Multi-budded fruit tree blossom

I ordered a new Fuyu persimmon tree from online nursery, it has blossomed this week.
I found out that the tree is bi-sexual :D and multi-budded.
A bogger posted a comment that it is not a persimmon.
It has both male and female flowers. Female flowers are white color, but the same tree also has pink-tinged male flowers. So, I guess I paid the price for a persimmon tree, and received a multi-budded fruit tree, and found out about it a year later. What a great online deal! Multi-budded tree is usually cost more than persimmon. LOL!!!Reading:
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/persimmon.html

Prevent Japanese Beetles

Watch out for Japanese Beetles this spring/summer they are o.5 to 1 inch long with a dark brown head and the body is shiny bluish-green. The wing covers are a metallic copper, which shines various colors in the light and the head is bluish-green. It will eat most anything: flowers, fruit trees, roses and all berries...endless damage in the garden. My goal for this year is no more Japanese Beetles damage; I will catch them early before they destroy all the plants.
Image Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popillia

Predators: Starlings love Japanese beetles as snacks! Native birds will feed on the larvae. You can help the birds along by turning the soil in autumn to expose the larva. Chickens will be another option, but it won't be allowed in the community with HOA :-(

Repellent plants: Catnip, chives, garlic, tansy and rue. Plant garlic around garden area to repel Japanese beetles.

Control Methods:

* Good plants for trap crops include: evening primrose, soybeans, wild grapes, African marigolds, borage and knotweed!

* Make bait traps of water, mashed fruit, sugar and yeast. Place on the perimeter of the garden at least 1 inch off the ground in plastic jugs with an entrance hole cut at the top. Choose sunny spots and strain the bodies out of traps every evening.

* For easier handpicking : In the morning spread out a sheet under infested plants. Shake the plants and the beetles will fall onto the sheet. Dump them into a bucket of soapy water. Dew on their wings in the morning keeps them from flying away. The cooler air also makes them more lethargic.

* Use pheromone traps keeping them at a distance from victim plants so you won't attract new beetles.

* Use interplantings of four o'clocks (Mirabilis), larkspur, white geraniums, red (and dwarf) buckeyes whose flowers attract and poison the beetles. The leaves of the castor bean plant also poison them. These plants are poisonous to people to so be careful using them around children or pets!

* Milky spore disease known as Bacillus popilliae can be used against the grub stage as a most effective long term control. This is best done on a wide scale treating entire infested areas in neighborhoods or grasslands. Complete control may take a few years. Once it does take effect the control can last up to 15 years!

* Japanese Beetle Trap and Bait
The following bait and trap method is to be used during the height of the Japanese Beetle season.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 mashed banana
1 pkg yeast

Dissolve sugar and yeast in the water. Mix the well maxhed banana into the sugar water. Put all ingredients in a gallon milk jug. Place the jug (with the top off) in an area where Japanese Beetles gather. The fermentation and odor of the bait attracts the beetles which get in but not out.

* Trap crops for the beetles are African marigold, borage, evening primrose (oonthera), four o'clocks, knotweed, soybeans, white roses, white and pastel zinnias, wild grapes and blackberries.

* Nematodes: Another control for the grub stage is to apply beneficial nematodes to the infested area. These are applied at a ratio of 50,000 per square foot of targeted area.

* Botanical Control: Pyrethrin, ryania or rotenone.

Readings:
How to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles
http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-japanese-beetles.htm
GREAT articles posted by Sara's "the herb gardener blog":
http://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/2008/04/getting-rid-of-japanese-beetles.html
According to Sara, the best way is to catch Japanese Beetles early "Trap and kill these first beetles and place them in a bucket of water to which you have added a couple of tablespoons of dish soap. The rotting beetles will send another scent indicator to other beetles: STAY AWAY, and the soap will discourage mosquitoes and other pests from using the water as a breeding ground."

How to Make Your Own Japanese Beetle Trap from dkmommyspot.com

Get a one-gallon plastic milk jug and cut the top off. Not too big of an opening. Leave the handle on too. Now mix 1 cup of water with 1/4 cup of sugar and a packet of yeast (a teaspoon will do.) Mash a banana and stir that around in there too. Hang this adorable contraption from the infested tree about 3 feet off the ground.

Signs of Spring?

Spring is awakening, all the plants start growing...

