^ I didn’t know that!!! Going out to pick them.
Some Delphiniums are annuals or biennials. The longer lasting ones tend to need to be divided every few years. I think they all need regular attention to watering. I’ve been admiring some gorgeous spreads of blue D’s in my neighborhood. They seem to be at their prime. I’m in zone 6, but near the coast.
Em, I think tomatoes are ready when they’re red and firm, but with a tiny bit of give. Last thing you want is for them to fall off the vine. Its true you can pick then a bit early, set them on a sill (or, I think in a paper bag) to ripen. But when it’s time, it’s time-like so much in the cycle of life.
Btw, DrG, looks like no beet balls forming yet on mine.
I didn’t know there are annuals, I thought they are all biennials. No wonder the ones I purchased from Costco never came back.
I need some advice re growing zucchini in the northeast. This is my second year of trying, and although I have lots of flowers I have no fruit. Next door neighbor gave up after three years of trying to grow zucchini with no luck. At first I thought it was a pollination issue, but my cucmbers are doing fine. I was going to try hand pollination but it looks like I only have male flowers. I know that female flowers arrive later, but it is getting kind of late in the season. Has anyone had this problem?
Do your cucumbers and zucchini flower at the same time?
I have not been pollinating my zucchini and I’ve been getting a few. But the problem with zucchini is when I plant them I have to plant a few plants, I usually planted six packs. It’s improving the chance that there are male and female flowers at the same time for fertilization.
Delphiums are “weak” perennials and die in 3-4 years. If they come up, they will bloom and are not biennial. My delphiniums are from a nursery. They’ve been blooming since March. Would that shorten their life and go dormant sooner than otherwise?
That’s a very long bloom. Mine last a dew weeks at most here. They are perennials from all the gardening book that I’ve read. It’s hard to tell but if they look like they are sporting seeds then I would cut them back because that means thy are maturing. Just a guess, delphiniums don’t do well here. It’s considered an accomplishment to be able to sprout them. I love the blue flowers.
Larkspur is a type of delphinium and while it is an annual, it drops it’s seeds and comes back that way. You can help it along too by shaking out the seedpods.
Its not late for zucc yet. But last year I got few females and pollinating did zip. I read a bit and seems they can be temperamental.
And like Iris and Hosta, you may have to divide the Delphinium plants. If several here have different experiences, it’s likely that they have different varieties.
Try planting flowers nearby that will attract bees, the master pollinators in the garden. Experts will recommend any number of bee-friendly varieties but bees around here can’t stay away from the blooms on my Basil plants. It has happened every year for some time now. Bees (and other flying critters) land on the Basil blossoms and then jump right over to the eggplant blossoms, tomato blossoms, etc. I always let at least one Basil plant bloom so I can entice the bees each season.
I have a few lavender, candy tufts, alyssum plants nearby my vegetable gardens. All bee friendly plants.
Try ceanothus.
Bees LOVE that.
As to the zucchini, I have 6 plants. No room for more. The cucumbers are blooming at the same time and producing a bumper crop of cucmbers. I have seen bees around the cucumbers. I have had male zucchini flowers for a month. I thought female flowers were just supposed to be a couple of weeks behind, which is why I think it is getting late. I do have basil in the garden along with a few flowers.
We had the tomatoes last night with sugar snap peas and fresh basil in a wee amount of balsamic vinegar and EVOO.
I’ve always add a bit of bone meal for fruit production and blood meal for leaves production to the soil and mixture I’m going to plant zucchini. So if there are no female flowers, maybe mix in a little bit of bone meal to the dirt before you plant them, not a lot, and not directly to plant, you might burn the plant.
Be aware that blood/bone meal can attract unwanted animals, same with fish meal. Some say use worm castings instead. Depends, I guess. We had this issue with fall plantings for tulips, where animals dug up the bulbs.
I think they should be mixed in the soil in small amount.
Bone meal can take forever to break down and be readily available for plants to uptake.
I don’t know, but I’ve always add a little bit bone meal and blood meal and my worm compost which has lots of eggshells, calcium I suppose, into garden mix or potting soil before I plant my plants. In general my plants are healthy. I don’t know if the plants absorbed it but I do have female flowers and lot of fruits production. I’ve been adding these two ingredients for years. Before that I had chicken manures mixed in the soil.