In article ,
songbird wrote:

Ecnerwal wrote:
...
Strawberries took a major hit either from the winter or from the
side-effects of the winter (I don't know if they were killed or eaten,
that is.)

what type of soil are they in? i've
not had problems here and we have had
mixed weather the past few winters to
show that strawberries are pretty hardy
when it comes to cold. most of the
trouble i've heard with them dying off
is when they are in fairly sandy soil
without much mulch or cover for the
winter. then they can get frost heaved
and dried out.

Normally they laugh off the winters, frequently having green foliage
throughout, so this was a surprising departure from the norm. They are
in horse manure (to be picky, composted HM - essentially anything
resembling dirt in my garden is composted HM from 1-20 years old with a
bit of other compost making up an insignificant proportion, and "soil"
being essentially non-existent) - on top of clay - dig a few feet down
and you can make pots out of it. Mulched with lots of pine needles. I
think I have 4 out of 9 in one patch, of which one is somewhat normal
and the rest have obviously suffered, and 1 out of 15 in the other.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

Ecnerwal wrote:
....
Normally they laugh off the winters, frequently having green foliage
throughout, so this was a surprising departure from the norm. They are
in horse manure (to be picky, composted HM - essentially anything
resembling dirt in my garden is composted HM from 1-20 years old with a
bit of other compost making up an insignificant proportion, and "soil"
being essentially non-existent) - on top of clay - dig a few feet down
and you can make pots out of it. Mulched with lots of pine needles. I
think I have 4 out of 9 in one patch, of which one is somewhat normal
and the rest have obviously suffered, and 1 out of 15 in the other.

we've got mostly clay soil here too and
this past winter was ok, didn't notice any
major loss of plants. a thick mulch could
be a potential problem with all the snow
cover we had. i do mulch some plants, but
none of them heavily, just a light mulch
layer so that the soil is covered to help
keep down frost heaving.


songbird

Ecnerwal wrote:
....
Apart from being miserable, clay does hold water, so that probably
helps. Where it rains more, good drainage helps - where it rains less,
clay can be a good thing (not being from where it rains less, most of
the time, and being abundantly supplied with clay, I found that sentence
hard to actually commit to print...2-3 dumptruck loads of sand would
improve my garden immensely.)

i'd take 2-3 dumptruck loads of shredded
bark over sand any time as that forms such a
nice layer on top of the clay that the worms
can enjoy. helps keep things moist and cool
when it gets hot.

i've found that adding sand to clay is often
just asking to make very hard soil and that the
added organic matter is much better (and lighter
to move ). last winter growing the winter
wheat and winter rye as a green manure/cover crop
that was turned under a few weeks before planting
was the best thing i'd ever done for soil texture
and making the clay much easier to deal with this
spring. lovely results in many respects, only a
few negatives which don't bother me at all.


songbird

On 6/5/2014 4:54 AM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/06/2014 12:24 AM, George Shirley wrote:

I've eaten mice and rats and know what they taste like (think military
survival course). How does a blue tongued lizard taste? Anything like
iguana? G

Reminds me of the movie King Rat.

Dunno what a bluey might taste like. If I had any Jack Russells still
alive I'd ask them because they used to like to tear them apart and only
eat the tail - probably it's full of fat. Mind you, the Jack Russells
would tell lies and say they'd never even seen a blue tongued lizard let
alone killed one.

My Rat Terrier lies about what she's eaten too, until she burps and
gives it away.

On 6/6/2014 8:14 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
bluechick wrote:

I've grown both "Mexican tarragon" and "Texas tarragon". Everything
I've read seems to indicate that they're the same plant, both billed
as Tagetes lucinda, but they aren't the same. I've learned that there
are two varieties of Tagetes lucinda, one that is tall and one that is
short. No other differences are noted.

What's being sold here as "Mexican tarragon" is not worth growing. It
never comes back after the first year even though it's supposed to be
a perennial, has thin curly leaves with a sprawling growth habit,
flowers in late spring, and has only a hint of tarragon flavor. It's
more like a scrawny marigold. My two "Texas tarragon" plants are
absolutely perennials, grow upright, have long 3-in. straight leaves
that are anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, have a strong tarragon
flavor and don't bloom until late summer. I've been able to find it
at only one local nursery. I got a second one from them this year, 5
years after getting the first one from them. Everyone else around
here has the Mexican variety I mentioned above. It's an entirely
different plant and I'll be damned if I can find any book or website
that makes note of the difference. In my experience growing it,
Mexican tarragon and Texas tarragon are not interchangeable.

I grow targetes taragon, here it is called 'winter' taragon. I don't
know why as it dies back each winter. But it comes up each spring and
if used fresh it is quite pungent and tasty. I cannot grow French
taragon, too finicky in my heavy soil.


I've tried Russian tarragon and I don't remember if I liked it or not.
I do wish French would grow well here but it hates our climate. Last
time I grew it I had to treat it as an annual and it didn't do well.

Same here. The Russian sort is a waste of time no flavour.

D
I had the same problem with Russian, yanked it out and gave it to the
Russians who live next door, they love it. I got another Mexican
Tarragon, works for us.

On 6/8/2014 11:38 AM, Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
songbird wrote:

Ecnerwal wrote:
...
Strawberries took a major hit either from the winter or from the
side-effects of the winter (I don't know if they were killed or eaten,
that is.)

what type of soil are they in? i've
not had problems here and we have had
mixed weather the past few winters to
show that strawberries are pretty hardy
when it comes to cold. most of the
trouble i've heard with them dying off
is when they are in fairly sandy soil
without much mulch or cover for the
winter. then they can get frost heaved
and dried out.

Normally they laugh off the winters, frequently having green foliage
throughout, so this was a surprising departure from the norm. They are
in horse manure (to be picky, composted HM - essentially anything
resembling dirt in my garden is composted HM from 1-20 years old with a
bit of other compost making up an insignificant proportion, and "soil"
being essentially non-existent) - on top of clay - dig a few feet down
and you can make pots out of it. Mulched with lots of pine needles. I
think I have 4 out of 9 in one patch, of which one is somewhat normal
and the rest have obviously suffered, and 1 out of 15 in the other.

Heh! We live in Harris Cty, TX, there's five feet of Houston gumbo under
this house with about two inches of sand on top. We actually found some
white clay while digging a hole to plant the Meiwa kumquat. Wife is an
artist and kept it in case I ever set up her kiln again.

On 10/06/2014 1:01 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 6/5/2014 4:54 AM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 5/06/2014 12:24 AM, George Shirley wrote:

I've eaten mice and rats and know what they taste like (think military
survival course). How does a blue tongued lizard taste? Anything like
iguana? G

Reminds me of the movie King Rat.

Dunno what a bluey might taste like. If I had any Jack Russells still
alive I'd ask them because they used to like to tear them apart and only
eat the tail - probably it's full of fat. Mind you, the Jack Russells
would tell lies and say they'd never even seen a blue tongued lizard let
alone killed one.

My Rat Terrier lies about what she's eaten too, until she burps and
gives it away.


:-)) So you too know that disgusting habit of the rotten little liars!

On 13/06/2014 6:01 AM, Derald wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

On 8/06/2014 9:43 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 7/06/2014 11:14 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:

I cannot grow French
taragon, too finicky in my heavy soil.

Interesting. My French Tarragon is as tough as old boots and I grow
it in what I'd consider to be heavy soil.

The summer rain might be a problem too.

Could be. I tend to let my tarragon get quite dry before I notice that
it's gagging for a drink - dunno why it thrives given how badly I treat
my poor clumps.
Do you let tarragon wilt before watering?

"Let" is too active a word - it implies that I am active in what happens
to the tarragon whereas it's more a case of my neglect. I have 2
tarragon patches both along a path that I usually follow to get to any
of the following (worm farm, compost bins, veggie patch, chook run,
nearest garden tap to back door).

One patch is close up to the wall of the house with a few other herbs
including mint in a pot buried almost up to its rim. That tarragon gets
little rain or watering by me and the other patch is beside a number of
clumps of chives and garlic chives on the western edge of my rose
garden. That patch faces due west and gets fierce afternoon sun so it
gets parched quite often.

They tend to be fairly desperate when I notice that they need water but
sometimes I will be consistent and good at giving them water for a few
weeks at a time.

Presently, I'm forbidden from growing tarragon due to my propensity
for leaving it out in rain. She Who Knows reasoned that her occasional
use of tarragon in the kitchen does not warrant the coninued cost of
replacing plants as I kill them; sigh....
I do well at protecting (most of) the other kitchen herbs from too
much sun and too much water but for some reason there seems to be a
block on tarragon and thyme.

Which kitchen herbs are you protecting from the sun?

Most of my kitchen herbs are planted where they get as much sun as I can
for them because I've always thought that increased their 'volatile
oils' (although that may not be the best way of describing their active
ingredient).

I find that thyme in particular thrives in full sun and loves the heat,
- as does rosemary and basil.

In article ,
says...
On 8/06/2014 9:43 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 7/06/2014 11:14 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:

I cannot grow French
taragon, too finicky in my heavy soil.

Interesting. My French Tarragon is as tough as old boots and I grow
it in what I'd consider to be heavy soil.

The summer rain might be a problem too.

Could be. I tend to let my tarragon get quite dry before I notice that
it's gagging for a drink - dunno why it thrives given how badly I treat
my poor clumps.

Most of the artemisias I've grown have been survivors.

Our French Tarragon has been in the garden for 30+ years (Zone 5, sandy soil).