Garrett Schantz

I also may or may not grow Sunspots from Hayefield again. It's a variegated leaf sunflower.

It's an unstable mutation. Much like a certain type of petaled sunflower.

There's also Teddy bear sunflower. Plus some white and red or multicolored petal types.



I've also been looking at some "Double" Echinacea. Most of those seem to be patented. A few aren't.

They have poof balls on the landing pad. Or rather, maybe petals grow around it? The landing pad itself still seems visible and the petals appear to surround it.

Puff type have a larger bud / landing pad, with the same thing going on.


There are two other interesting mutations as well.


Echinacea, Paradiso Super-Duper and Double Decker. These both grow second buds on top of the centers of other buds. One has doubled flowers / petals.

Baker Creek sells both of these. They're both noticeably different but some places sell them as the same things.


One mutation is also seeminly stable. The other is unstable. So, they could be different mutations for all I know.

Letting them cross would be fun.


Crossing in green twister would also be nice.



I'd like to grow Chocolate Daisy, Blue Spice basil and Chocolate Cosmos.

These are all fragrant. Chocolate Daisy is fragrant and edible - the fragrance requires crushing / deadheading.


Cosmos sulphureus is edible. There's also some nice looking cosmos of other species.

I've been wanting to cross some edible types over into an ornamental type, alongside Chocolate cosmos while selecting for nice smelling hybrids which are still edible.



Marigolds - there are two other relatives I'd like to grow as well, I'd like to work with those. Plus Dahlias. But those would be on a backburner.



And I'd likely only purchase seed, if I manage to get Purple Galaxy before its sold out.


There's supposedly a marigold species which has lemon tasting petals. That could be fun mixed with some local Rhus species. I've been thinking of making a Lemonade substitute.

I figured that I'd mention a new Baker Creek tomato here.


Purple Galaxy. It will be released in limited amounts, in early 2024.


It's anthocyanin is inside of the fruit. And outside, seemingly full coverage.


I'm assuming that it doesn't require sunlight to produce its colors.



And some leaves reportedly have anthocyanin showing on the foliage.



It's seeminly larger than most cherry tomatoes and of course Currant Tomatoes. Showed up as a mutant or something.




I'd like to cross it with Great White or Sart Roloise.

Sart Roloise may not have as intense of a sweetness as Great White or White Beauty. I'd prefer to grow the three of them, and check when one has a more fruity flavor.


I would like to properly mix these in with one of these. Simply because these have a different fruity flavor than what this fully blue type does.

The fully fruity one, likely has fruity tones due to the anthocyanin. It's noted in other anthocyanin tomatoes, but its seeminly more pronounced in these due to the higher content of anthocyanin.


If these can be mixed, that would be great.


Otricoli Orange and typical blue S. nigrum specimens, taste very different from one another.


Jaltomata also has a similar flavor.


Purple Smudge, Burnley Bounty and White Currant are also some things that I'd like to breed into this.


Purple Smudge, has anthocyanin from Solanum peruvianum.

It could cause a die off depending on what anthocyanin genes are found inside of Purple Galaxy.


I'd prefer to cross Purple Smudge with something like Garden Peach, before moving it into Purple Galaxy.


Burnley Bounty and Purple Smudge both have semi recent Peruvianum genes.



I keep on getting put off on crossing these.


This year, I'll make sure that I do these things.


Or I'll cross them into an Exserted tomato at the very least.

Hello, everyone.

A year or so ago now, I moved to Mississippi.


I lived in Pennsylvania prior to this.


Anyways.


There's two Wisteria shrubs growing out here.


There were others.


They were pulled out.




I can post some images.


I can't recall if I've posted about this here before.



I will try and see if I can't get images again. I'm not 100% if this is the best to post this.



Anyways, the Wisteria were overgrown.


My mother cut some shrubs and things with loppers and a saw.



Since then, the shrubs leaves have become yellow and have been turning brown and drying up.


I've figured that some sort of disease has been transmitted from tools or something.


