lavender

Update on the bloodroot. I had one plant growing under a tree. It has been there for years. There were also a few plants that were being kept for the spring plant sale. Suddenly, this spring I am finding bloodroot plants all over the yard. They are all new plants and didn't bloom this spring but I am looking forward to next year. They must seed like crazy when the conditions are right. 

This is interesting! Ant colonies farm them!
 
  EcologyEdit
Bloodroot is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants, a process called myrmecochory. The seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes, and put the seeds in their nest debris, where they are protected until they germinate. They also benefit from growing in a medium made richer by the ant nest debris.
The flowers produce pollen, but no nectar. Various bees and flies visit the flowers looking in vain for nectar, for instance sweat bees in the genera Lasioglossum and Halictus, cuckoo bees in the genus Nomada, small carpenter bees (Ceratina), and bee flies in the genus Bombylius. Some bees come to collect pollen, including mining bees (Andrena), which are the most effective pollinators.[7][8]
The bitter and toxic leaves and rhizomes are not often eaten by mammalian herbivores.[8]

Boredom was alleviated by something I found in the greenhouse today. Once upon a time I bought a white bird of paradise plant. I saw them growing in baskets in Florida and thought I got lucky when I found one at Lowe's. There must be more than one kind as this one subsequently grew to 9 or 10 feet tall and has never bloomed. No it hasn't bloomed yet but it did produce something interesting. Lo and behold when I watered today I found an earthstar fungus growing in the pot. Don't have a clue as to where it came from as I have never seen one in the yard. Maybe the spores came in with the potting soil. Who knows?  Isn't it great?
 

Boredom was alleviated by something I found in the greenhouse today. Once upon a time I bought a white bird of paradise plant. I saw them growing in baskets in Florida and thought I got lucky when I found one at Lowe's. There must be more than one kind as this one subsequently grew to 9 or 10 feet tall and has never bloomed. No it hasn't bloomed yet but it did produce something interesting. Lo and behold when I watered today I found an earthstar fungus growing in the pot. Don't have a clue as to where it came from as I have never seen one in the yard. Maybe the spores came in with the potting soil. Who knows?  Isn't it great?
 

More stuff is blooming. Let's start with the daffodils. I put in a mixed pack several years ago. They were a nice mix with some blooming early and some blooming late. Also a couple of hyacinths. They don't do particularly well in clay soil.
Had to download these from the cloud hense the small pics. My iphone is refusing to send pictures. Driving me crazy. I've tried everything but throwing it against the wall. 
 

Yellow hellebore. Sort of an odd man out as they are mostly shades of pink, purple and white. Also, one that grew from seed with an edging. These things are like weeds around here and they reseed readily.
 

Someone who takes better pictures than I do sent me this crocus. The contrast between the orange pollen and the purple petals is incredible. 
 

The Down to Earth Garden Club has cancelled meetings for the next few months. Instead we are trading via email what is appearing in our yards. Most of us have hellebores blooming. Here are 3. Anybody else have anything?
 

I grew purple broccoli once. 
Correction that was purple cauliflower. Had to eat it raw as it changed color when cooked. 

The large patch I know of is beside the road. It is startling to come upon it. I was afraid that it was going to be lost when they logged but it seems to have survived. 

Are you sure the water is getting to the roots? I would suggest that you give them a thorough watering rather than dribbling water on them. Those starter thingys that you germinated in are generally filled with peat moss that is very hard to wet once it has dried out. Peppers don't like wet feet but then again they don't like drying out either. Peat moss has a very low pH too. It is around 4.4. That would cause yellowing as well. I'd cut those bags open and at least give the plants some access to the soil in the pots. Even if it is a soilless mix it would better than what is probably in the bags. 
Peppers grow slowly and the roots don't penetrate those starter bags for a long time. The tomato roots grow much more quickly so perhaps that is why they are doing better. 

Spring is here. They are already mowing grass in Erie.

Someone who takes better pictures than I do sent me this crocus. The contrast between the orange pollen and the purple petals is incredible. 
 

Someone who takes better pictures than I do sent me this crocus. The contrast between the orange pollen and the purple petals is incredible. 
 

The Down to Earth Garden Club has cancelled meetings for the next few months. Instead we are trading via email what is appearing in our yards. Most of us have hellebores blooming. Here are 3. Anybody else have anything?
 

