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All posts about: Sunflowers
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Oct 4, 2008 | 5:41 PM PST
Tags: garden photos , garden pictures , flowers , Sweet Peas , nasturtiums , nasturtium , Sunflowers
~October 4th, 2008~
I have uploaded new summer garden pictures. They are in the Summer Garden Pictures 2008 photo album. As shown, I had some success with certain seeds and will definitely use them next year. My next post will be a list of successful seeds I used (once I have the chance to get my seed packets out). Having a 22 month old on the verge of turning two has been quite the challenge for keeping up with stuff other than necessities. I will try to keep updating somewhat regularly. Well, I hope at least regularly. So, check out my new photo album!! Enjoy!
~M~
Aug 25, 2008 | 3:48 PM PST
Tags: garden photos , close range , Sunflowers , basil , flower
I purchased a FujiFilm FinePix digital camera. So far I am loving it!!! I can put it on the "flower" close up setting and take awesome pics!! I love to take pictures where the "flower" is in detail and the surrounding area is out of focus. I think I finally found the camera for those kind of pictures! Go and check out the pics in my album, the first one is taking with my cell phone, but the rest are from this weekend with my fuji!! The details are amazing!!
Jun 28, 2008 | 3:44 PM PST
Tags: hollyhock , moth , sunflowers
I have a new hollyhock bloom. She is called Creme de Cassis. 
Here is a luna moth we found on a tree this afternoon.
Still not much rain, but we are hoping for some tonight/tomorrow. This morning we had to do serious grocery shopping. Whew! We cook big on Sunday and eat left overs for several days.
Here is yet another sunflower. I cant get enough of them this year.
As we took our 3rd or 4th walk around this afternoon, Kitty went with us and played in the grass.
We are kitty-sitting for my daughter this weekend. That gives us 5 cats to care for. We love it.
Finally, something that does not pertain to gardening but is big in my world. I got my sunroom cleaned this week!! If you look close you can see my new kitten curled up on the back of the couch. Now, if I can keep it clean...
Peace and Love.
Jun 19, 2008 | 4:35 PM PST
Tags: hollyhock , lily , yarrow , Sunflowers , zinnia , phlox
Still no rain to speak of. Looks like a good chance for the weekend. We have been following the college world series, pulling for LSU of course.
Here is my black hollyhock. I am so proud of it. I will be saving seeds.
Next a lily. This one didnt bloom last year and is over 5 ft tall this year. It has made multiple stems, most with a few buds on them.
This is a yarrow called Paprika
I am totally in love with sunflowers this year. This one looks a little chewed up, but it's ok.
Here is my first yellow zinnia of the year.
Last is some phlox.
My lantanas are blooming. The peppers are making good. We pulled our first tomato today. I have a lot of sunflowers coming up under my bird feeders and I planted a pack of mixed colors. Cant wait to see what they do. I am seeing more butterflies this year than last. Also I have a lot more robins in my yard this year. I am thinking maybe because I have mulched so much more and have a lot more earthworms.
Peace, love and go TIGERS!
Jun 9, 2008 | 6:41 AM PST
Tags: black eyed susan , sunflowers , bee balm , coreopsis
In this heat, some plants are thriving, some only surviving. Here are a few pictures of the happy plants. The first is what my Mama called black eyed susan.
I have ''twin" sunflowers in the same bed. I am so excited about growing them this year.
Here are some of my rescue plants. I have great hope for them.
My bee balm is blooming for the first time.
Next is a coreopsis that we started from a seed last summer. It did nothing last year but really took off this year.
My few glads are starting to bloom.
I forget the name of this pepper...cowhorn or something. Interesting looking.
Finally one of our tomato spots with volunteer sunflowers.
Peace and love and happy gardening to all.
Apr 11, 2008 | 7:57 PM PST
Tags: storm , sunflowers , plants , daisies
The storms pretty much fizzled out and the worst of it passed to the south of us. We did get about a half a foot of rain in two hours and parts of town were flooded pretty bad. But all in all not bad.
