Re: Spring Gardens
 

Thanks Steph for the tip! And thanks Marlys! She is adorable. Grandkids are wonderful. Im going out today and plant some swiss chard, spinach and mustard green seeds in some containers I have.

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Ok - planted my greens about 2 weeks ago (romaine, mixed greens,spinach and swiss chard) also planted carrots. Everything is popping. BEST news is that last fall's lettuce reseeded and I have lettuce that is ready to harvest (small but about 25 heads so...) it will last till the "babies" I planted start coming. Couple more weeks and seeds for squashes can go in and canteloupe too.
Then the coveted tomatoes and peppers. I'm psyched. I love the vegetable garden!

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Planted tomatoes and peppers on May 16. The next day the rains came and the temperature dropped. Thank God for "walls of water". However, the rains continued, the temperature kept dropping and finally Saturday it snowed right down to the bottom of the hills. However, no damage to the crops. I say again "God takes care of fools and drunks", and I qualify on all counts.
Will plant cucumbers and zucchini this weekend.
Love & hugs,
Marlys

Re: First Rose of Summer
 

Well, it is not officially summer yet, in fact we here have not gotten out of March as far as I can tell!

In spite of the chilly, damp, cloudy weather here in the Misty Woods, most of my roses ARE happy! This is Just Joey, and it has a wonderful scent to go with it's striking color.

And strawberry crop looks to be quite bountiful if it warms up enough for the berries to ripen...

Re: Spring Gardens
 

First Dragonfly of the season. Took this while visiting some public gardens in Austin, TX. They have a huge pond garden, and this one landed while I was going to photo some water lilies with interesting colors.

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Lovely Steph !!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing !!!!!

Re: Spring Gardens
 

My 2010 apple.
Attachment 778

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Oh, PinK! That is NOT funny, I know. My apple tree has NO apples this year. It also looks awfully sick ...

Re: Spring Gardens
 

My fig tree has doubled (or trippled) its size thanks to the ample rain (or drought?) The size of the figs also increased. And they are so juicy and sweet. (Used to be that if they were big because of the rain, they wouldn't be as sweet - I think the daily 'kichen waste water' feed helped.)

My deck is covered with 'wild' trees and vines which provide excellent shade to the south side of the house. Hubby has been mowing diligently this year - but I asked him to leave the stuff 'on' the deck alone. And I've been enjoying 'juicing' with the small purple grapes. They are so sour, I can see why ancient people figured out how to make wine with it. The juice made with Gatorade/apple juice tastes so much better than the fresh grapes which are too tangy to eat... [I planted it the same time my In-laws planted theirs many years ago. Have never seen any grapes on theirs. ?]

Re: Spring Gardens
 

The figs and the grape/apple juice sound wonderful Jackie. My mouth is watering for the bounty. If you have too many grapes you can freeze some of the juice to defrost and drink when they are not in season. I do that with seasonal fruits sometimes. Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Thanks. I'll try that. My late Mother-in-law used to make jams and jelly. I thought it over and didn't think I was capable of doing the same.

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Record number of figs again. The fig tree has doubled its size again - now covering 1/6 of the back yard. I can see now how Adam and Eve might have been hiding behind the fig leaves. Already have several lunch boxes full of figs in the freezer. This afternoon I picked enough of them to fill a strainer...

The hot pepper plant had dried up during the winter freeze (a year ago?) Noticed a tiny sprout this spring, and now it's quite assertive about its own existence. Wondered if I need to cut down the old plant to give it more room. Kind of afraid of shaking/damaging its roots, though.

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Jackie your post about figs last year made me seriously consider getting a Bavarian Fig tree that should survive in our climate. But I got something else - not fruit bearing.

Just have to get figs at the market when they have some.

We DO have our usual crop of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Re: Spring Gardens
 

My BROADWAY rose bush is very happy and the flowers are as big as saucers!

This variety is also extremely fragrant. A complete package ...

Re: Spring Gardens
 

The figs sound delicious Jackie and I can practically smell the roses Steph. Lovely. I wish I was there in person to enjoy figs and roses.

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Pink,

Have you got any new 'French' Zukini? [Took me this long to figure out the creative picture you posted a year ago... :)]



Steph,

That 'huge' rose is beautiful...

Re: Spring Gardens
 

Garden is doing well this year. Swiss chard is great but the lettuce is almost done now.

I have the patty pan squash starting - love it then hate it. It is so prolific and just keeps on coming. A couple of baby tomatoes on some bushes but they have weeks to go. Wax beans should flower momentarily. Green italian beans were just planted (4 weeks after the wax beans so we are not inenated with beans). My peppers only do so-so in my garden and they seem the same this year. They are typically so easy to grow but not at this house (and I've moved them around as I have 3 different areas). I also have acorn squash but no flowers yet and herbs (basil, thyme and parsley). Not much else but good enough. 12 tomato plants as I do sauce and stuff. We'll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

Re: Spring Gardens
 

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...0_510676_n.jpg

The wife/mother of my host family (26 years ago) took this picture last week on her trip with some friends to Breckenridge, CO. Anybody familiar with Lobella? This purple/blue lobella basket is simply stunning!

Re: Spring Gardens
 

My spring garden has morphed into a summer garden. I was out today in some of our record breaking heat cursing squash bugs (and squashing them). Days like this make me realize I would never be a good Buddhist. Haven't had rain for weeks. Finally rained buckets this afternoon. But out there in the heat while I was cutting my miserable little cabbages I found myself wondering what to plant next. It is an addiction. If I had a thousand acres I would probably try to plant it all. My grandaughter had to interview an "old" person recently and one of the questions she asked me was what do I collect. I thought for a minute and realized that I collect plants. So I found myself at the computer today scheming about what I could put in my fall garden.