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Delphiniums seem to like northern Alberta. We are zone 2 though some zone 3 plants survive here.. My main delphinium plant has been here for years and years and seeded many babies which are adults now. At one point I had a dark purple blue, a baby blue and a white one as well but they didn't survive more than a few years. This one is what I call an electric blue - a very vivid colour.

A friend in Edmonton had an enormous pale blue delphinium which she decided had to go when she had her garden landscaped to be more senior friendly. I was there when the guys were digging it up. The roots went down to China. They had to dig an huge hole to get it out. I was sorry to see it go.

Hoping delphiniums will do well on the cottage lot. It is zone 4a which gives me lots more options but the colder winters lower that to 2 or 3.

cw - I love lilacs - the leaves as well as the flowers. I am sure you found a spot for it.
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Not sure what's going on with the zucchini, I thought it was dead but now there is new growth and even flowers🤔
My early beans are starting to produce, I've got a handful for my supper tonight.
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Me either. I loved my grandmother's beautiful shy blue delphiniums but whenever I've planted them they never come back the second year.
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I have never had good results with delphiniums.
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I am amazed and very pleased with my delphiniums which are just coming into bloom. My oldest plant has spires 7+ ft tall. The strangest thing is that for the first time I sprayed that bed (around the perennials) with round up last fall. I had no bugs on them this year and all the delphiniums are doing much better that usual, and they are usually reasonably good. Didn't expect that!

On the other hand my japanese anemones in front are being smothered by the shrub roses and I didn't have my usual show of those lovely graceful white spring flowers. My helpers have been doing a lot of pruning. I may do a bit more so the anemones survive for whoever buys this house. I have a dark red astilbe and a honeysuckle in the same bed that are being crowded out too. On the bed where not much survives except weeds and wild raspberries, my troilus has survived and reproduced another so I will leave it there and just spray round up around it and add some more cedar bark mulch.

Vinegar solution is doing a pretty good job of getting rid of the moss/mildew on the front deck. I will get some of the Natura deck cleaner to see if it helps get rid of what's left.
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🙂 "A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows."
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Becky, you have inspired me to get some green beans to can.

I am going to make some spicy pickled green beans as well. So yummy with sandwiches or in salads.
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I found a little lilac "Charles Joly" on sale for only $7.50. The tag says 10' high by 8' spread. I have nowhere to put it....
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Half runners have too many strings and they're a longer bean. Wouldn't can well whole. My family likes them canned not frozen. They're a family favorite so I can several bushels every summer.
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Don't give up on ridding the Japanese Beetles.
There are instructions online, using Neem Oil.

And plant garlic.
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I haven't seen beans that you need to string in.... forever (other than my scarlet runners). And I've mostly given up on "schnippling" them too and just nib, blanch and freeze them whole.
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The garden my DIL and her Dad planted is doing well, but not nearly as much as I would have liked to plant. But I can't get much done from a wheelchair. My stepson's vegetable supplier got me three bushels of half runner green beans from TN. I've stringing green beans all morning. I'll start canning in the morning. Going to get tomatoes later in the week.
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I'm fully into the annual disillusioned phase of gardening.
The Japanese beetles have shown up and are swarming the peas and beans....
Cucumber beetles won't be far behind (are probably here already) to kill the zucchini and cucumbers.
The corn I planted for decoration is tasselling at less than waist height, so not much decorative value there.
Still no sign of any little pumpkins.
And we haven't had a decent amount of rain in weeks.
Why do I even bother😞.
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The rest of the tomato varieties are beginning to wilt one by one 😭. I read on line that you might be able to save them if you dig them up and pot them in new soil so I did that with my Roma, I can't imagine a full sized plant surviving that but it wasn't going to live anyway so I figured nothing ventured...
So far my peppers don't seem to be affected 🤞
My sugar snap peas are beginning to get ahead of me so I think I'll start freezing some, maybe I'll make up my own stir fry veggie mix.
I don't know what is going on with the zucchini, there are lots of little fruits but they aren't getting any bigger. I'll try giving them some fertilizer.
And my romaine needs to be harvested before it bolts but I'm only one person and I can't eat that much salad. Maybe I'll add some to the bag of frozen spinach.
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I'm going to post a link to an adorable garden problem

https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/comments/vprhcb/update_of_the_bunnies_under_the_wheelbarrow_in/
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Grandma, thank you for that information. I will stop putting that bucket where humming birds have access.

Yeah, I don't use raw sugar, just plain old C&H is what my HB get.

