Fair Exhibits

These onions are going to the Riley County Fair. The roots and tops need to be removed. The outer leaves will remain and be dusted off. Our 4-H and Open class entries need 3 per exhibit for onions. Go to the http://www.rileycountyfair.com/ to see the fair book with information on classes. Entries need to be brought to Pottorf Hall in CiCo park on Thursday, July 26 from 8 am to noon. Another important reference for exhibiting vegetables is at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/hort2/c405.pdf . This publication gives information on how to prepare the individual crops. 

Rose Blooms

I'm surprise that my hybrid tea roses are still blooming. This vase has my 3 favorite red roses, Mister Lincoln, Olympiad and Papa Meilland. They are all very fragrant. Another worthy red rose is Veterans' Honor. Hopefully, there will be some available for the Riley County fair.
I like to cut my flowers early Monday morning and they usually last on my desk until Friday. It is best to re-cut the stems and change the water daily. One advantage of the hot and dry weather is that I'm having very little blackspot causing the leaves to fall off. I've got a drip tube that I run once a week on these roses. To learn about blackspot, go to http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=586#R .

Scorch is Plant Stress

I have 5 choke berry bushes by the house and they all show plant stress. They have done this in previous years. It isn't best for any plant but usually not life threatening. Leaf scorch, as this is called, is when the plant is loosing (transpiring) more water than it is taking in. For more information on scorch, go to http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=586#S

Onion Harvest

The onion crop was pulled this weekend. I'm surprised they did as well as they did. Cool weather is usually needed for good growth. The frequent, shallow watering and some nitrogen must have done the trick. These onions will "cure" on our covered porch until the necks dry up. Keeping them in a dry and airy location until use is best. Or as I just got off the phone with a grower, chopping them up and putting them in the freezer is a sure way to store them.

Squash plant death

This zucchini squash bit the dust. I cut the stem open to look for squash vine borer. None discovered. There were not many roots when I pulled it up. Guessing it was a root issue. I would be surprised if it was over-watered which would cause root death. I'm not sure what went wrong.

Squash bugs

I'm having a bumper crop of squash bugs this year on my one pumpkin plant. It will be a busy fourth of July fighting for freedom for this pumpkin to survive!