We have been blessed with quite a lot of rain in the last couple of weeks yet when I checked on some of the plants they are dry several inches below the surface. An Oh My moment hit. We mulched with compost and have not cultivated it much since it went on weeks ago. It has a wonderful crust to keep the moisture below but is not letting rain soak through well enough. Soooooo.... I spent a hour out in the bed this morning cultivating the top layer, adding a bit of bone meal around the eggplant, tomatoes, and okra, and watering the plants good from my rain water stash.
The eggplants are blooming again and so are the okra. Peppers have buds and we have had a constant supply of peppers--not enough to put up but enough to eat every day or so. Lots of little beans setting on the plants and blooms. Now if some will get big enough to pick again. Oh, the heat!
The malabar spinach (left) tower has taught me another lesson--do not make the tower higher than my fingertips as it is hard to pick the leaves when I cannot reach them! I am finally seeing a few more bees around the Mexican petunias too--not nearly like last summer though.
Attracting the Birds and Bees and Butterflies, too.
Mar. 17, 2012, 11:00 AM at the Community Center at 2104 Klattenhoff – Yvette Shelton has arranged for Lynn Hill, an expert in plants that attract and help Birds, Bees and Butterflies, to teach us about the right plants to use in our landscapes. To have sustainable yards and gardens we need birds and bees and butterflies. This will be a great opportunity to get good info and your questions answered just in time for the Spring plantings.
Little did I know when I planted a few sunflowers for the bees and butterflies that I'd be attracting a whole flock of tiny birds too. I have been told this is a house wren munching on the seeds. I have sighted several differnt birds about the same size but distinctly different. The great thing is the branches of the sunflowers won't support the weight of the larger birds so these little guys get something to eat. I have set up a bird bath of sorts under the tree which is a work in progress.
I tried something new with the bees and they seem to like it. I added a large piece of the landscape mulch to the tray so they could land on it. It gives them a place that is wet without falling in as this one had vertical sides unlike the other saucer. They still prefer wet leaves but sure cluster on the wood every morning and evening. My guess is that we have a couple dozen around the garden at any time. Some of the lantana is blooming, in addition to the salvia, vincas, and the ruellia. Seeing the bees wiggle down into the ruellia blooms was funny to watch. The bumble bees don't fit but sure tried.
The cabbage continue to get bigger even with the temperatures over 101 every day. They are making little cabbages at the leaf junctions so I cut the top head and some of the huge leaves. I want to make more cabbage rolls and slaw but found some of the bottom leaves have created little water wells--bee baths to be precise. Coming into the garden around 6pm there were dozens of bees under and around the cabbages landing on the leaves and taking a sip from the water that accumulated in the leaves. If I had laid soakers, I never would have created these havens for the bees.
The purple basil is going to see and blooming like crazy right next to the cabbage providing lots of spots for the bees in addition to the cosmos on the other side. Here's hoping they keep coming.
I was all ready to trim my holly bush way back as it is huge and is shading some new plantings but when I went out today to look at it, it is just full of honey bees. Whatever boom is there is so fragrant and there must be 100s of bees in the bush.
So I'll wait a couple of weeks until it is done blooming and then trim it back. I do not remember it blooming longer than that in the spring. It is so nice to see all those bees.
We have been blessed with quite a lot of rain in the last couple of weeks yet when I checked on some of the plants they are dry several inches below the surface. An Oh My moment hit. We mulched with compost and have not cultivated it much since it went on weeks ago. It has a wonderful crust to keep the moisture below but is not letting rain soak through well enough. Soooooo.... I spent a hour out in the bed this morning cultivating the top layer, adding a bit of bone meal around the eggplant, tomatoes, and okra, and watering the plants good from my rain water stash.
The malabar spinach (left) tower has taught me another lesson--do not make the tower higher than my fingertips as it is hard to pick the leaves when I cannot reach them! I am finally seeing a few more bees around the Mexican petunias too--not nearly like last summer though.
