Garden update

The garden seems to be doing well this year. I didn't move the beds down the hill, so it is still more shady than I'd really like.













The lillies are in full bloom right now, and my hydrangeas are getting a good start too.

There are plants in my garden!

I finally built the chicken wire and conduit fences from the materials I bought last year. I spread black landscape fabric over my beds to hopefully kill off the crabgrass that got into my garden last year. Now I've got plants in the ground!

I didn't get this done earlier because I knew the fabric would make direct seeding difficult.


Lettuces, petunias, monring glories and pole beans.


Cantaloupe, cukes, nasturtium, marigolds, perennial herbs.


Tomatoes, borage, amaranthus, mairgolds, peppers.

2010 Garden Plan

I think I'm going to replant last year's garden plan this year.

We're going to move the beds down the hill and level them soon. I'll test the ground in the backyard. Only the top layer needs to soften up, so we might be able to get this done this Sunday. It is supposed to be over 40 in the afternoon.

I am going to have to put down some kind of weed barrier this year. Crabgrass got into the beds last year, probably from our lawn trimmings in the compost. I think I can just staple 4' x 4' sheets of black weed fabric over the tops of the beds.

I'll have to refill them to the top to make this work to its best advantage.

I am also going to have to build the fence before I start planting. I think I can make something that will work out of the chicken wire we bought last year. I need to keep squirrels out immediately, rabbits once I put in plants, and birds once there is visible fruit. You'd think they'd get their fill from the neighbor's St. Francis statue garden.

I still really want to see this happen in real life.


I don't really feel like starting any seeds indoors this spring. I'll have to review and revise based on what is available in the garden centers later.

Broccoli flowers

This is what happens to broccoli when you don't pick it.



It never formed much of a head, so I let it go. The flowers are pretty.

Playing in the sprinkler

We bought a new $5 sprinkler.

It took two grown adults getting soaked to get it set up so that it watered the plants and not the street, house, cars, or front door.

It was fun :)

Baby tomatoes!

Sweet!





On the Sweet 100 cherry tomato plant. I've pruned this one to two main stems. It is not crowding the plant next to it yet.

Dead heuchera

One of my heucheras has died.



I really don't know what happened to this one plant. The two right next to it, and all of the plants in the front landscaping are doing just fine.

Better late than never.

The tomato bed is finally planted out. The tomatoes have been out there since May 3rd, but I've completely forgotten to take any pictures of them.

Now they have serrano and banana peppers and a whole bunch of annual flowers.



Now I need to weed and fence this bed and mow the grass and blah. I've lost my garden momentum already this year. The rabbits and grass have just taken the wind out of my sails. I'm not going to get to them this weekend either, so they'll just have to get hardier or die.

Slacker Gardener

There's a tiny little broccoli head in there!


Despite a complete lack of care, and a few rabbit attacks, the strawberries are still trying to produce.

Space Invaders

Stuipd stupid stupid grass is taking over my garden beds.

I'm spraying it with Roundup today and delaying my main planting yet another week.

No peas for you!

I have a Snow Pea Nazi.



My peas lived through a snow storm, but they couldn't survive this guy.



Jerk.

Front landscaping

We actually installed the front landscaping today.

All day.

Even my pains hurt now :)

Before:


A Purpleleaf Sand Cherry in tree form is our focal point. (Prunus X cistena):


I am doing mostly woodland herbacious perinneals. Foilage includes Annabelle hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'), Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven', Heuchera (Heuchera 'Regina'), and Hosta (Hosta x fortunei 'Francee'):



There are also Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra formosa 'Luxuriant') and Liriope (Liriope muscari 'Silvery Sunproof'):


They're just babies right now, but they'll fill in.


I am still looking for a tall (12 - 15'), columnar (6 - 8' max width), shade loving, probably evergreen for the corner. The whole front just drops off to a sharp edge on the far right waiting for the magical gardening unicorn to stop by with a basket of options.

My garden grows like this

Snap peas along the trellis are growing well. I don't see a huge size difference between those planted early in March and those planted late in March. I'm starting bush beans under the bird cages. Lemon thyme, Oregano, Pineapple sage, and Chives along the herb row are looking delicious.


The leggy broccoli is starting to get much bigger leaves.


These potatoes! They grow like weeds! I had to hill them again this morning. It was probably overdue.


The tomatoes got super leggy under the lights. They're going in the ground Satuday no matter what.

First trellis is up, hilling potatoes again

I took the birdcages off of the snap peas and put up the trellis.



I also had to hill the potatoes again. I had no idea they grew so fast. Cool!

The tomatoes are here!

From left to right: Cherokee Purple, Sweet 100, Golden Jubilee, and Celebrity.



I haven't named them yet.

A hill of potatoes

My potato rosettes got big! I hilled them for the first time with an about equal mixture of Mel's mix and shredded office paper.

Before:


After:

Red Sails & Wal-Mart

My indoor lettuce (Salad Bowl) only had a 50% germination rate. I lost two plants outside. I replanted the three strongest ones to a different location.

My Swiss Chard only put up two pitiful seedlings. They're leggy messes that won't make it outside at all.

I've substituted store bought Red Sails lettuce from Lowe's and Swiss Chard from Wal-Mart garden center.



I looked at every place close to us before I bought from these two. They were my last choices, but they wound up being the only two with the plants I was looking for. *shrug*

In other news, I had to have Dennis physically restrain me from buying tomato seedlings now. I want them!

Maybe I should buy a vase or two?

Since we were supposed to get a hard freeze last night, I brought in some of the surprise flowers in. (It only got down to 32.0 according to my Oregon Scientific weather station and there was a good breeze to keep frost from forming.)


Unknown tulip and grape hyacinths in a classy plastic double shooter from the Jack Daniels distillery.


Redbud sprig and juniper pruning in a glass champagne flute.

Surprise flower

I didn't plant these bulbs, and I don't remember there being quite so many last spring.



Surprise!

This is under the eaves on the south side of the house. Grass & weeds don't even grow there. I have no idea how these bulbs are hanging on.

Garden update

The marigolds (Crackerjack mixed colors) were probably planted too soon. They really need potting up, but I'm not going to do it. The snapdragons (First Ladies mixed colors) were probably put in at just the right time. They are very slow growers.



The cauliflower (Snowball X) looks great outside. It is doing better than the broccoli that was planted out a week earlier.



I also have some potato rosettes coming up now.



My lettuce (Salad bowl) only had a 50% germination rate inside. I did get the six plants I needed to put outside this week, but they were from three cells and had to be separated instead of thinned. I will see what happens, but I already have my eye on some very nice looking Black Seeded Simpson plants at El-Mel.

My Swiss Chard (Neon Lights) did even worse. I've only gotten 17% germination on them, and they've been in the seed tray since March 7th. They're scheduled to go in the ground Saturday, so I know I'll be purchasing plants elsewhere. I've only seen regular white stemmed chard so far, but maybe I'll be lucky and find some colored stem variety at Parkview Gardens.