Friday, May 7, 2010

The Potager.

It's been slow going in the potager beds without much rain. The top dressing of horse manure and pine shavings dries out quickly. I'm watering nearly every day just to keep the soil below moist. A good hard rain is in order. Still, things are growing. Even the okra has germinated.

Most of the beans are up. I replanted one teepee this morning with asparagus beans. The flat Italian beans did not come up. I blame the squirrels.



Squash.



Cucumbers.



I planted nasturtiums throughout this bed to protect against squash bugs. Along the front edge, I've got dwarf red ones. They should trail over the front once they get going. Along the back with the cucumbers, I have a vine variety. They will grow up the same trellis as the cucumbers to a height of around 6'.



In the three lower beds, 53 tomato plants have survived. One just shriveled up and died. I think I'll have plenty.

Black Krim



Green Zebra



It's 64 degrees and sunny. I've given everything a good deep drink of water from the hose. The high today should reach the 90s again. The chance of rain for Saturday has been removed. We are now under a fire watch as humidity levels will begin to fall overnight.

On the windowsill in the kitchen, the first roots have appeared on my variegated hydrangea cuttings. I'm rooting them in water. The cloner needs to be cleaned soon. None of the camellia cuttings made it. A few salvia have rooted. All three butterfly bush cuttings survived. I'll be taking a look at the rest of the cuttings soon to decide if they just need more time or should be culled.

9:48am - It's 73 degrees. I sowed a few more seeds today, trying to clean out the seed box. Coleus has finally been sowed. They should germinate quickly with the heat. In the garden, a few new things have appeared.

Buds on achillea that were wintersown in 2008/9.



Clearance purchased Tennessee Coneflowers. Planted last fall in the crape myrtle bed.



Wintersown in 2008/9, White Swan has a bloom and many buds.



Clematis Etoile Violette





Off to work in an hour.

3 comments:

Best Wishes, Marie said...

i can just see you waste high in caprese salads before the end of the summer !!

sweetbay said...

I like that Clematis. What a dark beauty.

We didn't get any rain the last passthrough. It's getting very dry here.

Unknown said...

Your energy level continues to amaze me! The potager is beautiful!