Thursday, July 1, 2010

Free Wildflower Seedlings: Appalachian Mock Orange





















Virginia now has Appalachian mock orange seedlings available for adoption. This variety grows into medium sized shrubs (4 to 12 feet in height) with large white (mostly scentless) flowers. It apparently does well in the shade. Pretty!

If you would like a seedling or two (or more), please leave a comment on the blog or contact Virginia by phone or email. 

Garden Maintenance

Well, the garden is chugging along with very little help from us, but it's not producing very much. Hmmm...Poor soil? Overcrowding? Too much moisture? Not enough moisture? We will have to investigate before the next planting season and revise our gardening strategies accordingly.

Our only other problem has been an invasion of mealybugs and some powdery mildew, which we have treated with natural products specifically made for vegetables. So far, the damage seems minimal.
















We have had to reinforce the corners of the e-fence because the plastic posts had started to lean toward the garden beds and the wires were drooping. Our remedy was to place short lengths of rebar next to the plastic posts and to secure them to the original posts with plastic zip ties. This tightened up the wires considerably.
















Also, the sweet potato vines had been growing out of the bed and shorting out the e-fence, so we corralled the vines with a length of short garden fencing kindly donated by Jane.

We continue to wait patiently...