People are funny, most products are made in the same facility with a different label and often times, the same ingredients.
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Isthisrealyreal...Honey can cause a fungus on the tongue of the hummingbird.
And from what I have read you are not supposed to use "raw" sugar or corn syrup either. A friend of mine "swears" her HB will only eat the sugar water if it is made from cane sugar not beet sugar. I have not had that experience, I do not search out "organic cane sugar" for my HB. Then again she also says her Oriels will only eat Smucker's or Welch's grape jelly. Mine must have a much less refined palate as they have consumed about 5 jars of Aldi's grape jelly this year.
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Grandma, is raw honey bad?

I get 5 gallon pails and when I have used it up I put the bucket outside for the bees to get every little bit.

Am I causing harm? :-/
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R and I are having the greatest fun talking about and pre planning our plantings at the cottage lot. There is a wonderful pink rose where he worked and is still winding things down. He can take some shoots from it. I have the two roses here to take with me (parts of them anyway). We want some saskatoon bushes for the berries. He has a nice currant bush he will bring with him. I want some blue berries and raspberries - both easy to grow and also strawberry rhubarb and even high bush cranberries. I love cranberries and always make my own cranberry sauce. An apple tree would be good . There are some that are hardy. We will use one back corner of the lot to establish some plants and then design and refine later. Looking forward to it.

cw - hope your tomatoes survive.
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do not use corn syrup or honey for humming birds. Sugar dissolved in boiling water.
I do 1 1/2 Cups sugar and about 3 1/2 cups of boiling water.
Itrr...the HB must love your mix.
I do boost the amount of sugar when they start migrating.
And I always have grape jelly out for the Baltimore Oriels.
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cwillie...the walnuts are nasty and the darn squirrels carry them all over the place you never know when one has been "squirreled away". I find them all over, on the bumper of the car, the windshield, on the fence, tucked in the cushions of the outdoor furniture.
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SW Ontario is actually pretty far south plus the great lakes moderate the climate enough to make us part of the Carolinian zone.
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Walnut trees grow in Canada? I always thought of them as a South US tree.
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This year I planted my tomatoes in the ground instead of in containers like I usually do and the other day I noticed one of my Romas (big, beautiful and starting to set fruit) wilting at the tips. I googled and was afraid it is bacterial wilt so I pulled it up today but there don't seem to be any other signs of the disease, it's a fair distance from the walnut trees but now I'm beginning to suspect juglone toxicity. In either case I fear all my tomatoes are doomed 😢
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i know absolutely nothing about gardening --- buttttt, while you're all making beautiful miracles with your gardens, i can keep you company by making you smile/laugh a little:

"If a plant is sad, do other plants photosympathize with it?"

"I feel like I should clean the house, so I'm going to my garden to play until the feeling passes."

"I don't remember planting this."

🙂 "Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes."

"You can bury any number of headaches in a garden."

"A weed is but an unloved flower."

🙂 "I'm a gardener. What's your superpower?"
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🙂 "Garden Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant."
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GA and TNt, we make hummingbird syrup by boiling 4 cups sugar with 4 cups water. This kills any bacteria that could be harmful to the hb. We do not add dye, just feels wrong to feed nature chemical color.
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GA, hummingbird syrup is both a preparation you can purchase to put in hummingbird feeders which don't have any place for a bird to land (hung to attract them to your yard) or one you can make for the feeders from corn syrup or honey and water. I've also on occasion been known to sweep the pollen off my car and add it to the syrup. The commercial preparation is usually red but I don't remember the ingredients list.
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Just ordered some more seed pods for my Click and Grow. I can't garden here in NYC, but I can grow herbs indoors, enjoy the incredibly landscaped garden around my coop and travel not to far to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

There are a couple of community gardens in the area, but all the plots are currently taken. I send my daughter (the one with the house) suggestions for bulbs--like Alium Schubertii-- all the time.
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TNTechie, I'm not familiar with "hummingbird syrup".   Is this pollen collected from some of your other flowers, or is it something that's made or bought commercially?

Glad, there are some really good reasons for 2' high beds.     Back issues, for one, and possibly knee issues as well.   Old age is another!    In addition, the deep soil provides a lot of room for deep roots or potatoes to grow.

Another is being wheelchair bound, or having physical issues that compromise bending.   I know of 2 people with these challenges; one gardens from a wheelchair, the other still (last I heard) manages backpacking despite having lost part of his foot to diabetes.  He's built a little wall type structure over which he can lean while reaching to weed or pick his produce or flowers. 

Diverting from the topic, are you (or others) familiar with Four Wheel Bob?   He's physically compromised, diabetic also I believe, but climbs mountains, or more appropriately described, "wheels up mountains."  This man is amazing.

When I feel sorry for myself, I think of him and his tenacity, physical and mental strength.

Watch 4 Wheel Bob Online | Vimeo On Demand on Vimeo

(Caution:   reading about his challenges and commitments to overcome them can be very emotional.)
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