In the Garden 3.26.11
I have finished transplanting all of the veggies for the spring garden. In my little plot, I have 2 tomatoes (celebrity and early girl), 2 bell pepper (green, cal wonder), 2 jalapeno, 2 habanero, 2 cucumber, 1 squash (yellow crookneck), 1 zucchini, 1 watermelon (crimson) and 1 cantaloupe. Right now there is quite a bit of space between the plants in the 4′ x 8′ plot, but I’m sure space will be a premium in a couple short months. I totally forgot to take photos, so I’ll have to update the blog later this week with pictures.
The herb garden is also expanded this year. Throughout the garden, I now have: 1 culinary sage, 5 parsley, 2 dill, 2 fennel, 2 tarragon, 3 oregano, 4 thyme, 6 chives, 2 rosemary and 2 basil plants. Sadly, my marjoram plant from last fall died, so I’ll have to get another one. I’ve found that growing herbs is a very worthwhile investment. We use a lot of herbs. In fact, we use one or more of these herbs on a daily basis, so having them at our fingertips is quite helpful. From a cost perspective, organic herbs at the grocery store can run between $4 and $6/jar. If I buy fresh, organic herbs cost about $3 for a small handful. By the time they reach the store, they aren’t always in the best condition either. Having our own garden means we have our own fresh herbs whenever we need them. If we want, we can also dry sprigs to put in jars for later use. Most of the plants cost less than $3 each, and will produce many harvests – many will produce over a number of seasons because they are very hardy. They are also very low maintenance plants that are fairly drought resistant. If you are new to gardening, I really recommend starting an herb garden.
I’m happy to report that the lantana plant, which I feared dead, has sprouted some nubs of green growth. Thanks, Carolyn, for urging me to give it more time. It’s a few weeks behind the other bush right next to it, but should catch up quickly.
I have a few milkweed seeds that have germinated. The rest of them should be coming up soon, too. I’ll let them grow for about four weeks before I transplant them in their final destination along the northern fence line. It looks like I have about ten that made it through the winter and have another twenty cuttings on order, so I should have a total of about forty to fifty total plants in bloom by mid-summer.
The four-nerve daisy plant is going crazy! I can tell it’s ecstatic that spring has arrived! Can you?
My wife has a pot of amaryllis bulbs we’ve been meaning to separate into different pots for some time now. She got them from her grandmother in Houston, who’s been holding on to them for years. Before that, they came from my wife’s great-grandmother’s garden. (If we have a girl in May, we’ll give the baby my wife’s great-grandmother’s name, Eve, as well as my mother’s maiden name, Rose.) Although we haven’t separated the bulbs, we are happy to say that one of them has started blooming this spring. Is this her way of saying she approves?? We’d love to think so! I still hold out hope for a boy … 🙂
There’s really not much else to report. I had some fun photographing a hoverfly that seemed to really enjoy the euryops flowers, spending the better part of an hour flitting from flower to flower. He was wary of me and often hovered just above me as I readjusted myself to take photos. I sure wish I had a macro lens to get in really close and capture more detail. These are the best I could come up with!
A Round Rock Garden 