The thread for people who have Green Thumbs (Gardening)

[fantasia_kitty]

Today my husband got my onions in. They're a bit late, but they should be fine. So that just leaves my peppers, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes to put in. And I think that's it for this year in terms of veggies?

But the big project is redoing my herb garden. I'm planning to turn it into a potted garden because some herbs I never use (sorry tarragon), some are horribly out of control (sorry peppermint) and the rest keep dying or have turned bland from reseeding themselves (sorry oregano). Whether I'm able to complete this project this year or not, I don't know, but I'm going to at least get started on it in the hopes of reclaiming some space and sprucing it up a bit. It's kind of a mess.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

So today, I finally started this year's gardening season. I place a small potted-herb garden on my front porch. 4 plants total, some basil, catnip, cilantro and rosemary.

Also put some annuals into some of our pots.

And a total of four tomatoes (three romas and a hillbilly) that are in small containers for now, which can be moved to safety if we have a frost.

I usually put out green beans of some sort. When I do this, I usually just drop them in the ground, but I want an early harvest, and it's just not safe to plant them this early. Started them (they're bush beans) in those little biodegradable pots. We'll see how things go.

[fantasia_kitty]

Yay for herbs DiGs. That's one of the things I still need to buy this year. Parsley and basil especially are the two I use the most.

I've been planting in slow motion this year. My husband or I get about one type of plant in the ground per week, though we bumped that average up to about a day this week. So far I have my onions, potatoes, beets, carrots, tomatoes, and peppers in the ground.
The peppers and tomatoes I stuck in about two hours ago in the hopes of getting them in before the rain and the ground turns into muck again. That may have been a mistake because I just looked out and they're completely underwater. Oops. Well, here's hoping some survive.
The tomatoes I planted this year are 3 Juliets (my favorite ), one Black Cherry heirloom, a San Marzano, 3 random Heirloom cherries, and a Grandma's Pick. Peppers include a small orange pepper just for munching on (called a Yummy pepper officially ), a Flavorburst pepper, and two giant green peppers that I'm blanking on the name of, but they're my favorite green peppers.
I still need to plant my sweet potatoes and pumpkins. Also herbs. And that'll be it for this year and I can concentrate on my flower gardens. (So much for scaling back this year )

[johobbit]

Yay, DiGs and fantasia! I haven't posted in this thread this year yet because, well, there was nothing to post. We can't even start planting veggies and annuals here prior to our long weekend in May (one week before the USA Memorial Day wknd), as there is still a threat of frost 'til then.

But! We have been prepping and planning. My husband has turned over a nice spot for our veggie garden. We have a bit more work to do there with cleaning it out, etc, but it should be ready soon for planting. I think, for starters, we shall grow carrots, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, and possibly some peas. We have already begun parsley and chives.

We have enjoyed getting some new perennials in, as well as expanding these floral gardens a bit. Loving the rich soil here. We have pulled out a few unsightly (and dying) bushes from our front garden, replacing them with a hydrangea, peony, and two lilies.

We've also been trimming the lower branches off some of our trees out the back. There is a real gorgeous view over the fields from there, but in the warm weather, the (albeit lovely) trees, diminish the full effect. We are not cutting down any healthy trees, just for the record, but rather trimming them upward a tad. And the shade from the higher branches is surely lovely in summer's heat.

Will update as I plant more, especially the veggie garden!

Oh, with the exception of three perennials (a small hydrangea and 2 clematis), the rest survived this past winter just fine, and most are flourishing. The one that is struggling is the oak leaf hydrangea we planted in honour and memory of qwertykate last June. This past week, however, 'though it is very small (having lost a couple of stems through the winter), it has greened up nicely, so we'll see how it does over the summer. Sure hoping it will come along.

[johobbit]

My hubby finished up digging and turning over the veggie garden plot last evening. What a huge job, as there were 6' tall, hardy plants (weeds?? ... not sure what type) whose roots were tough and long. Anyway, most of it is clear now, and the rich, rich soil goes down nearly a foot, which is wonderful. I love gardening up there in the cool of an evening, looking over the farmers' fields and vast sky. ♥

Last night I put in the pepper, tomato, cucumber plants, as well as rows of carrot, peas, yellow and green beans seeds. Just a half pkg of both peas and beans left to plant tonight. I may do lettuce, as well, but we have quite a few wild rabbits here, and, well, they'd love that. We may have to put up a protective fence, eventually. We'll see how this season goes.

Now, to give it all TLC, and wait for those first shoots.

The flower gardens are looking beautiful—quite a mixture of perennials and annuals (mostly red geraniums). Up around our veggie plot there were a bunch of wild lily-of-the-valley, so I've salvaged some of those to use, ourselves, and give away as gifts.

As many of you know, summer is a great dislike for me, so at least there is gardening to enjoy at this time.

[coracle]

Sounds lovely already! When I get home in a few weeks, I will have to do all the autumn tidying up, I suspect, even though it will be winter already. My sister's friend is a trained horticulturalist, and is doing a small gardening business, so I think I will ask her to work for me for a few hours.
I have also had a good idea on how to paint the gate into my cottage garden to look like a hobbit house door/windows.

[johobbit]

I have also had a good idea on how to paint the gate into my cottage garden to look like a hobbit house door/windows.

That sounds absolutely delightful and charming. Photo, please, when you're done.

One bit I forgot to mention in my post above is that I hope to plant sunflower seeds around an edge or two of the veggie garden, for fun. I just have to decide where would be best.

I saw a few bunnies run through that garden this morning, but they didn't stop, so that was a relief. Still, there isn't a lot of choice for them to nibble on yet.

My lupines are beginning to bloom. They are some of my favourite perennials ... so unique-looking with their tall, stately flowers. And the peony bushes have full, bursting buds on them, and will be gorgeous when in bloom shortly. The only thing with them is that the abundant flowers are so huge and heavy that they become weighted and tend to bend waaaay over. But they never snap, thankfully.

[fantasia_kitty]

Coracle, I'd love to see pictures too! And you too johobbit Especially your garden since it's new since I was visiting your place last year.

8/10 of my tomatoes survived, and I don't remember which two I lost.
2/4 of my peppers survived, the bunnies at two of them to the ground. I know I have one Big Bertha pepper, but I'm not sure what the other is. Either a Flavorburst or a small Orange eating pepper.
I need to check my sweet potatoes again, those also were eaten to the ground, but they're a lot more resilient and at least two of those are coming back.
My husband has put chicken wire around the survivors to keep the rabbits (and mice and voles?) out. Or at least until they're well established.
My kids planted (too many) pumpkins and those are going crazy. Hopefully they like pumpkin pie (which I know they don't LOL).

I've started framing around my new "secret garden" space that my sister Aravanna designed for me. I put down newspaper to start killing weeds and grass that are there, but I ran out of newspaper quite quickly. I thought I had more. That's one of the few things I still have left to do is plant the hostas that my mom gave me for that space. I can't decide where to put them though because where my sister designed them for, we have utility lines running there. So I have to move them. And it doesn't help that I'm not sure how big they'll get. I'll get it figured out.

I got a few raspberry shoots for free from a childhood friend of mine the other night. I've a notoriously black thumb when it comes to raspberries (sad) so this is my third and final try. I'm keeping them nice and damp in a loose soil mixture, and almost completely in the shade. The tops have wilted, but the bottom of the shoots still look good. Fingers crossed.

[johobbit]

Those dratted bunnies (cute though they are ). And that's too funny about the pumpkins! All the best with the raspberries, fantasia! They are SO good right off the bush, aren't they, mmm!

fk, maybe I missed this, but do you have anything planted at the farm this year, or is everything at your place?

Our veggie garden is all in, with stakes set up for the peas to climb on. I see wee, tiny peppers on that plant already. The cucs seemed to be transplant-shocked a day or so after I dug them in, but they've adjusted okay now. The huge soybean planter that did its thing on Sunday and, wups, backed into the area where our tomatoes are planted. Thankfully it missed the plants, but a couple of the cages got a tad mangled. We straightened them up as best we could. They just look kinda odd now.

A friend gave us cuttings of their Bloody Cranesbill (had never heard of this before ... what an odd name!), so we planted them last night. Not sure if they'll make it or not. Then I purchased two Periwinkle plants today, along with a Bleeding Heart. Hoping to get our first Phlox tomorrow. We've never had Phlox before, so I'm quite excited. Just have to decide on the right spot for it.

I probably shouldn't have but I also bought yet another Lupine this morning. Love those beauties. And they're blooming gorgeously now. We have our first peony bloom out (stunning!), and there are lots more to come on the 5 or 6 bushes we have around our property.

The next few days are turning quite hot and even humid (blech), so must keep an eye especially on the veggie garden that it does not dry out for too long.

Say, DiGs, how are your plants doing?

Well, out to plant the Periwinkle, Bleeding Heart and Lupine now.

P.S. I will get photos up sometime.

[johobbit]

Addendum to my above post: as two of our clematis (put in last year) did not survive the winter, I planted two more. They're doing very well thus far ... better than the previous two had managed after planting. The third one survived beautifully.

I purchased the Phlox today and found a good location for it. Tomorrow I hope to get a stunning Hollyhock in. We keep on having to make new gardens (or add to existing ones) to accommodate all my horticultural desires.

This evening I began feeding everything with plant food. What a long job, but an important one. And it gives me the chance to carefully check out each plant or row of veggies to see how they're faring. It became dark (and way too mosquito-y) to finish tonight, but I will need to get up and at it in the early morning before the hot sun hits everything. I have a long row of front floral garden to go yet, as well as some planters and all the vegetable garden. I actually quite enjoy this slower, more prolonged time of watering. 'Though I wouldn't want to do it this way daily. Every two weeks or so suits me just fine. It probably takes a couple of hours to complete.

