Warty gourd seeds are sold in packets where various types are thrown together. Many years ago my mother gave us gourds for display. They dried out, changed color. and decorated our china cabinet for a time.
I promoted them to the big compost pit I had dug behind the garage, but forget about the living seed within. Later I asked my mother about the strange seedlings coming up in the compost, which is fairly rare for compost. She said, "Hmm. Looks like the pumpkin family. Did you put any gourds in the compost?"
Bingo.
Those warty gourds grew faster than Jack's beanstalk. I had chicken wire around the garage for edible pod peas and bushes on the other side of the compost. They reached out for all kinds of support and spread fast, producing a pumpkin flower and then the growing fruit. The gourd family is shallow rooted but a heavy feeder. I put them in gourd paradise and watered them with the corn. We drove down gourd prices in North America when the crop ripened. We could not give them away.
Rain was on the way today, so I planted warty gourd seeds in the compost and along one fenceline. The yard where Polka and Dottie (two Dalmatians) live has a wire fence with grass and leaves along the bottom, an ideal natural mulch. I pushed the seed into the ground, assuming the rain would give them a perfect jump-start. The gourds will climb the fence and provide a green screen. Our neighbor is a very nice woman who comes over to talk.
I put gourd seeds in compost on purpose. They will stretch out across the back yard and return to the pile as contributions to green compost material. The root system will help change, stir, or open up the compost as it reaches for nutrition. Nothing is lost. The plants produce green (nitrogen) material and hoard moisture.
I have not faced what to do with warty gourd compost that produces gourds everywhere.. Look at it this way. Frost keeps the gourd family from smothering everything.
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| Great Monarda article and photos here. |
I have always wanted to grow Monarda, but that never worked out. Phoenix was sunny enough, but far too hot and dry for this plant. Hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies enjoy the plant, which tends to spread.
I noticed the sunflowers already popping up from the sunnyside garden (well mulched). I simply sowed some of the tiny Bee Balm seeds there, behind where the sunflowers would grow. Both are aggressive growers, so I figure both will do well there.
I have rigged the soaker hose along the sunflower bed, but the next three days of rain will do the job better. Besides, the mulch will hold in the moisture while encouraging earthworms and soil creatures.
When we got home from Moline, late at night - or rather - early in the morning, frogs were hopping around the rose garden. I wonder if the torrential rains or mulch (or both) contributed to the frog population. I cannot remember having frogs in the garden.
Newly installed solar lights brighten with nearby movement, so I can light up the rose garden by walking near the lights. That is how I found the brown mulch moving - and hopping away.
I have a few grassy weeds coming up from the mulch. We could have been more thorough with the newspaper covering, but overall it has worked well. I can pull those weeds and add more mulch.
The bargain bare root roses are already blooming. A month ago, I told Mrs. Ichabod she would see roses in June, but I moved the schedule up with Eye-Poppers in full bloom.
The original eight roses seem to be all yellow, various sizes and shapes. The photo above is a typical dream of rosarians. The Persian yellow rose introduced colors (and black spot) into rose gardening.
Some of the roses I consider perfect are the Queen Elizabeth (pink) and the Double Delight (bi-color and aromatic). The Fragrant Cloud rose is very aromatic but an unusual brick color of pink. Abe Lincoln is still very popular, but not as perfectly red as the more recent Olympiad rose.
