Utah Valley Gardens

Plum Tree Problems
I'm having a bit of an issue with my Italian Plum tree. It's over 30 years old - according to neighbors and by the looks of it - so it's probably to be expected to have problems. Since moving into this house in 2004 the tree has given us a couple of good crops for plum jam and plum chutney.

With this years cool wet spring the bark has begun to split, which is a common woe for thin-barked trees, especially fruit trees. I could work with to save it but it really is on its last legs, so to speak. Yesterday I discovered several dozen leaves have been infested with aphids. The leaves are curled and there is the tale-tell stickiness all over them. I saturated the affected leaves and surrounding leaves with soapy water hoping to slow them down but today they are still there.

Relocating Salvia

Salvia Coral Nymph

This Salvia Coral Nymph was sitting in front of the house this morning. I planted it at the same time I planted four others - shown below - in one of the plots in the backyard. The ones in the backyard appear to be much happier so I decided to re-unite them. Hopefully they will all get along nicely.

 This Salvia is an annual but is said to reseed readily, I'm hoping this is the case because these are a beautiful shade of pink. They are sited in front of the above mentioned Plum tree and will hopefully get large enough to cover the upcoming stumps that will remain after I cut that Plum tree down.

Primrose Opening Up

The Evening Primrose Fireworks Oenothera fruticosa glauca has finally opened up, about two weeks behind schedule. Within a week these red-edged beauties will be covered with bright yellow flowers.


Well, that's all the updating I have for now. I'm going to sow some more Zinnias and Sunflowers to help fill in some empty spots and I think the container plants need a drink of water.