26 minutes ago, Hal said:

Okay… i’m seeing the bag thing now !

The more full they are the better they hold their shape. And as you can see, they’re pretty versatile as far as location is concerned.

If they work out well I may buy a couple more.

Looking for plants?

I recently acquired a 1/4 bag of perennial wildflower seeds. I don’t want to mix it in with the stuff I had bought, so today I am did some “spot planting” in the original bed. Anywhere I found bare soil, I added new seed. A few spots I scraped the dirt bare with a hoe, but after a while my shoulder complained.

Additionally I added some to a spot in the hedgerow where there was a lot of bare soil. It’s the same place I planted a shitload if milkweed last year. We’ll see what happens. Either it won’t work or it will, but either way I’m out nothing on the idea.

If it does work, then I have proof that I don’t need to re-cultivate existing plots, but rather I can simply add to what’s there year after year for more diversity.

While mowing today, it occurred to me that perhaps my idea to replant the entirety of last years wildflower plot is a little premature. It’s possible that there’s a lot of perennials there, though it looks vastly different from the other plots.

I guess I can do some spot planting like I mentioned above and see what becomes of what’s already there. I can always drag it and replant at a later time, it’s not like the seed is gonna go bad anytime soon.

I really didn't like the way the plain pine shavings looked between the raised beds so we picked up some brown mulch. I think it looks much better:

And here's where I put the peonies and some irises:

I see that the bee balm I planted last year, to the left of the peonies, is starting to come in and perhaps has spread a little as well.

I'm sticking to my decision to not drag last year's wildflower plot. I took a look today and with an app on my phone identified some desired plants coming up.

Garden tractor carb replacement done , cultivated the Sunflower plot , drag it out tomorrow and will put half the seed in then wait a bit and finish up the seed for successive flowering . Up early to work on cutting some Choke Weed ( Dicot plant ) out of what I refer to as the N. Quarter Plot . Won’t take but a couple hours with a sharp hoe and some tunes playing through my new earbuds , one of the best things modern tech has come through with Bluetooth … gotta love it !

I put in the first three blueberry plants I bought and did so in an opposite direction of everything else in the garden section. In other words. Everything is laid out north to south so I switched things up by planting them east to west. The garden section of our yard is growing and I have a vision of it someday being fenced in and mulched so I don’t have to mow any of it.

I’ll either buy some more this year if I find some I like or I’ll buy more next year.

I got an email my remaining herbs are shipping so that’ll be good to have them finally.

I still have to run up to TSC for the 25 gallon water tank for the four wheeler so I don’t have to walk back and forth with watering cans. I can fill it right from the creek and haul it in.

Edited May 27May 27 by Chris
stupid auto "correct"

I got my herbs shipped today. Well, two of the three anyway. The eucalyptus still hasn't shipped. My order said "complete" but it wasn't on the ticket that arrived today so I had to contact customer support.

I don't think I'll be ordering live plants like this again. I would prefer to select the plants I want for my money, not the first thing someone in a warehouse grabs as they're filling orders.

Also it wasn't a chocolate mint plant I ordered, but a strawberry mint.

On 5/27/2026 at 12:45 PM, Chris said:

don't think I'll be ordering live plants like this again. I would prefer to select the plants I want for my money, not the first thing someone in a warehouse grabs as they're filling orders.

Like ordering Apple trees , it Does feel like you get the first one that comes to hand ! Disappointing yes but a lesson I learned quite some time ago . The Mint from Abby and Anns adventure has recovered and is … yes Chris ,lol ,it Is spreading , yay 😀!

15 minutes ago, Hal said:

Like ordering Apple trees, it does feel like you get the first one that comes to hand!

It's alright, I'm sure they'll do fine. Actually I'm thinking of getting several more to plant that section and be done with it. We'll see what i can find locally first.

I can kinda tolerate the fact that something is getting the strawberries just as they’re ripening, mostly because my focus right now is letting them send out runners for daughter plants. I’ll propagate them that way rather than buy more.

What I can’t tolerate is something eating the sunflowers just as they’re breaking through the ground. I sprayed what’s left with some deer and rabbit repellent I had left over. I also put some pinwheels out there. Sometimes they act as a deterrent to smaller prey species.

