I haven't posted anything about my gardening efforts all spring :-( So I'm making up for it today with a whole slew of photos showing how things have gone in June and into July.
First, this is what our raised-bed vegetable garden looked like in early June:
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| Tiny pepper plants along one side, garlic in the center, and peas along the edges. |
Okay, on to the container garden! Here's how it was in very early June:
Those brown pots with double layers are full of marigolds grown from seeds I harvested from last year's plants. The two matching middle pots have nasturtiums also grown from last year's harvested seeds, and they didn't all come up, so I bought some "lemon bell" calibrachoas to fill in the gaps. The middle pot is entirely purslane, also from seeds I harvested last year. The pots up on the three-level plant stand belong to my kids. They have nasturtiums in the back, and then store-bought portulacas in the front. That little painted pot in front of the plant stand just has more calibrachoas and petunias that came in a "planter ready" pot that I got 75% off at the plant store because it wasn't currently blooming.
Down the two little steps are my lavender plants. I need to put these in the ground and meant to do it this spring, but then I was gone nearly 4 weeks in May, so it didn't happen :-(
Now for the close-ups! Here's the lavender:
That store-bought "planter-ready" mix. Unhappily, we have a groundhog in the neighborhood that likes to munch these calibrachoas sometimes.
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| Calibrachoas |
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| Petunia |
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| "Lemon Bell" calibrachoas in the bigger planters with the nasturtiums. |
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| Portalucas |
Here's how things were looking 10 days ago. This is basically how it still looks now, except that there are some marigolds opening now.
That naughty groundhog ate all the nasturtiums in Tootie's pot, so I let her pick out a replacement at the local nursery, and she chose this bright vinca:
The blooms are so pretty as they unfurl!
Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!
I love lavender!
ReplyDeleteMy parents have also planted a bunch of succulents--rosemary, thyme, portulaca, etc.--in our garden because the summers are just so hot that they tend to kill less-hardy plants. Even though we live in the Deep South where it's supposed to be hot and WET (hint, hint, O Weather)--the summers are often pretty dry for long stretches. Although the last couple years haven't been so bad. Which I'm grateful for. (I really don't like intense heat.)
We live in the upper south, and oh man oh man, has it been wet here! I wish I could send you some of our rain! It has rained every day for more than a week, and before that it was already really wet. My plants are starting to get those yellow leaves from overwatering (except the portaluca and purslane, they're growing like mad).
DeletePretty. We love decorating our porch with all kind of flowers. Trying to use more perennials this time around. Right now we really like lilies. I'm not sure which variety they are exactly, but they're sure nice looking. :)
ReplyDeleteRissi, I like perennials too! My lavender are perennials, and I want to put them on one side of our property beside our neighbor's fence. But now it turns out they're replacing that fence, so it's probably good I haven't planted them there yet! I also keep adding bulb flowers every fall -- we have lots and lots of daffodils in the front now, and some hyacinths, and now more than 50 bright purple irises :-) Oh, and I have a bed of lily-of-the-valley right by the front door that was here when we moved in. Not to mention some flowering bushes here and there. Spring is glorious here!
DeleteOoh, flowers! :D I love the lavender. And the "Lemon Bell" calibrachoas are so different and cool-I've never seen flowers like that before. :)
ReplyDeleteNatalie, aren't those striped calibrachoas cool? I got them from Lowe's, but I've seen them at Walmart too. They're a hybrid, I think. I had them last year too, and loved how cheery they are.
DeleteLove all your flowers! I am a big fan of the "Portalucas" but we call them moss roses. And I'm going to have to find some purslane, it's so pretty and very cool that it's edible!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lizzie! I've never grown portalucas before, but they're such a cool mix of colors! The purslane is wonderful, and it is blooming like mad right now -- I need to take and share another picture!
Delete(This is me playing catch-up.... ;P)
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE all the happy garden pictures!! You grew purslane from seed? I'm super interested as I've been intrigued by the idea of purslane as long as I can remember. It's referenced in a picture book I grew up with, but I had no idea what it looked like till recently. Do you get lots of seeds off it?
And naughty naughty groundhog.... :-/
I bought the purslane from Walmart last year to replace things that didn't come up in my containers -- I'd never heard of it before that! I gathered seeds from those plants in the fall, but I wasn't sure if they would propagate because so often plants you buy already flowering are hybrids and sterile. But I tried them out, and sure enough, they germinated!
DeleteI only had a few plants last year, I think two yellow and two pink IIRC, but I was able to gather enough seeds to fill this whole big pot. So this year I will be able to gather LOTS of seeds and share if you want some :-) You'll notice that the yellow and pinks have combined to create a kind of peachy color too, which I find fascinating :-)
Purslane is so cool to grow -- two weeks before you want to plant the seeds outside, you stick them in a plastic bag with some potting soil, and put them in the fridge. Then just mix them with the top layer of soil wherever you're planting them, after they've been refrigerated for two weeks! Isn't that nifty?
Oh.... yes, yes please!!!! I'd love to have some if you get enough!! :)
DeleteI've already harvested as much as I could possibly need for next year, so next time I notice seeds, I'll collect them for you :-D
DeleteOH! And did the nasturtiums come up for you?
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