either).

Well, my thunker started thunking - if all fowl exhibit the same characteristics, that is probably the reason my hummingbirds went stark raving mad. They were stocking up for their 21 day sit in. It has been close to that as yet and I have not refilled the feeder for 10 days, even though it will need refilling tomorrow. I have only seen 3 birds at the feeder in the same period of time and they do not linger as they were doing before. Interesting! Anyone know how long a hummingbird sits on her eggs?

I receive the free Better Homes and Gardens newsletter which I love. (Go to BHG.com to sign up) Yesterday that had several articles on tomatoes. This lady is so smart - I don't know if she practices what she preaches, but she makes you think she knows what she is doing. I have been considering trying one of those upside down things where tomatoes are planted in the bottom and grow toward the ground - my friend has several and she really loves them. I want to try planting tomatoes in one of those fiber type hanging baskets through the bottom. Then I got the bright idea that I would cut a branch off my tomatoes and start it in one of the baskets. The plants already have a head start and even though it is a little early - for my plants anyway - to start pruning, I could get a good healthy shoot and try it out. Now I am going to push the idea a little more and plant herbs in the top of the basket. I can hang it from the porch and control how much of that scorching sun they receive. If I fertilize and water properly, I should have a beautiful basket. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I am suppose to go to the peach orchard today, but I really don't like June peaches. The July peaches are so much sweeter and really taste like a Georgia peach. If I can hold off a couple of weeks, I can get the good stuff. The plums are gone. I made a dozen jars of plum jelly. Now I am waiting on the figs and then the pears. I won't get as many pears this year, but hope to have enough for some preserves. I have to race the birds to the figs and normally they are faster than I am.

Did I mention that all but one of the cuttings I put in 3 weeks ago rooted. I think the trick is keeping the humidity up - that is the key to it all. I rigged up some miniature greenhouses - actually I took a 1 gallon zip lock bag and placed over the top of the pot and remembered to water every other day. It works, so my daughter has some Hydrangeas and Althea to plant and I have a new smoke bush and snowball plant. Wonder if that will work with spirea.

Put A Rock Down

I don't have much luck rooting cuttings from plants, but I can "put a rock down."

I was talking to a friend recently about azaleas. She loves them and has many varieties. She can name them all and give you all the properties of each one. I have a small lavender frilly leaf azalea and wanted to try to root one. Hoping she wouldn't say take a cutting (I had have tried that many times), I asked if she knew the best way to root azaleas. Her reply was to "put a rock down." When she asked why, I describe the azalea and her reply was "put me a rock down too."

This has been my method for years and the only way I can get a healthy plant. I know rooting hormone is suppose to work and keeping the moisture and humidity high, but I still don't have the knack. I have tried old growth and new growth, with and without the rooting hormone. I have been told the gel is better than the powder.

Right now I have 2 shoots from a Smoke Bush, 6 cuttings from a Hydrangea, 4 cuttings from an Althea, and 3 cuttings from a Snow Ball in process. I must admit, they all look better than any I have tried before. The soil is moist, but not soggy, they are covered with plastic tents with good humidity , and they all still have their color (except the Snow Ball which is turning). They have been in process for a week, so I am getting hopeful.

I have tried for years to root camellias and the little darlings just shrivel up and die right in the pot. They surely need a lot of help! Since I don't have a camellia in my menagerie, I can't "put a rock down" on that one.

I would love some input on rooting an dwarf oriental maple with the split leaf. I have one I would like to move. It is about six years old and very full. I am afraid if the move may kill it. I want to root some cuttings before trying the move.

I am off for now. If anyone has any suggestions, please give it up. Until next time,

Belle