Stumped

I have not been happy with my left porch bed for awhile.  I put some plants in really wonky locations, and during the winter it all dies down.  In fact, most of the plants in the bed are late starters and don't really shine until mid-spring. So for most of the spring, it looks just like this.

Day Lily Delight

This year, the day lily is really shining. It must really like this bed.  Every year, it gets bigger and bigger, while the one in the other bed stays pretty much the same size.

Eggplant

I finally found some eggplant plants today at the Natural Gardener.  A little late in the season, but I remember last year, my plants were so shaded by the tomatoes, they didn't start producing until mid-August, when I finally pulled the tomatoes back, and they starting getting some sun.

I purchased my regular variety:  Black Beauty, but then decided to try a different variety:  Rosa Blanca.

Days to Harvest:  It says 80.  As always, I am not sure it that is from a seedling or from the plant.  Since everything I grow runs late anyway, I'm guessing we might get a harvest sometime mid-July.

Diagnosing Blackberries

So, every year, the blackberries seem to bloom, berries form... and then nothing.  The fruit never ripens, or maybe it turns shriveled.  I can't really remember.

So this year, we have kept a close eye on them.  Anything that looks out of the ordinary, we run over to the Natural Gardener.

The first thing Dave noticed a few weeks ago was that the new leaves were all much paler than they should have been.  

Growing Trees

We planted our Chinquapin and Burr Oaks around 7 years ago. They have steadily grown bigger and are now finally large enough that they actually provide shade.  This year, with the rains, they are their most beautiful yet!

My fence side bed

I finally got a chance to weed and mulch the side fence bed.  The bed is now officially three years old.  Here's how it is doing:

Pride of Barbados

Every year, in early spring, I start watching my Pride of Barbados to see when it appears. It always seems to take longer than I think it should.

For future reference, this third week in April, we are just starting to see the tiny sprouts of PoB appear.  

Frogs

When I was first building the front yard garden bed, I was arranging rocks on the wall, and pulled an existing one away, only to find one little frog hiding behind said rock.  I left the frog and his rock in place :o)

Mid - April Fruit Update

Blackberries

I really, really want some blackberries this year.   So we have been keeping a closer eye than usual on them.

Foxglove

A few weeks ago ( see this post) I transplanted a foxglove from outside the fence to inside the fence.

A new transplant

In my left porch bed, I used to have two pretty bushes.  The one whose name I forgot and a Tropical Milkweed.  But the obedient plant completely took over that part of the garden and killed both plants.

So, I was very surprised to see something sprout up at the base of one of the old plants.

Bottle Brush

This bottle brush has never done very well.  

Sweet Potato Slips

Another new venture for me.  I am trying to grow sweet potatoes for the first time.

Harvesting spinach

Last summer, I went to the Natural Gardner, looking for some kind of lettuce plant that I could grow in the heat.  They recommended the New Zealand Spinach from lonestarnursery.com.  

Mid-April Garden update

The spring has been rainier than our last two or three years.  Which is not to say we are out of the drought, but it hasn't been quite as dry as it was in previous years.

I have been so busy putting together the new front yard flower bed, that I haven't had time to get in and mulch and prepare this bed.  

An uplift for the asparagus

I noticed a few weeks ago that the taller asparagus plants were falling over.

When I was at the Natural Gardener, I talked to them about this.  They said that to prevent this, when I cut the stalks down in the fall to go dormant, I should cover the stalks with a solid layer of compost.  This will make the roots deeper, which will prevent the stalks from falling over.  Makes sense, I will try to remember to do that next November.

Second half of the front bed

After a good full week of hard work, my front garden bed is done! I have pulled up grass and weeds until I literally broke my garden claw. I have laid miles of weed cloth and over 40 bags of mulch. I have dug 25 holes in solid rock (okay, my boys dug half the holes, but I still dug a good dozen).  And here it is!! 

Some more blooms

Because of all the rain we got in March, the bluebonnets are out in force.  Here are some from our front lawn!

Another year

Last year I took a picture of my back porch garden on April 4th.  I went, as I often do, to look at what I had from a year ago, and lo and behold, I had taken a picture on the same day the previous year.  It was amazing this difference. Two years ago was a standard Texas winter... last year was very cold and had a very deep late freeze.  So the difference between the beds was startling.

A few blooms on a grey day!

My Gerber daisy has made it through the winter and is showing off!