Went grocery shopping today, drooled over some of the plants the guy was putting out. Some gorgeous petunias and double impatients, and pots of sunflowers. Think I want to use some of my garden cash to get one of those pots of sunflowers. Along with daisies and black eyed susans, sunflowers are my favorite flowers.
Plan on getting a cute dish planter and a variety of cacti and making a cactus garden. It can stay outside during the warm season and I'll find a place for it inside during the winter.
Hopefully this weekend I can get my daisy seeds planted and haul the pot out for the hyacinth bean vines and get those seeds planted too. I also need to hit Rick's grandfather up for some of his white daisies. From what I understand he planted a small amount and now they are taking over, so I can steal some without a problem.
Hopefully new plants this weekend!
Dec 13, 2007 | 8:42 AM PST
Tags: winter , snow , ice , mud , home office , sunflowers , pine trees , blue sky , lilac , herbs , blog , erinkelly , arizona
There are twenty inches of snow on the ground, left by the last system to come through the area. Now, I have to look forward to it all melting. Why am I worried? Me worry?
When the snow melts, my front porch will be a swimming pool, the yard will look like Lake Floodandmud, my driveway will be mush and cinders (I live in a ancient volcanic field). If it weren't so cold I'd put my swimming suit on and have such fun! However, I am not a polar bear.
Favoring a nice fire in the woodstove and a hot cuppa to flipping and slipping on the snow and mud, I'm satisfied to be sitting here, writing this little rant.
My sympathies go out to all in the midwest who are experiencing that horrible ice storm.
Now, on a lighter note....do re mi...
My lilac tree is dormant, the herbs have tucked in for the winter, and the few veggies I've tried growing this year are gone and buried. This snow will ensure wildflowers in the area, including glorious sunflowers covering the meadows in gold. Against the tall, green pines and brilliant blue sky, the sunflowers make a vivid scene which soothes the soul. I'll definately get my camera, and my canvas out.
For now....I await spring, reading my seed catalogs (wish books) and working in my little office.
Another day, another dollar, isn't that what 'they' say?
Jul 16, 2007 | 10:01 AM PST
Tags: sunflower , Sunflowers
Here is a full view of the sunflowers. They are in the middle of one of my veggie beds. I know its hard to get an idea of scale, but I am 5'7" and they are taller than me and the arbor in the background is over 7' tall.
Here are a few more snapshots that I just took:
p>
Jul 15, 2007 | 4:30 PM PST
Tags: sunflower , sunflowers , king kong , bloom
Well, I am super happy to say that my sunflowers are blooming! This is the first year that I have put forth any real attempt at growing them and it worked :) They are bringing such happiness to my yard now! I planted the king kong variety that can get to 12' tall. These are about 6 feet with a bloom diameter of about 6-8 inches. They provide a great shot of color when looking out my kitchen window while doing dishes.
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Jul 13, 2007 | 7:13 PM PST
Tags: edible , vegetable , squash , zucchini , tomato , Cherry Tomato , okra , kohlrabi , blackberries , Sunflowers , Eggplant , Bell Peppers , succession planting , success , failure , notes , season , companion planting , Growing Season , cardoon
Now that I am well into the summer here in my garden, I am starting to take note as to the successes and failures in my garden. There are, of course, many of both and most of them involve my edibles.
I grew all of my veggies from seed directly into the vegetable beds. I was kind of nervous about this as so many things suggest starting indoors before spring. But, every time I do that everything dies, so I took my chances and selected a lot of fast maturing varieties...to my suprise, that worked very well! I am finding great joy and satisfaction in producing food for my family. We are also enjoying a nice financial savings as well. I spent about $50 on all my seed varieties and I would say that I have dropped our grocery bill by about $20 a week if not more....I would say that was worth the investment!
