What’s blooming
Rosa ‘Chicago Peace’
bearded iris
‘Mahogany’ nasturtium
Million Bells (Calibrachoa)
Million bells, nasturtium and Sandersonia
Busy time in the garden
I didn’t protect my tomato plants from snails and slugs because they seemed preoccupied with my basil and peppers, but overnight my ‘Lemon Boy’ plant vanished. Snails, it appears, judging from the slimy beheaded plant left in the ground. Unless I see a replacement at a nursery in the next few days, I won’t bother replanting ‘Lemon Boy’. I have other varieties to look forward to. My containerized veggies are more established and less bothered by pests so far. It’ll be interesting to see how everything’s faring later in the season.
All of a sudden, it’s warm here, and by warm I mean hot. We skipped spring and went straight from winter to summer. All that rain and chill and then… boom… time to sit in the shade drinking lemonade. Where’s my cabana boy? Where’s my cabana, for that matter?
On the bean front, I got sporadic germination from my tricolor bean packet and of the few that did germinate, most were munched. I re-ordered two packs of seeds from Renee’s and replanted today. Soaked the seeds this time and added more compost to the soil. The poor bean show is partly my fault and partly the snails’ fault. With twice the number of bean seeds planted, greater care and vigilance, I am pretty confident I’ll see these damned purple, yellow and green beans climbing up my damned bean poles soon. Damn it. I wonder if Dan and Annie (dogs) will eat beans right off the vine like they did snap peas. Weirdos.
Oh, I also resurrected my tile sconces. Just in time for all those summer parties that happen mostly in my mind.
Morning Stroll in the Garden
Watch the video
This is a video of a walk in my garden.
Music: Antonio Vivaldi, Guitar Concerto in D Major, Part II
John Hershey on why the cool kids should be doing it
Grounds for Your Garden
Hannah in Cleveland, Ohio, who has a blog called This Garden is Illegal, reminded me about the Starbucks Grounds for Your Garden program, where they give away free 5-lb. bags of used coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are great for side-dressing plants in need of a little nitrogen and there’s some evidence that snails and slugs are repelled by caffeine. At high enough concentrations, it kills them. The amount of caffeine in used grounds might be enough to repel them, which is all I ask. Either way, I’m feeding my soil. The worms in my kitchen worm bin love coffee grounds, so maybe “outside” worms will too. Worm activity is good for the soil!
Corporate giant or not, I love Starbucks.
The Snail Battle Escalates
The copper-colored Plant Defender base had me hoping it would repel snails and slugs. Now, I know it’s the chemical reaction between snail slime and copper metal that produces a mild shock for the snail, like an electric fence would, but what’s up with this painted base because snails don’t seem to mind traveling on it?
While I wanted to believe the bases were painted to repel snails, they didn’t repel the small snails and slugs that sailed on in to eat my basil. My sweet peppers are being left alone now, but the new basil plants are in need of help. To show the depth of my devotion to basil, I added copper sheeting to the Plant Defender cages. Let’s hope this does the trick.
I wonder if you can buy paint with real copper in it? Then I could spray the base of the cages with something that actually repels those slimy gluttons.
News flash! I just re-checked the description of the cages on the PVFS website and it states the cage bases are “copper-plated”!!! This, I assume, means they have been sprayed with a metallic copper paint. Why, then, did snails cross the barrier?
Here’s the description– “Protect plants from browsing birds, snails, slugs, raccoons, deer, and rabbits with this effective barrier. Safe and humane method of protecting young seedlings without resorting to poisons, traps or ineffective repellents. Allows for overhead watering. Cut top off to allow plant to grow taller while maintaining base barrier. Made of molded plastic with copper-plated base.”
Apart from the issue with small snails and slugs, these cages have effectively blocked larger snails, cats, dogs, squirrels and birds (the main threats to my veggies and herbs). Additionally, I now have the option to apply Sluggo inside the cages and not worry about my dogs eating it. Since I added copper sheeting around the base, no snails or slugs have reached my basil seedlings.
I’m happy enough with the results that I plan to order more cages and more copper sheeting. The Plant Defender really is a clever invention that’s inexpensive, reusable, allows for easy watering, and reduces or eliminates the need for trapping, poisoning and smashing (Ew). Organic gardeners will love this.
There are more helpful hints for controlling snails and slugs in UC IPM Pest Note 7427.
