Since I dived in whole hog this year with the seed starts so early, there have been a few setbacks. Like, killin’ off all my pepper and eggplants that were doing so great. I’ve started those again, just not as many as I did in Jan. The lil greenhouse has allowed me to move the plants outside so I can start others. With the addition of shade cloth, they are not cooking midday anymore. I really like having it for the starts. However, if there is a prediction for a hard freeze again, I’ll be moving everything into the house. I don’t want to loose any more plants.
I have always loved the lilac around the gate. The smell is so amazing. It’s a few weeks early for them and the rest of the flowering trees this year. I decided that if the butterfly bush doesn’t come back this year, I’ll put a grape vine there. It’s the perfect place for a nice arch trellis. It might be growing; I still can’t tell.
I wasn’t quite sold on the idea of the pots next to the garage, but they are starting to look great now that they are showing some color.
I just adore pansy/violas! They are so colorful and cheerful, I believe they are a fantastic spring and fall flower. They are prolific at reseeding themselves too. I took a shot at starting sweet peas this year too. They are growing, it remains to be seen if I’ll get many or any blooms on them. I bought a special root trainer for starting them inside. I think I’ll try to direct seed them this fall, since they are a cool weather plant as well. I would really like to try the butterfly pea flower tea! From what I’ve read the tea changes from deep blue to purple or magenta when the pH balance is altered by lemon or lime juice. It is supposed to have a mild, woody, or earthy taste, similar to green tea but without the bitterness.
I also started a few new herbs to add to the troughs in the back. Like Chervil, Summer Savory, Fennel, Tarragon, Celery, Echinacea, Holy Basil, Lovage, and Chamomile. I also picked up a bunch of Saffron corms to plant this year (after I received 3 from my boss last month).
All this color has made me excited to plant more stuff. Some of the others I am adding to the garden this year are horseradish, rhubarb, onions, shallots, Fennel, snap dragons, leeks, more lemon grass, and zinnia varieties. There should be more poppies this year, along with bachelor buttons, and strawflowers. In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be starting more petunias, carrots, lettuce, bok choy, spinach, basil, alyssum, Anise hyssop, asters, and cucumbers. I’m also going to prep the garden beds down in the community garden for planting in a couple of weeks.
I’m going to work up a plan for that elevated bed, the soil dries out too quickly. I think that is why the seeds in there haven’t been doing well. I was thinking it was the shade cloth, but after playing with it for a few days. I don’t think that is it. I’m going to mulch it with some straw and see how it goes.