Successes:
- Tomatoes: I am growing a purple heirloom and a hybrid red...all plants are bursting with green fruits now :)
- Tomatillos: Plants are enormous and husks are forming
- Sugar Snap Peas: One of my daughter's favorites so none have made it to the table...she just eats em off the vine
- Beets: Have done several succession planting and have had many harvests of both roots and greens. Hubby like greens better than root
- Eight Ball Zucchini: Very vigorous and enormous in size...has provided many, many dinners
- Patty Pan Squash: Also doing well and just so cute
- Sunflowers: First year that I have grown sunflowers and it is proving to be very fun. King Kong variety that is about to open
- Blackberries: Planted 3 years ago from root...this is first year that we had a very steady harvest.
- Okra: Plants forming very nice large pods and the flowers are beautiful!
Failures:
- Broccoli: UGH!
Things that have yet to succeed or fail:
- Eggplant: Just started flowering, I am growing a white and a purple variety
- Peppers: Also just started flowering
- Carrots: First crop got infested with something icky, second crop looking better
- Kale: Just put those seeds in 2 days ago
- Kholrabi: Not yet big enough to harvest, but looking good
Things I wish I had planted:
- Cherry Tomatoes: a no brainer, don't know why I didn't do these :(
- Potatoes: To provide our carbohydrate need and to have some for winter storage
- Lots of different kinds of beans: have really enjoyed the sugar snaps, wish I had done more
- Winter Squash Varieties: to have something else to store for winter
- Marigolds: For pest control and to add color to the veggie beds
- Egyptian Walking Onions: just so cool and great pest control
- Garlic: also good pest control
- Asparagus: needs time to get established, wish I had started that this year
- Artichokes: love em!
- Cardoon: not even really sure what this is, but I have seen it on some gardening shows and it looks super cool
I just got a companion planting book and am looking forward to incorporating more of that in my garden!
Its so helpful to think all this through and get in all on "paper"...will help a great deal with garden planning.
Other things I have learned this season:
- Annual Potato Vines really do need full sun
-
Mexican Heather always does well, I should just buy it each year and have a guaranteed success
- Petunias need to be bought larger than the little 6 pack size to really do well
- Lobelia likes partial shade
- Impatients didn't do diddly squat...must mulch and fertilize!
- If i see something in early spring that i want...buy it, they are all sold out now!
Jun 8, 2007 | 8:37 PM PST
Tags: pumpkins , sunflowers , tomatoes , corn
Never in my life have I EVER committed to writing daily for longer than, oh...3 days. This blog hasn't been any different. So, let me see if I can summarize the last week or so here to fill in the gaps. I planted 2 rows of corn and all of a sudden (it seemed like they popped up overnight) we have little corn plants. Side story: a handwritten sign at a road-side veggie stand near us says "cron" instead of "corn" each summer, so my husband and I jokingly call corn cron now all the time. It's gotten to where I almost automatically typed cron just now.
Anyhoodle, the corn plants are doing nicely. My topsy turvy tomatoes are flourishing. All our strawberries are being eaten, the bean plants have SHOT up so fast. The peas look okay, but they are a little pale and the veins are a light green color, giving them a variagated appearance. Don't know if that' s a sign that something's off, or what. Everything looks okay. Our rhodies are so amazing right now. Purple, red and hot pink are all blooming at once, as are our california lilacs and some lillies that are BRIGHT orange. It's a riot of color. I was thinking about gardening books I've seen that describe choosing flower colors that are complementary. I didn't put ANY thought into color combinations. I was too busy thinking of light and water needs. And the colors look incredible together.
My cilantro, basil and oregano have already started to bolt, darnit. I would love to find a way to grow cilantro and basil all summer without it bolting.
This weekend it's more chipping for me! We need many more cart-loads to cover the veggie garden area.
We're still waiting for the pumpkins and sunflowers to pop up. We're so behind with them.
There, I wrote. Let's see how long I procrastinate next time.
Jun 5, 2007 | 7:02 PM PST
Tags: Morning Glorys , Iris , Sunflowers , Wildflowers , Poeny , Calla Lily
Well, to tell the truth I haven't been out in the yard much the past
couple of days. But I'll share the things I have done. I planted some
morning glories (I think they're white, although they might be purple)
around the tree in my backyard. There's an iris poking out of the
ground in the sunflower and iris bed, which makes me super excited.
Although my sunflowers aren't growing like weeds like I hoped since I
put them in the ground. Perhaps I haven't been watering them enough? My
ponies still look miserable. Wildflowers are starting to pop up and I
can't tell them apart from the weeds yet. I finally got the calla lilies into the ground and I hope I'll be able to keep up with them. Now the only thing left is the darn mosquitoes, anyone have any suggestions to keep them away?
Jun 4, 2007 | 5:54 PM PST
Tags: strawberries , pumpkins , sunflowers
I have EIGHT DAYS LEFT until summer break! One of my students today said "I can't wait for school to be over for summer," and I had to restrain myself from shouting "I KNOW! Me EITHER!" with a crazed look in my eyes.
D and I planted pumpkins and sunflowers in the front garden plot. We can't decide what to do with that plot so we just keep planting crops of things that will cover the area up and keep the weeds down until we do figure out WHAT to do.
The soil in this plot has been walked all over and hasn't been amended much, so it's hard packed clay. Instead of tilling (this is a BIG area, here and we're getting a seriously late start), we brought huge cartfulls of a soil/compost mix and formed mounds on top of the existing soil in which to plant pumpkins. I made the piles pretty large b/c I know that pumpkins are heavy feeders. D wanted to plant sunflowers in the mounds, too, even though I told him I didn't want them competing w/ the pumpkins, but he was emphatic. He had to have his sunflowers. They ARE beautiful and the birds go nuts for them, so I'm excited to have them again this summer/fall. We planted Lumina, Cinderella and one other variety of pumpkin whose name I have forgotten. I love the cinderella ones. They are so pretty and the brightest orange color. What am I going to do with all these pumpkins? I think we'll be putting up a "pumpkins for sale" sign in October!
Our strawberries are still being eaten before they get completely ripe. I don't know what's doing it. I'd love to get one of those motion-triggered cameras set up out there and find out what's responsible for this destruction. Can't we have just a FEW strawberries? No?
I lost two cucumber transplants but had two extras on the sidelines, waiting for their turn, and they're doing fine, I think. The two tomato plants I put in the "Topsy Turvies" are flourishing, while the ones I planted in the ground aren't growing much yet. The topsy turvy plants had a good head start, though.
My clematis are doing okay. Okay as in they're not dead or dying. I can't really see any obvious growth on them. No flowers, either, but I didn't expect any yet. I haven't had to water them once since I planted them with the nice layer of mulch I gave each container. I LOVE love love mulch. I'd mulch everything if I could.
I've yet to start the bed by the hammock yet. I think I'll get to it once school lets out. Which, did I mention?...is in EIGHT DAYS!
May 15, 2007 | 12:59 PM PST
Tags: english peas , pumpkin , cauliflowers , cukes , monkeys , sunflowers , gladioli , lettuce , purple basil
Two varieties of my english peas are showing thru now. The ones I got from Canada are still sleeping I think. Maybe I'll plant the more of the others in their place if they don't show.
I have one pumpkin seedling right now. The first true leaf is a bit speckly. Hoping that is not PM!
I harvested the remaining cauliflowers including the tiny one. Having them with dinner tonight.
Cukes were growing fast, and some got eaten by some ravenous monkeys. So I made a scarecrow, or scaremonkey. My youngest named it Margaret Scaremonkey. She has a big straw hat with sunflowers around the rim. I'll take pictures once she is mounted. I have to change her location every now and then.
The sixth gladioli in the pot came up... with two shoots instead of one. Though one did look kind of weird and misshapen it seems to have straightened up now. I seem to be more successful growing bulb/corm flowers than those from seed. I hope I haven't spoken too soon!
I bought some more seedlings. My lettuce I sowed didn't show so I bought some more 'salad bowl' , the reddish oakleaf variety seedlings. I also bought some Purple Basil. Since the Sweet Basil seeds I sowed before haven't showed up either. I'm just waiting for them to take off, go nuts, then, as usual, I'll pull them up. Or maybe this time I'll prune them back and keep them under control!
