Planting a row of gladiolus - plum tart

I planted a row of gladiolus today.   They are size 3 bulbs which is the smallest available that will bloom.   They will not have big blossoms, but they are very affordable and I will fatten them up and resell the once that are big and replant the smaller ones along with any babies that grow from the mother bulb.  This variety is plum tart.   I planted them in a furrow - after placing some bone meal in the furrow.   I then covered them up making a raised area because they are watering by flooding each some of the raised area.   See my post on aquaponics watering.

Watering plants where it doesn't rain - Aquaponics to the rescue.

We are in the midst of a drought in Southern California and received very little rain, so everything needs to be watered.     The spot where I have planted my plants, has a large pond stocked with fish.  The owner drains the pond weekly and waters her orchard with the waste water from the pond.   The water is brown and has a slight fish odor which means its full of nutrients for the trees.  I created furrows between the rows to flood my plants when she waters this way.  This won't work for the raised beds, but the stuff that's planted in the ground will benefit.  Its a large scale method of Aquaponics.
Here's a picture of the output column.  These are commonly used in orange groves.  I dug canals to each of my rows and they got a very good soaking.  This beats using city water for my plants.

Planting Gladiolus Bulbs - Fiesta

I am busy planting all the bulbs I received at clearance pricing from my suppliers.  This variety of gladiolus is Fiesta.    Its a nice combination of colors which I think will be very dramatic.   Here is a picture of the bulbs before covering.  My planting beds are filled with a mix of planting mix and compost and poured some bone meal in the furrow before sticking the bulbs in the ground.    Bone meal is great for bulbs and tubers, but I have had issues with some of the critters digging up my beds where I have used bone meal.  Maybe they think there is something good to eat buried there.

Planting Dahlia's in June

I planted a couple more dahlia's this morning.   You may wonder why I am planting dahlia's in June.  The simple answer is - because I can!.  I live in Southern California and Dahlias will enjoy the heat of September when most part of the country are counting down the days until their dahlias become a pile of brown stalks from the first frost.   There is also a financial reason!  Most suppliers are winding down their season and I pick up a lot of them at 50-70% off of their regular wholesale prices.   Its a great way to buy my breeding stock at a great discount.   One of the downsides is that its been in the 90's every day this week, so I have to work in some warm weather.   I  will have over 300 dahlia's planted when I am finished and it will be quite a show when they are all blooming.  I planted seduction and bodacious today.

Dahlias - The Great Divide.

I received a shipment of Dahlia's on friday and set about dividing them.   I received 10 of 4 different varieties.     I decided to divide them before planting to get more plants to sell next year.    I watched a lot of videos and read quite a lot on the subject, but was still concerned that I would hurt them.   It turned out - it was quite easy.   I divided most into 3-5 plants and one was so big - I got 5 divisions out of it.   That's assuming that I can spot the eyes.   The key is to have at least part of the stem attached or base of the stem.  That is where the eyes will sprout.  There were numerous tubers that were broke off and they didn't have any eyes.  Toss them - they will not grow - only rot in the soil attracting bugs that will attack your healthy dahlias after their done eating the dead tubers.   Here are some pics before and after the split, along with the varieties that I will be planting.

Tilling - until I couldn't till no more!

I decided to till the rest of the garden that I am not using for raised beds.  I was digging each row by hand with a shovel which works fine - but takes forever.  I rented a tiller for 4 hours from home depot.  I opted for the self propelled big one the tills a wide row.   Here's a picture of the tiller and also the garden after tilling.   It only took me a hour and after I took it back - I was sorry and I didn't till it again in the other directions.   There were spots I missed or didn't go very deep.   This is the first time I have ever used a tiller!  What a wonderful  machine.

New Growth - Zizane Gladiolus Bulbs

The glad bulbs I planted a week ago are now sprouting -  This variety is Zizane.     This variety is a unusual red/white gladiolus.

They were planted in some planting mix that is heavily amended with compost and bone meal.  They are planted in a raised bed.   Glad bulbs should be planted 4 inches deep - and 4-6 inches apart.     The should be blooming in about 6-8 weeks.

New Growth - Royal Sea Gladiolus

The glad bulbs I planted a week ago are now sprouting -  This variety is Royal Sea.    They were planted in some planting mix that is heavily amended with compost and bone meal.  They are planted in a raised bed.   Glad bulbs should be planted 4 inches deep - and 4-6 inches apart.     The should be blooming in about 6-8 weeks.

New Growth - Bristol Stripe Dahlia

The first batch of dahlias I planted are coming up.   I planted them - 5-6 inches deep with the old stem just below the surface.   The soil was heavily amended planting mix with bone meal added.    This variety is a dinner plate dahlia which will produce large blooms.    I am in the process of planting a lot of varieties of dahlias.