Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Gardening: What's Growing Now



I was so excited to see flowers on the Strawberry plants this year.  We have them in two raised beds, and our winters have been so mild we don't usually cover them with straw.  This year I regretted it and was so sure the plants would have all died out, but they didn't!  I am very happy about this!


Two weeks ago my little Home Economics class took a field trip to King's Herb Nook in Honeybrook, PA to buy some herbs.  





I bought Lavender, Apple Mint, Chamomile and had intended to buy some others but I spoke with the owner about how we had trouble with our herbs we started from seed not growing.  She nodded and said "I sometimes feel like calling these seed companies up and telling them that their directions for planting are wrong!  Herbs need sunlight to germinate!"  So I am going to take her advice to sprinkle the seed on top of the soil and see how that goes.  

I have basil, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, and sage that I want to grow.  

I also bought a few flowers - 

 This is a fairy rose, I've always wanted one of these!

 This is night blooming Jasmine.  I have memories of smelling this wafting through the summer air in the neighborhood I grew up in.

Also growing are our fruit trees that we planted last year.  Here is one of the peach trees.


The last frost date for our area is May 15th!  Usually we can put things out much sooner but I am being careful this year, due to our unusually cold Winter and Spring.  Soon to come, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, onions.

Well, that's what's growing here at the cottage.  What do you have growing?

7 comments:

  1. We have herbs growing still. All the new plants that we planted in April (very early, I know!) survived except for the basil. We planted a new one earlier this week. No veggies in yet, but Ron has purchased tomato and pepper plants. And we've planted some annuals this week. It is wonderful to have color after the long winter!

    I love your new header and the pretty floral background!

    Gotta run...my painting supervisor is waiting... :)

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  2. Just the perennials and chives, which make me want a baked potato loaded with butter and sour cream very much. =D I digress. That's an interesting tip about sowing herbs from seed...just atop the soil, eh? I might give that a whirl as I have some seed (it may be too old).

    Gosh it's looking springy and lovely in here. So very pretty!

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  3. This post just makes me smile, Deanna, I love herbs, and the grower gave good advice, seeds need sunlight and water to germinate and grow. Good luck I know your plants will thrive. Thanks for sharing, and happy gardening.
    Sue

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  4. My herb garden is one of my favorite places. The oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary are doing well, and the parsley, chives and lemon balm have awoken from their winter sleep. Basil is an annual, and I grow it, not in the herb garden, but along with my tomatoes. They seem to love each other dearly.
    Your new plants will add such delight to your garden.

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  5. My apple mint has been allowed to almost take over its' raised bed. The garlic chives and sage hold their own against it. But this is now its' fourth or fifth year and it grows so beautifully. I've been drying it each year but decided this summer to use it instead all spring and summer long.

    I tried a new herb called pineapple sage this year. We will see how it turns out. I lost a few perennial herbs and some perennial bushes but was relieved over how many survived.

    Great news about the seeds, I'll plant some cilantro that way. I already bought a new parsley plant.

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  6. I have a notorious brown thumb (we'll call it taupe this year...) I do have success with herbs though. I think it's easier to grow them here in this area, Most of the ones I grow seem to light our humid sunshine.

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  7. It looks all looks promising! I can't believe my husband is finally growing a zucchini plant! Not his favorite but there is so many things/recipes for zucchini, I'm looking forward to going to the garden for some rather than to the store. I like your new blog look---really nice!

    ReplyDelete

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