The issue wasn't here prior to us moving.


The shrubs are pretty old.




I was researching some plant genetics and GMOs earlier.


Eventually I was looking at Arabidopsis thaliana and  Agrobacterium tumefaciens.


It's pretty impossible to obtain the one. And probably illegal to make anything with.


Either way.



I came across the fact that it causes galls on plants.


And I then remembered that the Forsythia at home, was covered in galls.


Some golden rod plants nearby had some galls, as did some Rubus occidentalis.



And I came across a link almost immediately after thinking about that, of Wisteria with near identical symptomatic leaves.


I haven't seen any galls yet. But, there's not a ton of new growth doing much of anything yet.


And I'd imagine that the stuff would transfer from upper growth to the roots and things, so maybe immediate new growth wouldn't be as apparent at first.


Plus we had high heat and things for awhile.


We also had Rhododendron, Azalea and other things.


So it could be other issues.


Others said to give it a season and the Wisteria would come back.


My parents don't clean their gardening tools.


Which. Appearently is bad.



Wisteriopsis reticulata is also growing here as well.


But it wasn't cut up.


As much.




Should I just go ahead and kill the shrubs?


Wisteriopsis reticulata, has some bean pods on it at the moment. I've also found some stray seedlings near the vines.


They're on an uplifted area by a fence unlike the Wisteria.


I'm probably going to try and collect seed from these and plant them elsewhere.


Or something.



I was hoping to collect seeds and eventually graft Wisteriopsis and Wisteria, to try and see if their growth habit or flowering times change.


I wanted to see if I could try and cross these things.


One flowers in the spring apparently, and the other is a mid to late summer sort of bloomer.


They probably won't overlap in flowering time.



Grafting may be out of the question now.





Does anyone have some advice on what to do here? I've heard that woody plants don't recover from crown gall.

I'm going to try and look into growing Konjac, Mioga, Ginger, Blue Turmeric and some other things.

Maybe Musella lasiocarpa and other things.

Aralia cordata, also known as mountain asparagus or Japanese Spikenard. It's also widely known as Udo.

The shoots and stems can be used like Asparagus or tossed into miso soup.


Over here in North America, we have what's called Aralia racemosa.

It's usually used as a substitute for Aralia nudicaulis - Wild Sarsaparilla.

Root beer and Sarsaparilla, are pretty similar.

Locally there's a blueish white berried Smilax species.

There's a tropical sort of Smilax species, Smilax ornata. It's been used in making Sarsaparilla.


I'm very much interested in trying to make some hybrids with different species. Sassafras root beer sounds interesting, but its probably toxic. Its probably more of a once every year or every few years sort of drink if Sassafras is added.


Gaultheria miqueliana and Gaultheria procumbens, are known as wintergreen. Spearmint is also added to these sorts of drinks.


Konjac is related to Amorphophallus titanum, the Corpse Flower.

Species in the genus can hybridize with one another.



Permaculture seems pretty interesting to me.


I've been making lists or a list of things, which can't obtained if disasters and things were to ever happen.


A lot of things are outsourced or obtained from far away.


Now, back to Konjac.


I'd preferably grow Konjac next to / around, Pawpaws.


Asimina triloba and related species, attract flies and beetles as pollinators.



I've also been wanting to plant Asarum canadense or other Asarum species, underneath Pawpaws. They're both fine with the same levels of shade, or Pawpaws would provide cover for the Asarum species, and those could in turn help new seedlings establish.


Magnolia macrophylla and some Tulip poplars are on that list for a similar reasoning.

Western skunk cabbage - Lysichiton americanus, is found in wet areas of the Pacific Northwest. Another Lysichiton species is found in Russia's far East and Japan.


The Eastern skunk cabbage - Symplocarpus foetidus, is in the same family as Lysichiton. This genera has one species found in North America. Maybe it could be split up into more species.

Symplocarpus is also found in Japan and Russia.

These both oddly have the same names of Skunk cabbage, but the flowers are different looking.

