Garden Update

on a rainy day. After a weekend of camping in the fog, I came back to very happy plants in my garden.

Let's play the can you name the seedling game!

A) Basil

B) Cilantro

C) Parsley

D) Chamomile

E) A weed

Lavender: I don't think it's grown since I planted it. I'm worried about it not getting enough sun because it's further down the herb spiral. So far, it's still thriving.

From the top: Rosemary, oregano, chives... still alive.

Chocolate mint also still doing okay.

Another view of the herb spiral and behind it, the raspberry bushes. They should start fruiting soon but I will probably be in Malaysia when they ripen :( Hope Ryan and the birds will enjoy them.

Left front of the house is getting really crowded. The daylilies from last year have really taken off and need to be moved. But I'm not sure where and when.

Nasturtium in the apple crate. Interesting how the sizes vary so much when they were all seeded on the same day.

Left veggie bed: Carrots stealing the show. And the first showing of my crazy trellis for edamame and cucumbers. 

Middle veggie bed: Sweet pea super late; we'll see how well they do when the summer heat hits. Also coming up are the corn seedlings. And you can see the four sticks of a teepee trellis in the corner. It might have to go when the corn gets bigger, we'll see.

Right veggie bed: Phacelia, Sunflower, lettuces and one tomato. I think I also spotted the watermelon seedling poking through but I'll get a picture of that when I'm sure.

Cosmos coming along nicely and the three hen and chicks.

One lone sweet pea in the mulch along the stairs.

Stray dill from last year. I'm leaving this in since it's better than the grass that's coming through the mulch elsewhere.

Fresh mulch (actually they were leftover mulch from last year) spread around the plants in the second tier. Geranium and dianthus are flowering!

Mulched around the apricot tree too. I learned just last week that the tree that was in the spot had died of black rot fungus and this fungus affects the Prunus family, which the apricot is definitely a part of. I have to be extra vigilant about getting rid of any branch that gets infected. Also, flowering: lavender and thyme. Pineapple sage and tarragon are doing pretty well too.

Monarda and strawberries.

Close up of what I thought was baptisia but I'm pretty sure that's not it anymore.

Dianthus arctic fire. Okay, maybe I did chose it for it's name but these guys sure are pretty.

And last but not least, first harvest: strawberries! Love macro shots that nobody can tell how big these are ;)

Happy May Day everyone!

Cinco de Mayo Garden Update

New plants from the master gardener plant sale:

Spider plant with two babies. I decided to root the babies on soil so the twine helps to hold them down.

Hen and chicks.

And just to give you a perspective of scale of the hen and chicks.

Clockwise fron the top of the spiral: Rosemary, oregano, chives and lavender just peeking out from behind the rocks. The pot next to the spiral has chocolate mint. The oregano and chives were from the master gardener plant sale. The rest were from the Farmer's market. Also seeded basil, cilantro, parsley and chamomile a few days ago.

Close up of the chocolate mint. It really does smell like chocolate and mint.

And lastly for the backyard: One lily of the valley and three hellebores. These still need to be planted.

Update on everything else:

Right most raised bed. Tomato doing well. Some lettuce, phacelia and nasturtium coming up. I accidentally read my garden plan backwards for this bed and so there's a stray sunflower in the second column. That will eventually get moved once I figure out where.

Here lies corn. And once the seedlings start coming up, the beans and edamame will go in and use the corn stalks as trellis.

Left garden bed has seen the most action so far. A lot of the lettuce has been picked and eaten by Bonnie, Ryan and some neighbors. The carrots are doing really well and should be ready to pick soon. One of my tomato seedlings is still alive but I did buy a cherokee purple from the farmer's market.

Close up of the cherokee purple.

If you look closely in the square with the two round lettuce heads, my lone surviving tomato seedling is still alive. Go little buddy! Oh and creeping thyme smells super good when I accidentally step on them tending to my garden bed. They have spread quite a bit but still have more ground to cover.

Finally moved the scallions out into the garden. They're used scallion from the grocery store. I saved the bottom part, rooted them in water and then transferred them to a pot in the house. Now they're out in the garden bed and should do a lot better.

Dianthus, red ones near the edge by the lamp post and my arctic fire in three big clumps in the middle. Geraniums next to them on the right are doing decent too.

Monarda definitely spreading and competing with the sedum on the left. I wish they would just spread more to the right but then I guess they would invade the space of the baptisia. Strawberries are in front of the monarda and are flowering/setting fruit.

Apricot tree in, one hosta clump divided and one poke weed destroyed. I probably should divide the other hostas but...

I'm out of space. No, that's probably not true. I can totally move a whole bunch more to the backyard. These guys in the side yard are doing decent though. My plan is to mulch with the rest of the hardwood mulch I got last year.

I'm still not quite sure if I planted the apricot straight. Hmm...

Asparagus. Super delicate, only one standing right now.

More dianthus, these I got from the farmer's market in 2010 so they are 3 years old!

Nasturtium in the little apple crate that had those huge sweet potatoes last year.

This section has a lot of plants. The irises and roses are blooming and the daylilies are going crazy. I probably should move some of them.

I'm generally not a big fan of roses but I'm glad that I didn't cut down the bush last year.

Close up of a rose.

Backyard update:

Dicentras doing well.

Aquilegia doing okay. A little sparse.

The eastern columbine that survived the winter in it's little pot is thriving.

Solomon seal. Cute flowers! Unfortunately my phone camera refused to focus right on them.

Virginia bluebells are probably on their way out.

Golden poppy. One of my expert gardener friends think they're very invasive and spread a lot but that's kinda what I want!

Redbud done blooming.

Don't remember what little trees I planted in the backyard anymore but they all have leaves.

 So all in all a pretty good 5th of May.