The Dawg Patch

[GoDawgs]

@GoDawgs Your garden is amazing! I've enjoyed reading about it on our cold sub-freezing day! We can only dream of planting right now. I saw that you had tried growing summer squash vertically at one point. Do you do this anymore? I tried vertical growing last year and it was a bit of a pain, but kept the squash off of the ground.

Thanks for the encouraging words, CT. Yes, I still do vertical summer squash and you're right. It can be a pain. Those plants grow so fast it's like every time you turn around they're needing tying again! I do think that hybrids might be easier for staking. The old heirloom squash vines get pretty long and rangey. But overall, the staked plants seem to stay more healthy for a longer time. Sooner or later the funk seems to find them all.

@MissS, was that a hybrid patty pan? I grew an Early White Bush Scallop last year that was a sprawling monster and refused to submit to a stake.

[MissS]

@GoDawgs, it was an OP, Bennings Green Tint. I did plant it later in the season (end of July) to avoid the Squash Vine Borer's so it didn't have much time to get too tall.

[CtGrower]

I will be trying some hybrids this year. Zephyr and Dunja. Last year I vertical trellised a yellow zucchini from Burpee. I'm not sure if it was OP or hybrid. (free seeds!). It grew past the 5ft stake at the end of the season. I used garden velcro to attach it to the stake. What method do you find works best to train it on the stake?

I was trying to decide if some sort of mesh trellis on an angle might work as well.

[GoDawgs]

@CtGrower, I have an old cotton nightgown that I cut strips of cloth from and use that to tie up the squash and tomatoes too. Also, one thing I have learned though is to use a taller stake for the squash. You're right about how "tall" they can get!

Thanks for that information about Bennings, @MissS . It sounds like a more controllable scallop. If I can't find the seeds locally, I see Baker Creek has it.

[GoDawgs]

It's amazing weather today. The thermometer says 80! Oh, we're going to pay for this somewhere down the line. But for now one of the late camellias at the back of the house is blooming. I think it might be Buttons and Bows', a late winter camellia that can bloom into spring. Blooms are 2" wide. The old tag down at its base is long gone and I can't find my notes on it.

25.02.03 Camellia, possibly Buttons and Bows.JPG

Then there's a very old (20 years?) Mama Lou, a Mother-in-law's Tongue (Sanseviera) that was not moved to the house for the winter. It's so heavy and unwieldy that even moving it with the hand truck up the steps and into the house has gotten to be too much. When the low 20's came she was wrapped up in blankets and left to her own devices. I think I see some viable foliage down in the center of the plant so I need to cut off all the dead stuff and find out.

25.02.03 Poor Mama Lou after temps in low 20s.JPG

And finally, here's Lester who just finished attacking and killing his Christmas toy last night. Time for a nap.

24.02.03 Lester after killing his toy.JPG