270 replies to this topic

[eje]

[...]
Pollination: I planted chamomile and thyme, hoping to improve pollination (plants with lots of flowers, or flower-heads made up of clusters of tiny flowers). Too early for me to tell yet!

Thyme is a big bee attractor, along with rosemary and many sages.

The generalizations I've read say that white or blue flowers tend to attract bees, Red flowers attract hummingbirds, and plants with flat, landing pad-like flowers are "designed" to be attractive to butterflies. The big weird shaped flowers tend to be moth (or other) pollinated.

The best bee attractor I've ever planted was Honeywort (Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens') or Blue Shrimp Plant, Blue Wax Flower...

Honeywort (PlantFiles link)

Boy the bees just went crazy for it! Other plants in the same family, like Borage, BlueBells, and Echium seem just as attractive to bees.

[Raoul Duke]

Plenty of lavender here to attract bees. Tomoatos are 18" high now and lots of blossoms (a bit premature). Olive trees (Lucca) are loaded with blossoms as are the Arbequina's. The frost did in abot 60 new Arbequina trees that were in the ground 1 year. Fruit forming on nectarine, peach, apricot, plum, and cherry trees. Apples and pears have blossoms but no fruit yet. Artichoke plant is getting big but no chokes yet, so the farmers from Lompoc have been supplying some good eatin' thistles. Strawberries are turning red, but this recent cold weather front has slowed them. Rain this evening and supposed to continue on for a couple of days. Not serious moisture, just feels and smells good. The moisture will help my planting 100 more Lucca trees and 100 Arbequina. Greetings from Paso Robles.

[dockhl]

  Not serious moisture, just feels and smells good.  The moisture will help my planting 100 more Lucca trees and 100 Arbequina.  Greetings from Paso Robles.

Hey Raoul~

Does feel good, doesn't it? After all the missed storms this winter...
My wisteria is just about done, irises are going crazy, lilacs are almost through. My tomatoes are confused and haven't grown one bit, just sit there.

Radishes are coming up nicely, herbs seem happy enough (parsley, sage, dill, coriander, beginning basil). The rain just paused~I hope it continues all night


Good luck on the tree planting--are you on 46W?

Kathy

[mukki]

I have a few plants that always attract swarms of bees when in blossom: Spanish lavender, bottlebrush and Pride of Madeira. I actually get quite a bit of pleasure from standing there watching and listening to them.

[eje]

[...]
Pride of Madeira. I actually get quite a bit of pleasure from standing there watching and listening to them.

Oh, yeah, sorry, I drew a blank on the common name for "Pride of Madeira" and used the Genus name "Echium". Exactly what I was thinking of. The blue/purple flowers are nice, too, though, the plants can get awfully big and will self seed pretty freely.

[Raoul Duke]

  Not serious moisture, just feels and smells good.  The moisture will help my planting 100 more Lucca trees and 100 Arbequina.  Greetings from Paso Robles.

Hey Raoul~

Does feel good, doesn't it? After all the missed storms this winter...
My wisteria is just about done, irises are going crazy, lilacs are almost through. My tomatoes are confused and haven't grown one bit, just sit there.

Radishes are coming up nicely, herbs seem happy enough (parsley, sage, dill, coriander, beginning basil). The rain just paused~I hope it continues all night


Good luck on the tree planting--are you on 46W?

Kathy

I'm off 41E just past Creston Road. Got 100 Lucca in, and 40 Arbequina on Saturday just in time for the moisture. Have to pull out 60 frosted Arbequina and replant. Word at the olive tree nursery was that a large number of growers were buying replacement trees. Nasty freeze this past year, let's hope this year is better and my trees get a head start. Just started eating some strawberries out of the garden and put in Crenshaw and Honeydew melons. Also started with 4 new Rhode Island Reds that are currently in the shop keeping warm and staying safe. I think we may have met at the Chuck Ortman tasting in Paso last year then again I may be slipping back into the 60's.

