Chives, Garlic Chives and Garlic Propagation

Chives are easily propagated by division, they will also seed themselves, so if you want to save some seed allow them to bloom (bees love them) and watch for the blooms to fade and the little black seeds to start dropping. Divide by gently digging a smaller clump (5-10 plants/bulbs) away from the main clump in the spring or early fall, replant in the desired location. Remember, you can put some in pots and bring them in the house for winter herbs! They like well drained potting soil and bright light.

Garlic Chives

Garlic Chives are also easy to propagate by division and will reseed themselves if the blooms are left to seed. As with Chives bees & butterflies love the small star shaped flowers and so might you! They are a tasty addition to a spring salad. They have a flat grass like leaf, not hollow like Chives and white blossoms. The bulbs on Garlic Chives are not edible.

Garlic with bulblets

Garlic is another easy plant to divide. Depending on the variety you have they will also drop little bulbs and propagate themselves. When you are harvesting your garlic pick out some of the largest cloves to save for your fall planting for next years harvest. You can harvest the bulblets and plant them but they will take a couple of years before you get good sized cloves. If you want some fresh garlic taste early in the spring, harvest the leaves to add to your salads, stir fry.

Planning to try using vinegar to kill the grass that is growing up in my pathway. It would be nice to get the mosses started there again, there are a few spots of moss still growing but the majority has died out. There are so many different formulas that I decided to do more reading on the subject. For anyone wanting to try the vinegar spray, I suggest you go to this link and read up on the findings of “The Garden Counselor.” The findings are quite interesting and informative. http://www.garden-counselor-lawn-care.com/vinegar-weed-killer.html

Vinegar to speed up seed germination

I found this interesting and plan to try it on some of the hard/woody type seeds.

Speed germination of flower seed:

You can get woody seeds, such as moonflower, passionflower, morning glory, and gourds, off to a healthier start by lightly rubbing them between a couple of sheets of fine sandpaper-and soaking them overnight in a solution of 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 pint warm water. Next morning, remove the seeds from the solution, rinse them off, and plant them.

Near the top of the tree, way out of my reach... Beautiful!

The apricots are going fast! Of course the largest, prettiest ones are at the top of the tree! Delicious, tree ripened goodness. Their season is much too short. Our tree is about 35 yrs old now and produces every other year or so.

Yes, this really is an apricot! Yum!

It's Huckleberry Season!

Huckleberries in our area can ripen as early as July 4th, but typically they are ready Mid July and the season can last into September. In our search for the wild Huckleberry we took a drive up to one of my husband's favorite deer and elk hunting camps. It's an easy drive up the old highway then onto a dirt road that goes to a great spot filled with huckleberry plants. This year we picked our first batch July 13th and another on July 19th. Not sure if we will get another picking as the weather has turned quite hot! In addition to huckleberries you can find wild strawberries and Thimble berries. Never enough of the later two to do anything with so we eat them as we find them. While we stretch our legs during a break in picking there are lots of wild flowers and other interesting things to take pictures of and just enjoy the faint hint of pine scent in the air and the warm sun in a beautiful mountain setting. Talk about stress relief!

Wild huckleberries and strawberries.

You really must taste them! A few did make it into my picking bucket!

Thimble berries are getting ripe! 

Thunder rollin' Lightning flashin'!

We had one heck of a storm last night! Thunder rollin’ Lightning flashin’!! Hubby had gone to bed before the big show started... not sure how he slept through any of it! I went out with my camera and could not get one shot of the storm, so grabbed hubby’s little camera and got one pretty good shot.

Cacti, Succulents & Flowers... Oh my!!

On a recent trip to California we were treated to a drive through Joshua Tree National Park. Took far too many pictures to be able to share them all, however a few were of plants that are rare. If you ever get the chance to go there early to mid May is the best time for blooms, most years, we didn't get there until the end of May and most cacti were done blooming. Wear sturdy shoes to protect your feet and use lots of sunscreen! - http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm -

Pholisma arenarium - a dicot, is a perennial herb (parasitic) - Family: BORAGINACEAE

Beehive cactus/Spiny star - Escobaria vivipara (Coryphantha vivipara) Family: Cactaceae, Cactus.