“Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me,
who could ask for more?”
– Bev Adams, Mountain Gardening
7/11/17:
Last week someone left a medium-sized planter box on the curb across the street (often used as a “free stuff” dumping area). It’s orange plastic that’s been painted a metallic green on the outside, and made to fit along the top of a fence like these. I think I’ll plant my columbine and delphinium seedlings in it once they’re a little bigger. I’ve also been given a large terracotta pot that belonged to Steve’s dad, which will be great for a lilac bush or a new rose. I am very happy with the orange/coral “Sundowner” grandiflora rose I brought home in January, which is finally blooming. I might buy another bush in that color range. But I don’t own any lavender-colored roses yet, or pure white...
Gladiolus flowers have started to open from two of the bulbs planted in previous years. I love the big frilly petals. The stems are very tall and narrow, so I’ve been bracing the plants with bamboo canes to keep them from breaking in the breezy weather or leaning out into the pathway.
Gladiolus flowers have started to open from two of the bulbs planted in previous years. I love the big frilly petals. The stems are very tall and narrow, so I’ve been bracing the plants with bamboo canes to keep them from breaking in the breezy weather or leaning out into the pathway.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a larger version.
Sundowner rose.
Bolting lettuces and radishes.
Tarragon, basil & thyme, above flower bench.
I’ve picked most of the lettuces, which had gone to flower, and sown a fresh batch. The spinach grew quite quickly: full-sized leaves and flower buds after sowing seeds only a month ago. Some of this spinach doesn’t even make it into the house to be part of a salad; I’ve been picking and eating it while watering the yard!
I have found possible reasons why the radishes aren’t forming bulbs. I’m likely planting them too close together and in too shady a spot. So now to experiment with a new variety of radish seeds, in a different location than my “vegetable patch”, which is definitely not a full-sun area.
My basil plants are surviving in the herb planter. Squirrels have dug a bit of the soil up, but I pat it back in place every other day when out watering. The bench area where these live is mostly-shade, so I doubt they will bolt before growing nice big leaves. Something has chewed a few small holes in the basil, but the damage is nowhere near what I’m used to seeing with past plants: having them higher off the ground than snails usually go is likely keeping them from getting completely eaten.
The tomatoes are looking great. The fruit’s still green but bigger every day, with no sign of blossom-end rot. I think the eggshells mixed in the soil before planting does indeed help. I’m also careful not to give them any high-nitrogen fertilizer.
I picked and ate the first ripe blackberries last week. There are more green berries forming and flowers opening, but fewer than last July. I might have trimmed the canes of the main bush back too aggresively last winter, or not fertilized the soil often enough. However, smaller bushes have sprung up in three other places around the yard, so it will be a bigger crop next summer.
I have found possible reasons why the radishes aren’t forming bulbs. I’m likely planting them too close together and in too shady a spot. So now to experiment with a new variety of radish seeds, in a different location than my “vegetable patch”, which is definitely not a full-sun area.
My basil plants are surviving in the herb planter. Squirrels have dug a bit of the soil up, but I pat it back in place every other day when out watering. The bench area where these live is mostly-shade, so I doubt they will bolt before growing nice big leaves. Something has chewed a few small holes in the basil, but the damage is nowhere near what I’m used to seeing with past plants: having them higher off the ground than snails usually go is likely keeping them from getting completely eaten.
The tomatoes are looking great. The fruit’s still green but bigger every day, with no sign of blossom-end rot. I think the eggshells mixed in the soil before planting does indeed help. I’m also careful not to give them any high-nitrogen fertilizer.
I picked and ate the first ripe blackberries last week. There are more green berries forming and flowers opening, but fewer than last July. I might have trimmed the canes of the main bush back too aggresively last winter, or not fertilized the soil often enough. However, smaller bushes have sprung up in three other places around the yard, so it will be a bigger crop next summer.