Since January, I’ve been training to become a Certified Master Gardener. Currently a “Master Gardener Intern”, I’m amazed how much more I’ve learned, gardening since age seven. Learning about the diagnostic aspect has been my favorite – like “plant CSI”, identifying diseases, bugs and other issues.
Gardening’s long been in my blood – a need to be outside and in earth. As any gardener can attest, sometimes things aren’t always perfect. We’ve had a late season, a wet spring, and a ‘buggy’ summer. I’ve noticed more, ahem, “imperfections” in my garden, appreciated more breathtaking beauty outside than inside any art museum, and also considered that invaders from outer space had landed on some of my plants.
Thank you Nicole for this very informative article, as well as, pictures! I’m a visual person and the close up photos were fantastic showing “the good, bad, and ugly” in the garden settings! Thanks for the tips on staying organic with the pests that need to be treated! Enjoy your beautiful plants and continued good weather!
Hi Cindy!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! I love taking photos of what I see outside. It’s fun to look back each season and see how the garden looked each year or what bugs we battled or beautiful butterflies we notice. Today in my flower bed my daughter and I saw two Monarchs! We haven’t seen any in our yard in years! Thanks for stopping by! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Nicole,
Great post. My daughter and I had a major infestation of aphids in our flower garden, which is a big deal as it was completely wiping out our zinnias…. rows upon rows of gorgeous zinnias. We tried Neem Oil and had some success. It was so important for us to go the organic and safe route. We were finally able to get it under control, but in the mean time I really worried about the good bugs that were being effected even by the Neem Oil. And we also picked off beetles and put in soapy water… by the thousands! 🙂 I’ve heard the same thing about the beetle bags – you’re just asking for trouble by inviting the whole neighborhood of beetles for supper! 🙂
What an awesome class the Master Gardener class must be. I’ve always dreamed of taking it. Someday! 🙂 And yes, there is a whole lot to gardening that most us of have no clue about. Thanks so much for sharing!
I think being in the garden with the butterflies, bumble bees, and other bugs is just about the happiest place to be!
– Dori –
Hi Dori, I agree! I am most happiest outside and in the garden, especially if my daughter is with me. I have plants there from friends that have traded and shared from their gardens, a quince bush my dad and I planted together the first time he ever visited (he doesn’t remember, but I do), and nothing’s better than dinner from whatever I’ve plucked that is ready to eat. As for the Master Gardening class, it’s been hard work, but I’ve met some amazing people, learned so much, and am really enjoying it doing something that was on my “bucket list”. 😉
Here in Connecticut, two of my friends and I all noticed our zinnias were not what they have been in recent years. I think mine got planted late due to the bad weather. A dinner guest just brought me some pink ones yesterday as a hostess gift! I love them. Hope yours are okay after those aphids!
Farmgirl Hugs,
Nicole
I thoroughly enjoyed your blog.. Great pictures too! Perhaps now the tables have turned..Now I can call you for advice, lol.
Thanks, Russell! I have to say your yard and flower beds look great every time I visit! And your cacti collection is awesome. ~ Nicole
What a coincidence! I have scores of squash beetles this year, though I usually have them in various quantities. Any ideas for a natural deterrent? I also thought that I had dodged the millions of tiny flies that hatch on my grape vines the last several years. I purchased Neem oil to spray on in the spring, but didn’t follow through. Drat…
I know that yellow jackets have their place in the garden, and I usually can coexist with them. Last weekend they became very aggressive and I got stung on the back of the hand. I finally had to remove several nests under my potting shed patio so that they would quit bombing me! I made a natural spray with peppermint oil, with little or no success. Is there something natural to use that will keep the yellow jackets from rebuilding at the same site of the old nest? We have hundreds of nesting sites on our outbuildings!
Hi Jan! For the squash beetles, use the organic kaolin clay that I mentioned. The trademark name is Surround. It’s a white powder that you mix with water (the amounts are on the package). Spraying under the leaves of things like potatoes, squash, kale, and cabbage keeps down those and other critters, keeping them from laying eggs underneath. It’s on the expensive side because it comes in such a big bag, but if you do what we did and chip in as a group with a few friends, it isn’t bad and it’s worth it. You’ll spray the underside of the leaves with it when you plant, and here and there during the season when it gets washed off by the rain. As for yellow jackets, I myself do not know of anything natural or homemade to deter them. We had a terrible time last year at my house with them. It was the worst I ever saw them, and we only had limited success with a more “natural” commercially sold spray, so I am not sure what to tell you there except be careful! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
I am so impressed, Nicole! The pictures are beautiful too. I never heard of “galls” before. We have azalea’s and I will have to tell my husband, Richard, since he is the gardener in our family. I think the red rose is gorgeous, and we had a rose that color on our property in Rockport, Texas. All our roses here have died. You sound like a real “Master Gardner” and I learned a lot I never knew. We learn all our life. I am very proud of you. Love,
Mother
Thanks, Mom! I never noticed galls on my azaleas before this year. Now I notice things like that everywhere…I find it so interesting. Love you, Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Thanks for all your photos and information. I’m at the very beginnings of learning about gardening, in pots only for now, but I’m excited to always learn more. Thanks for sharing Nicole. I look forward to seeing and reading more about gardening 🙂
Thanks, Denise! I will be posting more in the future. So glad you enjoy reading my posts. Good luck with your gardening…it’s a lifelong passion that is an amazing, rewarding thing to do. Enjoy! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
Great article Nicole, loved learning more. I too, took a Master Gardener course back home in La., and learned so much, we received a huge notebook and I am always referring back to it for info. Be Blessed. Neta
Hi Vivian, Awesome! I love the notebook we got, too…such great info. They also recommended wonderful books, which I have been trying to purchase and build up a “gardening library”. So glad you liked the post…thanks so much! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole
You are so I intelligent about plants and bugs….wish you could yell me about this……I have this plant that has been showing up in my garden. It has a yellow flower that looks like a Hibiscus but grows like a tree….three flowers on the top…then two, then one big flower.the leaves look like OkrA.I wish I could show you. But can’t send a photo. I know it’s a weed but is so pretty I let it grow.
Hi Susana, Hmmm…sounds pretty. Without seeing a photo or knowing what state/zone you are in, I can’t say for sure. Is there an Extension office near you? Master Gardeners are there to answer those kind of questions. I’d love to see what it is. Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole