Smartie's Bar & Grill #75

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You might try this website www.Trippy.com it might help you figure out what you need to do.
Flying will cause you to miss out on some gorgeous country.

 

St. George, Utah is the closest airport to the park that has regular commercial flights.....unless you really want to drive through the country side for hours. It is 45 minutes from there to Mt. Zion so you will need to rent a car.

 

Today is the great annual bring in the plants day---my most hated day of the year. No frost in forecast yet, but lows are starting to get in the low 40's so might as well do it on a lazy sunday as opposed on a frantic weekday afternoon after work. I have too many plants though not as bad as it was a couple years ago. The herd was thinned and I stopped propagating the ones I have unless someone specifically requests I start one for them. Next year will be a nightmare for me when my work closes as I will be stuck with most all their plants too

 

It's been a weird warm up until this past Saturday, with lots of rain, so the trees aren't turning as they normally do this time of year. A lot of disappointed leaf peepers I'm sure.
Very chilly this morning, 43 degrees and I've turned on the heat for the first time this season. The cat has a major snuggle going on too.

 

Just do NOT fertilize them, or use fertilized soil. Water progressively as you bury the roots to work out any air bubbles, let it settle, then add more soil if necessary. Make sure they are planted 'high' by about an inch or two, so water/snow accumulation during the winter doesn't pool. Mulch well but away from the actual wood of the shrub. (think a one inch open ring around from the actual shrub).

 

Our day is Wednesday, mid afternoon when the temps are warm enough for the bugs to be out and about and not buried in the plant's soil. Also watering well around noon, so it has time to drain.
The kitchen is going to get really crowded again....

 

We were down to 50 degrees two mornings in a row.
I was wondering about the leaf peepers. We have a bit of change in the season nothing spectacular like up north. My two dogs are loving the cold snaps, if you can call it cold. It is a refreshing change. About mid January is when I start looking forward to warmer days.
Responding to you from another post about bee keepers. Someone told me we have too much pesticide farming in this area for bee keepers to put out bees. I would love to have a couple hives of bees. My father kept bees and he was amazing. He wouldn't wear the head gear or anything like that, he would just brush them off when they got on him. We always had fresh honey and a gift to give visitors if they liked honey.

 

Does anyone know what this plant could be, it looks like cosmos except tor the leaves.

 

He is loving the cool weather.

 

You might be able to help me.
A couple of months ago I picked some Mirabel plums from a hedge outside one of the houses down the lane as nobody else seemed be eating them. There was a pile of them on the ground and plenty still on the tree but they were fully ripe and it looked like they were going to waste.
They were delicious so I kept a dozen or so of the stones and potted them up in compost hoping to germinate them and plant them in the hedgerows around the farm.
I've kept them inside near a window and have been keeping the soil moist but after a couple of months there's still no sign of life. Am I doing something wrong or will they not begin to sprout until spring when the weather warms up again. It's not actually been very cold yet, I'm still in my shorts but it does feel autumnal recently.
I'm a complete novice about these kind of things and would welcome some advice.

 

Some wild peach pits that were thrown into a compost pile out side grew into trees. @Montgriffo if you plant them where you want them to grow that might work. You might even look around the tree where you got the plums, it is possible there might be seeds already sprouted there.

 

That's a good idea, I might do a midnight raid to see if there are any young saplings to steal.

 

I'm not familiar with that particular species, but this website shows that most propagation is by cuttings. Some trees and shrubs (that I am familiar with) are very difficult to propagate by 'seed' and are best done with cuttings and rooting hormones, plus sterile soil.

European Plum Propagation | Christina's Plant Propagation Page (psu.edu)

 

Ah thanks, I may be barking up the wrong tree then ('scuse the pun).
I know that apples have to be cloned from cuttings to retain the same flavours and characteristics as the mother plant due to the effects of cross pollination if you just plant the pips. An apple tree grown from seed will be a different variety.
I wonder if that the same for plums or is just that plum stones don't germinate easily?

 

A quick google produced the tidbit that the stone needs cold stratification in order to crack. I will assume it is likely to be applicable to any stone fruit.
Plum Seed Germination, Time Period, Temperature, Process | Agri Farming

 

I think it is an orange cosmos. Not all of the varieties have that same leaf habit as the ones you usually see

 

I man I assumed was dead because he told me like 4 months ago he only had three months to live stopped by to give me some apples. Said they have him on some experimental stuff and are hoping they can keep him a round another year or two based on the results so far.

 

OK, I'll move the pots outside for the winter then.
Thanks for that, if I'd left them in my truck all winter they'd never have germinated.

 

The plant is about 8 ft tall. It is a big plant and the butterflies, bees and bumblebees love it. We are going to harvest the seeds and save them to plant next spring. This plant took forever to bloom, the other plants that were planted at the same time are almost through their life cycle.

 

Today is our Anniversary. It seems almost like yesterday when we got married, time and years fly when you are happy.

 

This is a photo taken on Thanksgiving a few years ago when we were in Tn. My husband indulged me and we drove up into the mountains to see the snow. The picture isn't that good because I took it from a moving car.

 

We don't generally get a lot of snow around here but last year was an exception.

This is one of dad's photos from 50 years ago taken in Germany.

 

Snow here is rare if at all. You have to head north to see snow.

 

Okay still sounds like cosmos to me. I've had that happen in the past even with the more common shades of purple one ones.