“The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.”
– Michael Pollan
– Michael Pollan
4/18/18:
After a few rainy and grey days, it was warm out, with bright blue skies, this past Sunday. I applied sunscreen for the first time this year (we own like 8 tubes/bottles of sunscreen, but rarely remember to use them), and that was fortunate, since I was out in the yard for longer than most of my gardening sessions: maybe 4 or 5 hours.
In between fertilizing, cleaning grass and weeds from containers, and trimming back unruly plants, I followed a bee around. It seemed particularly fond of my sweet pea bush, which is blooming enthusiastically this spring. I think it was a carpenter bee.
In between fertilizing, cleaning grass and weeds from containers, and trimming back unruly plants, I followed a bee around. It seemed particularly fond of my sweet pea bush, which is blooming enthusiastically this spring. I think it was a carpenter bee.
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Studying camellia petals.
New habanero.
Thriving golden rosebush.
The camellias continue to bring a glory of pink, fuchsia and red to the hedges along the south side of our yard. I identified one of these bushes as Kramer’s Supreme last year, and have now determined that the later-blooming reddish variety is likely camellia japonica 'Imbricata Rubra'.
On the north side, my rows of potted plants are also covered in flowers: megawatt begonias, African daisies and wallflowers are the current stars. Nearby are the dragon cayenne peppers I started last year. They've surprised me by surviving all winter, and starting another bloom cycle this April. I hadn’t known hot peppers could be perennial! After picking some of the cayennes on Sunday, I decided to take a short trip to the garden store and check out other varieties. I ended up bringing home a habanero orange pepper, and 2 more tomatoes: Celebrity and Jetsetter.
I have rosebushes in various spots, from the front of the house to the back patio, and they are thriving in these long, sunny days that alternate with periods of decent precipitation. The first to have buds open is one of my favorites, a golden yellow variety. I look forward to seeing all the other roses bloom within the next few weeks, for there are many small buds that are rapidly growing bigger. I’ve been treating the leaves (after rainshowers) with my aphid-repelling spray of diluted coffee, and this week I’ll mix up a milk spray that has helped deter insects, blackspot, and powdery mildew in the past. I might also experiment with a chamomile solution.
Overall, spring is such a lively season in my garden. It’s a challenge to keep up with all that’s sprouting and demanding attention (or simply appreciation). I have, however, learned from previous years that it’s wise not to over-commit: I plan to grow 5 tomato plants instead of 15 to 25, for example. Additionally, I’ve figured out more efficient watering practices, and how to keep plants at a manageable size with appropriate pruning.
To scale back even more, I have decided not to replace some of the annuals that died out over winter, such as zinnias. This leaves me with spare small plastic pots. I will leave them in one of the areas around the neighborhood where people place boxes of “free stuff”, and they can become part of someone else's gardening adventures.
On the north side, my rows of potted plants are also covered in flowers: megawatt begonias, African daisies and wallflowers are the current stars. Nearby are the dragon cayenne peppers I started last year. They've surprised me by surviving all winter, and starting another bloom cycle this April. I hadn’t known hot peppers could be perennial! After picking some of the cayennes on Sunday, I decided to take a short trip to the garden store and check out other varieties. I ended up bringing home a habanero orange pepper, and 2 more tomatoes: Celebrity and Jetsetter.
I have rosebushes in various spots, from the front of the house to the back patio, and they are thriving in these long, sunny days that alternate with periods of decent precipitation. The first to have buds open is one of my favorites, a golden yellow variety. I look forward to seeing all the other roses bloom within the next few weeks, for there are many small buds that are rapidly growing bigger. I’ve been treating the leaves (after rainshowers) with my aphid-repelling spray of diluted coffee, and this week I’ll mix up a milk spray that has helped deter insects, blackspot, and powdery mildew in the past. I might also experiment with a chamomile solution.
Overall, spring is such a lively season in my garden. It’s a challenge to keep up with all that’s sprouting and demanding attention (or simply appreciation). I have, however, learned from previous years that it’s wise not to over-commit: I plan to grow 5 tomato plants instead of 15 to 25, for example. Additionally, I’ve figured out more efficient watering practices, and how to keep plants at a manageable size with appropriate pruning.
To scale back even more, I have decided not to replace some of the annuals that died out over winter, such as zinnias. This leaves me with spare small plastic pots. I will leave them in one of the areas around the neighborhood where people place boxes of “free stuff”, and they can become part of someone else's gardening adventures.