[Kouign Aman]

My poor virginal tomatoes - covered with yellow flowers and no bees to dally with. They are getting moved closer to the rosemary soon.
The quince is just beginning to leaf out, and the peach has fruit already ripening. I didnt realize how different were the 'microclimates' in our yard. Herbs have been seeded and fingers are crossed they dont dry out mid-germination. Its been weirdly windy here. Spring is good.

[Raoul Duke]

My poor virginal tomatoes - covered with yellow flowers and no bees to dally with. They are getting moved closer to the rosemary soon.
The quince is just beginning to leaf out, and the peach has fruit already ripening. I didnt realize how different were the 'microclimates' in our yard. Herbs have been seeded and fingers are crossed they dont dry out mid-germination. Its been weirdly windy here. Spring is good.

Is the lack of bee's a new phenomenon? How was your rain this season? Normal or below? Our weather pattern here has been way out of wack.

[Kouign Aman]

We have loads of bees in the area - the neighbor's yard is covered with tall spiky blue and purple flowers and her yard is audible when one walks past it. The bees are just dissing, for the second spring, my yellow tomato flowers. (you can see my whining, upthread).

This year I started with them very close to the rosemary, but it doesnt seem to be sufficient. I wonder if touches of violet scent on the flowers would help?

Our weather was very unusual.

[Kouign Aman]

Little green baby tomatoes!
Basil sprouts!
Tiny baby limes!
Wheeeee!

Last year's sweet orange peppers survived the winter as leafless structures, and are throwing out leaves now. Its interesting to watch.

[Kouign Aman]

The munchkin dug up the basil sprouts. Round II is in progress.

The carrots have sprouted. And the weather got hot. It will be interesting to see if I can keep them damp enough to survive.

Anyone grow strawberries? We have a plant, its sent out two runners.
Once those root, do i cut them free from the mama-plant?
This weekend, the munchkin and I just beat a raven to the one ripe berry. It smelled & tasted like strawberry candy.

[Toliver]

It seems that the freeze has done wonders for roses. Every rose bush in my mom's neighborhood is bursting with blossoms and the neighbors are a-twitter over the blossom bonanza. So some good has come from the bad...

As for my mom's tomatoes, it turns out that the third plant didn't take, leaving her with just two plants in pots. One plant (don't know what type it is) has fruit but seems to be stunted. It just isn't getting any bigger so it may be a loss if it doesn't show signs of improvement. My brother will be planting two more for her soon, one being a cherry or grape (she hasn't decided which, yet).

But the one tomato plant that is going like gang-busters is the "Whopper". It's already about two-thirds as tall as a fully grown normal tomato plant. I am in awe and almost alarmed by it's thickness. Just looking at it you get a feeling of strength and vitality. The fruit it grows must be huge. Or at least I hope so...

[annecros]

My poor virginal tomatoes - covered with yellow flowers and no bees to dally with. They are getting moved closer to the rosemary soon.
The quince is just beginning to leaf out, and the peach has fruit already ripening. I didnt realize how different were the 'microclimates' in our yard. Herbs have been seeded and fingers are crossed they dont dry out mid-germination. Its been weirdly windy here. Spring is good.

Oh don't worry. Most varieties of tomatoes are self-pollinated, and are actually pollinating themselves before they even bloom.

The only time to worry about tomatoes and bees would be if you wish to save seed and have several varieties growing close together, or if you are growing a first generation hybrid type tomato that you wish to save seed from. If you are a seed saver of an open pollenated or heirloom variety, then you have to bag the blossom so that the seed will be true to the parent. Hybrids won't be true to the parent no matter. Your open pollenated toms should be just fine and set fruit without the bees doing the heavy lifting.

There are one or two varieties of tomatoes that I have heard of that have a long stamen. Those almost have to be manually pollenated to get a prolific harvest

Spring is wonderful!

[mukki]

It seems that the freeze has done wonders for roses. Every rose bush in my mom's neighborhood is bursting with blossoms and the neighbors are a-twitter over the blossom bonanza. So some good has come from the bad...

I noticed the same thing with my roses and the roses in my neighborhood. I was wondering what the cause was.

