Wind and new transplants.

Happens every *$_^%$;_%;^  year! As soon as we get the first 1,000 transplants in........here comes the never ending ferocious wind. You feel beat up just being out there all day, and so do the plants. In this kind of windy hot weather, you will need to water daily if your plants look stressed at all. Tomorrow we may have the same weather, so avoid installing transplants again until the wind settles down a little. Some  types of plants are more tolerant than others, and some will recover better than others. 'Temporary wilting' is okay.......but once the plant starts to dry and 'permanant wilting' sets in, there is no saving. If I had thousands of coffee cans I'd be out there offering my plant babies protection. If your plants get really beat up, give them a week to recover. If no sign of  perking up, replace them. Fortunately we have a new shed that we were able to bring our flats of veggie transplants into for protection today! Yahoo.

Striped or Spotted Cucumber Beetle

 This insect pest is worth knowing about. It is one of the worst in this area, and one of the first to become a pest! They come in spotted & striped versions. The striped most likely to winter over on the plant debris you tilled in, composted and refused to burn (per my order!) and the spotted most likely to blow in on the winds for the summer (yes, that's right....riding Jet blue) Normally you will see more striped than spotted in your garden.

By the time you notice the adult beetles, their game plan is already in play! See above diagram. They lay eggs at the base of plants, and as they hatch - the now larvae feed on the roots - and they emerge as adults to feed on leaves, stems & fruits.  

 The damage to the naked eye, might not seem that bad. Looking at the microscopic view below, you can see the damage they cause to the stem material. Ouch! Chewing on the stems, interrupts the flow of water and nutrients to the plant structure. The wound area also is exposed to drying sun any disease or virus on the wind. (blowing over from your uncomposted compost heap)

 Below, you can see how cuke beetles can skeletontize leaves. Their favorite plants are cantaloupe, squashes, pumpkins, to a lesser degree watermelon & of course cucumbers! I have seen them on almost every garden vegetable plant, so none are really safe. Many of the garden pests only target one type or family of plants, not so with these aggressive guys.

 Cuke beetles are 'chewing' insects. One of the other problems they cause is disease. They can carry virus & disease in their mouthparts, spreading it from plant to plant as they chew. A plant in the below condition.......is likely history. You should pull it up and destroy by burning or get it in the trash. Many vine crops will hang like this in the hot sun and perk up at night. The leaves hang to reduce their exposure to the sun if they are short on water. Plants are so smart! Knowing this, water them, then check for hanging leaves in the morning to decide if it's disease or hot sun making the leaves hang.

 Cuke beetles also feed on fruits, like here on the pumpkin (yes, a pumpkin is the botanical "fruit" of the plant) IS NO PART OF THE PLANT SAFE???   NOPE....

As soon as you notice these guys, dust the plants with Garden Guard, Sabidilla dust or Rotenone. Don't 'wait' to see if there is damage......it's already begun. Repeat dusting after a rain, or at least once a week until you no longer see them. The dust is only effective on the adults, so you need to keep dusting until all generations below the soil emerge. Dust lightly, don't submerge the plants, the leaves need to breathe too!  Get your dust now so you are ready.
Got a garden question? Please post under the comments.

My radio commercial debut.

Sign up and join my blog hassle free, and print off your monthly $5 gift certificate. Monday, I set a new record with 70 new people taking a look! I am thinking the radio interview that morning is to thank! Thank you to Lisa and TJ! This morning I am recording a 30 second radio commercial to be played on the oldies channel KXAC 100.5 and KTOE AM 1420. IF I don't succeed......I am sure they will have a professional to fill in! Earthworks commercials will start running as soon as the iris are looking about 25% bloomed, a few days I think. Seem to be lots of stems missing, all leaf.......what are they waiting for? I have heard this from other gardeners too, what about yours? Peak bloom 2 years ago was the first weekend in June.....I thought we were way ahead this year, maybe not!

Melons on trial.

Every year I try a few new things in the garden, and this year is no exception. Below are 4 of the new melon varieties we are trialing at Earthworks. Harvesting at the correct time can be the biggest problem for gardeners. Specialty melons are more tricky then your standard cantaloupe & watermelon. I always hesitate to buy melons in the store and sometimes even to sell them. We can look at a tomato and know it's ripe, a picked melon may be fragrant, but picked too late it can be mushy inside. Watermelon left to long on the vine can develop hollow heart. Wish me luck with these new honeys!

 'Morning Ice' honeydew.

Lamkin. Small 3# fruits, very sweet with aromatic white flesh.



'Sun Jewel'  an Asian Melon. The flesh is crisp and white and wonderfully sweet. Fruits are about 7 x 3 inches long.

'Lilly' a Crenshaw melon: sweet, creamy aromatic flesh.  About 6-8# each.

Almost iris & peony bloom time!

 The peonies are loaded with buds and getting ready to pop into an explosion of color! We currently grow about 60 varieties. What isn't potted up and ready to go can be ordered as a bareroot plant for the fall. Only about 10 or so varieties will be too small to dig yet.

Some of the iris are blooming, not many yet. This beauty pictured above is.....just love it! If you want to see many of our 800+ varieties, you will need to visit a few times. I will post here when the bloom is at 20%, 50% etc. Last years peak was the first weekend in June, the year previous was Memorial weekend. Too early to predict yet. You can always order on line at Earthworks website. www.earthworksgardens.com