Weeds and roses

I didn't make much headway this weekend on new landscaping because I devoted myself to the painful task of weeding. Since I haven't mulched yet this year—I'm waiting for the free mulch pile to return (I have a lot of square feet to cover)—I have weeds coming up everywhere. Three days of weeding and I only have one section left to do. By the time I finish the task this week, I'll probably have to start over! ARG!

But the weeding gives you time to survey each of your plants with thoughtful devotion. And I discovered that many of my roses are afflicted with blackspot, a common rose disease. Upon research, blackspot tends to thrive in wet, cool weather—we had 10 days of 50 degree rainy weather before our beautifully sunny week last week. I had to go buy a rose-specific pesticide at Home Depot today, which should nip it in the bud. (Pun. HA!)

And speaking of roses, I would have never guessed that my bushes would actually be in bloom for Memorial Day, but my red and pink mini roses are all flowering! My large roses bushes have several buds ready to pop in the next couple days. It's amazing what a week of sunny, warm weather will do for a garden.

Another high point of the weekend—my herb seeds are growing. Despite the herbicide I sprinkled in the garden, my dill, cilantro, basil, parsley, and chive seeds all germinated. I wonder how long it will take for them to actually be big enough to harvest for cooking?

First harvest!

Yesterday was an exciting milestone—I harvested our first crop of veggies! I was able to pluck about half of the row of radishes—nearly 20! The rest will be ready in a few days to a week.

Personally, I don't like radishes, but Hubby loves them, so while I only tried one of these spicy red cherry bombs, Hubby ate a freshly-picked handful right out of the bowl. Washed of course.

Hubby commented: Are these all the radishes we're going to get out of the garden? Well, for starters, I wanted to plant all the veggies conservatively, not knowing exactly how big the plants would get, how long they'd take to grow, and how much we'd actually be able to eat before the produce goes bad. I anticipate having radishes in the fridge for another month—a little radish goes a long way, especially when only one person in your family is eating them. I think Hubby will be surprised at how long his 40 radishes will keep in the crisper.

It's amazing to think that just a month or so ago I buried a row of seeds and now we're eating the fruits of our own labor and nature's design. Pure, innocent satisfaction.

Still wearing sweaters...

Other than Saturday, which reached a balmy 74 degrees in the early afternoon before making a rapid decent back into the 50s as the evening storm rolled in, there has been no resemblance of an upcoming summer in the weather lately. It's supposed to be rainy all week, though I've heard a rumor that it might actually be warm?! At this point, I'll believe it when I see it.

Weather pitfalls: My tomatoes, peppers and eggplants have given up on growing and flowering I think. All my recently planted seedlings have been super slow to emerge and/or drowned out and washed away. My roses are full of leaves, but my hopes of them flowering for Memorial Day weekend, as they did last year, are declining. The spring flowers that were/are in bloom were largely destroyed by the multiple torrential downpours last week. My poor irises look like they've been through a war and the ajuca, which I had hoped to stay in bloom until June, was pelted to death--all the blooms fell to the ground as a result.

Weather benefits: I haven't had to do any manual watering lately. My cool weather veggies are thriving and nearing harvest time. I was really late getting all my spring veggies in the ground, so looking at the bright side, I might actually yield a decent harvest from my broccoli, peas, carrots, beets, and radishes. Speaking of radishes, two in the row revealed their red crowns this weekend, so we got to pluck and enjoy them. Well, I didn't, but Cavan and Hubby did. I'll try the next one. It was pretty exciting picking the first vegetable out of your own garden. I can't wait for a major harvest, when we get to reap the rewards of all the hard work and effort and patience over the last few months.

Despite the rain and the cold, I was able to make some headway in the garden this weekend. I continued my pursuit to rid the herb garden of wild clumps of grass and weeds. One more day ought to do it. (This wouldn't normally be a three-day job, but it's extremely tiring wielding a hoe, tiller, and pitch fork with a baby belly, especially when bending over has become a robust challenge.)

I was then able to plant my 16 hosta roots, most of which actually sprouted in the plastic bags they were delivered in! Seven were used as the herb garden border and accents around a strategically placed boulder. The others were amassed between two trees bordering a stone staircase leading to another tier of our property. I will be interest to see how big each of these hostas get and if the spacing I used was appropriate. Ideally, they will all gently overlap without crowding, but when mixing varieties it's hard to tell how they will actually spread, despite following the spacing guidelines.

Still on the list to plant are my three remaining burning bushes. And I just received an order of eight astillbe plants. And my petunias for my hanging baskets should be arriving any day. I'm interest to see the size and condition of how these arrive--I usually buy my hanging baskets from the nursery, but I thought I'd try to grow my own this year. And a replacement rose bush should be coming soon. It will be nice when I can just focus on maintaining the garden rather than all these new plantings, but with two acres to manicure, that might be a while.

