Garden, Home and Nature Thread, May 16

Isn't the iris above from badgerwx gorgeous? I was finishing a spring update from her, and somehow the entire thing was deleted. Drat! Even from the HTML translator! As she noted, gardening always comes with surprises! Next week, I hope! Here's another of her irises:

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

Hi KT,

It is blistering hot here and I have put up many shade cloths in the garden and mulched everything. I am not sure if you have ever heard of perpetual spinach but I always have at least 6 plants going and it is pretty good at self seeding so I usually end up with more. I picked this today and even though it is over 100 degrees, the perpetual spinach just shrugs off the heat and it doesn't get bothered by pests. If I haven't planned well, I know I can always go pick some for a side for dinner. This bowl is a mix of red chard and perpetual spinach which I am doing with the recipe below. Here is a bit about perpetual spinach

Perpetual spinach (Beta vulgaris) is a variety of Swiss chard, not true spinach, providing a heat-tolerant, high-yielding "cut-and-come-again" green that tastes similar to spinach but lasts for months. Unlike true spinach, which bolts (seeds) quickly in heat, perpetual spinach thrives in warmer weather, features smaller, tender stems, and lacks the intense, earthy taste of traditional chard.

https://pin.it/3DcHOemMC

Perpetual Spinach sounds great! Looks good!

I also harvested my garlic. We had such a hot March that it was ready to be pulled. The heat in March decimated my mulberry harvest. I usually am drowning in mulberries but this year I got none. They set fruit just as it was super hot in March and they just shriveled and dried on the tree. I was hoping the trees would bud out again but they didn't. Hopefully I will get an epic harvest next year.

Hope everyone is busy with their garden plans. I look forward to seeing what you all grow.

Weekreekfarmgirl

Thanks for sharing your updates!

Ah, Nature

One reason we spend time in the garden:

Did you know we find birdsong relaxing because our brains associate it with safety since birds stop singing when predators are near?

On top of this, their songs are particularly pleasant to your ear also because of the striking similarities between theirs and human music. pic.twitter.com/Lf6JnDtU7G

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 13, 2026

Tree of the Week:

Tulip poplar in the backyard. The blooms didn't stick around long.

- fd

Gardens of The Horde

What's going on in your garden?

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, May 9

I closed the comments on that post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 01:42 PM

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