"A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them."
– Liberty Hyde Bailey
9/21/16:
I've learned so much over the past year, but still (and probably always) there are new discoveries or challenges in my container gardening world.
When buying or seeding plants that I wasn't previously familiar with, such as the dianthus/sweet williams purchased last September, it's interesting to observe how the plant fares in different circumstances. I move the pots around to experience lower or higher levels of sunlight, try to figure out how much water they prefer, and plant them in a range of soil types, held in various styles and sizes of containers. It turns out these will thrive in poorer soil, and part shade, which is great. The stems can get longish and trail over the edges of a pot, so it's not the best choice for a very short container on the ground, but my dianthus are looking nice in rectangular wooden planters and pots about 10 inches tall.
Another common flower I'd not done much with before are chrysanthemums. The red-orange one I bought last fall grew straight upward, becoming tall and spindly. It's been deadheaded, trimmed down a bit, moved into a sunnier area, and fertilized. Now there are lots of little flower buds! With my new knowledge on how to care for them, I've decided to add more mums to my collection.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a larger version.
Bacopa.
New mums, in a favorite flowerpot.
Wallflower.
I am also happy to have brought a bacopa plant to the garden. The pale purple flowers are simple, and only about an inch in diameter, but it has bloomed continuously since May. It likes a mostly sunny spot, so is living near the mums in a cluster of pots by our front porch: east-facing and not under any trees.
One recent discovery is the identification of a plant I've enjoyed having in my garden for about 4 years. I'd posted photos of it on the GrowIt! app and on social media, but nobody had provided the name until I re-posted on Twitter this week. @MooGardener let me know that it's Erysimum Cheiri, commonly known as a wallflower. (Being a very introverted person, I find this name amusing.)
A current challenge is the proper cultivation of my tomato plants. I'd already known that our foggy coastal climate wasn't ideal for growing tomatoes, but seeing that other local gardeners had some success, I've tried to have at least 10 plants during each of the past few summers. Instead of my usual cherry or salad-size fruits, I chose Beefsteak and other large heirloom varieties for 2016. They've grown tall and bushy, with a decent number of green fruits as of mid-September. But the only ones that have gotten large and turned red have defects. I read that the brown spots on the bottom of the red tomatoes were blossom end rot. After more research, I bought a rot-stop spray that corrects the calcium deficiency, and stirred crushed eggshells into the soil. The rot can also be caused by too much nitrogen, so I've made a note to avoid nitrogen-rich fertilizers in the future. So, we shall see if healthy tomatoes will ripen properly this late summer/early fall, and if not, at least I know more in preparation for next year.
