Growing Challenge: What's Up In The Garden?

No time for a lot of nattering on (Oh, how I love to natter on!), instead I'll just jump right in with pictures from the garden!

Front yard, xeric garden: June 5, 2008

It rained for two days and the ground was soaked. Not being able to work in the yard, or on the new flower bed (Mud.) meant that I was able to direct my energies towards the assorted container plantings that I wanted to make.

Front door container: Millet 'Jester', Agastache 'Purple Pgymy', Salvia 'Purple Volcano', Silver Dichondra, Portulaca 'Sun Gold', Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'. Yes they are all tiny. I grew them from seed and this is how big they are right now. Have faith! They'll fill in very soon and should be crazy and full by the end of summer.

Right side of door container: Four different Sempervivum (Hens and Chicks), three of which were languishing in my front yard. They are surrounded by a random assortment of Portulaca from the seeds I gleaned here. Should be interesting to see what colors they come in! Pink? Striped? Orange? Who knows!

This is one of two succulents that survived last winter. Sedum album 'Murale' (The "invasive" one. Figures!)

The other succulent, Sedum hispanicum 'Purple Form'. I didn't do anything to them all winter, but they survived, while everything else in the small pot didn't. Here's what it looked like originally. I suspect it's because the pot that now has Sempervivums in it is right up against the house, where it wouldn't get as much snow cover/rainfall, while these smaller (Yet taller.) pots aren't stuck in the house's rain shadow. Either way, I didn't have to plant them so Yay me!

I have a few other containers that I've planted but haven't photographed yet. I'll add those in tomorrow. Yeah, the big pots.

Moving on to the front yard:

Rocky Mountain Blue penstemon.

Red penstemon. Sorry, don't remember the proper name!

Culinary sage in flower. Very pretty and smells yummy, too!

In the back yard, let's talk about food plants!
The finished tomato and pepper bed has a few volunteer marigolds stuck into it for good measure. I think the tomatoes are visibly taller already! I think I'm going to go put a mark above each plant and the date, just to see how fast they really grow. Now if only I could remember to bring a pencil outside with me....

Sweet Genovese basil seeds popped up on 6/5 (Four days!). I'll have to thin/relocate a bunch of them. We sowed pretty heavily since these seeds were a few years old, but apparently they're still very happy!

First bean seed up! I noticed this one on 06/07/08. (A date that won't occur again for a hundred years!) The watermelon seeds also popped up, but I noticed them at the end of the day, long after I'd shot this picture.

Today I noticed the cucumbers are pushing up, but haven't photographed them yet. Still no squash, though. Slowpokes!

Remember how small these were two weeks ago? Yeah, me neither. Follow the link! The cilantro is filling in nicely. Still only one spinach plant, though. This fall, I'll try again. I may have to thin out that cilantro as well!

Peony: Bowl of Beauty

Another peony. This one was supposed to be white with red markings in the center. Not quite, eh?

Keys of Heaven.

Wild Sweet William. Very nicely scented.

The noxious weed I had to rip out of the front yard. Now I have to rip it out of the backyard, too. Yeah, I'll get to that reaaaaaal soon now.

Yellow honeysuckle. Planted for the hummingbirds before I realized that hummers just don't show up in my yard until July (As far as I've noticed.)

Honeysuckle 'Magnifica' is scented. Yum!

Japanese honeysuckle. Also scented, it's on an arbor at the base of my deck stairs. I love it and so do the finches that have built a nest in it and raised their young. Fortunately for me, they built the nest on the side closest to my kitchen window, so we got to watch the adults flit in and out with nesting material and now with food. Haven't seen the babies yet.

Finally, I also planted 117 bell peppers today, over at the farm. Stole away from the family to dig in someone else's soil for awhile. It was very nice. Almost got another toad, too. Poor Bouncer must be lonely! I haven't seen her since the day I released her, either. Hopefully a hawk or a raccoon didn't get her, but I wouldn't know, would I?

I need a nap!

By the way, in case you were wondering, it's now taking me about twelve hours to complete a post. I may have started this one at 10:15 am, but I didn't finish it then! I start a post, tend to everything else that needs my attention, pop back and write a little more before the next Baby Fire occurs and finally finish everything up right before I fall asleep at night. That's my life: squeezed in between babies and plants.