Garden Update

April 2011 update, so that next year I can remember what was going on. I’m trying a few new things this year, so hopefully if I can remember to do these updates, I’ll have a nice little record.

(I know, I know, I should keep a gardening journal. I just suck at keeping journals!)

Vegetable Garden

• Still have not planted new beans to replace the beans that never sprouted.
• Tomato plants are about 4 feet tall, flowering but no tomatoes. Yellow Squash are prolifically flowering with small squash (3-4 inches).
• Lettuce plants are near to bolting, arugula never came up. Radishes are slowly filling out, but I think I may not have planted them deep enough (or thinned them enough) as they are very leafy but still mostly have very spindly radish-parts.
• Broccoli has been harvested from one plant, head about 3” across. Not very impressive
• Need to: Sort compost and add to garden, then mulch.

Container Garden

• Patio tomatoes not very tall, but about 8 tomatoes, around the size of ping pong balls. Jalapeno plants about 15” tall, no flowers. Yellow Pepper has two tiny peppers, but a smaller plant.
• Plumeria still has no leaves.
• Pencil cactus needs to be pruned, badly, or repotted.
• Herbs look good, except for dill. Dill is a weed, and I can’t grow it. WTF? Really need to get basil and rosemary plants re-potted. Also, research why all my rosemary plants are spindly and weird and not “bushy” looking.
• Lavender plants actually thriving, will need repotting within the month.
• Lime tree fertilized, but not looking awesome. Lots of flowers though.

Butterfly Garden

• Frank the Oregano has reached more than 4 foot diameter. Happy that Frank is happy, sad that Frank is intent on world domination. Pruning shears go!
• Echinacea plants from last year are thriving, new plants are slowly taking hold. Weeding that part of the bed is a bi-weekly task.
• Salvias are all thriving except one. Unsure of why one hates my guts.
• Butterfly bush is holding on, after an attack by Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars.
• Bluebonnet is blooming! Yay!
• Needs: Mulch

Flower Gardens

• Wildflower seeds germinated nicely, hoping they flower and are pretty. Azaleas are done blooming. Irises have not yet flowered.
• Gerbera daisies are happy and flowering, need water at least once a week. Of the 14 plants, all seem to be thriving and growing. Really hope they like that spot, since they’re quite pretty next to the garage. Hibiscus plant is recovering from the freeze nicely.
• Pansies have been pulled up, 85 degree days were making them spindly and weird looking even if they still had flowers.
• Two beds have been planted – Sago Palm bed has dwarf zinnias in as many colors as I could find. Coreopsis bed (which hasn’t flowered yet, but seems to be thinking about it) has been planted with … I don’t remember. Big pretty red and orange blanket flower things. Final bed will have more zinnias, once I get more of them.
• Shasta daisies are getting ready to bloom.
• Needs: Mulch. Watering regularly.

We also fertilized the yard (organic) and it’s kind of looking OK. Still trying to square with the idea that unless we pour vast quantities of fertilizer and weed killer on it, it won’t look like the other yards on the street that pay lots of money to have “lush green” yards that are kind of toxic.

As for critters, so far this year I have seen vast quantities of spiders, anole lizards, fence lizards, and skinks, plus one garter snake, a couple of toads, and a large assortment of birds. Our Cooper’s Hawk is still around as well, but the birds at the feeders seem to have wised up about him, and are much more careful. Squirrels are happy, as that means they can raid the sunflower seed feeder.

And that’s what’s going on in my gardens as of early April. It’s a lot of work, and I officially have my first tan lines of the year, but I really enjoy it.

Just, you know, don’t ask to see my fingernails.