Ye Olde Garden

Plants I Wish I Had Started (Sooner)

Now that we are entering summer, I find myself reflecting on what I could have done better this year in terms of starting and growing plants. I’ve compiled a list of seeds/plants below that I hope to get started for next year.

Herbs:

  • Basil
  • Dill
  • Common chives
  • Variegated berggarten sage

Flowers:

  • Marigolds
  • Zinnias
  • Cosmos
  • Nasturtiums
  • Mexican hats ratibida columnifera and pinnata
  • Scabiosa
  • Coneflower

Veggies:

  • Peppers
  • Tomatoes
  • Eggplants
  • Romaine/leafy greens
  • Onions
  • Garlic

Other ornamentals:

  • Salvia
  • Variegated lantana
  • Mexican oregano poliomintha
  • Skullcap
  • Asclepias
  • Yarrow achillea
  • Gaura
  • Variegated society garlic
  • Stachys coccinea pow wow or mountain red

I’m sure to amend this list throughout the year.

Ye Olde Garden

Take 3: Blackfoot Daisy

Included in my recent plant haul from shades of green Frisco were two Blackfoot daisies, melampodium leucanthemum.

I’ve grown Blackfoot daisies in my backyard garden for at least 2 years that I’ve counted. I know they have been in my front yard garden in its early days.

Talk about prolific bloomer. The blackfoot daisies put out a massive display of blooms during the summer heat, when other plants are faltering.

It makes an excellent border plant simply because of this display as it waterfalls over the garden edging.

My biggest challenge is getting it to return in the spring. I have bought and planted as many as four specimens in my big flower bed and it never seems to come back.

This year I am amending the soil to add perlite, sand and gravel in hopes of coaxing it back to life the following spring. Wishing me luck for these new specimens.

Ye Olde Garden

Shade Improvements on the Growbag Garden

With June around the corner and triple digit temperatures looming, I decided to reconfigure the trellis next to the grow bag garden into a roof for shade cloth.

I had been looking to repurpose an old bedsheet abused by a half dozen cats into sun protection for my veggies. I hastily installed it before the next storm rolled in.

It surprisingly withstood high winds that knocked down a portion of the side yard fence.

I promptly trashed the bedsheet as it got weighed down and ripped to shreds by the excessive rain we experienced throughout the week. After shopping for a substitute on Amazon, I erected a 3×6 foot section of 40% shade cloth over the cattle panel, and attached it with carabiners.

Looking forward to seeing if it endures bad storms and offers the right amount of shade for my veggies