Deer devastation revisited

Yesterday, after a restless sleep due to nightmares about rabid deer and maniacal tomato plants, I had the opportunity to revisit my deer-damaged garden with a more objective, rather than emotional, lens.

Yes, the deer did inflict some trauma, but decimate, not really. It could have been a lot worse. We have a three and a half foot fence around our vegetable garden beds—mainly to help keep out critters like our dog, for one, and then groundhogs, rabbits, or other pesky varmints. It looks like the deer did not enter the veggie garden, but rather leaned over the fence to reach the delicacies on the borders. The tomatoes and a few eggplants. While four of the tomatoes were chewed down to stalks, the deer were generous enough to leave some foliage on most of them, so I think they will come back. Good thing I have 11 plants left standing, as my harvest from half of them might be weakened. We’ll see.

The dozen or so phlox starter plants that they ate were all divided from a neighbor’s garden. Since they were free and I’m sure I can go steal some more if I want, I’m not completely heartbroken over those. I’m more upset about the mastication of my two baby blueberry bushes. I hope they come back.

My mum, which had about 20 flower buds on it already, now only has one flower bud. But this is also a plant that the above-mentioned dog has, against my cursing and punishment, claimed as his pissing post. Plants don’t appreciate dog urine, and the foliage on its bottom half has turned the same shade of yellow as its most frequent beverage. I feel like there is a doggie shock collar in my future.

But as depressed as I was about these garden setbacks upon initial discovery, I am a resilient and optimistic person. Hubby and I have resolved to prevent the past from repeating. After work yesterday, Hubby spent the evening reinforcing the deer perimeter fence, as well as lacing the nearly-see through black mesh with bright pink warning ribbons. Not that deer can see in color, but the ribbon does at least make the fencing noticeable so they don’t accidentally run into it.

Similarly, I set out to buy ingredients for a deer repellant recipe that a friend of mine forwarded. I tried commercial deer repellant last year, mainly on our front garden, which isn’t fenced in and is planted with hostas and impatiens, otherwise known as deer candy. BUT, that potent and disgusting concoction of manure, garlic, cloves, rotten eggs, and other nasties, repulsed me even more. I refused to smell that noxious aroma every time I entered and exited my house. I can’t enjoy my garden if my garden spurs my vomit reflexes.

The recipe we will be trying was designed by a Connecticut horticulturalist who is affiliated with the NY Botanical Gardens. Pretty good resume. She claims that while it reeks while the formula is in liquid form, as soon as it dries on the plants (or perimeter fences), the smell is undetectable to the human olfactory system. Too good to be true? We’ll see, but it’s cheap to make, so worth a shot!

I had to stop by a local nursery to see if they carried one of the ingredients, so while I was there, I couldn’t help myself—I bought four plants. Lavender, chocolate mint, creeping thyme, and lemon balm—all perennial herbs. (They didn’t have the necessary ingredient). I know some women that can’t pass a shoe store without making a purchase; that’s me at a garden center. But after the losses I suffered yesterday, buying brand new healthy plants made me happy. Now, if only the temperatures would climb out of the 50s and into pre-summer digits. Seriously, I’m still wearing sweaters. While my peas, broccoli and cabbage are loving this super cool spring, all of my other plants are peaking out of hibernation at a snail’s pace. I won’t get greedy and hope for an 80-degree day, but consistent 70s would be nice from here on out!

Damn deer

Actually, damn deer is not quite accurate. )F%*&ING DEER! They broke down a section of our deer fence and decimated a good part of my garden. Ate most of my tomato plants, portions of my eggplants, all of my phlox, most of my blueberry bushes, and the flower buds off my mums. I'm really depressed and angry right now. Hubby re-secured the deer fence, but I'm worried that now that they know about the delicacies of the garden, they will be more inclined to force their way in. Not a good garden day.

Rainy weekend update

The rain finally came. We had a week and a half of beautiful, sunny, 70-degree weather. While I am never one to complain about perfect weather, it did force us to start watering the gardens with the hose. Especially the veggies. I left them for two days without watering and nearly ended up with a garden of dead plants. Veggies are not as tolerant of perfect weather as my perennials.

It started raining yesterday and we are due for rain on-and-off all week. I'm actually happy; all my newly planted flowers and veggies and seeds will benefit. But because of the rain, and a short-napping toddler, I didn't quite accomplish all my gardening goals this weekend.

Here's what I did get done:

* Bought 15 strawberry plants from Home Depot and replaced my non-growing crowns in the garden. The plants already have flowers and some have baby fruits on them.

* Planted three burning bushes, a butterfly bush, an azalea bush, and a blue lace cap hydrangea.

* Bought and planted a small basil plant. I love basil and don't have the patience to wait for the seeds to sprout.

* Fertilized the veggies and roses.