It takes 6-8 weeks to grow  peppers to transplant size. It takes 9-14 days to germinate peppers. So count back that many weeks from May 30 which is our last frost date.  Germinate at 68-85 degrees F.
Tomatoes  take 5-7 weeks to transplant size. The seeds take 6-12 days to germinate. The germinate at the same soil temperature as peppers.  
Both should be put out after the last frost date. 
I tend to start stuff a bit early but I do it in a heated greenhouse and then move them to an unheated one. This makes it possible to slow growth and harden them off at the same time. Leeks get started in the last week of February. We've had great years for leeks and years where we got nothing. Last year I found some leek seeds that were supposed to be able to be direct sown but they came to nothing. Weather has been weird lately. 
 

Really like the cows in the ugly sweaters!  

Looks at though it is the same color as the "Sun Gold" but bigger. If you can go by the color in pictures.  I like the name Orange Holdover. Hope you get something good next year. I'm still betting on "Sun Gold" being the parent plant. 

Had great eggplants and peppers this year but we grew them under black ground cover on ground that has been fallow for a number of years. Lots of summer squash, kale and cabbage. What green beans that germinated were fine but many didn't germinate. Tomatoes were awful. Everything else was mediocre. The entire yard is in the process of being ditched for drainage. Looks as though a demented gopher has been at work. Oh, and I have some great broom corn if anyone wants to make brooms. 

Grow Your Own Blueberries!
Marianne Augustyn, Certified Master Gardener
Blueberries are part of the latest rage in health foods today because they are the richest food source of phytonutrients called flavonoids esp. anthocyanins. These purple and dark red pigments are natural antioxidants that are strongly anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, antiviral and anticancer agents. Flavonoid-rich foods improve the function of the cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells) enabling the cells to produce more nitric oxide. Blueberries in particular have been found to protect against cardiovascular disease specifically by relaxing the blood vessels & improving blood flow.
Wild or low bush blueberries were a staple in the Native American diet long before the colonists arrived. Blueberries were eaten fresh or dried then mixed with meat to make pemmican or mixed with cornmeal, honey and water to make a pudding. The juice was used to make cough syrup while the leaves were made into a tea meant to fortify the blood.
Blueberries are one of the 3 fruits native to North America. There are more blueberry species native to North America than any other continent—they are northern and southern high-bush, low-bush, half-high and rabbit-eye. The blueberry is in the genus Vaccinium and is closely related to the azalea, cranberry and rhododendron. Blueberries are sometimes mistakenly referred to as huckleberries, which are actually a different genus—Gaylussacaia.  America now grows over 90% of the blueberries in the world. The problem with domestic blueberries is that they are ranked 14th in the most chemically laden food by the Environmental Working Group.
Blueberries are a deciduous shrub that are widespread in pine, spruce and beech forests. They ripen from June to August. The leaves in fall become a vivid red making it very decorative in any home garden. The low bush varieties prefer colder conditions while the high bush prefer more moderate conditions so be sure to check which varieties grow successfully in your area. Blueberries will live and produce for 40 to 50 years but it will take 3 to 4 years to produce after planting and they need to be maintained by watering, fertilizing and pruning when necessary.
Blueberries are resilient but will not produce well unless they are in ideal conditions. The soil pH is the single most important factor in selecting a blueberry site. It is best between 4.5 and 5.5 (even down to 3.5). If the pH is above 6 or the soil is heavy clay it will take time, effort and money to improve the location for blueberries.
Choose a site that gets full sun at least ¾ of the day and is not located near cement sidewalks or walls that might leach lime into the soil & raise the pH.
Blueberries thrive best in a rich soil so dig in an acidic humus such as peat moss to a depth of 8 to 10 inches and let sit for several weeks. Then do a soil test from several spots to make sure the pH is in a good range for the blueberries. You can increase the acidity of the soil with an application of acidic nitrogen fertilizer like ammonium sulfate, sulfur granules, iron or magnesium sulfate depending on the Penn State Soil test. In home gardens, it helps to plant blueberries in mounds or raised beds because it is easier to regulate watering and soil characteristics to insure healthier plants. The raised beds are easy to cover with wood chips (pine, spruce, beech) that help keep the pH in range, reduce weed growth, prevent moisture loss and overheating during the summer heat. The blueberry root system is very shallow, compact, intertwined and develops in a small area. Therefore hand weeding is better than cultivating. Add mineral fertilizers more often in smaller amounts to avoid spikes in nutrients and to lessen root burn—adding humus and mulch enriches soil gradually.
Space the plants 4 to 8 feet apart depending on the variety. The first year remove flower buds. In the following years remove old, weak and diseased branches. After fruiting the 3rd year prune to open up the inside of the plant and remove the oldest, darkest branches to promote new vigorous branching and flowering. Blueberries have a large numbers of flowers and so many bumble bees are needed for pollination to get good fruit set. Some varieties of blueberries are less attractive to bees (Duke variety) than others (Weymouth variety), depending on the quality and quantity of nectar, flower color and sugar content. It is recommended to mix several varieties for better pollination, larger berries,longer harvesting season and varying tastes of the blueberries. Whether fresh or frozen, the pale, powder-like coating on blueberries called “bloom,” should remain until just before eating, as it helps protect the fruit from damage and disease.
Certified Master Gardeners are local volunteers trained by Penn State to answer Horticulture questions with properly researched information. For a “best practices” answer to your question, call Penn State Jefferson County Extension at 849-7361, Ext 508, e-mail JeffersonMG@psu.edu, or mail your question to 186 Main Street, Suite 3, Brookville, PA 15825. 
The Speaker’s Bureau is available for group presentations.  Contact the office for specifics.
2020 Master Gardener Classes will begin in October 2019. Call for details.
Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

