2026 Garden Thread

[djlew]

Won't spam the thread but some fun updates... scionwood is coming tomorrow. It's a bit early for prunus grafting I think, so I am going to try and keep the scions moist in the fridge until the stars align and it's consistently warm with not too much growth happening. Apparently prunus likes a really small window for grafts.

I started more seeds - peppers, cukes, marigolds and lettuce. I am getting growth but nothing substantial yet. These were more of an experiment from harvested seeds. The marigolds have been really reliable!

Lastly, I also learned that a lot of cuttings enjoy fluval stratum for propagation. I use fluval stratum in all of my fish tanks, so that works out quite nicely for me. People swear by it, so I might even try to root some cuttings on the cherry, almond, and peach and see what happens. The nursey I ordered from said the scionwood should be good for at least 2 grafts. My wife cares for a lot of indoor plants as well that may like it.

Burst of warm weather coming the rest of the week into next. I'm here for it. Anybody else have anything going on yet in the garden?

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We're having some warm weather coming up as well, but there's still cold in the forecast. I may put my onion starts out on the back table for a while tomorrow, though. I ended up restarting those as I lost a bunch of the first batch. I'm having a hard time figuring out the watering for the coco coir medium and think that I let them get to dry for a time. I had to look up what fluval stratum was, @djlew . That was new to me.

I haven't started any of my summer crops yet, but it's getting to be time. I did spend a chunk of time on Saturday sifting my compost and topdressing cabbage, garlic, and leeks in the garden. I also spread compost along one whole row of my trellis where I want to plant sugar snap peas soon. My hope is that by spreading it early so that it gets a little moisture and warmth that any seeds that are still viable in it will sprout but then be killed by freezes in the future. We'll see if that works.



Most plants still look dormant around here, though there are some tinges of green in places if one looks closely. We have a pretty shady alcove behind our front walk where I planted Hellebores/Lenten Roses that I was given last fall. I didn't know what colors they would be, but the first few are beginning to pop up and bloom.
They're such a treat.

 

[djlew]

Sounds like a great plan DG! I've heard coco coir is a great seed starting medium. I've never tried it. Yes, I thought the fluval stratum idea was interesting. It was all over propagation communities and seems to be a very common way over in those communities to root cuttings. I'm going to have to try it. It's expensive in terms of fish tank substrate but not astronomical, especially compared to gardening ingredients!

 

[begreen]

We're having some warm weather coming up as well, but there's still cold in the forecast. I may put my onion starts out on the back table for a while tomorrow, though. I ended up restarting those as I lost a bunch of the first batch. I'm having a hard time figuring out the watering for the coco coir medium and think that I let them get to dry for a time. I had to look up what fluval stratum was, @djlew . That was new to me.

I haven't started any of my summer crops yet, but it's getting to be time. I did spend a chunk of time on Saturday sifting my compost and topdressing cabbage, garlic, and leeks in the garden. I also spread compost along one whole row of my trellis where I want to plant sugar snap peas soon. My hope is that by spreading it early so that it gets a little moisture and warmth that any seeds that are still viable in it will sprout but then be killed by freezes in the future. We'll see if that works.

View attachment 346821View attachment 346822View attachment 346823

Most plants still look dormant around here, though there are some tinges of green in places if one looks closely. We have a pretty shady alcove behind our front walk where I planted Hellebores/Lenten Roses that I was given last fall. I didn't know what colors they would be, but the first few are beginning to pop up and bloom.
They're such a treat.
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That's an illustration of how cold the east coast has been. Our hellebores have been in full bloom for a couple weeks now. Normally VA would be a couple weeks ahead of us.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

That's an illustration of how cold the east coast has been. Our hellebores have been in full bloom for a couple weeks now. Normally VA would be a couple weeks ahead of us.

Yes, it has been a remarkably cold winter for us in Virginia. Our snow cover lasted an exceptionally long time, though I'm thankful for that as it kept my plants insulated through some of the lowest temperatures. I'm particularly glad that the cabbages made it through.

Now we just have to hope that it doesn't warm up too fast for cool weather crops. It was in the mid seventies today, so I'm hoping to plant sugar snap peas tomorrow or the next day.

@begreen , do you have or would you be able to get some photos of those Hellebores, please? I'd love to see them.

 

[begreen]

Yes, it has been a remarkably cold winter for us in Virginia. Our snow cover lasted an exceptionally long time, though I'm thankful for that as it kept my plants insulated through some of the lowest temperatures. I'm particularly glad that the cabbages made it through.

Now we just have to hope that it doesn't warm up too fast for cool weather crops. It was in the mid seventies today, so I'm hoping to plant sugar snap peas tomorrow or the next day.

@begreen , do you have or would you be able to get some photos of those Hellebores, please? I'd love to see them.

Sorry, I have had a busy day and am just catching up. If it is not raining tomorrow, I will take some shots. We have several different varieties in varied shades of purple. The oldest are 30+ yrs. old.

 

[begreen]

@begreen , do you have or would you be able to get some photos of those Hellebores, please? I'd love to see them.

Here you go:

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Thank you, @begreen . Those are just beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen one quite like the second picture. They're all very beautiful.

 

[djlew]

Warm couple days here. I was able to get some raised bed work done and moved to the front yard. I am going to get some pics as stuff gets done, including of my indoor plants. My lemon opened one of its flowers! Very exciting.

Low expectations on the seed starting. I think used up strawberry containers ended up being the winner for seeds - I have some marigolds and cukes coming up. Everything else I think is just weeds.

I'll get a pic of this too, but my south facing windowsill is absolutely stacked with plants. Lemon, pomegranate, apricot seedling, one of my peaches that I am going to bench graft, and some cuttings I am trying to root. The scionwood came for the cherry and almond. The nursery I ordered from give you a ton of wood for the price. Low expectations here as well, but all for the fun, is trying to root some of the scionwood in a nice airy fluval stratum/perlite mix. I also have a raspberry cutting and trying the same thing. We shall wait and see. The rest of the scionwood will be grafted in one shape or form. Perhaps multiple - a combination of bud grafting and whip/tongue grafting. I expect the almonds to do better on peach than cherry due to compatibility issues down the road without an interstem, but all for the fun and learning. I have three of these peaches so I can spare an experiment. Who knows, maybe it will grow enough to try an air layer down the road and I can get even more clones.

Temps are dropping again. Never full send the first warm spell of the season... things are still sleeping!