I would like to invite all pollenators...

We've had such beautiful weather, lots of sunshine and heat, and the plants are obviously liking it. This week was a monumental week for me because one of my ranunculus bulbs came up. I planted the bulbs and the morning glories 5 weeks ago, and the morning glories have been going strong, but the ranunculi just didn't want to grow. Well, there are three reasons I had lost hope: (1) I never took the time to research how long it takes a bulb to sprout and was expecting it to be much faster, (2) I realized I should have planted them in the winter because they need cold before sprouting, and (3) I realized after the fact that I had planted them upside down. Oops.

So imagine my surprise when I peeked into my planter this week and discovered this tiny sprout! I'm hoping it's not the only one.

Ranunculus sprout

And now, on to the veggie garden! The first eggplant blossom is blooming, as well as some of the other veggies. I am hoping to have many bees and other pollenators visit us in the upcoming weeks. As you can see, the eggplant has grown a lot, with the top leaves reaching the top tier of the support cage. Dan noticed that something was eating the leaves on this plant - I had already discovered the culprit - a caterpillar of some sort. I figure as long as he doesn't destroy the plant it's ok, since he will soon be returning to pollinate my blooms.

Most people overlook them, but I think eggplants have really pretty flowers.

Looking to the right of the eggplant, here's a view down the row of beans.

And here are the leftover beans in the planter box, still keeping up. I discovered they get some nice morning sun now.

The "little squash that could" is also getting nice morning light and trying to catch up to big brother zucchini.

Another monumental event: The cukes have started climbing...

...AND are producing the first little buds! I got this great picture of morning dew on the biggest flower bud. The vine of the cucumber is getting really spiny now, so I'm glad I tied it up with twine when I did.

Here's the zucchini, with the corn behind it. I wonder how much more it will spread out? I'm glad we gave it lots more room this year.

Guess who else is blooming? I had been checking for buds every day and thought I found a little one the other day, so imagine my surprise when I saw this gigantic flower this morning!

Another view of the corner with corn, zucchini and eggplant.

This is my first time raising roma tomatoes, and I guess this is how it's supposed to look. Its branches all grow downward, as if there was already heavy fruit hanging off of it. Very strange, but it looks healthy otherwise, so I'm going with it.

The cherry tomato plant is still blooming like crazy. It makes my mouth water to think of all the delicious little tomatoes I get to eat right off the vine in a few weeks.

View of the garden from the herbs' side:

Remember the picture I posted 5 weeks ago on planting day? There's a lot more green to see in this one! I'm excited for the cucumber to start growing upwards. Last year's cukes were so green and pretty.

So that was the veggie patch, here are some more pictures from around the yard:

I have no idea what this pretty little thing is, it grows in constant moisture and shade in the very back of the garden. It's been there since we've had the house, but I've never really looked at the flowers until now. Can anyone ID it for me? (Becky?)

I do know what this is. It's a chinese tallow tree, and it's highly invasive, which is very unfortunate because it's such a beautiful tree. This one belongs to the neighbor and grows into our yard. Ironically, it is overgrown with japanese honeysuckle and wisteria - two more invasive species.

It wouldn't be a day in the yard without a spider friend! It's still pretty early for large spiders, and this one was hiding in a shady part of the yard.

Kinda fun, right? I thought it would be cool to take a picture of one of the wisteria tendrils up close.

I've got to say that I've been neglecting the part of the yard where I spread my wildflower seed. I just haven't been at home at the right time to water it accordingly. Nevertheless, some of the little sprouts continue growing, and I can't wait to see what they are, as I just kind of tossed all my old seeds in a pile and raked them out.

Whew, the banana tree is still alive after the late frost we had.

Beautiful greenbriar growing over the fence. I love this vine.

Last, but not least, the spiderwort that grows around the perimiter of the yard. This year, for the first time, we have a white one, too. These only bloom in the mornings. I love how cheerfu they are.

That's it for this week! Tune in next week for more blooming and whatnot. Hope you enjoyed it.

(Happy plants make happy farmers.)

It's been one month!

We are at the one month-mark! Our plants have now been in the ground for four weeks, and we are really starting to see some progress. At this point, I'm not having to water them every day. We've had rain on and off, but since the plants are now established, I will only have to water them if we go a long time without rain.