Some tomatoes will cross pollinate and others are only self pollinating. Generally tomatoes self pollinate unless deliberately crossed.  San Marzano, purple Cherokee and yellow pear are  heirlooms and the seed is stable. If you save the seed you will get the same tomato if they self pollinate which they do.    Sun Gold is an F1 hybrid which means that even a self pollinated seed will not match the parent. Celebrity tomatoes are hybrids and I don't know if the seed is stable or not. Some hybrids are back bred until the seed stabilizes. Tomato breeders generally keep this a deep dark secret. From your description here I'm guessing that the F1 Sun Gold self pollinated and the resulting seed had some of the characteristics of whatever was crossed to produce the hybrid thus the larger size. What you have may or may not produce the same tomato from he saved seed. F2 hybrids are rarely stable.  I hope it tastes good!

We are currently eating zucchini at every meal so I sympathize. When you garden you eat whatever does well that year unless you find a way to off load it onto what used to be friends. 

Pick the tomatoes and let them ripen off vine. We did this for years before "global warming" gave us a long enough growing season to ripen on the vine. Just don't put them too close together as some will rot and it will spread. As a preventative to the tomatoes becoming infected also dip them in a 10% bleach solution. Some diseases will infect the tomatoes and some won't . Whatever the plants have they are not going to be producing more tomatoes so put them in a plastic bag and let it lay in the sum for awhile. This will kill most things. Blight spores die at 150 degrees F. Burning green plants is difficult and you don't want to let they lay around until they dry. No, don't douse them with gasoline!. Burning barrels and gasoline don't mix she said from experience. 
Early blight shows concentric circled brown or black spots and starts from the bottom up. Late blight is a wet gray spot that turns brown or black.  It too starts at the bottom of the plant.  Septoria leaf spot is another one that will eventually turn your leaves brown and it is prevalent at this time of year. It starts with yellow spots on the bottom of the leaves. They come through on the top and turn brown. If you have root rot from all the rain the plant will start to wilt as well as developing yellow and brown leaves. 
The problem is that all are these are caused by fungi that thrive in humid conditions and and are carried by water. See the problem? There isn't much you can do to prevent it this year and this late in the year I wouldn't bother with fungicides. You could remove and destroy the infected plants and spray the others. Depends on what you have as to how well it would work. 
At this point I was going to suggest growing them on black plastic then I saw your post. So 'nother whole ball game. I see no lesions on the leaves so since they are in containers you might look to growing conditions. We have had a lot of rain but it hasn't been sufficient to make it unnecessary to  water pots that contain big plants that are in the sun. Too much water? Those containers do have drainage holes? Irregular watering can stress the plant. No more than one plant to a container? Sufficient air flow? Since they are in pots if they did pick up something it was airborne but now your soil may be contaminated. Fun, huh? You might look into blight and wilt resistant tomatoes. Google it.  Grow them from seed. It isn't that difficult. Maybe the bio lab has some grow lights. 
Oh, and they did grow. Your tomatoes look better than mine. My garden is a swamp. 

Thank you for your response, I knew they had to be striated, but didn't know about the possible mutations. I have loads of irises in three colors . I separated and thinned them last year, gave lots away.
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I've found the same thing. "Volunteers" are much healthier than the plants that we grow from bought seed. The problem is that they get such a late start that they often don't produce fruit. I get early blight each year but it comes so late that it doesn't seem to have much effect except for a lot of the lower leaves brown off. This year the Celebrity tomatoes have septoria leaf spot and those are the only plants that are producing anything. Last year it was something, I forget what, that was rotting the tomatoes, peppers and egg plant stems at ground level. I think that was our fault though because we mulched with grass clippings that evidently brought whatever it was in. I identified it but can't remember what it was. Fungicide got rid of it but it was too late for many of the plants.  It seems to be gone this year. 
The newer tomatoes are pretty much self pollinating so unless you are growing a hybrid it should come pretty much like the parent. It will be interesting to see what you get.