Needed: Precipitation to Lessen my Perspiration

In other words, we need rain! Unfortunately the meteorologists have not scheduled any rain until next Tuesday. So until then I will keep watering my plants the hard way. One of my tomato plants (Brandywine variety) was completely wilted to day. I gave it some extra water, hopefully it will revive.

The critter problem seems to be fixed, so I've turned my attention to the problem of insects eating the plants once the Sevin wears off. The 3 peppers closest to the basil plant seem unaffected, and since basil is supposed to be very easy to root, I'm going to root several branches and plant them near the affected plants. I may also get some marigolds, but since I'm very allergic to them they will be a last resort.

On the bright side, my flowers are doing very well. The calendula is a little droopy, but other than that all the plants are happy and thriving. I hung my Zerbina Wandering Jew on the porch since it did very well out there last year, but it is taking quite a beating from the wind this year. If the wind keeps up I'll have to move it inside.

I take pictures of my gardens and plants nearly every day and post the good ones here.

Farewell ~
Sarah

Chipmunks & Squirrels & Critters - Oh My!

Sunday afternoon - I went to water the vegetable garden, and it looked as if the little critters decided to play tag in the dirt. My Dad said he saw a squirrel taking a 'dirt bath' earlier in the morning. Needless to say, I'm not very happy and have declared war on any critter that invades my garden. We went to Lowes this afternoon and bought a spray called Shot Gun (R) Repells-All by Bonide that should repel the critters; it smells strong enough to keep humans away, so why not little critters? I sprayed it along the fence this evening. If that doesn't work I'll try spraying it on the bricks around the beds.

The Sevin seems to have worked - the insect damage to the plants appears to have stopped. The carrots are finally coming up, as is the lettuce. The second lettuce planting went in today so we can have continual harvests. This is also called succession planting in Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening book. I'm also succession planting the radishes, and the scallions.

Mom got her parsley and chives planted tonight, and we also planted the space around one of the trees. I'll take some pictures tomorrow.

Farewell for now ~
Sarah

Bugs Are Eating My Veggies

Most of my vegetable plants are being eaten by bugs. Nearly all the tomatoes, quite a few of the beans, and one or two of the peppers have been affected. I sprinkled Sevin on the plants, so hopefully that will fix the problem. The basil has not been touched and neither has the zucchini, apparently the bugs don't like them.

Everything else is doing great. The Cleome plants are putting out seed pods, so I can start collecting seeds from them fairly soon. The wind has blown most of the petals off the Double Click Cosmos. I think the new blossoms should be a little more hardy. I planted it so late that it was blooming when I planted it.

Farewell ~
Sarah

The Windy City: Rochester, NY

Yes, I know that Chicago is supposed to be the windy city, but it was misnamed. Two huge thunderstorms came through the area on Tuesday, with wind gusts of up to 70 mph. Everything seems to have survived, except for one tomato plant. The stem appears to have snapped.

Before the storms started on Tuesday I was able to mulch my flower bed and take some pictures. It looks a lot better now. It is still windy, however and causing me some trouble, particularly with the taller plants. I had the same problem last year. Since we live in a brand new development there are no full grown trees to break the wind. I'm still thinking up solutions to solve the problem. So far the best one is to buy a hedge rose and plant it along the south side of the garden.

Everything seems to have perked up - hopefully it will stay that way. On Wednesday I planted my Horehound (in a pot so it won't spread). The Pennyroyal finally started growing, and I'm considering planting it in the flower garden, since it hasn't spread much in the container. The 4 o' Clocks are also doing much better since the rainstorm, although they do seem to be growing quite slowly.

Farewell From the Windy City of Rochester!
Sarah

Perennial Garden Pictures

Here are some pictures of my perennial garden. More pictures coming soon!!

Check out my photos and videos on MyPhotoAlbum! (Click on the album cover to view all the pictures.)

Edit: The rest of the pictures I took today are now on the website above. Enjoy!

Where but in a garden do summer hours pass so quickly?

I finally got around to taking some pictures of my gardens! Hopefully I can get some pictures posted this afternoon. The vegetable garden is doing well. All the tomatoes seem to have survived, and the beans and radishes are coming up. So far the carrots, lettuce, and scallions haven't come up. I went to the local farm market last Friday and bought 6 pepper plants, 1 zuchinni,
1 basil, 1 horehound, and 1 chive plant. I also bought 2 varieties of cleome for my flower beds- Rose Queen and White Queen.

The hardest part of gardening is waiting for the harvest. Right now I'm watering every day and fixing the parts of the garden the chipmunks dig up. If they start going after my plants I'm going to declare war on them. I also started fertilizing my tomatoes today. I used Miracle-Gro (R) Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food on my container garden tomatoes last year and was very pleased with the results. I fertilize every 14 days, as instructed on the label.

All my flower beds are doing very well. I am having some trouble with the 4 o' clocks, but I think they'll be ok. The bee balm started spreading this year, and even though I pulled up quite a lot, it's still taking up a lot of space. That's what makes gardening fun, you never know what will come up where.

Farewell~
Sarah

I Can Finally Plant!!!!

As you probably figured out, I'm very excited! The beds are finished, and a friend came over to help my Dad and I put up the fence. Right now it has a fence with a temporary gate, to keep all the little critters out. We're working on a more permanent gate, but since we really need to get the garden planted the temporary one will have to do for now. I'm planning on planting my tomatoes tomorrow, and any other seeds I have time for (hopefully all of them). We still need to buy some plants: Zucchini, Peppers, and a Cherry Tomato plant. I still haven't gotten around to taking pictures, but I will search for the camera and take some tomorrow before and after I plant.

Farewell,
Sarah