But, a further look shows that they have a similar origin or likely spread in a similar way from Asia, into North America or vice versa in similar fashions.


Symplocarpus can be found in Tennessee. But, the species also creates heat underneath snow cover and heats away snow and ice, making pollen before anything else.


In my area, Elephant Ears and Canna Lily can grow here as perennials, even in standing swampy water.


Elephant Ears are found in the Araceae like some other mentioned species.

Canna lilies are in the Cannaceae, but they're also Zingiberales - so they're somewhat related to Ginger / Mioga and Turmeric.



Some species in the Araceae can make wide hybrids between genera.


Either way. The point is, that many of these attract flies and beetles or other interesting insects.


Konjac, isn't very well known in North America.

It can be made into a jelly - it's nearly tasteless, but it can be used as a nice flavor container.


Konjac functions as a very small shrub / tree.


It would grow over Asarum canadense, easily.


The two skunk cabbages, are lower growing ground covers.


So, I don't know if one ground cover would overtake the other with Asarum canadense in the picture.



These would be deviating away from garden things. But, making a page on a forest garden or whatever seems like it would be redundant.

Most households are built over stands of clay.

So, with some local materials, you could make clay balls that way.


Wildflowers ideally self sow after that, and feed birds as well.

It all goes back into the soil, and it would be locally harvested.

Unless you're planting farms, you shouldn't need too much clay.


I doubt that the composition matters much when it comes to the clay, if it's used for seed balls.

Agarita, seems pretty interesting.

I'd assume that it would do fine in USDA Zone 8a.

I've searched up on Opuntia and deer.

It seems like in Texas,  they're loved / favored by them.


The favorability seems to differ place to place in Texas.


And they aren't preferred when other things are available, may be preferred to due being less dry - having high moisture contents in the heat.



One neighbor here, mentioned that where he came from further south, deer would eat sagebrush and things.

And that their meat tasted seasoned from all of the things they'd eat there.



I hadn't considered or thought of Yucca.

I'd actually considered trying to plant it near / next to Sabal minor / Dwarf Palmetto in a few areas here.


And, I guess that deer do seem to love flowers. And Yucca have huge flowering stems / stalks.



I'd assume that deer will also eat Yucca fruits and spread them around. Probably depends on the species.



Thanks for the ideas.



I mainly like to just watch deer and things myself.


But, hunting is also nice. And others would also probably like having a food plot of sorts nearby.



Diverse things, means different nutritional values and the like. Which means that deer would probably nibble or gorge themselves on various things.


And, they'd do it year round if I plant the correct things.

I moved from Pennsylvania, to Mississippi roughly a year or so ago.


We have a decent sized property.


And my father put a salt block out.


We've noticed deer - two or three, which seem to frequent the area. It's mostly goldenrods, passionfruit and some other things in that area.


There was a good bit of cover before that was taken out.



There are some hickory and pecan nuts, that I've been chucking over in that area.


I believe that those could eventually come up, and make trees over there.


I threw them in large numbers, because deer will likely browse them to death.



In Pennsylvania, baiting and food plots, were more or less illegal.

They were seeminly illegal in Mississippi for a time as well.


You can shoot deer near these or attract them to your plot.



I've read that people plant apples, Brassicas and other things.


I've been thinking of American Plum, American Persimmon, Pawpaw, Osage Orange and maybe even a hardy citrus or two.

I've read that the peels are sometimes eaten by deer, to help with digestion.


Plus, maybe some local oaks, hickory and things.

Some Beauty berries also seem to grow wild here.

So, I'll probably encourage some to grow there as well.


I've found berries from plants, just straight up eaten off the plant, along with the stems and leaves which were around them.


There's some Sabal minor plants growing here, to some extent as well.


They're fenced in, as ornamentals.


But, I've read that deer may eat their bundles of "berries."



With Pawpaws, Sabal minor and some other things - deer won't touch the leaves, but they'll gobble up the fruit.

Other trees like oaks and the like, they'll probably still browse the leaves.


