May Snow Showers Bring Dead Flowers

GROW, GROW, GROW SUNFLOWERS GROW!

This morning I planted sunflower seeds in our new plot along the basketball court and the fence…the bed is a long triangle shape (pic below). I had some leftover Mammoth sunflower seeds so I planted them all along the side of the house, behind the rose bushes and some by the back sliding glass door. I planted Mammoth, Tangina, Chianti Hybrid, Cappuccino Hybrid, Teddy Bear, and Baby Bear in four rows. The Mammoth sunflower is in the back, closest to the fence. Then there is a row of Cappuccino, then a row of alternating Baby Bear and Chianti (23 planted) and a row of Teddy Bear and Tangina alternating (planted 19). In the small spots at both ends planted Baby Bear, as well as Baby Bear all along the split rail fence.  (Baby Bear is Emily's favorite.)  It’s going to be a amazing!

I also planted another row of gourmet lettuce in the container, another row of spinach in the container, and a long row of salad bowl red in front of the Roma tomatoes.

MAY GARDEN TOUR

We've moved most of our plants that we grew from seed outside. Some seeds we have just planted...like those in the containers below...

Spaghetti squash was planted in this large container. The smaller containers should soon be sprouting basil, oregano, and squash.
This is our row of tomatoes between the fence and the basketball court--Porterhouse Beefsteak, Roma, and Cherry. We grew these from seed and they are surviving the transplating quite well. Phew.

The canteloupe were not so lucky. These are the NEW canteloupe I purchased because my seedlings didn't survive the transplanting.
This is new watermelon as well. A few of my watermelon seedlings starts might survive.

Baby carrot tops! We planted purple carrots and sugar snax variety.

Beets!

Gourmet lettuces

Peas! We need to get a trellis up for these SOON. They are starting to grow tendrils.

This is the pea container...peas only please...we started more from seed on the blank half, but they haven't sprouted yet. This way we can have a staggered harvest.

This is a view of the rows of lettuce and spinach.

We planted peanuts in the middle container....and bush beans. The left container has the watermelon, canteloupe, squash, pumpkin, and cucumber. The vines will hang down the sides of the containers. The container on the far right is peppers of all varieties. They aren't doing so well so I haven't pictured our pepper shame! We might have go buy some peppers at the nursery if ours don't perk up soon.

Another view of the lettuce, spinach, and peas.

The entire garden, (except for two areas not shown where we have strawberries, green onions, and broccoli. Note the Topsy Turvy's hanging from the basketball hoop. Now you know what nerds do when they have a basketball court in their back yard. ;-)

Along the fence on the far side, is a small strip of land that I have pegged for six varieties of sunflowers.

There are exciting things to come!

SUMMER SQUASH

This is my summer squash seedling that has grown and now bloomed. We're still waiting for the danger of the last frost before we plant these outside! LOL It is pretty, ain't so?

MOTHER'S DAY

Tulips are still blooming in our front yard. These bloomed just in time for Mother's Day. :-)

The clematis is being trained to grow up the porch rail. We tied a string from the trellis to the railing to encourage the upward growth.

I received two of these hanging baskets from Cooks Nursery in Orem from my husband for Mother's Day. They contain geraniums and coreopsis, which should do well. It can be a challenge to have hanging baskets in this dry, hot climate.

CONTAINER GARDEN SOIL

We purchased 1 cubic yard of root zone mix soil at IFA in American Fork for $50. One cubic yard filled three of the hypertufa containers in our garden. This is a mixture of compost, utelite, and peat moss, which is supposed to hold moisture well in containers and was recommended by IFA for our puposes.

Lettuce is starting to sprout. It was planted two weeks ago. Also sprouting are beets and spinach (not pictured.)

This weekend we filled the next three containers with soil. This row will be for the summer garden. We are anxiously awaiting the last frost date!

The Garden in April

The sedum in my containers by the front steps are returning for another season. I love perennials in containers!

The tulips have started blooming this week.

I have a few pansies left over from last year.


This weekend we planted seed for our spring garden in these three hypertufa containers. The first container has purple and orange carrots and beets. In the second container we planted gourmet lettuces and spinach. The last container is full of peas.

A view of the containers from the front and side of the yard. Daisy the dog guards the garden. Looks vicious, doesn't she?

This week we installed the blocks and boards and placed two more containers for our second row. The third container is drying and will soon be in place to complete two rows.

(The goal is to have three more containers--thus one more row--by the end of the summer.)

Daffodils in the front yard. It's sad because they are starting to fade.

Trees starting to bloom.

Asters! I believe the technical term for these is purple daisies.

(wink)