Berries & Deer Resistant Plants

I bought 4 new berries for my garden:
1) Brazos Blackberry (Rubus Ursinus 'Brazos')
- Flowers early spring, easily planted in hedgerows, large clusters of edible fruit that ripens in late spring.
2) Bluecrop Blueberry (Vaccinium Corymbosum 'Bluecrop'
- Dceiduous, very productive, dependable shrub with large, firm bright blue berries.
3) Northland Blueberry (Vaccinium x 'Northland')
- Deciduous, ideal for fresh eating, bears large, light blue berries with abundant white flowers.
4) Latham Red Raspberry (Rubus Idaeus 'Latham')
- This type of raspberry is disease-resistant and productive, deciduous, flavorful, aromatic, good texture, berries ripen in late June.

Berry anthocyanins as novel antioxidants in human health and disease prevention

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17533652
"Edible berries, a potential source of natural anthocyanin antioxidants, have demonstrated a broad spectrum of biomedical functions. These include cardiovascular disorders, advancing age-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and diverse degenerative diseases."


New deer resistant plants in my garden:
Dusty Miller (Centaurea Cineraria)
- Fuzzy, silver-gray leaves, bushy, compact habit, mounding annual, adds color contrast to beds.

...of course, deers don't like green onion! Other deer resistant trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, and bulbs:

Trees

• Bottlebrush Buckeye
• Downy Serviceberry
• Shadbush
• Allegheny Serviceberry
• Chinese Paper Birch
• Heritage Birch
• Paper Birch
• Japanese Falsecypress
• Japanese Cedar
• Colorado Blue Spruce
• Scotch Pine
• Douglas Fir

Shrubs

• Bald cypress (Taxodium species)
• Bayberry (Myrica species)
• Cinquefoil (Potentilla species)
• False cypress (Chamaecyparis species)
• Forsythia (Forsythia species)
• Fringe tree (Chionanthus species)
• Spirea (Spiraea species)
• Spruce (Picea species)
• White forsythia (Abelio-phyllum distichum)
• Pawpaw
• Barberry
• Boxwood
• Caryopteria
• American Bittersweet
• Red Osier Dogwood
• Japanese Plum-Yew
• Russian Olive
• Creeping Wintergreen
• Rose of Sharon
• John T. Morris Holly
• Lydia Morris Hollies
• Leucothoe
• European Privet
• Japanese Andromeda
• Common Buckthorn
• Blueberry Elder
• Dwarf Sweet Christmas Box

Annuals, Perennials, and Bulbs

• Yarrow
• Monkshood
• Ageratum
• Star of Persia
• Daffodil Garlic
• Lily Leek
• Japanese Anemone
• Rue Anemone
• Common Dill
• Columbine
• Basket-of-Gold
• Snapdragon
• Rock-cress
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit
• Rock Cress
• Berginia
• Plumbago
• Snakeroot
• Colchicum
• Colchicum
• Larkspur
• Lily-of-the-valley
• Threadleaf Coreopsis
• Neopolitan Cyclamen
• Bleeding Heart
• Foxglove
• Wood Fern
• Purple Coneflower
• Barrenwort
• Euphorbia
• Fritillary
• Sweet Woodruff
• Glory Lily
• Stella de Oro Daylily
• Dame's Rocket
• Hyacinth
• Deadnettle
• Lavender
• Toadflax
• Sweet Alyssum
• Rose Champion
• Ostrich Fern
• Daffodil
• Flowering Tobacco
• Royal Fern
• Allegheny Spurge
• Japanese Spurge
• Oriental Poppy
• Scented Geranium
• Russian Sage
• Buttercup
• Rhubarb
• Coneflower
• Sage
• Lavender Cotton
• Squill
• Lamb's Ears
• Marigold
• Common Tansy
• Thyme
• Foam Flower
• Nasturtium
• Yucca

Vertical Gardening to Save Space

Vertical Gardening to Save Space
Train any vine-like (climber and trailer) plants through vertical support; guide the plants using strings, it will attach to the vertical support. Then, just enjoy seeing them to crawl and grow up.

Types of vines:

* Grape

* Sweet pea

* Bougainvillea

* Passion fruit

* Melon (small water melon, bitter melon, winter melon...)

* Kiwi fruit plant

* Mini pumpkin

* Dragon fruit plant

* Honeydew

* Cantaloupe

* Wisteria

* Ivy

* Morning Glory

* Any limber and trailer vine plants you can think of...

