The Grreat Outdoors

Ghetto Gardening 2015

 

08/28/15:

It has been interesting to note the bloom cycles of all my different flowering plants this year. Eventually, I aim to have at least four varieties of plants in bloom at any time. Roses have occasionally bloomed well into fall and winter at our house, and geraniums will do so year-round, so this could be feasible with the right strategies.

Two of the eight violas, and one of the yellow pansies planted in April are still surviving, but are drying up a little and might not be around much longer. The pink and purple petunias I bought in June still have un-withered foliage, although there are fewer blooms these days. The flourishing fuchsias have also slowed down. Yellow and red roses, pink and red geraniums, pink oleander, and red snapdragons are still adding color to the yard.

The morning glory seedlings are growing nicely; these can be separated out soon to fill up some of my empty small flowerpots. I want to replace the expired violas and zinnias with new flowering plants from the garden store. Some recommendations that could be helpful in selecting late-blooming, shade-tolerant perennials: Sunset's Fall Flower Ideas & Better Homes and Gardens Fall Flower Ideas

Clicking on the small images below will bring up a larger version.

This growing season I've slowly figured out more than I knew before about proper drainage, what suffers particularly when overwatered (pansies and violas), which plants are downright finicky and need a well-balanced amount of water/sun/pesticide/nutrients (roses), and which are fairly idiot-proof (tomatoes and peppers).

At this point I can tell that the tomato plants I treated with seaweed fertilizer are doing moderately better than the rest, so I'll collect more kelp before long. The homemade insect repellent experiment has been successful too, when I remember to apply it frequently to the leaves!

I'm also continuing to learn about soil preferences of each plant and germination/growing cycles; and am testing the efficiacy of mulches. Perhaps in the fall I'll write down some of my acquired knowledge in a chart of sorts, and post a PDF of it here.