Even today, more peonies buds are beginning to open. What a stunning show. I will take pics when they're in full bloom.

Edit on Saturday: I ended up getting a beautiful Foxglove, instead of a Hollyhock, since the nursery only had the miniature variety of the latter.

My kind husband is putting a 4' high wire fence in around our 20' x 15' (ish) veggie garden this afternoon ... on such a hot day. He dug a trench to insert the fence, because if he doesn't, those rabbits will most likely dig under with great ease.

Other plants I purchase today because I couldn't resist, ha: 2 Verbenas, 2 Lantanas (yay, fantasia, you introduced me to these beauties), 1 Dahlia. The colours of all three are striking!

A few of my peas and beans have poked through the soil surface, as have many of my carrots. I'm puzzled why some of the peas and beans have not shown themselves yet, so I'll give those spots another week, then replant more seeds.

And I had to replant poppy seeds because they weren't coming up at all, booo. We'll see what this new batch does. The same with my chives.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

So I haven't posted much this year, but that's because I've been busy.

I started some greek pepperocini from seeds. Got 12 seeds, and only 2 have survived to the "one inch sprout" stage. Did the same with some a blend of sweet bell peppers, but got 5/12 to survive. We'll see how they do.

To ensure that I get SOME sort of pepper crop, I've got three yellow bells and three green bells growing in some pots. I've never grown potted peppers before. . . We'll see how that goes.

Tomatoes: I have a hillbilly in a really big pot. Three romas in smaller pots. Two of the romas and the hillbilly are doing REALLY well. One of the romas just isn't thriving. Just gonna keep watering that last one and hope that hope for the best.

It was recommended to me that I try growing bush beans in a pot. . . I took it a step further and bought one of those kiddy-swimming pools. . . And the beans are growing FANTASTICALLY! It was awesome, because I was able to get them started before frost was finished, because I could drag the plants into the garage on cold nights. I'll probably get my first bean crop near July 4th. . .

Herbs are growing like weeds (mainly because. . . let's face it. . . in their native parts of the world, they basically are )

[johobbit]

That 'bean pool' idea is so cool! You should patent this, DiGs. I'd really like to see a photo.

My beans are really coming along (they're not in a pool ), although there is not row where only half came up. Odd. I wonder if I ran out of seeds and then forgot to plant the other half. Will purchase more and plant 'em there.

The peas I planted earlier are doing nicely, 'though small still. The ones I planted last Saturday have yet to poke above the soil, of course.

The pretty feathery carrot tops are all visible, just.

My cucumbers don't look healthy at all, so I may buy a couple more small plants and replace them.

All the tomatoes seem to be flourishingl, as does the pepper plant.

Some of the sunflowers have begun to sprout above the earth; the chives did nothing, so I planted more seeds. The parsley is healthy and growing.

I am hoping we're going to get some good rain tomorrow after a hot, dry, very windy spell in recent days.

[aileth]

I started some greek pepperocini from seeds. Got 12 seeds, and only 2 have survived to the "one inch sprout" stage. Did the same with some a blend of sweet bell peppers, but got 5/12 to survive. We'll see how they do.

First time I read that I saw 5 1/2. Rather odd picture

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

Hmmmm. . . . I wonder how half a plant would look Maybe just roots?

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

I took some pictures today...... Here are some pictures of the "bean pool"

[fantasia_kitty]

I do love your bean pool DiGs. How's your crazy weather treating your garden?

I've encountered an unusual gardening issue this year. In the past, I've kept my dog out of my garden. This year, I didn't bother because our backyard has a rodent problem (mice, voles, and rabbits), so I wanted to give her the opportunity to chase them out of there. (They already destroyed a couple peppers and sweet potatoes and ALL of the beets and carrots.) The problem is Fiona has trampled all of the onions and potatoes in the process, AND, when she knows we're not looking, she'll dig up and eat the potatoes. It's been a no-win situation this year for root vegetables.
But, the tomatoes and remaining peppers look good, as do the pumpkins and couple sweet potatoes.
I may need to take a year off next year to get the rodent issue under control so I can once again fence up the garden.

In other news, over the winter, I paid my sister to design a fun little plant garden behind my house that was a complete waste of space. I don't feel I can afford to do the full landscape project in one year, so I'm starting with the plants I feel will take the longest to grow, and add on each year.
I've just finished up this afternoon with Year 1 progress. I bought a Nandina and an Abelia, trained the strawberries back there as ground cover, and laid down a ton of newspaper to start mulching out the weeds and grass.
Ideally, I'd love to do some creative/artsy fairy gardening to go in there. I've always loved the broken pot look...

... but I also prefer the more natural look as opposed to brightly colored ceramic houses. I'll just have to decide the direction I want to go.