The lettuce I let run to seed was pulled up last evening. I collected a lot of seeds from them. That wasn't too difficult.
Will be harvesting a couple of cabbage this evening. My husband thinks they need to come up. He's probably right, they're so heavy they are actually leaning over.
Something has been eating my eggplant, something quite large! I'm hoping the lizards have eaten it, whatever it was.
Most of the corn has come up, I may have to fill in a few gaps this evening.
O, yes... one of my hot peppers have turned completely red, the one in the herb bed.
May 9, 2007 | 6:52 AM PST
Tags: bush beans , flowers , sunflowers , english lavender , cucumbers , shakespeare , sonnets , ants , scotch bonnet
Well, just about all of my bush beans are up now. There's always something very satisfying about growing a simple bush bean, of the few things guaranteed in life, bush beans are one of them. I wish I could say the same for growing flowers!
I'm a bit puzzled as to what to do with my flower seedlings. Not sure whether to put them in bigger cells or what. They are still indoors and not doing much of anything. Can't you tell I've never grown flowers before, ever!
Only one of the sunflowers I sowed has surfaced, and it's not looking that great. The seeds were bought (two packs) in the UK. This particular pack has a really low yeild. I may try the other pack and see if it fares any better. Or maybe sunflowers take forever to germinate in general. I'm not sure.
My english lavender is struggling a bit. Some of them have browned and are almost dead. I'm thinking it may have been the fertilizer burning them or something.
I had to pull up another sickly looking cuke. So now I'm down to four. Well at least they look healthy and are fruiting nicely.
I saw a hummingbird hopefully pollinating one of my Scarlett Emperor beans, yes, I'm still hopeful. Even though another hummingbird came and chased it off before it could do much. Apparently there's a problem with honeybees in other parts of the world too. I rarely ever see any here anymore.
One 'Golden Sunrise' and two 'Red Pear' tomato seedlings are now up. It will be quite a while before they get planted out, looking quite frail and a bit leggy right now.
None of my english peas have germinated yet. I know they are generally slower, I hope they make it!
On my to do list is getting rid of an army of black ants that have taken up residence on one of my older sweet pepper plants, I tried blasting them off but they're pretty resilient. Lemon juice carefully applied might help. They're coming from next door's garden.
The chives in the herb bed got 'shaved' on sunday, I sent our youngest out, he did a pretty good job. They're around a couple inches tall now.
I was looking at some scotch bonnet pepper pictures online last night, I read that they are small and grow to 2-4cm, I was wondering why one of my sons asked 'why are your peppers so big?' . They are quite big compared to the size they're supposed to be. I'm not sure what's going on there?! I planted them right next to my sweet peppers, I'm not sure if that factors into their size though? All of them are still pale green, they're supposed to change to various shades of orange and red. Looking forward to that.
Mmm, this seems to fit in here somehow, my favourite of his sonnets.....
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
and look upon myself, and curse my fate,
wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
with what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
haply I think on thee, and then my state,
like to the lark at break of day arising from sullen earth,
sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
that then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Shakespeare- Sonnet #XXIX
May 2, 2007 | 1:48 PM PST
Tags: Small space container gardens , Sunflowers , Tomatoes , Herbs , Carrotts , Watering
Hello all, My garden is going great. Over the weekend I repotted my sunflowers, some of my tomato and herb plants. It seems I have to water just about every day now because it has been rather warm here. Some of the plants dry out so quickly. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I don't want to overwater but then again I don't want to be underwatering either. Anyway, the plants are thriving with things the way they are right now. Nothing is dying, not yet at least!! LOL
My boys want to plant carrotts (which they call crackets). I have ordered some carrott seeds for a few smaller varieties of them. I hope to have luck with them as well. Can't wait until I get them so I can start them. From what I read, I can sow the seeds every two weeks and keep the soil moving (to prevent freezing) during the winter and I will have carrotts all winter long. True????