I had some time to go out and weed a little bit today. The black tarp really cuts back on the weeds, and the ones that do grow around the base of the plants can be pulled up easily. I discovered that some of our plants are putting our their first flowers! Very exciting.

I also discovered this little gal (in the photo below). She is a Gasterocantha cancriformis, also known as a spiny orbweaver. This one is just a spiderling, but I am glad to see that she's ready to help my fight pests in my garden. I hope she sticks around and invites lots of friends to help!

See how tiny she is?

The eggplant is getting big.

And here are the first blooms!

Our poor, pathetic little squash just doesn't want to grow. Lesson learned: next year we won't be planting it in the shade.

See how big the zucchini (started out same size as squash) has gotten?

Here are some of the peppers, we have the bell pepper in front and the jalapeno behind it.

The bell pepper (below) and jalapeno have flowers!

These are the pimiento peppers.

The cayenne peppers have finally started growing, too.

Roma tomato plant, going strong.

The cherry tomato plant is looking good, and...

...also has flowers!

I can't wait for these to turn into the first tomatoes!

The cucumber has grown its first tendrills and I will be putting up some twine to help it start climbing the fence.

As you can tell, the corn is getting big! I guess it really likes protection, see how the ones in the middle are growing faster? Just like a real corn field!

The beans in the shade are growing just as fast as the beans in the sun.

Maybe next week they will start climbing?

I know the herbs don't look like they've grown that much, but I keep having to cut them back. I've gotten loads of cilantro and dill already. The basil will have to be planted in full sun next year - I may even transplant it if it continues to look so yellow and small.

Well, that's it for another week. Tune in next Sunday to see bigger plants, more blossoms and (if I'm lucky!) more spiders. :)

A little late is better than never!

Ok, so I haven't been able to update the blog this week, but I have a good excuse! Both our families came into town for Easter and we've been very busy! Here's a photo of all of us on the condo balcony (from l. to r.): Dan's dad Pete, Dan's sister Cate and her fiance Spax, Dan's mom Jan, my dad Hermann, my mom Gabi, Dan, my sister Annika, her fiance Thomas and me.

Here's what I've been doing instead of gardening:

Playing soccer with the guys on the beach.

Running into the ocean, then freezing my butt off in the wind.

And we've been doing lots of eating. LOTS of eating.

So today we finally had some time during daylight hours when it wasn't raining to take a few pictures for everyone to see.

Cucumber (finally growing!):

Eggplant:

Herbs:

Peppers:

Corn:

Zucchini (getting BIG!):

Squash (not as big because it's in the shade):

Leftover beans that I threw into a planter box (in the shade):

Beans (I'm hoping they start climbing soon!):

Roma Tomatoes:

Cherry Tomatoes:

We were lucky to have some rain the past few days. While it's not good for the vacationers, it means that we haven't had to spend money or time on watering the yard. Yay!

Last week, we had a dip in temperatures, and I had to find sheets to cover all the plants to make sure they didn't freeze. It worked and there was no damage - thank goodness! I would have hated to start over with any of these plants. I'm ready for fresh veggies NOW! :)

All the plants are looking healthy and happy, come check back next week for more progress!

Rain, rain, go away!

It rained all last week and I was pretty worried that the garden was going to drown! We got about 3 inches of rain. However, the plants seem pretty happy and have grown a whole bunch, as you can see! We had a busy weekend, with a birthday party for our goddaughter Delaney, and an engagement party for our friends, Hugh and Meredith, so we didn't get a chance to do anything in the yard this week.
It is supposed to get cold this coming week, so I am going to have to cover up the plants to make sure we don't have to start over. I forgot to get a picture of the eggplant, which has grown a lot. You'll have to wait for next week!

Herbs:

Green Pepper:

Tomato Plant:

Zucchini:

Corn:

Cucumber:

Beans:

You can finally see plants in the garden! Give it another couple of weeks and it will be even greener! I can't wait.

I also took a few pictures around the yard to show some of the other plants that are growing:

Banana tree (the frost got the first leaf):

Morning glories (planted from seed):

First leaf on the fig tree:

The azaleas are in full bloom:

The muscadine grapevine that I transplanted from the front of the yard:






We bought this cypress tree at Cypress Gardens the year we got married. It's getting really big! It just put out its leaves.