[Kouign Aman]

Last year, the potatoes just wouldnt get started. This year, I have 4 volunteers from tiny spuds that accidentally got left in the ground. :)
The carrots have sprouted, and the basil refuses to.
The gophers got the last remaining rose bush. The lavender decided to revive.

[Kouign Aman]

Most varieties of tomatoes are self-pollinated, and are actually pollinating themselves before they even bloom

I've been told this before but it doesnt match my experience.
The Early Girls were in bloom at the same time as the rosemary in the same location. There are a ridiculous number of tomatoes on those two plants. The other three varieties bloomed later, and have almost no fruit set (1-2 each): Mortgage Lifter, Big Beef and Mr Stripey.
I've tried pollinating them myself, but unsuccessfully. (It worked for the peppers tho, oh my!). So I'll be moving them to bee-happy locations this weekend.

Basil still reluctant, tho I'm getting sprouts from my third try at seeding this year. I may have to go to Trader Joes and buy one of their lovely $3 plants.

The lemon grass is in the ground - fingers crossed. Even dying it stays green a while so I wont know if it made the transition until it starts some new leaves (or doesnt).

I found a piece of trellis, so I may try planting some yard-long beans. Since I cant do that til July, Im not sure there'll be time enough for them.

[Toliver]

My mom was surprised to find two volunteer tomato plants growing in a pot she was using for a fern. My brother transferred them into new pots for her. She has no idea what kind they are. She says she's just hoping they're not the currant tomatoes from last year.
Her "Whopper" tomato plant is growing like gangbusters. She's got fruit on it in all different stages and lots of blossoms on the higher branches. It looks like she'll have tomatoes through Summer and early Autumn on this plant. The tomatoes at the bottom of the plant could start turning if only the June Gloom would go away.

[dockhl]

My Black Cherry tomato that I got from Cal Poly Tomatomania is beginning to ripen !

I've got fruit on two Early Girls, none on Rad Red, Purple Cherokee and German Strawberry. Flowers, happy looking , no fruit

BUT, I have an apricot tree that hasn't fruited in the two years that I've been here that is LOADED with tiny peach colored fruit that may be ready in the next few weeks. What the heck is this? My other apricot is just green as all get out.........

[mukki]

I had about 6 volunteer tomato plants crop us this year, but had to pull them all out since I had no room for them.

My nine Babcock peaches were ripening nicely, but I just went out to find the gardeners stole 5 of them this morning. Did they think I wouldn't notice? I suppose most people don't keep count of each piece of fruit. And we had just spoken to one of the guys today about the boysenberries someone took last week (which was everything that was ripe). A part of me feels miserly, but, really, I wait all year for this stuff and I'm rather pissed off to find it gone.

Edited to add some pics:
Venus Grapes (supposedly will have a "strong, foxy flavor")

Babcock peach (hope that spot doesn't indicate a worm)

Boysenberries

Blueberries from my 3 plants (O'Neal, Misty and Star varieties)

Edited by mukki, 10 June 2007 - 10:48 AM.

[dockhl]

I'd be furious. One year I had 12 pomegranates ripening and the damned squirrels got every one the day before I was going to pick them.

Squirrel stew, anyone?

[Toliver]

It's the same with my mom's tomatoes. Last year she had a night critter gnawing on the not-yet-picked-but-ripe-enough fruit. They didn't even have the courtesy to take the fruit off the plant. It's as if they left the partly eaten fruit on the vine to taunt her.

[Octaveman]

Very nice looking fruit Mukki. I'd be pissed too if people were stealing the goods.

[dockhl]

It's the same with my mom's tomatoes. Last year she had a night critter gnawing on the not-yet-picked-but-ripe-enough fruit. They didn't even have the courtesy to take the fruit off the plant. It's as if they left the partly eaten fruit on the vine to taunt her.

RATS.........both expletive and noun !

We had fruit rats in Diamond Bar. Love avocados, too. (Farmer once told me that the best way to trap them is to "go up in a tree and make a sound like an avocado" !!)

Little (sometimes not-so-much) bast***ds..............

[mukki]

I've had rat problems in the past but OC's vector control will come out and install a bait station. Works really well. The roof rats are kind of cute little buggers, though. I've watched them eat my tomatoes at night from an upstairs window.

I tasted my first peach off my tree and... it wasn't very good. Smelled great, but the flavor was very watery. I wonder if I've been overwatering a bit, or if the tree doesn't get enough sun, or if it's because it's the first year. Maybe losing most of my crop (the window washers stole 2 out of the remaining 5 peaches the other day even after I put up a "please don't pick" sign!) wasn't so terrible after all.

[Kouign Aman]

We've gotten 3 delightful strawberries so far, and a 4th is soooo close to picking. We're in tight competition with a local raven. He's sampled 2 of the 3 so far, but not taken the whole berry. We continue to experiment with various scarecrows. He stole the first one (a foil flag), we think because it was shiny!

Those pics are mouthwatering.

[Octaveman]

Kouign, sorry, but that kind of cracks me up with the 3 strawberries. We spend all this time watering, babying, protecting the precious strawberry plants only to get a small handfull of fruit. I had a miniature SB plant once and I was all excited when I saw fruit coming and after all my patience and nurturing, I got a few berries that were about the size of a dime. Most definately not worth the payout.

[Kouign Aman]

Octave, no need to apologize. It is funny.
The munchkin was given the plant as a gift, I stuck it in a windowbox type planter, its sending out shoots and flowers and fruit in all directions, but there is only so much one plant can produce. On the other hand, the munchkin enjoys watching the flowers become berries and the berries become red. And I'm frankly stunned it produced anything at all. I thought for sure it would just sit there, and die slowly.

[Toliver]

My mom pulled two red "Whooper" tomatoes off the vine only to find black bottoms. One was quite bad but the other didn't have as much. She was quite disappointed. The soil in the planter pot was fresh. It was Mircale Gro soil, in fact. My brother told her not to worry, that the rest of the fruit on the plant should be okay (the plant is loaded with immature fruit and flowers). So she's going to hold off on adding calcium until she sees more fruit from this plant.
Given how virile this plant looks I wouldn't be surprised if it's already sucked all the nutrients out of the soil.
Meanwhile, she's amazed at the two volunteers that are growing like gangbusters. She still thinks they're currant tomato plants. She said she'll yank them if they are but I suggested (again) that she give them to her neighbor with the grandkids since they fell in love with them last year. At least they'll do someone some good.

edited to add that she is far enough inland that the June Gloom hasn't hurt the tomatoes too much. It burns off mid-morning and doesn't come back in until between 4pm and 5pm. That seems to be enough sun.

Edited by Toliver, 18 June 2007 - 10:21 AM.

[annecros]

My mom pulled two red "Whooper" tomatoes off the vine only to find black bottoms. One was quite bad but the other didn't have as much. She was quite disappointed. The soil in the planter pot was fresh. It was Mircale Gro soil, in fact. My brother told her not to worry, that the rest of the fruit on the plant should be okay (the plant is loaded with immature fruit and flowers). So she's going to hold off on adding calcium until she sees more fruit from this plant.
Given how virile this plant looks I wouldn't be surprised if it's already sucked all the nutrients out of the soil.
Meanwhile, she's amazed at the two volunteers that are growing like gangbusters. She still thinks they're currant tomato plants. She said she'll yank them if they are but I suggested (again) that she give them to her neighbor with the grandkids since they fell in love with them last year. At least they'll do someone some good.

Park's Whopper Improved? I voted it out. Yes, a lovely big virile vine. I pulled a "Whopper" yesterday that was the size of a golf ball. Won't do that one again.

My favorite is a stupid, generic "Pink Beefsteak" that came from a plant I bought at a big box store. The birds and I are daring one another to touch it...

[Kouign Aman]

Early Girls are usually pretty mid-sized, about half the size of a tennis ball. But this year there is one, hiding behind the normally sized others, that will rival the beefsteaks when its ripe. And dadnabit, its going to ripen for the housesitter. Lucky gal!

The tomatoes are turning orangey red, the basil is finally growing. July 4th might be allowed to happen after all!