Beauty Berry leaves don't seem to be preferred forage, but they'll eat them if they see berries.


They may eat immature plants.



I'm not too interested in purely grassy or oat, sort of mixes.

Unless they can be encorporated into the mentioned mix.


The area goes upwards to a hill, somewhat swampy / muddy here.

There are some trees up the hill, and forests nearby.


So there's some brief shade.


I'm also aware that some forage and things can influence a deers taste.


And, deer that eat persimmons and things, will likely poop them out all around the area.

There's also a Sumac of some sort, starting to form a colony near the mentioned area. I've read that deer enjoy those.



Am I missing anything here, to plant?


These also don't necessarily have to feed the deer while hunting.


There's a much longer hunting season than back in PA.


So, we aren't worried about not getting any deer.


But, I'm pretty sure that the food availability and frequency of seeing deer, will increase with a food plot.

I've seen some studies saying that deer don't like food plots as much as some things.


But those seemed biased towards singular, oat, corn and monoculture or single feeding types of areas.

Or ones which get tilled and disturbed often.



I'm also not against letting wild Sunflower relatives and the like grow.


To me, a food plot should have some shaded areas - or constant cover. And it shouldn't be disturbed once the plot begins to establish.


Pawpaws would probably do fine, closer into the shaded parts.


American Persimmons, American Plum and some other things, may do well in the sunnier spots.


Sabal minor, the ones here. They don't get huge trunks, and they bush outwards.

That should leave cover for some trees to grow around them, and deer would have issues getting close enough to eat seedlings of trees.


I've read that deer, will nibble on Osage Orange fruits - stomp them into oblivion to get at the seeds, if they're hungry.


Larger buck may actually enjoy the fruits and consume them.


I believe that Buck with larger necks, are able to eat them.

Cattle and small necked horses reportedly choke on them.


That could be why Buck seem to eat them, while does nibble.


I've also noticed that people plant them far away from where anything local, has eaten them.


Deer could have troubles digesting them, but I believe it's an issue with chewing them and whatnot.


I believe that if they know that American persimmons drop to the ground here, along with Pawpaws and American plums, that they'll also nibble at or eat other things lying around.


Honey Locust, might be OK in a bit of shade here.

It's a bit out of its comfort zone here.


I've heard that deer eat the pods and all.



Either way. I've heard that Persimmons are on a list of things that deer love. Notably, American Persimmons.

They drop from the trees. Asian types, tend to stay on the trees, and deer need to reach for them. Deer don't like to do that.


I'm assuming that letting established passion fruits just seed themselves into the area, also wouldn't hurt.


I feel like squirrels and other animals just help keep a food plot tidy, and deer might feel more at home or feel less like there's something off about the area.




Does this sound like a good setup?


I imagine that I'll need tubing and things for young trees / seedlings.


I'm not bothering with the hickory and pecan seedlings. I'll just overseed them, until there's a bunch of survivors.


Do I need to add anything else here?

Yeah, I've had issues with runner beans since moving to Mississippi.

It rains a lot, it's swampy and gets hot and dry towards summer.

I'm trying again next year.



It could be worth planting out the larger beans if one plant gave those out. Plant them in a group and see if they're just larger than others.

Runners and things like Limas can have a chance of crossing over with common beans.

Pretty neat having larger beans either way.


Could be a form of a mutation too.

I've simply noticed that these traits almost died off in certain situations, so I'd like to try and make a disease resistant and nice looking / tasty melon.


I'll probably try sending seed out to others as well.


I'll probably do a mix of what you mentioned with letting bees do what they want and doing some hand pollination.


Spreading around grexes and the like with these traits, should also mean that others will inadvertently use or just have these traits in their populations.



And yeah.


Different people have different preferences. Taste wise.


And texture wise.



I'm like others, in hating red watermelons. The color genetics, also indicate a chemical and flavor alongside it.


Sweetness genes and things, can be seperate from the colors.


Hope your project goes well!