Well summer hasn't even started and already we are experiencing excessive heat. Expected today 36degC = approx 100degF. Looks as tho we are in for a bad one :(

The spa is looking even more inviting ROFL

Bernice: As you are going into Summer.. we are headed for Winter.. Ick!

ScarletRose: we didnt get a winter this year :( and that in itself was a forewarning of what was to come.

Bernice: Were in our Fall,but feels like snow.

It's supposedly spring time here but we're getting snow, it's unheard of this late in the year. Had 1 meter dumped on the road between Taupo & Napier. Temperature today was 8 derees C. Going to get down to 3 to-night

skipinnz: saw that on the news.....real strange for this time of year.

I have just bought myself an "upside down strawberry planter"
has anybody had anything to do with one of these?

I have to buy the seedlings and plant them, but it looks alright :)

Was wandering if anybody knows what to do with sunflowers after summer,do they grow again next year?
I have a couple 14 footers in the front yard to deal with
Ty for any help.

SMART ALX: They don't. Sunflowers are annuals. If you want to have them in your front yard again next year, you have to plant some seeds.

Pedro Martínez: Ok thanks,got some work to do

Less seeds,less cutting next year right

check out my new "baby" on my pics :)

sorry it isnt a gardening pic but it is outside ROFL........

Does anyone know anything about blueberry bushes?

Foxy Lady:  Oh.. they grow wonderful little Blue Berries.. Can be made into Pies and Jellies.. :)

Foxy Lady: They don't like frost's but the birds love them so you need to cover them

ScarletRose: I know but i have one bush thats not doing well.

skipinnz: You better cover them or the rabbits help themselves also.lol

Foxy Lady:  Dan is wondering how many you have? and do you have both the Male and Female plants.. One of the species really doesn't do much but act as a polenator. I remember our neighbors had a plum tree.. we would get a good crop of plums every other year.. since there was only one plum tree around.

I have a navel orange tree in my yard for the last 2 1/2 years....it has only grown slightly but has no signs of bearing any fruit....it is next to a meyer lemon that has more fruit on it than you could imagine. any suggestions as to why this has happened?

ScarletRose: lol i thought of that so i planted another one.

Bernice: I have read before that it can take up to 5 years for a planted young tree to bear fruit. (I assume this is what you did)
If you planted it from seedling, it can take 7 or 8 years.

I should add, I'm no expert. LOL. This is just what I had read somewhere, in the past.

rod03801: yes I planted from a young tree, but the lemon came on straight away with hundreds of fruit, and the orange has just sat there.................thanks anyway.

It's 38 F here in CNY.

Foxy Lady: it is 34C here hot and humid.

what the name of this spider is??

Bernice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aetherea

Pedro Martínez: well I will be blowed....how did you find that so fast....that is exactly what it is....thank you so much....

Pedro Martínez: I found that this afternoon in my passionfruit vines.....I cant see if it is poisonous tho...

Bernice: I googled “yellow striped spider” and the first link it brought up was the USA Spider Identification Chart. And there it was easy to identify your little friend.

Bernice: The site below says:

St Andrews Cross Spiders ...low risk - non-aggressive

St Andrews Spider

Venom toxicity - the bite of the St Andrews Cross is of low risk (non-toxic) to humans. They are a non-aggressive group of spiders.

Pedro Martínez: thank you Hun...that means I don't have to be so damned scared LOL

Bernice:  It's a pretty little thing.. although, it looks similar to one we found up at the Ranch a  few years back when we were painting the house.. I was doing the bottom section and the back side of the house where the basement windows were.. I jumped back the dang thing was huge for a spider around here.. Dan just laughed at me and said it wasn't anything to worry about.. then he came down to it and grabbed a piece of wood letting it get on the wood he moved it to another location so I could finish painting the one section.

It has been 8 weeks since we had a cyclone rip through our garden. I am absolutely astounded how much the garden has grown since then...Of course I had to cut everything back as it has been ripped around and was looking so straggly...now everything is looking so healthy and attractive. The garden is looking fabulous.

Finally it's warming up,snow is all gone.Flowers are peeping thru the dead grass.

does anybody know if hosta's can be split up and transplanted in the summer or fall?

Vikings: well they are a member of the agave family, and they will grow from a leaf.....so I guess the same applies. Try a leaf and see if it roots

Bernice: thanks

Vikings: If it's any use I split my when the flowers have died back.

skipinnz: I've talked to enough people now that the plan is to split them up in another month, that way the 90 degree heat would have broke and there would be enough time for the roots to establish before hard frost

Vikings:Hosta is so hardy you can hardly kill them....they can be split up at almost any time as long as they don't get tpp dry after transplanting.  Water them well and they should be fine

If you buy a whole celery and cut the base off it, put it into a bowl of shallow water and leave it for about a week. ...it will grow....there will be a couple of new stems sprouting from the middle and there will be roots growing from the bottom....can be planted in the garden and kept moist until it really gets away :)

Dan and I finally got the garden in today.. What a chore this year has been.. lots of good stuff.. we still need to pick up a few more things to put in.. jalapenos and green peppers.. along with yellow onions and some cherry toms'..

Just a quick question on slug and snail control...

I'm trying out using aluminium foil as a deterrent rather than using slug pellets. Can anyone advise on the effectiveness of aluminium foil v copper, as I've heard good things about it as well.

Or, if you've not found them effective as a deterrent, can someone recommend a good animal and children safe alternative?

Cheers :)

(V): I make home brew and I find the tailings in a small pot are excellent, and to make them child proff you can place it under a pot as long as there is acess for the slugs.

Google

skipinnz: Beer I'll use, making it 'investigation safe' is easy enough. Yet I am finding (after finding various articles on the net) foil and copper are not to slugs taste! As a point blank deterrent it's discouraged all but one little salad muncher. Though that could have been through proximity to a low wall.

(V): I've found the darker bees(malt) are more to the slugs taste but they'll go after a good european lager. :-)

skipinnz: Damn.. I have to sacrifice some good of the good stuff!!

I can handle it *sniff*

can anyone help.


I have a Navel orange tree..it would be about 5 years old...It has never had any fruit only a few flowers than never amounted to anything.

This year it is absolutely smothered in flowers and fruit are setting BUT after about a week or so they all fall off :(...any advice please?