It's raining all day, that nice steady rain that is perfect for plants. Of course that means I can't do anything today but stand around in the doorway looking at stuff.
The Raised Bed is looking really nice. The Tomatoes have grown above the tops of the cages, and are looking really full. None of the tomatoes are showing any kind of red. The Beans are also growing nicely, and I'm starting to see some flowers. The Strawberries in front of the beans are definitely sending out lots of runners. Two of them are shooting over the side of the bed, so I'll try to direct them back in the bed. I'm tempted to mess with them, but I am NOT going to touch them when they're wet. The peppers all seem good. The Jalapeno that I got a week ago is doing great and has lots of peppers, while my original one is just starting to develop one.
Some of the Zinnias have toppled over, so tomorrow I will go out there with the supports and prop them up. The Roses are putting on new growth and a few new flowers. The one farthest back is the slowest to put on any growth, I barely see any. I don't see anything eating the new growth, so hopefully the Spinosad spray took care of it. I dumped a lot of worm tea on everything, without diluting it. I figured the ground was already saturated and it's still raining, so it can't be too concentrated. It smelled a little funky, but I think that's ok.
The front bed looks good. The Creeping Jenny makes this nice carpet over those areas and spills out over the sides, I love it. The Daylilies are great, much more prolific than last year. The big one in the middle is blooming, and it is a kind of dusky red-pink, which I would like to move later. I don't know about the Clematis. It's still alive, but it's not really growing much. It's not getting enough sun, I know. Maybe next year. Hopefully it starts getting some sun before the plants in front of it get too tall. The Echinacea are tall and starting to flower.
The red Daylilies that I transplanted to the sidewalk bed are growing and flowering, and they look really nice in there with the Yarrow. The Yarrow look super good. I badly want to put more in there, more Yarrow, some Coreopsis, maybe some red Echinacea.
The Morning Glory have started to flower! So happy! The leaves still look kinda sad and full of holes, but as they get further along I think they'll be ok.
I got some of that silica powder, and I've been trying to dry everything. Lilies don't seem to be a good choice, the petals end up falling off. Coleus leaves worked ok, but they're so paper thin they might be tough to work with. The Yarrow worked well, using the microwave method, but the color wasn't great, so I'm trying some with the regular, slow method, where you leave it in the powder for a few days.
My outdoor compost is pretty much done. I got a compost sieve, and maybe tomorrow I'll try to get it all out of there. Then I can put in the stuff in the trash bin, along with all the coffee grounds.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Thoughts for Fall
I think it is actually better for me to transplant Daylilies in the fall, rather than in late spring like I did. Ideally, I'd like to move the funky orange ones to the sidewalk bed, because I don't like have those weird clashing colors. I like the pale lemon yellow ones. I feel like they were all called Stella d'Oro, but that might not mean anything. It does appear that they're in big masses, which makes me think that one year I planted one kind, and another year it was a different kind. I could actually tag the ones I want to move in the late summer when I still know what color they are. I think I should wait until they die back or a little, or at least stop flowering. I want to move the orange ones, and also the big red one in the middle. That one is getting really big, and I don't really want all that red in there. It would look much, much better in the sidewalk bed.
I also really want to put more perennials in that sidewalk bed. I'm particularly interested in some Coreopsis, I like the one that's red in the center and pale yellow at the edges. Those things grow like weeds. I planted some the first year in the front bed, and I didn't like them at all. They were too big, and kind of sprawling and messy. And I think they're quite drought tolerant. The Yarrow that's in there now is doing great, so if I can find the same kind, with the red and yellow flowers, I'd like to put in 2 or 3 more. And fall is a better time to plant that kind of thing, like September, so they get well established. Perennials will be on sale then, for sure, but I won't have as many options. Home Depot and Lowes will have them marked down the most, because they'll just throw them out. I'd rather get them from Wedgewood, but they might actually keep them over the winter. I should ask them. I just don't want to spend a lot of money. I'm hoping that if I get that space filled in with more perennials, it won't get as crazy with weeds.
I'm not sure if anything else really needs to be transplanted. I would ultimately like to do something with all the Liriope in the sidewalk bed, but I don't think end of the season is the right time to do that. That's when they're going to be big and full, and I just don't think I would be able to divide them without power tools.
Of course, in the fall I should be hoarding as many leaves as I can. The compost in the tumbler right now is just about done. There are some chunks of stuff in there, some bits of leaves and of course some sticks and stems, so I'll let it go for at least another week. But soon, I should take it all out, maybe even get a compost sieve. And at that point, I should take all the leaves and crap out of the other bin and load the tumbler back up again. You know, if I'm smart about this, maybe I should just roll the whole thing over to the patio to do this. Eh, I'd still have to lift it to put it back on its rollers.
If I do this in the next few weeks, that next batch of compost will probably be finished before fall. I'll be able to keep putting coffee grounds in, which will speed it up, and it's hot. Then I would be able to take that all out in, like, October, and load it up with the fall leaves. Yay!
BULBS!
Ok. I do not need to put any more Daffodils in the sidewalk bed. Well, I don't need to do anything, but wouldn't in be great to have even more? Wouldn't it be pretty to have a ton of the Tete a Tete daffodils mixed in there, in front of the big tall ones? Ahhh I want more.
I could put more of the Muscari in the side bed. They were very nice, although a little late to the party. The Hyacinths in there were nice, and I think they will all survive. I mean, I don't think I pulled any out. I mean, I don't know if I will put anything in there. I'll think about it.
I think I retrieved most of the Darwin Tulips out of the front bed. I'm sure I didn't get all of them, so we'll see if those come back at all. I guess I will put them back in there, but I'm not so sure where... I guess if I take out a bunch of Daylilies, that makes plenty of room.
I really want to try filling the patio bed with Tulips. I think it's big enough that they won't just freeze, and oh my god it will look amazing. I might buy the "Tulips by the Hundreds" from White Flower Farm, and I can get 100 for $50. Or I could get the same Perennial Tulip mix and get 100 for $70.
VEGETABLES
A lot of these cool weather veggies are probably best started in like, August, and harvested in October. But I think the tomatoes will keep producing until then, so I don't want to pull them out prematurely. I don't remember what the beans do. I mean, they will still be going through August for sure, but I don't know about September. I might just get tired of them and rip them out anyway.
I definitely want to do some Kale, maybe some Spinach. Maybe I'll buy some of the red Kale to get some nice color in there. And I will definitely do some Bok Choy. Maybe some Romaine again, that turned out really nice. But of course, I am not going to have much space because the tomatoes will still be there. Of course I could do some more leaf lettuce in the Gutter Garden. Ok, this will be fun.
updates
I was gone for 5 days and I was kind of anxious about my plants. Obviously, that's stupid. I only plant things that I know can go unattended for several days. And I hear we got plenty of rain over that time, so nothing to worry about. I was also really hopeful that I'd get a ton of new growth. When I look at these things every day, sometimes it seems really slow. And last year, I was gone for like, 2 weeks around this time, and when I came back the tomatoes and beans had far outgrown my pathetic attempts at supports.
I was really hopeful about the roses. They're not putting on new growth as fast as I'd like, and maybe I should have pruned them?
When I got back I immediately checked out the roses, even though it was 2 am and a normal person would just pass out. The two that are farther back have some decent red growth near the top. The two that are closer to the sidewalk have only a few tiny shoots of red, not much better than last weekend.
But all of them have tons of little holes in the leaves. My internet research has lead me to believe this is sawfly damage. And several sources (including Mike McGrath) say to use a spinosad spray. So that's great, that's something I already have, and it's just a spray which is pretty easy. I sprayed what was left of my spinosad spray, and I might buy another.
I don't think the leaf damage is related to the slow growth. I want to fertilize them, but I probably shouldn't. I ought to just be patient; they're newly planted, so I should be allowing them to get settled in and not mess with them. And I did plant them too close together. I'm sorry. I bet in a year or two they will be really crowded and getting mildewy, and there's not much I can do about it.
The hedge was swarmed with those awful white moth-looking things in the middle of the night. Today, I'm not seeing any, so I guess that's good. I think I know what the problem is, and I just need to spray a lot earlier next year, like as soon as I see new growth.
The Patio bed looks fantastic, of course. Coleus is a fucking beast. The clippings that I've been rooting are doing really well, too. I cut a few more this morning to start those. I don't know what I'm going to do with these little plants... I'm sure I'll think of something. And the plants themselves, I think I can try to dig them up and put them in pots and grow them inside over the winter? If I do that, I think I'll get those huge Coleus bushes I sometimes see at Terrain. The Begonias in there are fine. They're healthy and happy and growing and they've had flowers the entire time they've been in there. My neighbor should have planted some of these, they would be so much more rewarding than the teeny tiny azaleas she's got. They are actually kind of hard to see if you're not standing up over it. The Liriope I planted in the front is shielding them. I kind of thought of that as a low plant, because in the front bed it is, relative to the Daylilies and everything else. I don't think it's bad. The bed looks nice if you're actually in the patio. When I'm sitting here on the couch, I'm basically eye level with the bed seeing a wall of Liriope. Actually, maybe I will move that nice row to the back. You wouldn't really see it at all, but it would help with soil retention and everything and since it does get a little tall, you might even see it. Maybe next year I'll put Liriope in the back, then Coleus, then the Begonias in the front.
In the Sidewalk bed, the Yarrow looks phenomenal. I really should look for a few more of those in like August and plant them in the rest of the bed, because if it's doing this well, I think it's the perfect plant for the area. I was hoping to put some annuals in there, but I think I've missed the window. Unless I can get a flat of Lantana for cheap right now. The yellow Daylilies that I transplanted in there (accidentally) are blooming a little. I don't know about the bigger ones.
The Raised Bed! Everything seems ok. The Tomatoes have of course grown, but even my first tomato at the base of the Better Boy plant isn't showing any signs of red. It's still June, come on. I think it will need at least 4 more weeks.
The Beans have formed a nice thick wall of leaves, and of course they want to get taller. I think I might buy a trellis for them from Gardeners.com, like the tomato towers. Those were a great choice.
The Swiss Chard haven't grown a whole lot, but they look good. And all the herbs look fine.
I'm listening to Mike McGrath and he's talking about home-grown Christmas gifts. I like the idea of the little Rosemary Christmas trees. If I bought a bunch of Rosemary plants, which are probably getting close to being marked down, I could replant them in some slightly larger pots, try to get them to grow over the summer, and prune them into tree shapes.
The Gutter Garden is probably in need of some water. The lettuce all looks pretty sad, which is to be expected. The Nasturtiums seem to be doing well.
The Petunias in the wall planter are doing great. I water that thing about once a week, which seems fine. Lining it with the trash bag probably helped a lot.
I went and bought a bunch of stuff from Wedgewood. I was hoping they would have a lot of stuff on sale, and I did get 2 hot peppers since they were Buy One Get One Free. But I also bought a bunch of Morning Glories, since mine are so sad. I planted them in the same containers, which did involve messing in the roots of the existing ones. And I bought 4 Rosemary plants, and my plan is to grow them and prune them into Christmas trees and they will hopefully make nice little gifts.
I was really hopeful about the roses. They're not putting on new growth as fast as I'd like, and maybe I should have pruned them?
When I got back I immediately checked out the roses, even though it was 2 am and a normal person would just pass out. The two that are farther back have some decent red growth near the top. The two that are closer to the sidewalk have only a few tiny shoots of red, not much better than last weekend.
But all of them have tons of little holes in the leaves. My internet research has lead me to believe this is sawfly damage. And several sources (including Mike McGrath) say to use a spinosad spray. So that's great, that's something I already have, and it's just a spray which is pretty easy. I sprayed what was left of my spinosad spray, and I might buy another.
I don't think the leaf damage is related to the slow growth. I want to fertilize them, but I probably shouldn't. I ought to just be patient; they're newly planted, so I should be allowing them to get settled in and not mess with them. And I did plant them too close together. I'm sorry. I bet in a year or two they will be really crowded and getting mildewy, and there's not much I can do about it.
The hedge was swarmed with those awful white moth-looking things in the middle of the night. Today, I'm not seeing any, so I guess that's good. I think I know what the problem is, and I just need to spray a lot earlier next year, like as soon as I see new growth.
The Patio bed looks fantastic, of course. Coleus is a fucking beast. The clippings that I've been rooting are doing really well, too. I cut a few more this morning to start those. I don't know what I'm going to do with these little plants... I'm sure I'll think of something. And the plants themselves, I think I can try to dig them up and put them in pots and grow them inside over the winter? If I do that, I think I'll get those huge Coleus bushes I sometimes see at Terrain. The Begonias in there are fine. They're healthy and happy and growing and they've had flowers the entire time they've been in there. My neighbor should have planted some of these, they would be so much more rewarding than the teeny tiny azaleas she's got. They are actually kind of hard to see if you're not standing up over it. The Liriope I planted in the front is shielding them. I kind of thought of that as a low plant, because in the front bed it is, relative to the Daylilies and everything else. I don't think it's bad. The bed looks nice if you're actually in the patio. When I'm sitting here on the couch, I'm basically eye level with the bed seeing a wall of Liriope. Actually, maybe I will move that nice row to the back. You wouldn't really see it at all, but it would help with soil retention and everything and since it does get a little tall, you might even see it. Maybe next year I'll put Liriope in the back, then Coleus, then the Begonias in the front.
In the Sidewalk bed, the Yarrow looks phenomenal. I really should look for a few more of those in like August and plant them in the rest of the bed, because if it's doing this well, I think it's the perfect plant for the area. I was hoping to put some annuals in there, but I think I've missed the window. Unless I can get a flat of Lantana for cheap right now. The yellow Daylilies that I transplanted in there (accidentally) are blooming a little. I don't know about the bigger ones.
The Raised Bed! Everything seems ok. The Tomatoes have of course grown, but even my first tomato at the base of the Better Boy plant isn't showing any signs of red. It's still June, come on. I think it will need at least 4 more weeks.
The Beans have formed a nice thick wall of leaves, and of course they want to get taller. I think I might buy a trellis for them from Gardeners.com, like the tomato towers. Those were a great choice.
The Swiss Chard haven't grown a whole lot, but they look good. And all the herbs look fine.
I'm listening to Mike McGrath and he's talking about home-grown Christmas gifts. I like the idea of the little Rosemary Christmas trees. If I bought a bunch of Rosemary plants, which are probably getting close to being marked down, I could replant them in some slightly larger pots, try to get them to grow over the summer, and prune them into tree shapes.
The Gutter Garden is probably in need of some water. The lettuce all looks pretty sad, which is to be expected. The Nasturtiums seem to be doing well.
The Petunias in the wall planter are doing great. I water that thing about once a week, which seems fine. Lining it with the trash bag probably helped a lot.
I went and bought a bunch of stuff from Wedgewood. I was hoping they would have a lot of stuff on sale, and I did get 2 hot peppers since they were Buy One Get One Free. But I also bought a bunch of Morning Glories, since mine are so sad. I planted them in the same containers, which did involve messing in the roots of the existing ones. And I bought 4 Rosemary plants, and my plan is to grow them and prune them into Christmas trees and they will hopefully make nice little gifts.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
So what do I need to do this weekend?
- Prune that hedge. I think I should do it when it's sunny so I can get some good shoulder tan. I'm only going to prune the top, but I want to bring it down quite a lot. And I don't think I'm going to save all the clippings. They're not really that great to compost. I'll just dump it in the woods.
- Fertilize stuff. I'll just try to work in a more of that Espoma stuff. I need to give some stuff to the Hibiscus, for sure. I guess the vegetables might want some too. And I shouldn't feed the Roses, or the Clematis, and I think I put down more than enough bone meal for the Daylilies. I think I should definitely fertilize the Morning Glory. I might even give them the Miracle Grow.
- Pull lots of weeds. I have some weeds to deal with in the front bed, but really it's the sidewalk bed that's the problem. But I don't know how much time and energy I want to invest in there.
- Clean up the patio. I should sweep up the ant hills and put crap away.
- Try to fix the grill? I think something is wrong with it...
- Plant the Swiss Chard, maybe plant the Basil
There actually isn't a whole lot to do out there right now, so I should probably spend this weekend getting my house in order.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Updates
So we're into Mid June. What's going on out there, and what do I need to do in the near future?
Side Bed
The Roses are finally putting on a little new growth, but it's a little sparse. I guess that's good, because I want them growing roots, but I'd like to get some more flowers at some point. The Hostas are fine. The Zinnias are growing, but not as fast as I'd like, and of course I really wish I'd had more. And I still want some kind of annual in there like Vincas.
I have another pile of sunflower seeds (about 30) and I was thinking about putting them in the side bed, right in front of the raised bed. I'm also going to throw down the rest of the creeping thyme seeds in that area, knowing they are unlikely to do anything. I do really want to get some stepping stones in there...
Things to do- plant those seeds, I guess. I'm tempted to fertilize the roses but I don't think I'm supposed to do that in the first year.
Front Bed
The Daylilies are doing great, I'm getting plenty of flowers now. I don't know why I got so few last year... maybe moving them around and dividing them did really help.
The annuals are ok... the Calibrocha seem to be happy, but the little purple allysum are just dying. I wish I had just gotten more calibrocha.
The Echinacea look pretty great. They're already forming some nice buds, and I saw a few flowers at Longwood and the ones at work are blooming just a little, so I should get them soon. And the Black Eyed Susan have these kind of burnt patches on the leaves. I think I did this by throwing a bunch of bone meal on that with abandon instead of digging it in to the soil. The one it the way back doesn't have any issues. I pulled off the bad looking leaves and I think it will be ok. We've got at least a month before the flowers.
The Clematis... I'm so saddened by this. I'm pretty sure I broke the stem putting it in, because I was so determined to untangle it from its little wooden trellis. If I had left it in there, it's not like it would even be visible. What's left of it is only like, 10 inches off the ground so I am very worried it's not getting enough sun. We will see if it survives this year. That's the most I can expect of it.
Things to do: Pull weeds. There are a lot in the sidewalk cracks, but some all up in there as well. I think I will actually pull out the sad Allysum, and if I feel like it, I'll buy some more annuals, hopefully more Calibrocha. I also need to prune the hedge.
Sidewalk Bed
The transplanted Daylilies are struggling, but I think they might make it. Of course it's full of weeds, and it's kind of past the point I can manage. I never cut back the Daffodils, because they never really turned yellow. The leaves don't look great, but not worse than the Daylilies.
The Yarrow looks fabulous. They're really full, and quite tall. I guess I didn't realize how big they were going to get... at least I didn't think about it.
Last year I put in some creeping phlox that was super cheap at Home Depot because they looked shitty but they weren't bad plants. They did show this year, but they had a few inches of black mulch piled on top of them so that didn't help.
Ultimately I'd like to get that whole thing filled with perennials to crowd out the weeds. I really do think a lot of Coreopsis would do well there, they are pretty drought tolerant and they grow like crazy. The color scheme is perfect. I might also move more of the Daylilies over there over time.
Things to do: Try to pull out all those fucking weeds. We're supposed to get thunderstorms on Saturday, so Sunday morning would be the best time. Maybe I will water it as well, to hopefully help the Daylilies. I might also cut down the Daffodils so it looks a little more normal in there.
I'm kind of thinking about putting in more Daffodils. They of course did great, and if I can leave them there with the leaves up until June, they will grow even better and naturalize and the whole space will be a crazy field of daffodils. And I'm tempted by White Flower Farm's early special on the large scale Daffodils. It's 100 mixed bulbs for $50, and I think they're usually a little more than $1 per bulb. And it's not unreasonable to plant 100 bulbs. I'm planting them in patches of like, 8-10, so planting 10 more would not be a bad idea. Now this is arguably stupid, the last thing I need is more Daffodils. I would not regret it. No one ever regrets planting more Daffodils! If for some reason I couldn't plant all 100 of them, I could force some of them, or give them to mom, or plant them in another area. Well, I only need to order by July 1st to get the discount.
Patio
The patio raised bed is delightful. The Begonias just kind of keep going. The flowers are showing some age, but they keep going. The Liriope up in the front look pretty good. It's a little weird seeing them up at eye level; they don't look as dense when you see them from the side because you see the lower stem parts. But it's nice; I like it. The Coleus are doing great. One of the chartreuse ones was getting pretty tall so I cut off the top, and I'm trying to root it in a cup of water. It's been at least a week, and I really think I'm getting something but it's slow. Once I have something I clearly identify as roots, I'll stick it in some seed starting mix,
I think I can keep Coleus over the winter? They don't need a lot of light. I think I will try to dig them out and plant them in containers and keep that around inside, and it will actually look nice. I'll also try to keep the Begonias. There's a Coleus that's the kind that's dark red with green borders, and it's getting pretty big. If I'm successful with rooting the cutting from the green one, I'll try it with the other one.
The Gutter Garden is doing pretty well! Last weekend it was full of tons of lettuce, especially the Arugula. I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was the kind of display that would have convinced me to put this in originally. This was a good idea. Would recommend. I harvested a ton of Arugula last weekend, and I even pulled out some of the little stumps. I planted several more seeds last weekend, and a few are showing. I have a few more Nasturtiums to put in there, but I can't remember where I've put the seeds.
The herbs are doing great. I'm still so irritated that I can't find that last green pot, so I can't fill the trellis. I kind of gave up on the Cilantro, and I just threw the whole thing in a pile with other crap, and of course it's still growing and now it's got flowers. I'm kind of tempted to leave it alone and see if those flowers form seed. But maybe that will take too long and I'll get around to cleaning it before then.
I'm kind of ok that all my Elephant Ears were such failures, because they would be a little bit imposing in there. I mean, it wouldn't be bad, so I might try the same bulbs next year. I do wish these plantings had a little more height. Overall, it's like 6 inches tall.
I really want to fill that bed with Tulips next year. Like, an obscene amount of them. They will probably do just fine in there, because it's a little protected. And I would see them a lot if they were there.
The Morning Glory do not look very good. They have little holes, they're not really filling in. And the third container which I just seeded after putting it outside has very few survivors. I showed someone pictures of last year, and I was reminded of how amazing it was. I really hope I can get that again,
The wall container is fine. The Petunias are doing well, they flower repeatedly. I have two petunias I didn't plant that I could put in there. They both have white flowers, so I was kinda like, eh, white isn't exactly what I want. And I think I have the right number of plants for the space in there. I could put the white ones in a different container. I could put that container on the shelf, it would be pretty there.
Things to do: clean up the patio. I need to sweep up the anthills, and get the trash out of there. I guess I need to water things that don't get rain. The window box seems like it's got enough dampness now, so the sunflowers will grow fine.
I'm really thinking about putting up the Wooly pockets on the patio wall and filling them with sweet potato vine, which grows like fucking crazy and would help me hide that ugly cinderblock. I also need to put in the rest of the Nasturtium seeds.
Side Bed
The Roses are finally putting on a little new growth, but it's a little sparse. I guess that's good, because I want them growing roots, but I'd like to get some more flowers at some point. The Hostas are fine. The Zinnias are growing, but not as fast as I'd like, and of course I really wish I'd had more. And I still want some kind of annual in there like Vincas.
I have another pile of sunflower seeds (about 30) and I was thinking about putting them in the side bed, right in front of the raised bed. I'm also going to throw down the rest of the creeping thyme seeds in that area, knowing they are unlikely to do anything. I do really want to get some stepping stones in there...
Things to do- plant those seeds, I guess. I'm tempted to fertilize the roses but I don't think I'm supposed to do that in the first year.
Front Bed
The Daylilies are doing great, I'm getting plenty of flowers now. I don't know why I got so few last year... maybe moving them around and dividing them did really help.
The annuals are ok... the Calibrocha seem to be happy, but the little purple allysum are just dying. I wish I had just gotten more calibrocha.
The Echinacea look pretty great. They're already forming some nice buds, and I saw a few flowers at Longwood and the ones at work are blooming just a little, so I should get them soon. And the Black Eyed Susan have these kind of burnt patches on the leaves. I think I did this by throwing a bunch of bone meal on that with abandon instead of digging it in to the soil. The one it the way back doesn't have any issues. I pulled off the bad looking leaves and I think it will be ok. We've got at least a month before the flowers.
The Clematis... I'm so saddened by this. I'm pretty sure I broke the stem putting it in, because I was so determined to untangle it from its little wooden trellis. If I had left it in there, it's not like it would even be visible. What's left of it is only like, 10 inches off the ground so I am very worried it's not getting enough sun. We will see if it survives this year. That's the most I can expect of it.
Things to do: Pull weeds. There are a lot in the sidewalk cracks, but some all up in there as well. I think I will actually pull out the sad Allysum, and if I feel like it, I'll buy some more annuals, hopefully more Calibrocha. I also need to prune the hedge.
Sidewalk Bed
The transplanted Daylilies are struggling, but I think they might make it. Of course it's full of weeds, and it's kind of past the point I can manage. I never cut back the Daffodils, because they never really turned yellow. The leaves don't look great, but not worse than the Daylilies.
The Yarrow looks fabulous. They're really full, and quite tall. I guess I didn't realize how big they were going to get... at least I didn't think about it.
Last year I put in some creeping phlox that was super cheap at Home Depot because they looked shitty but they weren't bad plants. They did show this year, but they had a few inches of black mulch piled on top of them so that didn't help.
Ultimately I'd like to get that whole thing filled with perennials to crowd out the weeds. I really do think a lot of Coreopsis would do well there, they are pretty drought tolerant and they grow like crazy. The color scheme is perfect. I might also move more of the Daylilies over there over time.
Things to do: Try to pull out all those fucking weeds. We're supposed to get thunderstorms on Saturday, so Sunday morning would be the best time. Maybe I will water it as well, to hopefully help the Daylilies. I might also cut down the Daffodils so it looks a little more normal in there.
I'm kind of thinking about putting in more Daffodils. They of course did great, and if I can leave them there with the leaves up until June, they will grow even better and naturalize and the whole space will be a crazy field of daffodils. And I'm tempted by White Flower Farm's early special on the large scale Daffodils. It's 100 mixed bulbs for $50, and I think they're usually a little more than $1 per bulb. And it's not unreasonable to plant 100 bulbs. I'm planting them in patches of like, 8-10, so planting 10 more would not be a bad idea. Now this is arguably stupid, the last thing I need is more Daffodils. I would not regret it. No one ever regrets planting more Daffodils! If for some reason I couldn't plant all 100 of them, I could force some of them, or give them to mom, or plant them in another area. Well, I only need to order by July 1st to get the discount.
Patio
The patio raised bed is delightful. The Begonias just kind of keep going. The flowers are showing some age, but they keep going. The Liriope up in the front look pretty good. It's a little weird seeing them up at eye level; they don't look as dense when you see them from the side because you see the lower stem parts. But it's nice; I like it. The Coleus are doing great. One of the chartreuse ones was getting pretty tall so I cut off the top, and I'm trying to root it in a cup of water. It's been at least a week, and I really think I'm getting something but it's slow. Once I have something I clearly identify as roots, I'll stick it in some seed starting mix,
I think I can keep Coleus over the winter? They don't need a lot of light. I think I will try to dig them out and plant them in containers and keep that around inside, and it will actually look nice. I'll also try to keep the Begonias. There's a Coleus that's the kind that's dark red with green borders, and it's getting pretty big. If I'm successful with rooting the cutting from the green one, I'll try it with the other one.
The Gutter Garden is doing pretty well! Last weekend it was full of tons of lettuce, especially the Arugula. I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was the kind of display that would have convinced me to put this in originally. This was a good idea. Would recommend. I harvested a ton of Arugula last weekend, and I even pulled out some of the little stumps. I planted several more seeds last weekend, and a few are showing. I have a few more Nasturtiums to put in there, but I can't remember where I've put the seeds.
The herbs are doing great. I'm still so irritated that I can't find that last green pot, so I can't fill the trellis. I kind of gave up on the Cilantro, and I just threw the whole thing in a pile with other crap, and of course it's still growing and now it's got flowers. I'm kind of tempted to leave it alone and see if those flowers form seed. But maybe that will take too long and I'll get around to cleaning it before then.
I'm kind of ok that all my Elephant Ears were such failures, because they would be a little bit imposing in there. I mean, it wouldn't be bad, so I might try the same bulbs next year. I do wish these plantings had a little more height. Overall, it's like 6 inches tall.
I really want to fill that bed with Tulips next year. Like, an obscene amount of them. They will probably do just fine in there, because it's a little protected. And I would see them a lot if they were there.
The Morning Glory do not look very good. They have little holes, they're not really filling in. And the third container which I just seeded after putting it outside has very few survivors. I showed someone pictures of last year, and I was reminded of how amazing it was. I really hope I can get that again,
The wall container is fine. The Petunias are doing well, they flower repeatedly. I have two petunias I didn't plant that I could put in there. They both have white flowers, so I was kinda like, eh, white isn't exactly what I want. And I think I have the right number of plants for the space in there. I could put the white ones in a different container. I could put that container on the shelf, it would be pretty there.
Things to do: clean up the patio. I need to sweep up the anthills, and get the trash out of there. I guess I need to water things that don't get rain. The window box seems like it's got enough dampness now, so the sunflowers will grow fine.
I'm really thinking about putting up the Wooly pockets on the patio wall and filling them with sweet potato vine, which grows like fucking crazy and would help me hide that ugly cinderblock. I also need to put in the rest of the Nasturtium seeds.
The Tomatoes are looking great. They're outgrown the first half of the cages, so I put the top halves on. The Better Boy already has those first few tomatoes at the bottom, only just starting to get flowers on the Cherry Tomato. That one is also getting some little bite holes in it.
The beans are growing up the trellis pretty nicely. They're 60 days to maturity, so I'm not going to see any beans until mid July. I think I should fertilize them now, so they put on more growth before then.
The Basil plants seem to be doing really well. I do wish I'd grown more, that I'd started them earlier, etc. Same with the other herbs, of course. I wish the Rosemary was growing better, but it's always a slow grower.
The Jalapeno is also a little slow, but I guess that's normal too. Maybe he needs some fertilizer as well.
I've got that big empty space in the raised bed, and I would like to put the Swiss Chard in there, but I'm not sure it's ready yet. I just transplanted the six of them to larger containers. I guess I could have put them right into the raised bed, and avoided two transplanting processes. But I just don't think they're ready... I am going to leave these larger containers outside when possible so they get some real sun. I did the same thing with the 3 Basil starts.
So I had 3 open six-packs, and I filled 2 of them with more Basil, and one with the green Zinnias. I'm not sure there is any point to starting seeds right now, because it will be a month before they're good enough to transplant. But I think the green Zinnias might be fun.
I'm looking at all the Zinnias on Burpee's site, and I'm thinking I should be growing a lot more. Since they are so cheap (25 cents per seed), it would be a great way to fill a large space. There are plenty that are shorter- they claim 18 inches. If I get enough of them, I could pretty much fill the sidewalk bed. Optimistically, let's say I get 20 plants out of a seed pack. 20 Zinnia plants would fill out that space very nicely. And the reviews say they are very drought tolerant.
I also think I should put in more Zinnias in the side bed, but some shorter ones to fill out the space in the front. So I might be buying 3 packs of Zinnias next year- a red and yellow mix for the sidewalk bed, a short pink type for the side bed and some kind of big cutting flower like I've been doing. I'll keep an eye out for an end-of-season sale, because I think there's no reason not to use last year's seeds.
So I will try to start a TON of Zinnias in March, because I want them pretty big before transplanting. It will be kind of challenging to have enough space for them. I'm starting to think I need another grow light... I will probably want all 10 six packs to be Zinnias when it's that time. I should have transplanted the early spring veggies by then, into larger containers if not outside. I should be able to plant the Zinnias outside in late April. If I had done this better, I would have flowering Zinnias everywhere by now.
Same with Sunflowers. I wish I had started a ton of them. I'll definitely do the Elf ones again, for the third year. There are 35 seeds in a pack, and I'll start them in the water bottles. And I think I'll put one seed in each, so if some of them don't germinate within a week, I'll just add another seed. I don't feel like I need to waste them by planting 2 or 3 in each container and thinning later. I think I've got like, 20 of them in the window box, so I would happily start the whole packet.
There is that area in front of the dumpsters that used to have a ton of Irises and someone, for some reason, wiped them all out. I can't even. But if I go in there and plant a ton of sunflowers, I think they would grow beautifully. I think the area is like, 10 feet wide and 2 feet deep. I would like to do a row of 6 foot Sunflowers in the back and a row of 3 foot ones in front, and I think I would want 20 plants total. And I would also want to put lots of sunflowers in the sidewalk bed, along with these shorter red and yellow zinnias. See, I think there's no reason I can't totally fill that area with these seed started annuals. The more I fill out that area, the less weeds there will be. And it will attract butterflies, and those are great cutting flowers.
In that sidewalk bed, I would like to dig up and divide the Liriope, which I should do when it starts to grow next spring. I'd like to do the same thing I did in the front bed, and break it into 6 inch plants and spread them near the edges of that area. That would be the same time the Daffodils are up, but probably after they're done blooming. Then shortly after that I would plant Zinnias and Sunflowers.
I'm looking at White Flower Farm and I'm very tempted to buy a fuck ton of Daffodils and just cram that space full.
The beans are growing up the trellis pretty nicely. They're 60 days to maturity, so I'm not going to see any beans until mid July. I think I should fertilize them now, so they put on more growth before then.
The Basil plants seem to be doing really well. I do wish I'd grown more, that I'd started them earlier, etc. Same with the other herbs, of course. I wish the Rosemary was growing better, but it's always a slow grower.
The Jalapeno is also a little slow, but I guess that's normal too. Maybe he needs some fertilizer as well.
I've got that big empty space in the raised bed, and I would like to put the Swiss Chard in there, but I'm not sure it's ready yet. I just transplanted the six of them to larger containers. I guess I could have put them right into the raised bed, and avoided two transplanting processes. But I just don't think they're ready... I am going to leave these larger containers outside when possible so they get some real sun. I did the same thing with the 3 Basil starts.
So I had 3 open six-packs, and I filled 2 of them with more Basil, and one with the green Zinnias. I'm not sure there is any point to starting seeds right now, because it will be a month before they're good enough to transplant. But I think the green Zinnias might be fun.
I'm looking at all the Zinnias on Burpee's site, and I'm thinking I should be growing a lot more. Since they are so cheap (25 cents per seed), it would be a great way to fill a large space. There are plenty that are shorter- they claim 18 inches. If I get enough of them, I could pretty much fill the sidewalk bed. Optimistically, let's say I get 20 plants out of a seed pack. 20 Zinnia plants would fill out that space very nicely. And the reviews say they are very drought tolerant.
I also think I should put in more Zinnias in the side bed, but some shorter ones to fill out the space in the front. So I might be buying 3 packs of Zinnias next year- a red and yellow mix for the sidewalk bed, a short pink type for the side bed and some kind of big cutting flower like I've been doing. I'll keep an eye out for an end-of-season sale, because I think there's no reason not to use last year's seeds.
So I will try to start a TON of Zinnias in March, because I want them pretty big before transplanting. It will be kind of challenging to have enough space for them. I'm starting to think I need another grow light... I will probably want all 10 six packs to be Zinnias when it's that time. I should have transplanted the early spring veggies by then, into larger containers if not outside. I should be able to plant the Zinnias outside in late April. If I had done this better, I would have flowering Zinnias everywhere by now.
Same with Sunflowers. I wish I had started a ton of them. I'll definitely do the Elf ones again, for the third year. There are 35 seeds in a pack, and I'll start them in the water bottles. And I think I'll put one seed in each, so if some of them don't germinate within a week, I'll just add another seed. I don't feel like I need to waste them by planting 2 or 3 in each container and thinning later. I think I've got like, 20 of them in the window box, so I would happily start the whole packet.
There is that area in front of the dumpsters that used to have a ton of Irises and someone, for some reason, wiped them all out. I can't even. But if I go in there and plant a ton of sunflowers, I think they would grow beautifully. I think the area is like, 10 feet wide and 2 feet deep. I would like to do a row of 6 foot Sunflowers in the back and a row of 3 foot ones in front, and I think I would want 20 plants total. And I would also want to put lots of sunflowers in the sidewalk bed, along with these shorter red and yellow zinnias. See, I think there's no reason I can't totally fill that area with these seed started annuals. The more I fill out that area, the less weeds there will be. And it will attract butterflies, and those are great cutting flowers.
In that sidewalk bed, I would like to dig up and divide the Liriope, which I should do when it starts to grow next spring. I'd like to do the same thing I did in the front bed, and break it into 6 inch plants and spread them near the edges of that area. That would be the same time the Daffodils are up, but probably after they're done blooming. Then shortly after that I would plant Zinnias and Sunflowers.
I'm looking at White Flower Farm and I'm very tempted to buy a fuck ton of Daffodils and just cram that space full.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Seeds, Next Year
I just sowed some more sunflower seeds in the Sidewalk Bed. I hope they have enough time to grow. And I'm thinking now is a good time to sit down and go over the seed starting I did this season and how it went.
Early Stuff
The first things I started were Kale and Radicchio. They were good, I guess, and they definitely need to be started early. I started them at the end of January and the Radicchio grew along quite well inside. I wasn't able to transplant them until much later than I thought, because the soil was frozen. I guess I would do the same thing again. The Radicchio grow fine, but I really want them to be full sized heads to harvest, not just leaves. One of them is starting to get to that point now, but I don't think it's likely they will get far enough along soon. I'm going to try to keep them going through the summer.
I also started Coleus in January, and that was great. I only wish I had started more. Not that I really needed more, but I could have potentially filled that bed entirely with Coleus and it would look great. And I would think I could give those away. They of course had to be in larger containers for a lot of the time under lights, but they did great.
I also started a lot of Creeping Thyme, and none of that was successful. So I will not be trying that again, ever.
I started Bok Choy pretty early, but I think I had a full grown plant sitting on the shelf way too early. There's nothing really wrong with that... and one of them I liked and one I did not. I might try growing some full sized Bok Choy.
I started Peas directly in the containers, which was fine. They sprouted, and they grew. But by mid-May, they had not really gotten far enough along and there was no way I was going to get any peas. So I don't think I will bother with those again. I do have all the seeds, so I could try again, maybe in the raised bed. No Sweet Peas either, I don't think they do anything useful.
Same with Radishes- I don't know why these are such a failure! They should have grown just fine in containers, but they just did not grow. I have no idea what went wrong.
I started Cilantro pretty early, and they quickly got too much root at the bottom, so I moved them to the plastic water bottles. I like this idea, and I'll do it again.
I can't tell exactly when I started the Romaine, but I think it was early March. They grew really nicely and I just loved them, they looked great and they were great to eat and it was absolutely worth starting them way early.
Things to do again:
- Start Kale and Radicchio very early.
- Start lots of Coleus very early, like the end of January.
- Get some Bok Choy going pretty early, like February or maybe March.
- Plant some cilantro in the water bottles, maybe even bigger ones. (I just love growing in clear containers so you can see the root growth, it's so exciting!!!)
Things to not do again:
- Creeping Thyme
- Radishes
- Peas or Sweet Peas
I wish I had...:
- Started more Coleus at the beginning. You can't have too much Coleus!
- Started more leaf lettuce for the Gutter Garden.
- Started more Bok Choy! I need like, 3 at least for a meal.
I ended up with like, 12 heads of Romaine, 9 Kales, 12 Bok Choy, 6 Radicchio, maybe 12 Coleus. I should plan to fill the raised bed with as much of this stuff as I can. I like the way I arranged it, with the fastest stuff on the right and the longer stuff, like Radicchio, on the left.
Mid-Spring Stuff
I started some Zinnias around March 15th. I was gone for a while and one of those 6-packs died, but the other one came back and grew beautifully. Eventually I had to transplant them to a full sized container until I could put them outside. March 15th might be a little early.
I started Basil around the same time, and I think that was good. I think there's a lot of benefit to letting them get pretty big before transplanting.
In early April I started some Sunflowers in the water bottles. I've been told that you can't transplant Sunflowers because their roots don't like it, but I think this worked out great. As usual, I just wish I'd done more. Although only half of them grew.
I started Swiss Chard in April, which I really thought was a good plan, but the fuckers didn't grow! I don't know what the deal is. I started the new seeds and they're doing great.
Things to do again:
- Start lots of Zinnias inside. I did direct sow a lot of them, and I'm sure they will be fine, but I got several of the original ones in there now and they've got flowers. If I had put in like, 12, I would have 12 flowering plants right now.
- Start Sunflowers early, like in April. The faster they get going, the sooner I get flowers.
- Start my own Basil. I previously thought I just needed one Basil plant so why bother with the seeds, but I want like, 10. And it wasn't hard to give them away, everyone grows basil. The only problem was that I was giving them away last week, and most people had already bought their basil.
Things not to do:
- Maybe the Swiss Chard seeds were just no good? I don't think I should have to start with brand new seeds every year.
I wish I had...
- More Zinnias! Oh my god, why don't I have a field of Zinnias?
- More Sunflowers! I should have had enough to pack that window box full!
So let's make a schedule for next year!
January
Early Stuff
The first things I started were Kale and Radicchio. They were good, I guess, and they definitely need to be started early. I started them at the end of January and the Radicchio grew along quite well inside. I wasn't able to transplant them until much later than I thought, because the soil was frozen. I guess I would do the same thing again. The Radicchio grow fine, but I really want them to be full sized heads to harvest, not just leaves. One of them is starting to get to that point now, but I don't think it's likely they will get far enough along soon. I'm going to try to keep them going through the summer.
I also started Coleus in January, and that was great. I only wish I had started more. Not that I really needed more, but I could have potentially filled that bed entirely with Coleus and it would look great. And I would think I could give those away. They of course had to be in larger containers for a lot of the time under lights, but they did great.
I also started a lot of Creeping Thyme, and none of that was successful. So I will not be trying that again, ever.
I started Bok Choy pretty early, but I think I had a full grown plant sitting on the shelf way too early. There's nothing really wrong with that... and one of them I liked and one I did not. I might try growing some full sized Bok Choy.
I started Peas directly in the containers, which was fine. They sprouted, and they grew. But by mid-May, they had not really gotten far enough along and there was no way I was going to get any peas. So I don't think I will bother with those again. I do have all the seeds, so I could try again, maybe in the raised bed. No Sweet Peas either, I don't think they do anything useful.
Same with Radishes- I don't know why these are such a failure! They should have grown just fine in containers, but they just did not grow. I have no idea what went wrong.
I started Cilantro pretty early, and they quickly got too much root at the bottom, so I moved them to the plastic water bottles. I like this idea, and I'll do it again.
I can't tell exactly when I started the Romaine, but I think it was early March. They grew really nicely and I just loved them, they looked great and they were great to eat and it was absolutely worth starting them way early.
Things to do again:
- Start Kale and Radicchio very early.
- Start lots of Coleus very early, like the end of January.
- Get some Bok Choy going pretty early, like February or maybe March.
- Plant some cilantro in the water bottles, maybe even bigger ones. (I just love growing in clear containers so you can see the root growth, it's so exciting!!!)
Things to not do again:
- Creeping Thyme
- Radishes
- Peas or Sweet Peas
I wish I had...:
- Started more Coleus at the beginning. You can't have too much Coleus!
- Started more leaf lettuce for the Gutter Garden.
- Started more Bok Choy! I need like, 3 at least for a meal.
I ended up with like, 12 heads of Romaine, 9 Kales, 12 Bok Choy, 6 Radicchio, maybe 12 Coleus. I should plan to fill the raised bed with as much of this stuff as I can. I like the way I arranged it, with the fastest stuff on the right and the longer stuff, like Radicchio, on the left.
Mid-Spring Stuff
I started some Zinnias around March 15th. I was gone for a while and one of those 6-packs died, but the other one came back and grew beautifully. Eventually I had to transplant them to a full sized container until I could put them outside. March 15th might be a little early.
I started Basil around the same time, and I think that was good. I think there's a lot of benefit to letting them get pretty big before transplanting.
In early April I started some Sunflowers in the water bottles. I've been told that you can't transplant Sunflowers because their roots don't like it, but I think this worked out great. As usual, I just wish I'd done more. Although only half of them grew.
I started Swiss Chard in April, which I really thought was a good plan, but the fuckers didn't grow! I don't know what the deal is. I started the new seeds and they're doing great.
Things to do again:
- Start lots of Zinnias inside. I did direct sow a lot of them, and I'm sure they will be fine, but I got several of the original ones in there now and they've got flowers. If I had put in like, 12, I would have 12 flowering plants right now.
- Start Sunflowers early, like in April. The faster they get going, the sooner I get flowers.
- Start my own Basil. I previously thought I just needed one Basil plant so why bother with the seeds, but I want like, 10. And it wasn't hard to give them away, everyone grows basil. The only problem was that I was giving them away last week, and most people had already bought their basil.
Things not to do:
- Maybe the Swiss Chard seeds were just no good? I don't think I should have to start with brand new seeds every year.
I wish I had...
- More Zinnias! Oh my god, why don't I have a field of Zinnias?
- More Sunflowers! I should have had enough to pack that window box full!
So let's make a schedule for next year!
January
- Kale- 3 six-packs
- Radicchio- 3 six-packs
- Coleus- at least 3 six-packs, maybe 4
- So that's all 10 six-packs, which is fine. Of course, that does mean I would need... oh fuck 60 containers for transplanting. That's only if everything does well. And while I have time on my side, I might as well try to get as many things going as I can. I might end up needed another grow light...
February
- Transplant some of the stuff if it's ready
- Start cilantro, in the water bottles
- If this goes well, I could get all the first run transplanted into larger containers, and free up the six-packs for the next stuff.
March
- Romaine. I had 12 last year and I think that was a good number, so let's do 3 six-packs.
- Leaf Lettuce. I guess 2 six packs.
- Bok Choy. I think I want a lot of these, too. So, 3 six-packs
- Basil. I wish I'd started this a little earlier, and I'm happy to have a ton of Basil. We'll start with 2 six-packs
April
- Zinnias! Lots of them! At least 6 six-packs.
- Sunflowers. These I will start entirely in the water bottles.
- By now, the stuff I started in March (the greens) should all go outside, and the Basil will be transplanted still inside.
- It wasn't until early April that I was able to transplant the cool spring stuff this year, so by April I should definitely have the Kale, Radicchio, Romaine, Lettuce, Bok Choy and Cilantro out of the house. I'll still have Basil, Coleus, and the flowers.
- Swiss Chard. I probably could start this even earlier, but that might not work until I get some stuff moved out.
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