I really enjoy Patti Moreno's vertical gardening tricks to grow watermelon vertically. Please move the cursor to the middle right of the YouTube (see above) and click on the > icon to forward until you see her Garden Girl Urban Sustainable Living video.

My vertical gardening photos:

Seed Exchange / Blossom Swap

I found a local Seed Exchange / Blossom Swap. Click here for Free Garden Plans.

The nook where backyard gardeners gather to trade secrets and treasures of the earth.

Tropical View (2)

Vacation photos

Natural Ways to Repel Mosquitoes & Other Insects (2)

Plants that repel mosquitoes, flies, ants, fleas or other insects:

- Basil, Chamomile, and Lavender bushes are known to repel mosquitoes.

- Crush and rub some of the orange peel or garlic on the skin, it will help to repel mosquitoes.

- Rub some peppermint, hummingbird mint, bubblegum mint, horsemints, spear mint, or pineapple mint leaves on skin to repel ants, fleas and mosquitoes. Crush the leaves well and soak them in a little bit water to cover them. Close this tightly and let it stand for a day. Strain and use it to apply to the skin.

- Wormwood, southernwood (Artemisia), silvery, bushy appearance will repel flies, moths, intestinal worm, and slugs.

- Citronella grass, elderberry, false indigo, and lemon balm plants repel mosquitoes and flies as well.

- Thyme deters insect pests also prevent musty odors; use in sachets, both flowers and leaves.

- Rue (Ruta graveolens) is also good for controlling fleas and Japanese beetle.

- Tanacetum genus (pyrethrum, tansy, and feverfew) will repel mosquitoes, flies, ants, mice, moths, cockroaches, mites and bedbugs.

- Tansy is a strong herb suitable for growing around doorways to act as an insect deterrence. Pyrethrum can be made into a spray.

- Feverfew is a good insect repellent and is also used for treating insect bites.

- Sage deters a variety of insects. Hang dried bundles in the house and at doorway

A few simple steps of making all-natural mosquito repellent:
1) Simply crush the leaves or flowers to release the oils
2) Put them in a quantity of alcohol or vodka
3) Once the mosquito repellent oils have infused the liquid, put it indoor or on the patio, so that you don't have to spend $ on those harmful chemical repellents.

The following plant oils are natural substances to repel mosquitoes, but some people can be sensitive to certain plant oils:
* Cedar Oil
* Cinnamon Oil
* Citronella Oil
* Clove Oil
* Castor Oil
* Lemon Eucalyptus Oil
* Mint Oil
* Geranium Oil

Final option: Spray the Listerine mouth wash, it also helps to repel mosquitoes.

Mosquito Trap instructions on YouTube from dmdmet09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLKJN7QNKD8
Put yeast, sugar and water in a small bottle. Yeast, sugar plus water will produce CO2. Place a sock to cover the small bottle like the video show, or use a rubber glove and poke a few holes. Mosquito will follow the CO2 to enter the bottle and can't get out due to small hole upside down.

Snowing?

Unpredictable weather in March! It was snowing for a while and melted.

Evergreen Plants

Broadleaf evergreen shrub

Arborvitae - Danica, Thuja occidentalis 'Danica', has glossy emerald green foliage; branchlets are vertically arranged; bluish green winter color. It is considered one of the most versatile dwarf globe forms. Danica is an excellent choice for borders, foundation plantings, specimen or low hedge. It grows 1 to 1.5 feet high. Foliage in winter is often brown to green. This plant enjoys good sun exposure and a moist, acidic soil.

Trees

These are some of the trees in my garden:
Callery pear tree - Pyrus calleryana, it is susceptible to being damaged by winds, but the good part is it holds up well against street pollution

Bigtooth Maple - Acer grandidentatum.
This maple tree can reach up to 20 - 50 ft. in height, the flowers appear with the leaves in mid spring; they are produced in corymbs of 5–15 together, each flower yellow-green, with no petals. It is drought tolerance. The bark is dark brown to gray, with narrow fissures and flat ridges creating plate-like scales; it is thin and easily damaged (I don't know why it attracts bee during summer/ fall). The leaves are opposite, simple and broad, with three to five deep, bluntly-pointed lobes. Other names occasionally used include Lost Maple, Sabinal Maple, Western Sugar Maple, Uvalde Big Tooth Maple, Canyon Maple, Southwestern Big Tooth Maple, Plateau Big Tooth Maple, Limerock Maple, Wasatch Maple and Rocky Mountain Sugar Maple