My space is very very limited so I am trying to figure out how I am going to deal with my tomato plants when they get taller and the boys. My yard is so small and I can't put the boys outside in the front alone and I don't always have the time to stay out back with the boys when they are playing out there. I don't know how to deal with that just yet but I will think of something. I could try tomato cages but then I run the risk of the boys pulling off the greens and eating them. I could keep them up high.......that may not work either. I don't know what the heck to do. Any suggestions?
Well gotta run now. I am cooking dinner and don't want it to burn.
Take care all and hugs to all,
Jeanne
Apr 30, 2007 | 10:21 AM PST
Tags: lobelia , sunflowers , gladiolus , flowers , cauliflower , chives
I haven't been in the garden since early saturday, sometimes I like to have time away, that way I really notice changes that have happened. I'll be out there this evening, just before the sun sets to check on things. We may be having one of those cauli's with dinner tonight. Will be cutting back the unruly chives in the herb bed and adding that to some mashed potatoes, throw in some fried fish and we have dinner!
My flower seedlings are coming along nicely. the Lobelia seeds have all come up, they're so TINY! I'm not sure how I'm going to separate/space them. Sunflowers had to be started again, I had checked thru in the soil to see if any were germinating, only one seemed to be, kept that one and threw out the rest as the cardboard (toilet rolls cut in half!) had been placed too close together and had begun to go mouldy. So I should see at least one pushing thru in the next couple days.
I potted up my gladiolus' (april 28th) in a couple of large pots, they're on the patio for the moment.
I NEED MORE GARDEN SPACE! Now that I'm getting into flower growing. Hopefully I should get two 3x15 ft beds in the front for all my flowers. Will have to pave over the rest for parking space.
Apr 27, 2007 | 10:25 AM PST
Tags: flat leaf parsley , fennel , dill , mint , thyme , sage , Zinnia , mangoes , Balsam , Alyssum , sunflowers , hot pepper , sweet pepper , Coconut , Eggplant , Cucumber , beans , lavender , beetroot , Lobelia
I went to a slightly bigger garden centre yesterday, I was actually taking our youngest son to the barbers, left him with his dad and wandered off.
I bought some more plants for my herb garden: some flat leaf parsley (I've never been able to grow it from seed) and some fennel; not sure what I'll do with the fennel regarding cooking with it, it really does look a lot like the dill I just recently pulled up.
I planted out the mint in its pot, too. (thyme at the back, flat leaf parsley in the middle and the mint in the foreground)
I bought some Gladiolus - Blue Isle bulbs. I'm hoping I can simply pot these up and they will grow, any advice on growing these would be most welcome. They're not as bluey-purple as I would like them to be but, I guess, beggars can't be choosers.
Some of my seeds I sowed on Tuesday came up, (they came up yesterday actually!) it took only 2 days for them to show. The tall 'leggy' ones are the Zinnia and the tiny ones behind them are the Alyssum. One of the Balsam are coming up too. The covered seeds you can see are the Lobelia, really small seeds that have to be sown on the top with no covering, the plastic keeps them moist. I'm keeping them all inside for now, they dry out less quickly that way. The sunflowers haven't shown yet, the seeds are not as reliable so I decided to start them off first and then plant out the one's that show up. The variety is, I think, Giant Single, it has grown to over five feet in the past, with a huge, monsterous head that became so heavy it bowed down.
A bit windy and blustery today, raining on and off, the wind won't let it rain continuously. Lots of leaves blowing off the mango tree next door. I'm hoping the coconut tree won't drop anything today!
Young mangoes on the tree.
The cukes have male flowers that have dropped off, and also some female baby cukes. I'm pleased to see that the flowers are a good size, I never had flowers that big before on a cucumber. They're growing and developing really quickly. I'm still not sure why these are doing so well.
Cuke flowering.
Nice healthy leaves.
Some of the baby beets are taking off now, a lot stronger now, I'll give them another week or so before I move them nearer together to save some space.
Baby beets.
The lavender is taking its time growing, I have some in the sun and some in the semi (mango-tree-that-isn't-even-
mine-hogging-the-sun) shade. May move all into the sun.
I sprinkled salt on the gravel pathways again, I may have to try some vinegar too, to stop the weeds from growing. Trying hard not to use chemicals.
I saw some really pretty ideas at the garden centre for using up small cacti. They were in a shallow bowl terracotta pot, the arrangements were really attractive.
I may have to pull up the Polestar beans, they don't look good at all and are beginning to yellow. The Scarlett Emperor's are not fruiting at all! The 'baby bean' I had found is kinda shrivelled a bit. I'm hoping, in the future, that the potted flowers I'm growing will attract more bees and hummingbirds to my garden and maybe I'll have some success with pollination.
Sickly looking Polestar bean.
Here's some more pictures of various veggies..
Cabbage and cumber getting along nicely with each other.
Mature beets.
Really messy, long chives, not sure how to make these neater!?
Sweet pepper.
Cauliflower.
Shy flowering eggplant (wouldn't look at the camera!)
Nice healthy cabbage, growing bigger by the minute.
Monster sweet pepper...tree? In its 2nd 'season'.
Scotch Bonnet, hot pepper, still green.
Apr 24, 2007 | 10:13 AM PST
Tags: peppermint , flat leaf parsley , Lobelia , Zinnia , Balsam , Alyssum , Sunflowers , cabbage , cauliflower , eggplant , scarlett emperor , polestar , onion , chives
I went to a small garden centre yesterday looking for parsley seedlings, ended up buying some peppermint instead. After reading up on mint in general I found that I need to restrict the roots to stop in from taking over the whole bed. So I have potted one plant and will be sinking it into the herb garden.
Not sure what to do with the rest, would like to put them out in the veggie garden out back. Will have to get some plumbing tubing and plant them in that. I would love to get my hands on some chocolate mint seeds.
The question is: is this really a peppermint? I looked at pictures online and the peppermint I saw didn't look like this. I also read somewhere that it should have purplish leaves? Maybe it will change as it matures?
I finally sowed some flower seeds today.... Lobelia, Alyssum, Zinnia, Balsam and 9 Sunflowers - in trays. See picture above.
I checked my baby bean yesterday, it hadn't grown any and I didn't see any more growing either. I think I'll just let it get on with it by itself. The polestar variety over on the other side is not doing too well, not very green and growing/flowering very slowly.
Cukes are still doing well, never had leaves this big before, gotta watch out for bugs all the time.
My cabbages are doing really great, I wish I'd planted more, I'm thinking to get more seedlings, you can never have too much cabbages, it's a pity they take up so much space though.
What else?.... oh yes, I'm getting a lot of sweet and hot peppers flowering and fruiting now, amazing how quickly a pepper grows, I'm giving them lots of water in the evening and they're producing well, compared to previous years.
My oak leaf lettuces that I let run to seed are now flowering, pretty little yellow flowers, hoping it will be straightforward to get the seeds from it.
I think this blog is becoming a 'note to self' . I'm hoping that I can organize my garden by looking back on this gardening diary and make good choices regarding when, where and what to plant and how I have dealt with problems when they have arisen. Sounds good in theory...!
I bought some strawberry seeds from the UK, still trying to figure out what to do with them, so much is against this project being successful, and I only have 13 seeds! (I was given some hope when I heard that they have been grown in the Blue Mountains in Jamaica! )
Another seemingly impossible project is getting rhubarb from seeds to grow here in the caribbean. Those of you in 4 season climates must think I'm nuts!? It can't hurt to try I guess.
Apr 23, 2007 | 6:37 PM PST
Tag: Sunflowers
Hello, I was just checking my plants and I now have 8 Sunflowers!!! They are growing like wildfire. I have to get to Home Depot soon and invest in a really large pot to replant them in. I think I am going to give them another week where they are right now and then transplant them then. I can't wait to take pictures and post them to show everyone my garden progress!! :) Have a good night all. I have to go to bed now before it gets any later.
Take care! :)
Jeanne
