Friday, March 13, 2009

A Preview of this Summer's Bounty

My sunny border is my largest bed, and the one with the fewest permanent occupants, so it's pretty bare right now. I started it just last year, and learned a lot from watching everything grow together (and die together) over the seasons. I'm still planting it with a lot of annuals this year, but that is mostly because I want lots of fresh veggies - and all of the veggies I want are annuals.

This year I am growing the following veggies/herbs/flowers from seed:

In the sunny bed:

- Tomato

"Roma Paste"  - a compact sauce variety.

"Oregon Spring" - an early producing variety developed at Oregon State University.

- Cucumber "Spacemaster Bush" - a small compact variety developed for small lots or containers, produces normal sized 7-8 inch fruit.

- Bush Beans "Jade" - a small 18-22 inch bush instead of green beans from a vine, which need trellising and a lot more room. Can't wait to taste these fresh in the summer.

- Clarkia Elegans "Mountain Garland Clarkia mix" - a Pacific native, looks like a smaller bushier double hollyhock that blooms in late spring with repeated blooms through fall.

- Oriental Lily "Muscadet" - white with reddish pink raised midribs and crimson dots splattered vividly around the center. Technically a bulb, not a seedling I am growing, but they are going in this year too for the first time! I can't wait - reportedly is about 3 or 4 feet tall, so these are going towards the back of my border with the Dahlias. Has 8-9 inch thick blooms with intoxicating strong lily fragrance.

On the deck:

- Jalapeno  I grew this last year with a lot of success in a big container on the deck. We harvested around 35 jalapenos and it was a strong sturdy plant with no serious disease or bug problems.

- Parsley Dark Green Italian Plain - for couscous, tabouleh, salads, falafel . . . all our Mediterranean/middle eastern food addictions. Is listed as a perennial, so hopefully it will overwinter and I can have more next year.

- Tagetes Tenuifolia "Lemon Gem and Tangerine Gem Marigolds" - a big fancy Latin name for a small lacy charming plant. So easy to grow from seed, and makes clumps of fernlike good-smelling foliage covered with tiny daisy-like single yellow or tangerine-orange blooms. Also repels insects, so it's going in pots on the deck and out in the yard with the veggies.

- Salpiglossis Sinuata "Painted Tongue" - I grew this beauty last year from seed with success. It blooms over a long summer season with strikingly detailed velvety trumpets. I enjoy it up close to view the patterns and colors, and will be planting it in my containers on the deck along with the other plants listed.

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In addition to all of these, I will be purchasing and planting calibrachoa (million bells, super bells), basil (lots of plants for the containers on the deck), annual flowers for my hanging baskets, plus thyme, sage, oregano, and rosemary if they end up not surviving the rest of winter. And this is all just for the deck and sunny border, I'll not get into the brand new shade border going in this year, or the front patio or front entrance gardens. I'm addicted!

Some of the other new additions to the sunny border are bulbs, which have just broken the ground and should bloom in 2-4 weeks at a guess. Yellow, orange, salmon and white daffodil mixes, and blue, lavender and violet hyacinths will soon break the bleariness of winter in my front and back yards with a riot of color. Visits to the back or trips in and out from the front will be greeted with the intoxicating floral perfume of the hyacinths. Just one lovely star picked off the main stalk of flowers will give off a strong pleasant aroma.

I spent a good deal of time a few days back pruning back most of the shrubs, ornamental grasses and floppy old perennials. The snow did more damage to my garden than last year's winter, but everything should grow back just fine, and probably even look better for it's shearing. I'll be sure to post more pictures as more blooms come out. And maybe I'll share some produce and flowers with you this summer.

1 comment:

Kristin said...

I can't wait to see your garden this year! One day I will have my own little patch to toil around in. Until then, your garden will have to substitute.