Here's what I need to do ASAP:

* Finish de-grassing my herb garden. I want to plant hostas along the border (by the fence that we'll be putting up this summer).

* Plant my baby herb plants that are still growing in their tiny peat pots: rosemary, chives, and mint. The other seedlings didn't survive the hardening off process. I need more practice at that! I need to start over with the cilantro, lemon balm, dill, and parsley.

* Till my third veggie box, plant eight more tomato plants, and sow my summer veggie seeds: corn, zucchini, yellow squash, scallions, and okra.

* Plant my three remaining burning bushes.


Update on veggie progress:

* My cucumber seedlings have just poked through the soil. No sign yet of my string beans. I used last year's seeds that I had left over...they may not have been viable. I'll give them another week.

* The peas. The ones that had started to yellow look like they might be coming back, though they are still looking pretty sad compared to the bright green ones I sowed directly in the garden.

* I thinned out my row of radishes. They might be ready next week. The beets will need to be thinned soon, as well as the carrots.

* The spinach and broccoli seem to be hanging in there. I haven't noticed much growth, but they are green and sturdy, so I'm still hopeful.

One final note. Thank you Hubby for laying down a weed-block blanket and covering it with wood chips in paths surrounding each of my veggie boxes.

A beautiful Mother's Day weekend

What a treat—we had two beautiful day's in a row. The perfect gift for Mother's Day. And I accomplished a lot in the garden as well. Here's the update.

**I planted nine 14" terra cotta pots with red and white impatiens to liven up our deck. In a couple weeks the flowers will be overflowing the rims.

**Also newly planted: two baby Brigitta blueberry bushes, 12 sprigs of tall red phlox divided from my neighbor, two double cone flowers (a kooky variety of echinacea), eight 4 O'clock flowers that I grew from seeds indoors, and a packet of zinnia seeds sown directly in the garden (I'm crossing my fingers).

**In addition, I planted four astrantia roots. BUT, I forgot that I ordered them for my shade garden, and planted them in full sun. So now I have to go dig them up this week before they sprout. A frustrating task, knowing it's my fault for not reading the planting directions before I dug my holes.

**Other updates: One of my two new rose bushes has died. The stalks have all turned brown. The other has tons of swollen buds and is beginning to leaf out. I will have to call the company this week to get a replacement plant or refund. But on a more successful note, the cosmos seedlings I sprinkled in the dirt surrounding our raised veggie beds seem to be sprouting. Yeah! AND, I just discovered three gladiolas poking out of the ground. They are not supposed to be winter-hardy in zone six, but looks like at least a few survived!

**For Mother's Day, Hubby woke up early to get a truckload of wood chips for the paths between the veggie beds. He is laying down the black weed-block and will finish spreading the chips this week. It's starting to look "pro" around here ;)

Garden goals for the upcoming week:
1) Plant butterfly bush, azalea, hydrangea and burning bushes
2) Move astrantia
3) Fertilize all beds (believe it or not, I've never fertilized!)
4) Weed and mulch
5) Remove grass and weeds from the herb garden area so I can sow seeds and transplant my seedlings.
6) Identify the plant that has overtaken own of my borders. I'm hoping it's a flower, but probably not likely.
7) Plant hostas in the shade garden
8) Plant gladiolas bulbs

As always, to be continued!

Veggie garden update

Cavan planting bean seeds in the veggie garden.

Quick update:
1) Radish, beet, and carrot seedlings have emerged and seem to be growing well. I may have to thin them out this weekend.

2) Pea transplants are now staked and thriving, and the pea seeds I sowed directly into the garden have just poked out of the soil.

3) Spinach seedlings are not dead, but are floppy and reflect little growth since moving them to the raised beds. You can't win them all, I suppose.

4) Bean and cucumber seeds were planted yesterday, with the help of my sometimes-dedicated-assistant, Cavan.

5) Lettuce, carrot, and pepper seedlings started indoors are still waiting to be transplanted. I have to till the third garden bed before this can happen. Maybe I'll get around to it this weekend, if I'm not too tired.

6) Broccoli transplants are doing well. They are just now sprouting their second pair of leaves.

7) No action with the strawberry roots I planted, gosh, how long ago was that? Hmmm. Disappointing.

8) All starter plants bought at the nursery are doing great. The eggplant leaves are multiplying and two of my tomato plants are already flowering!

9) Hubby built a three-foot critter fence around the veggie beds to ward off groundhogs and rabbits. The groundhog trap has seen no action since my tulips were eaten. I hope critter has moved on to someone else's property.

'Till next time. (Ha ha, "till"!)

More spring photos

Here are some shots of the garden this weekend.

Close up of open tulip. Becky, this is the color for you!

Tulip patch...the side the groundhog didn't eat.

I love the focus on the water droplets!

Close up of the flowering ajuca groundcover.

Lamb's ears with ajuca in background. (And a dandelion, arg!)