It’s June and we have some fruits developing on our haskaps and strawberries; I think something has gotten to our serviceberries and plums though (curculio maybe). And so many more flowers!
Geraniums, Spurge, Lily of the Valley, and tricolor Willow:
Blackberries and Irises:
Rhododendron with a solitary bee:
Some of the weeds have been going haam too; I think I removed about 2 miles of Asiatic Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) yesterday just from one garden area.
What’s growing on with you all?
I lined my disused enclosed chicken run with compost, mulched it with burlap, and planted the whole inside perimeter with a bunch of varieties of pole beans hoping that they’ll grow to the sloped roof and hang down for easy harvest. They’re just starting to grab onto the walls now. I also shook a large packet of bunching onions around the perimeter. No idea how any of this will turn out, but I’m hoping it’ll get completely overgrown, turn into a cave, and be a fun place to hang out in with the kiddo when the heat gets (more) extreme.
Related adventure: this year I grew about a hundred and fifty extra seedlings to give away in front of the house, and they’re almost all gone after half a week. I thought about it for the last few years and finally decided to just do it. Lessons learned: cherry/pear tomatoes were unsurprisingly popular, and I overestimated how many people like eggplant. Next year I need to grow way more culinary herbs and novelties like roselle, ground cherries, artichokes, and goji–those all disappeared fast. I also put out seeds: everyone loves sunflowers and tithonia, but literally no one wanted to grow chard.
I love everything about this project of yours, and hope it goes beautifully for you! Hopefully you and the kiddo are cool about spiders, they also enjoy hanging out in that kind of space!
I have several young goji and sincerely hope for fruit this year from which to do seedlings. Were the seeds harvested from your plants, or ordered from somewhere?
One of my gardening buddies had a look of horror on her face when I told her I was doing showy chard in the gardens (chardens? might be). It’s a plant which has some strong feelings associated with it.
Thanks!
The goji were from Baker Creek seeds this year, but next year it’ll be from cuttings. I thought I killed all the goji I got as cuttings last year, but one was just hiding under the chicory. Cuttings apparently start fruiting a year or two faster, and I’ll need to hack it back in the Winter anyway, so win-win.
Chard is totally underrated, both as food and an ornamental. I grow red chard, and in the late fall it turns the most unearthly dark-green/purple with glowing red veins. I keep the pink chard towards the front of the garden because it looks like someone’s goofing around with the saturation, but in real life. I also grow white chard (Lucullus) for eating, and last year the leaves were delicious the whole Summer here in the high desert and literally the size of my five year old. Like, the entire kid. In the Winter some of the outer leaves die off, but the bulk survives, so it’s great for visual interest in the front yard during the cold months. Big fan of chard
Very cool! I’ve had success tip layering them as well; our first round got shaded out a little much so I’ve got their rooted cuttings in more sun this year.