May Showers

We have had one of the rainiest May's on record... and it is only May 6th. Seriously, last night, we had more rain fall then is typical for the entire month.

Of course, it all happened an hour after I had just sprayed all of my plants with a fungicide...  Oh well, I'll always choose rain!  Here is my early May Garden update.

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: