Another weekend filled with garden work is over. Everything is looking wonderful. The lush growth of roses, peonies, ferns, lettuce, herbs, and hydrangeas is currently overpowering the army of weeds lurking in the background.
I have two small garden mysteries to share. The first is the beautiful redbud tree that we planted in the fall of 2008. Last summer it was happy and healthy, blooming vigorously in the spring, leafing out nicely in the summer. I loved its nice shape and its place in the garden, near the "stump" bed in direct sight from the kitchen windows. This year, after a long and unusually cold and snowy winter it appeared to be dead. The promising buds on its branches dried out, and there was no sign of life until early April, when blooms first appeared on the trunk near the ground, followed by new shoots and healthy looking leaves along the trunk as well. The beautifully branched top part is still lifeless. So what to do? Do I cut the dead branches out hoping for the new growth to survive and take over?
Another mystery is this years crop of pod peas. Or I should say lack of crop. The peas were planted 4 weeks ago, and is growing energetically, almost overpowering their supports. But there are no flowers, and therefor no peas... This has never happened to me before. Granted I am sometimes a bit neglectful, and the spot where they grow is not in full sun, but not one single flower? I am puzzled. Right now I think it is the batch of peas that I planted that is defected.
If any of you have an answer or even a suggestion to fix these problems, I would welcome them warmly. More photos from the garden to come.
3 comments:
Lotta, sometimes if the beds are too fertile (too much nitrogen), plants can grow fast and produce lots of leaves, but no fruit or flowers. I don't know if that's the problem, but the balance of fertiziler issue caused this to happen to me before with other plants. Bone meal and other high phosphorus organic additives might help.
Lotta, it seems to me that your redbud has died back and those upper branches won't regrow. If it were me I'd leave them longer just to make sure and then cut them back.
I have a redbud in my front yard :-)
My peas are the same size as yours and no flowers, different seasons here though. I think yours will be fine, but maybe more (or less) fertiliser will help them bud up. They seem to be putting all their energy into growing!
Thank you Maria and Susie for your advice. Maybe it is the fertile ground that makes the peas only grow leaves - I'll give them a bit longer. Maybe they will have a change of heart. And, yes the redbud top is most certainly dead. I'll cut it back towards the fall.
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