A Good Year for Iris and Garden Plans
Hello All
It's been a while since I posted, but here we go:
The weather here in Kentucky has normalized a bit, I think. After a long cold winter, spring has had its warm and cool days with much rain. Right now the Snowball Bush is laden with white spherical flowerheads while the green sunlit field serves as a background. Meanwhile, white clouds dot a chilly blue sky.
You may wonder how the garden is doing. Well so far, my dad has tilled about half of the garden. He'll do the rest later, which he'd like to have done before May 15th, our frost date. Some things have been removed since I wanted a do-over. So what remains is the Cup Plant, which won't bloom until later in the summer, and the Iris, which are sporting lavender flowers right now. Speaking of Iris, this apparently is a good year for them. On the left side of the house towards the back, I've noticed that the Iris growing there are crowned with their large white blooms. And then on the opposite side of the house are yellow Iris. One of them was set apart and particularly taller and showier with a deeper yellow flower color, so it is obviously a different yellow variety (probably a newer hybrid, too, I suspect). My variegated Iris sent to me from Texas is located in a backyard flowerbed that Dad takes care of. Its blooms are a dark lavender and play off the lavender blooms of the two perennial Phlox that I purchased last year and which also reside in the flowerbed. These Phlox blooms seem to glow when the daylight fades. Dad also has two Heuchera plants there which contrast nicely with the green foliage and the purple flowers. One Heuchera has chocolate-green foliage and the other has tan leaves which are blushed with a rose coloring. Dad had purchased and planted those a year or two ago. This year, however, he planted a third one and its green with deep rose-pink flowers. The other two Huechera have not bloomed yet.
Orange Poppy flowers have opened up out in my parents' yard and on the side of my house. I like Poppies and may plant the red variety (Papavar rhoes) in my garden again someday. Right now my plans for the garden include corn and Sunflowers. In fact, back in April, I started Sunflowers from seed in the plant room inside my house. I kept them in there until it was obvious that they weren't getting enough light even though they were in front of a sunny window. So then I transported them into the greenhouse. Dad has made use of the greenhouse, too, by storing three tomato plants inside until its time for them to go into the ground. He likes to grow tomatoes every year and I think 'Better Boy' might be a favorite of his.
Other seeds I've started in the plant room are Cilantro and Nasturtium before moving them into the greenhouse, also. The greenhouse, however, was just too hot for them and most of them died. The rest are kept safe in in a cooler part of the greenhouse or in the plant room. The Sunflowers are fine, though, and getting tall. In fact, since they are of the mammoth variety, they're going to get a lot taller.
As for the corn, I'll direct-sow it into the ground when the time comes along with the mammoth Dill seeds I purchased. I like Dill and it's easily grown here. It smells good and the airy blooms are beautiful when capturing the gleaming sunlight. And the corn, by the way, is the bi-colored sweet 'Peaches and Cream' hybrid. Sounds yummy, right? And there'll be more than enough to share at harvest time and I can even see how the squirrels take to the bounty.
And one more thing: I started Portulaca from seed in an egg carton inside the plant room. Their sprouts are quite tiny and will be transplanted with care. The plan is to put them in a container on the walkway in front of the greenhouse. In summer, that spot can get scorching hot and that's the way Portulaca likes it. :)
It's been a while since I posted, but here we go:
The weather here in Kentucky has normalized a bit, I think. After a long cold winter, spring has had its warm and cool days with much rain. Right now the Snowball Bush is laden with white spherical flowerheads while the green sunlit field serves as a background. Meanwhile, white clouds dot a chilly blue sky.
You may wonder how the garden is doing. Well so far, my dad has tilled about half of the garden. He'll do the rest later, which he'd like to have done before May 15th, our frost date. Some things have been removed since I wanted a do-over. So what remains is the Cup Plant, which won't bloom until later in the summer, and the Iris, which are sporting lavender flowers right now. Speaking of Iris, this apparently is a good year for them. On the left side of the house towards the back, I've noticed that the Iris growing there are crowned with their large white blooms. And then on the opposite side of the house are yellow Iris. One of them was set apart and particularly taller and showier with a deeper yellow flower color, so it is obviously a different yellow variety (probably a newer hybrid, too, I suspect). My variegated Iris sent to me from Texas is located in a backyard flowerbed that Dad takes care of. Its blooms are a dark lavender and play off the lavender blooms of the two perennial Phlox that I purchased last year and which also reside in the flowerbed. These Phlox blooms seem to glow when the daylight fades. Dad also has two Heuchera plants there which contrast nicely with the green foliage and the purple flowers. One Heuchera has chocolate-green foliage and the other has tan leaves which are blushed with a rose coloring. Dad had purchased and planted those a year or two ago. This year, however, he planted a third one and its green with deep rose-pink flowers. The other two Huechera have not bloomed yet.
Orange Poppy flowers have opened up out in my parents' yard and on the side of my house. I like Poppies and may plant the red variety (Papavar rhoes) in my garden again someday. Right now my plans for the garden include corn and Sunflowers. In fact, back in April, I started Sunflowers from seed in the plant room inside my house. I kept them in there until it was obvious that they weren't getting enough light even though they were in front of a sunny window. So then I transported them into the greenhouse. Dad has made use of the greenhouse, too, by storing three tomato plants inside until its time for them to go into the ground. He likes to grow tomatoes every year and I think 'Better Boy' might be a favorite of his.
Other seeds I've started in the plant room are Cilantro and Nasturtium before moving them into the greenhouse, also. The greenhouse, however, was just too hot for them and most of them died. The rest are kept safe in in a cooler part of the greenhouse or in the plant room. The Sunflowers are fine, though, and getting tall. In fact, since they are of the mammoth variety, they're going to get a lot taller.
As for the corn, I'll direct-sow it into the ground when the time comes along with the mammoth Dill seeds I purchased. I like Dill and it's easily grown here. It smells good and the airy blooms are beautiful when capturing the gleaming sunlight. And the corn, by the way, is the bi-colored sweet 'Peaches and Cream' hybrid. Sounds yummy, right? And there'll be more than enough to share at harvest time and I can even see how the squirrels take to the bounty.
And one more thing: I started Portulaca from seed in an egg carton inside the plant room. Their sprouts are quite tiny and will be transplanted with care. The plan is to put them in a container on the walkway in front of the greenhouse. In summer, that spot can get scorching hot and that's the way Portulaca likes it. :)