It's been a wet, cool spring, but things seem to be turning around now that it's June! I lost a pot of basil and cosmos to fungus (relentless rain and basil don't marry well) as well as a small pot of rosemary, which also likes to be dry. Other than that, everything is doing well. Outdoors, lemon balm is already GIGANTIC; the greens bed (spinach, lettuces, arugula) is good, parsley and other herbs (including "Mouse Ear" basil, a new Italian variety I bought as seed) are growing, the flower bed is spreading and some of the zinnias are already blooming. The PEONIES are in bloom and are gorgeous. They really shine, and I just love them. Purple clematis is climbing the birdhouse pole, cosmos are feathering out, roses are bushing up, dahlias are peeking. In the vegetable department, we have pole beans with purple blossoms, bush beans, two varieties of tomatoes with yellow flowers, one cherry that hasn't flowered yet, several cucumbers (Straight Eight and Marketmore) that are healthy, 3 kinds of hot peppers that are doing wonderfully, a new mint bed (spearmint, orange mint and peppermint) that will eventually take over the planet, lavender is back, and we've had wild strawberries for breakfast every day this past week. Indoors, the MANGO trees are growing! They're about 3 inches tall right now. Chickpeas are coming up (about half the seeds germinated) and will soon go outside, with the mango trees. I'm also germinating more nasturtium under the grow lights. Nasturtium in the flower bed is growing like mad. With all the lemon balm, lemon verbena, lavender and peppermint exploding in the garden, I'm going to make some herbal sun tea this weekend. Thank you, Mother Earth!
It's been a wet, cool spring, but things seem to be turning around now that it's June! I lost a pot of basil and cosmos to fungus (relentless rain and basil don't marry well) as well as a small pot of rosemary, which also likes to be dry. Other than that, everything is doing well. Outdoors, lemon balm is already GIGANTIC; the greens bed (spinach, lettuces, arugula) is good, parsley and other herbs (including "Mouse Ear" basil, a new Italian variety I bought as seed) are growing, the flower bed is spreading and some of the zinnias are already blooming. The PEONIES are in bloom and are gorgeous. They really shine, and I just love them. Purple clematis is climbing the birdhouse pole, cosmos are feathering out, roses are bushing up, dahlias are peeking. In the vegetable department, we have pole beans with purple blossoms, bush beans, two varieties of tomatoes with yellow flowers, one cherry that hasn't flowered yet, several cucumbers (Straight Eight and Marketmore) that are healthy, 3 kinds of hot peppers that are doing wonderfully, a new mint bed (spearmint, orange mint and peppermint) that will eventually take over the planet, lavender is back, and we've had wild strawberries for breakfast every day this past week. Indoors, the MANGO trees are growing! They're about 3 inches tall right now. Chickpeas are coming up (about half the seeds germinated) and will soon go outside, with the mango trees. I'm also germinating more nasturtium under the grow lights. Nasturtium in the flower bed is growing like mad. With all the lemon balm, lemon verbena, lavender and peppermint exploding in the garden, I'm going to make some herbal sun tea this weekend. Thank you, Mother Earth!
