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How much of each vegetable should you plant, to feed a family of 4 for the growing season and beyond? The answer to that will depend on a number of factors such as, which vegetables you like to eat and whether you’ll be using your vegetable garden to grow for fresh eating or for preserving.

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of spring in your area? In the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks, the first signs of spring are the Red Buds every where you look. This is closely followed by Dogwoods, Service Berry, and Wild Cherry. The return of the Blue Birds looking for nesting spots and the winter birds plummage changing to their spring colors and mating songs. Isn't it wonderful, only six more weeks to SPRING! What are your first signs of spring?

OK people this is how to bottom black spot, first of all this is done in winter, when you prune your rose tree;s first of all prune your rose trees and rake all the rubbish up were your roses grow and anywhere else within 40 ft make sure any leaves with black spot on them are removed totally, next on a fine day you are going to spray with lime sulfur you will spray all around your garden up the walls were anything grows all around the areas around fences and fence post give your rose trees a good spray and don't be sparing, this also speeds up leaf drop, this process is a bit smelly but it works, what you are doing is killing the black spot spores,not many gardeners kill all the spores in one season so be prepared to repeat it the following winter, 3 weeks after you have sprayed you are going to spray all around again with copper oxychloride
this kills a lot of scale, mites,aphids,and fungal diseases try and spray to give 2 days of dry weather, then from rose leaf bud spray every two weeks, this keeps down your aphids and mites and controls powdery mildew finally feed your rose trees twice a year,once shortly after you have sprayed and after your first good show of flowers,this may appear a lot of work but once you bottom black spot you could spray every two years it all depends if your neighbors over the fence has black spot the spores will blow over into your place so i suggest sharing this with them

Whether you grow them in beds or in containers, roses appreciate soil that’s loamy with a pH of about 6.5. Just what does that mean and how do you achieve it? Read on and I'll tell you.

What is Loamy Soil?

A loamy soil contains three particle sizes in relatively equal proportions – clay, sand and silt. This mix makes the soil just porous enough to allow good water retention and drainage as well as air and nutrient circulation.

So get to know the composition of your soil. Is it sandy? Heavy clay? Grab a handful and squeeze it in your fist. When you open your fist what happens? Good soil will crumble not clump (too much clay) or slide off your hand (too sandy).

What is Soil pH?

Soil pH tells you the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. A pH of 3.5 is highly acidic and 9.0 is extremely alkaline. Roses prefer a soil pH closer to the middle, around 6.5. You can determine your soil’s pH with a home soil test or send samples to your local cooperative extension for more thorough results.

Getting the Soil Right in Your Rose Garden

So how do you transform what Mother Nature supplied you into something that will make your roses happy?

If you’re planting roses in containers or raised beds, you’re in luck. Just mix up a batch of this rose soil.
1/3 potting soil 1/3 compost 1/3 bagged manure
Amending garden soil will take a little more effort because digging is required.
1. Dig 12 inches deep into the soil, setting the removed soil to the side. 2. Mix 2 parts garden soil with 1 part compost and 1 part bagged manure. 3. Return the soil to the area as you plant your roses.

Posted by P Allen Smith

Preventing Squash Borers: Sow radish seeds around squash plants to repel squash borers and cucumber beetles. Leave them there to go to seed.

Come on people lets here from you even if its winter there is things to do in your garden i offered a cure for black spot but i think the members must have hibernated come on its no point in being a member if you don't contribute Teddy

Bulb Plants That Deer Don't Eat

By David Beaulieu, About.com Guide

Whether it be deer-resistant bulbs or another class of plants, there's a lot to be said for battling Bambi simply by growing what he's less likely to eat. While all bets are off if he's hungry, planting bulbs that he tends not to eat at least puts the odds in your favor. Fencing is another option but comes at a price and can detract from the appearance of your landscaping. Below you can learn about some of the types of bulbs less often lost to deer:

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Muscari armeniacum



Description

Grape hyacinth are a familiar sight in the spring. The terminal clusters of small bell-shaped cobalt blue flowers resemble and inverted clump of grapes atop the slim green flower stalk.

Planting Tips

Like other bulbs you have to let them go through that essential period of scruffy foliage after flowering so they will bloom again next year. The leaves should not be removed for at least 8 weeks after the last flower fades.

Suggestions

If there ever was a flower that taught me to appreciate the "little bulbs" it would have to be the grape hyacinth. They are versatile, tough and provide shades of blue untouched by any other bloom in the early spring garden. A more intimate inspection reveals a flower of subtle beauty. A tiny bouquet of them is hard to beat, especially with their intoxicating aroma. I learned quickly that you don't plant them, rather you sow them more like seeds. It takes lots of these little guys to make an impact - but watch out, in vast numbers they can really be a knock out. I have planted them as borders in gardens along with candytuft, Iberis sempervirens. If the sometimes tempermental candytuft will cooperate the effect can be stunning. The dark plant contrasted with the clean white blooms of the candytuft is sensational. In my neighborhood of vintage homes you can still find lawns that have not been disturbed by modern hybrid grasses and herbicides. Here the grape hyacinth has naturalized and the flowers are beautiful among other wild lawn flowers in the early spring. It makes a nice alternative to the perfect golf course style lawn.


Type perennial bulb

Zone 3,4,5,6,7,8

Categories spring flowering bulb

Bloom Colorblue

Bloom Time early spring

Light Full Sun

Soil moist, rich, well drained soil

Height 4 to 8 inches

This Gardener Turns Potholes into Tiny Worlds

The Pothole Gardener finds holes in urban spaces, then patches them up with plants. In the miniature scenes he creates, pansies grow larger than park benches, bicycles lean against daisy stems, and cyclamen tower above knitters’ armchairs.

Londoners stop to stare, but they’re too tall to drive through a hyacinth forest, picnic under the Chinese lanterns, or play tennis beneath the mums. Only a Lilliputian could live in these worlds.

A former guerrilla gardener, Steve Wheen wants only to beautify his city with his diminutive designs. He realized he could tell a story and fill a pothole at the same time: “I’m leaving a beautiful little scene in a big, dirty city. I hope it gets people thinking."

Everyone hates potholes, he explains. But when people see his pothole gardens, "They always smile — often after looking somewhat confused — and that’s why I do it.” Passersby stop to take photos, and children ask endless questions, adoring these whimsical fantasies.

Wheen recalls his earliest gardening memories of helping his grandfather plant daffodils. It was serious business: His grandfather bred the first red trumpeted daffodil. Growing up in Australia, Wheen’s garden spaces sprawled. But as an adult living in East London, his tiny flat offered no planting space at all. “Not having a garden made me hit the streets with my trowel and pansies.”

So far, he’s inspired an international following of fellow pothole-fillers, from a lady in Paris to a group in Montreal. Wheen receives photos of pint-sized plots in bloom from all over the world. And he occasionally takes requests — though he stays away from busy highways.

His street and sidewalk creations might last a few months or a few minutes. One tenacious daffodil sprung up a year later. The Pothole Gardener says he has no favorite. He loves each one. “These are little moments of happiness, small and fragile.”

--Carolyn Cotney / images: The Pothole Gardener

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