Gardening, landscaping and plants in general

[Mister_Brue]

@Boit Boulderado! It looks awesome. So you’re also gardening kerbside? I love that.

[Go For Chill]

@Boit This is killer! I’m loving it.

[Boit]

Thanks y’all for the kind words.

My wife and I rented a little excavator and dug out the holes for the rocks we picked out at https://marenakos.com/.

Marenakos was able to crane in all the rocks without disturbing the red buds in the parking strip.

Happy to have the upper slope retained now.

[endo]

Looks awesome @Boit

[Mister_Brue]

@Boit What an insane (in a good way) project. I can’t believe the size of some of those stones!

[ROman]

Current Lily's blooming.

[JDelage]

@Boit - Lovely work! I'm in Seattle too, between Volunteer Park & Interlaken on Cap Hill.

[Boit]

@JDelage Nice!

I lived on Cap Hill for 7 years prior to 2018. Love that neighborhood.

I’m in N.Ballard now…above GG and near Larson’s Bakery. Shoot me a DM if you’re over here and want to see my garden…or talk about IH or whatever.

@pechelman made the trek out here once. Glad to see more of us connecting in Seattle.

The other morning I was dropping my kiddo at Daycare and noticed another dad wearing IHs. Naturally, I complemented him on his jeans..and that wasn’t difficult to do. They looked amazing!

I’m hoping that we’ll get another retailer back in Seattle. Blue Owl seems like they would be THE store!

[ROman]

I'm told this is an African Lily.

[SKT]

@ROman beautiful blooms

[SFMCfranky]

Artichoke in bloom - photo taken last evening in my back field.

[SKT]

Some beautiful Hydrangeas from this morning’s walk

[Mister_Brue]

@SKT Nice. They’re never that colour in this part of the world.

[SKT]

@Mister_Brue I’m sure they’re a product of some hybrid wizardry but they sure are pretty

[Mister_Brue]

@SKT It’s actually all to do with the soil type. They change colour depending on whether it’s acid or alkaline.

[SKT]

@Mister_Brue ahh…actual nature so much cooler

[endo]

@SKT @Mister_Brue my mom always made them blue by adding a certain fertilizer. Just read this: to color hydrangeas blue, acidic soil with a low pH (ideally below 5.0) is crucial, as this allows the plant to absorb aluminum, which is responsible for the blue color. Additionally, the use of aluminum sulfate (alum) in irrigation water or as a fertilizer can help intensify the blue color.

[Mister_Brue]

@endo That’s it! I didn’t remember it was to do with aluminium though. This is the one in my garden:

[wjw]

For hydrangeas or acidifying soil in general you can use a more natural sulfur. More natural than aluminum sulfate--you don't want aluminum sulfate to run off into unintended areas. I use Espoma Soil Acidifier which uses elemental sulfur and gypsum a couple times a year for my hydrangeas, rhodies, azaleas and any other acid loving plants.

I try to keep my garden as organic as possible, but I do use an annual copper spray for a couple plants that have bad powder mildew problems, and an insecticide for ornamentals that have a bad weevil and whitefly problem. The organic methods for those pests and pathogens weren't able to curb the problem.

[SFMCfranky]

Pomegranate blooms