I bought a water tank/sprayer for the four wheeler so I don’t have to make multiple trips with water cans. I was gonna get the 25 gal. one but that seemed like overkill and it was $100 more. So I got the 15 gallon.

My concern is, if I use creek water, it could end up with sediment in there causing issues. A 15 gallon tank I can fill from the garden hose needs be. We’ll see.

16 hours ago, Chris said:

My concern is, if I use creek water, it could end up with sediment in there causing issues. A 15 gallon tank I can fill from the garden hose needs be. We’ll see.

Sounds like a better fit anyway for your purposes! Remember if you do , by chance have a clogged sprayer tip , it probably that screen in the outlet port to check first before any cussing ensues … just from experience of course .

Not so much gardening related … Felt like a little shop work so I reconfigured abird feeder into an oriole feeder because Adam told me after my brief hiatus that while sitting on the back one came up and gave him the stink eye after struggling at the Hummingbird feeder . After the project was finished and hung the Wife suggested pulling up Oriole song on my phone … smart woman ! He was in the hedgerow answering and sounding pissed lol . He came in closer but we had to go to the house so i will see the results this morning . In other gardening news , hoping to get the Sunflowers planted today as its getting late , little dragging ( the soil , not my old ass lol ) and its ready . Enjoy you day All .

1 hour ago, Hal said:

After the project was finished and hung the Wife suggested pulling up Oriole song on my phone … smart woman ! .

They used to reccomend hanging a couple strips of fluorescent orange tape in the yard. Allegedly, they see the color and get territorial.

Speaking of sunflowers, mine started popping up and something, I suspect a vole, found them. So I sprayed them with deer and rabbit repellent and also put some of Abby's pinwheels out there as a deterrent. There's still some coming up though.

Here's how it's looking this morning:

Looking great Chris ! The Orioles have found the feeder and are eating their fill . Shy at first but I think they are getting over that now . I pulled up Oriole song on my phone this morning and did that get them going, so there probably is merit to the territory thing . Three of seven rows of Sunflower Mix put in today after ground prep , I have a full boat of appts tomorrow but the remaining four will be in before I stop for the day !

I have been gardening all wrong for way too long.

I got the Countyline water tank/sprayer on the four wheeler and once I got the ratchet straps situated correctly, filled it up from the water hose to see how it works.

WTF have I been carrying water cans all this time for?!?

15 gallons is more than enough, particularly for seedlings. I like the “on demand” pump, the hose length, and the sprayer tip which allows for spot watering, rather than watering the whole bed and encouraging weed growth. As well as wasting water.

What I don’t like is I have to remove the seat to access the battery to power the pump. The tank is kind of in the way and it’s a pain in the ass, albeit a minor one. It may be worth picking up a cheap 12 volt battery and strapping it down in the basket on the front where I keep the chainsaw and stuff.

Where the hose attaches to the sprayer wand seems to loosen as you use it. I’ll keep tightening and monkeying with it as time goes by.

But overall, this is a huge improvement in watering the garden and for under $100.

No “on and off “ switch in that line ! If you have a cigarette lighter just under the handle bars you can get a plug in accessory for that as well , or you can just come up and grab that battery i have here if you want it .

This one dies have an in-line on/off switch thankfully. I'll have to look at at the wires and see what I can do in regards to a plug in.

Somewhat garden related, I have a few mason bee houses out and recently I've been seeing these things swarming around them:

They're very non-aggressive ( I swatted at them to see, which, in hindsiggt, it's the most scientificly smart method LOL ) and I caught one to I.D. it and see if they'd be an issue.

Turns out they're mason wasps, which are a good thing. They don't bother the mason bees, other than competing for places to nest, and they also catch and use caterpillars to put in with the eggs so when the larvae hatches, it has something to eat.

So if anything, I have another reason to put out more mason bee housing. One stop shopping for good pollinators and a pest control service!

Something dug up some of the corn I just planted the other day so I decided that, since I don't know how much it got, I'd replant it. I did that yesterday.

Today I looked and something was digging at the ground yet again. So I tamped the soil back down and sprayed the area with deer and rabbit repellent, which seems to work well for deterring about anything. I gave some other stuff a quick spritz while I was at it.