On the garden front

[ksmith]

...I now have 15 tomato seedlings at various stages of growth. The tallest are 3 and a half inches tall; others are 2-3 inches, or a little shorter. I am thinking of turning the southeast corner of the backyard into a tomato garden--yes, I know it's a little late to be tilling soil and getting it into shape--just to see what happens. Otherwise, 11 of those seedlings will go to waste, and I don't have the heart to trash them.

Herbwise, I now have a rosemary topiary to go with what I think are thyme and oregano, the two survivors of what had been a 5-herb container garden. I keep trying to find images of the leaves online, but there are so many varieties of each herb that I can't tell them apart. Scent doesn't always work either because all I have to compare with is the dried stuff, and the dried stuff doesn't always smell the same as the fresh. Maybe I'll post pictures in the next day or two, and someone can tell me exactly what I have.

Anyway, used the fresh rosemary in Sunday's lamb. It was very good. It will need its own pot, since it's about a foot high now and could reach a height of 2-6 feet, according to the info card. I really don't think I need a six foot rosemary bush, so I am hoping it remains on the shorter side.

Is it ok to transplant a bonsai tree to a bigger pot? I've had this tree for 4 1/2 years. All the leaves fell off recently, which may have been a response to the A/C. I thought it was a goner, but I put it outside on the off chance that heat and sun would help, and it seems to be coming around. Leaves are sprouting. But the trunk has grown and it just looks cramped. Can I transplant it?

I also bought a lavender plant today. I want to keep that inside. Maybe cut some sprigs and dry them.

Comments

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

Thyme and oregano are both pretty distinctive. (she says, peering at the herbs on her window ledge) They're also two of the most agreeable herbs in terms of growing conditions... it's *very* hard to kill them.

If you know what herbs were in the multiplant pot, I can give you some fairish guesses as to what made it. My mom has grown herbs for most of my life, mostly in a clay soil, a very wet climate and shady yards. Any herb that makes it in her garden can handle a *lot* of abuse.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

http://www.freemanherbs.com/pdf/2008Brochure.pdf

The herb garden I bought was the one called "Outdoor Bistro"--it's on the bottom of the page with the other multi-herb container gardens. The two herbs that survived are the ones nearest the viewer, along the front edge of the pot. One had teeny leaves--I think that's the thyme. The other, which is next to it, has larger, rounder leaves that form trailers--I think it's a variety of oregano, but it could be a type of sage as well.

Or I could be completely off base...

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

Parsley is a biennial. It's pretty sturdy, but it likes lots of light and might have keeled over young. Rosemary is rather delicate, and does better as a houseplant even in southern PA. It almost certainly keeled over. And mom never could keep a sage plant alive (which is a pity, because we both love it madly). Sage has leaves that look rather like a GIANT thyme leaf, often 2" long or more, so you don't have sage.

So yeah, the small leaf survivor is thyme, and the large leaf one is oregano :D.

If you like tarragon, I'd try growing it. It's another one on the list of "almost impossible to kill".

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I like tarragon, so if I can find a plant, I'll add it to the mix.

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

Yes you can transplant bonsai, tho with any tree like thing, best to check on the correct time of year (Autumn ish I think for trees)

However if you want it to still be bonsai then choose your pot carefully. Note that bonsai should also be kept outside as well - in sheltered conditions for best chance of survival.

http://bonsaisite.com/mrepot.html

http://www.bonsaigardener.org/bonsai-tree-care.html

Lavender is really an outside plant, any of the silver leaf plants are usually from hot dry spare climates, so unlikely to do well inside.

Thyme is a woody based plant with pointed leaves, and oregano is less woody and the leaves are softer and rounder.

here is a closeup shot of the thyme outside my place

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebluerose/461154421/in/set-72157594301756677/

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Now see, I originally wanted to put the lavender outside in the patio garden with the herbs, but the info thingie reads that this variety, Little Bee, does best in the temp range 55-65F.

I did usually put the bonsai outside during the summer, but it's been essentially an indoor plant for over four years. It needs something, though, because it's not very leafy. The leaves are coming back since I put it outside, but a few of the smaller branches seem to have died.

I think one of my herbs is thyme.

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

Yes I forget that the US climate can be a bit more extreme winterwise than our :)

I wonder if your bonsai is getting enuf light? I think thats a lot of the problem with having them inside, they need sunlight to do photosynthesis, and lightbulbs just dont cut it :) Thats part of the whole keeping them outside thing but then you have the whole shallow dish, no water retention thing.

It may not surprise you to know i have killed several bonsai in my time!

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

I was kind of thinking you must be from a mild climate *g*. There are winter hardy lavenders, but the average lavender keels over before tobacco does. (you wouldn't know it from hearing farmers talk, but tobacco is winter hardy almost into NY state, and it's awfully hard to kill. nasty plant.)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Judging from the leaf/trunk, it looks as though my bonsai is a ginseng ficus.

Looks like it may be overdue for a repotting. I didn't know you could prune roots.

Special bonsai soil.

That poor little tree. It needs some attention.

[(Anonymous)]

Your rosemary will winterkill outside. But you can bonsai rosemary to keep it a size appropriate to your house.

You might consider putting tomatoes in more than one corner. They're picky about where they grow. In my 20'x20' garden, they grow best in the NW corner next to a fence to shade them from afternoon sun, and next to a compost heap, which gives them extra fertile soil. But I live in a very different climate than you do, so YMMV.

Good luck!
Adrianne