Spring Has Sprung Part 2 - March 18, 2012

Here are some more photos I took over the weekend of the things that are already popping up in my flower beds.  Amazed at the amount of growth I see give that it is still March!

 Evening Primrose.

 Spider web Hen and Chicken.

 Delta Red Hen and Chicken

Hen and Chicken - not sure what this one is called, but I got it from my Nana's flower bed. 

 

Another Hen and Chicken - I bought this one, but lost the tag!

 

Another Hen and Chicken that can from my Nana's flower bed.

Hen and Chicken - not sure what this one is call or even where I got it! Can you tell that I really like Hen and Chickens??

Rhubarb!

 Tulips.

Daffodils.

Purple Sedum . . . can't believe that this is up already!

And one of my day lilies is has started coming up already!

I have my fingers crossed that we don't get any more wintery weather because all my little plants won't like it very much!

Spring Has Sprung - March 18, 2012

The time has come to bring "My Almost Green Thumb" out of hibernation and jump into another year of gardening adventures.  This is the earliest I have ever been able to get into the gardens to do my spring cleaning.  Usually, there is snow or it is too cold or on a good year, too wet.  But this is an amazing year, March 18th, 22C, sunny and my flowers are bursting to life.

At first glance, there were just a few little things poking through the soil.

Irises. 

Crocuses.

As usual, there was a lot of mess - plants that hand't been trimmed in the fall, dried up leaves that had fallen from near by trees, dead plants that needed to be pulled.  And as always, it looked like a huge job.

 

Back Flower Bed

Side Flower Bed

Side Flower Bed

But once I got started, it went much faster than expected!  A couple of hours and 4 wheel barrow loads of debris and the gardens were looking so much better.

 

Tidied up Back Flower Bed

Tidied up Side Flower Bed

Tidied up Side Flower Bed 

There were a few surprises as I was doing my spring cleaning.

Run away bulbs . . . allium, I think!

 

It may be teeny tiny, but it is the first flower of 2012!

This crocus did not have buds when I went in the house at 2:00pm, but it did when I came back out at 3:30pm!

Vegetable Garden - August 31

I have avoided doing a post about the vegetable garden for a couple of weeks, because, well, I was more than a little bit discouraged . . . two Saturdays ago, I spent a fair bit of time in the garden and also tweeting my disappointment.  Here are those tweets, which my exact thoughts on my garden at the time.

Peppers are small and kind of bitter. Plants are very wilted. Carrots aren't even as big around as Liam's fingers. 

Lettuce is done. Swiss chard and kale are dying already, they usually last until frost.

There are hardly any cucumbers, this time last year I was pickling like crazy to keep up with them.

Onions aren't even as big as golf balls, hardly any zucchini, dug 4 hills of potatoes and not even enough for a meal.

All I can figure is that it is the lack of rain that we've had this year, but it is so discouraging.

Next year, I will be getting lots & lots of cow manure from the farmer next door to fertilize. And watering sooner if dry!

OK, I think I am done complaining about my garden. Just needed to get the frustration out! Thanks for listening!! 

On a more positive note, the beets are doing incredibly well, just brought in a bucket of them to make pickled beets! 

And the tomatoes that ripen without rotting are super yummy! 

Since then, my outlook has improved somewhat.  I am still disappointed in parts of the garden.  But the tomatoes have started to ripen.  Even the romas are starting to ripen without rotting.  The broccoli looks like it is almost ready.  There have been fresh blossoms on the zucchini.  And the cherry tomatoes that seeded themselves down from last year are doing great!  

Flower Garden - August 6/7

The lack of rain is starting to show it's effects on some of my perennials as well.  The blossoms aren't lasting as long and the plants are starting to droop.  A couple of things are actually starting to look like they are going to die.  Fortunately, perennials are fairly hardy and it takes a lot to do damage to most of them.  Here are a few pics from the past couple weeks.

The rubekia is giving a splash of colour all over the garden!

Rubekia.

Not the best photo, but after about five years, this monk's hood finally decided to bloom!!  The other one still has not!

Columbine seed pods . . . once again, I just let them do their thing, so there will be lots of little white columbine around next year!

Tiger Lily, the last lily to bloom this year.

Happy to see new growth on this clematis, it started off really nicely this year and then died back almost to nothing, but growing nicely now.

Despite the powdery mildew problem on my phlox, they are all doing remarkably well!

Phlox

They are starting to look a little ragged, but these echinacea have lasted for a LONG time!

Purple Phlox.

Red Phlox

Vegetable Garden - August 6/7

I have to admit that I am getting a little discouraged with the vegetable garden.  We haven't had hardly any rain in weeks and it is really taking it's toll.  I actually broke down and bought more hose and a sprinkler this week so that I could water the garden.  This is the ninth year that I've had a garden here and it is the first time I've ever needed to water it.  

The red potatoes have all died back to nothing, so I decided to dig some today.  They are small and very few.  I dug 4 hills, which is half the row and barley got enough for a meal.  The cucumbers are very slow and the lettuce is already starting to get bitter.  And today I noticed what appears to be blossom end rot on my Roma tomatoes.

I have my fingers crossed that watering helps in time to still have a plentiful garden.

On a brighter note, we did have grilled zucchini for dinner last night and it was very yummy, the few cucumbers that we have had have been delicious and there are beets that are ready to be used.  So, it's not a complete failure!  

The Vegetable Garden

Nice looking beets that will make some yummy "purple pickles".

Zucchini.

The peppers are doing well!

I had one ripe tomato earlier this week that with this lettuce and cucumber made a very yummy salad.

Roma Tomatoes were looking good until I looked closely . . . 

Many of them, including all the ones that were starting to ripen seem to be suffering from blossom end rot.  Hope some of them make it!

Disappointing red potatoes, four hills and only enough for one meal.  Hopefully the white ones are better.