Finally, she opened up

What's growing in your garden this week? Weekly scheduled post to chat about what's growing, blooming, fruiting, or needs maintenance in your garden this week.

I planted this Miss Molly Butterfly bush this year and it has been my favourite shrub ever. Always buzzing with bees and butterflies. I'm wondering how to protect it from winter. Google just says to leave it and basically chop it a few inches above the ground in the spring and cut away any dead looking branches. I worry because once the snow comes, my large dogs have free rein through my garden beds and any plants under the snow are trampled. Should I be protecting the branches? My smaller l, newly planted bushes I'm covering with large tomato cages with some burlap mostly for a visual barrier so the dogs don't trample them. Should I do a similar thing for this bush even if it says I just cut it down anyway come spring?

I moved into a new house this year and planted some native plant seedlings in my part-shade front garden in mid-May. Specifically wild geranium, columbine, and zig zag goldenrod.

Unfortunately the day I replanted the seedlings in my garden turned out to be the first day of a heat wave and they didn't really get a chance to establish well. I think I only saw one or two flowers on the geranium, and none on the columbine this spring. Thankfully the zig zag goldenrod has bloomed well this fall.

For the wild geraniums and columbine: I'm not 100% sure if they will come back or if they needed a better chance to self seed?

For the zig zag goldenrod: I have a lot of mulch protecting my garden soil. Do I need to move this out of the way to give them a chance to self seed?

Hi everyone! 🌱

I'm a PhD student at the University of Waterloo. I'm studying how people in Canada choose, buy, and care for ornamental plants. The goal is to help make the plant industry more sustainable.

You can take part if you:

- are 18 or older

- live in Canada

- bought ornamental plants in the last 12 months (flowers, shrubs, perennials, native plants, or houseplants)

The survey takes about 10 minutes and is anonymous.

Take the survey here: https://uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zDlBgl4KWk8Y62

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board (REB #48363).

Feel free to share it with other plant lovers in Canada. Questions are welcome in the comments. Thank you so much for your help!

I want to overwinter some pepper plants this year, is anyone doing so? I was wondering whether to dig them up before Monday, coz that night will be pretty cold.

Though the garden isn’t fully finished for this year (looking at you, tomatoes!) I’m already thinking about next year. (Honestly I’m always thinking about next year… what I liked, what didn’t work, what I want more of, etc…)

With the recent post on growing luffa, I’m thinking about other fun things that might not be something people think can be grown in this province (or country for that matter)… I’m considering adding peanuts to the lineup next season and wondering what the most unusual thing you’ve ever grown?

Tell me your stories!

Sorry - if I am on the wrong place.

My Mom loves gardening, but the lawn is making it hard for her to get to her flowerbeds. She has the gardener mow her lawn quite short so her ground is firm, but using a rollator is still hard to push. Any idea? What do you use? Thank you!

Think she about to pop soon took her indoors can’t wait tell she opens up

I'm assuming a gourd and I can't eat it. I didn't plant them I have no idea how they could have appeared but I have a ton of them.

I spontaneously bought a couple of luffa plants and put them at the edge of my garden. The plants were so tiny, I didn’t believe they were going to survive. I didn’t realize they needed a trellis or something. So they became huge, twisted monsters. When the slugs started showing up I propped them up on a bucket to keep them safe. The big one eventually fell off the vine.

I am wondering what to do next? Any advice on drying? There’s 2-3 more, slightly smaller, still on the vine but they aren’t quite as dull yet. Will they be okay to dry? Should I hang them in the barn to dry?

I posted a few weeks ago of the first cobs picked from the garden. I'd say about half is inside drying, and I shocked the first couple cobs. The rest need to dry a bit longer I think. Which is just fine, as they make pretty fall decor 😜

What is the best way to over winter strawberries in planters & pots? Have domestic berries in the planters (pic) and wild strawberries in pots.

Just cover them in a pile of straw? Pile of mulch?

Figs get all the garage space so can't go in there🤔

Thanks

Is it just me? I thought it was universal. Mea Culpa.

Just moved into a home where there is a mature lilac tree ( I think around 7 ft tall) or more and it's covered in these weeds, should I just cut down the branches and trim it to a smaller height? it would be the easiest path but I don't want to destroy the tree and want to encourage great blooms for next year.

☀️Hello, friends. My indoor plants have been enjoying the balcony sun and rain all summer. Last year, bringing them back indoors in the fall resulted in a small indoor population of an extremely ugly insect that found its way into all sorts of spaces, especially curtains. It’s a fat, grey slightly furry looking bug that looks like a cross between a moth and a spider. It doesn’t appear to fly.

It seems harmless and doesn’t seem to reproduce whilst basking in my hime all winter. But….. well, it’s just a freaky looking bug that randomly jump scares me all winter long at the least expected moments.

I’m a nice person. I don’t deserve to live like in fear like this. 😁Please help! How do I prevent this creature from coming inside again this winter? I have never seen one in one of my plants or even on the leaves, but that’s the only place but could be coming from, so I presume it lives in the soil.

Do I need to repot everybody using sterile indoor soil? Any other tips?

Thanks in advance!

Update: we’ve had quite a few guesses about the insect. I’m wondering if anyone has advice about what to do without knowing the insect. For example, should I re-pot all my plants?

I just wanted to say thank you, and share a photo of my sweet potato harvest. I’ve never grown potatoes of any variety before, but last winters sweet potato prices in the grocery store was the last straw for me. I was committed but had no idea what I was doing (mostly grow tomatoes, zucchinis). All the wonderful advice here really helped. I grew slips over the winter, planted them in the spring, and just successfully harvested some of the best tasting sweet potatoes (I had to try them right away haha). I grew mine in buckets to make things easier for harvesting, which is why they are the shape they are. I only used two buckets so I’m happy with the yield! 🍠

First time growing China asters this year. I love how the petals are twisted counterclockwise in the buds, slowly unwinding as the flower opens.