Yay!

I finally found a pot for the big jade. It's been in a plastic pot since last summer - a cracked plastic pot for at least the last 4 months. I am a bad plant mommy.

But last weekend Iain's Nana joined me on a pot search and there it was: rounded, squat, a pretty aqua color...perfect.

Yay!

Gardening

Weather, climate, divine moodiness... I dunno. Gardens are weird. Two years ago we enjoyed a ton of lettuce. This year they all bolted before we enjoyed any tasty salads. Last year, the tomatoes were OUT OF CONTROL. Really.

This year, the tomatoes grow only enough to indicate to me that they can grow. Any more than that would be a waste of energy. Also, they disdain my hopes. It's like a vegetal finger salute. "Lady, I could grow, but I ain't. So there."

Other plants, though. Huh. I've never before grown bush beans but last year's experiment with sugar snap peas made me angry. They just never set very many pods, relative to the space they consumed. So this year I replaced my edible-pod efforts with plain old green beans. Bush beans, suited for the heat of summer. They're doing great! First of all, they're perfect for Square Foot Gardening. The seeds are large enough that you can actually plant just one seed per hole and space them appropriately. So I've got about 20 little plants making me green beans.

Also a success: cucumbers. I bought one or two small plants from a local nursery and so far we've enjoyed 3 cukes plus there are many more to come.

So here's to the total unpredictability of nature. You never know what you'll get.

Garden News

So I got tired of weeds. Also, I needed drip irrigation so that things would grow steadily. I think last year's Carrot Debacle was because of a dry period after germination. Poor little stunted carrots.

So we asked Joi Aoki (of Aoki Landscaping) to come out and solve the problem. She laid down landscape fabric, gravel, and drip irrigation for the blackberries, peonies, and raised beds.

I love it, and I think my neighbor really loves it. No more untidy weeds. I love that they reused our stepping stones (salvaged from my parents' yard).

More photos to come - my lettuce has totally taken over the blue bed since the irrigation went in. The tomotoes are growing, the strawberries bloom, etc. And my carrots are six inches tall. I think this might be a good year for carrots!

Peonies!!!

OMG they bloomed.

Two years ago, when we bought this house, I planted 2 peonies.

One year ago, in spring, I planted 2 more.

This year I planted one. It's scrawny with youth - let's not discuss it.

But the others! Especially the ones with two years to settle down and make flowers. They're going gangbusters. Peonies are long-lived plants who grow bushier and more productive with every year. I'm in love already, so I can't wait to see what they're doing 3 or 4 years from now.

Every Blackberry Has Its Thorns

I would just like to say that the thorny hedge bites. And spreads! I went out tonight to plant my new bamboo, got energetic and started weeding around the peonies, and BAM! Thorns in my fingers and wrists.

The blackberries are essentially weeds themselves, see? And they do this great thing: they send out a shoot, it touches the ground, and it roots. Presto! New plant. Great for having a hedge, not so great for reaching in and weeding. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

But last year the lawnmowing dudes ran over a blackberry and a peony. We will not have that this year. So I need to weed enough area around them that they are left pretty well alone. How much? How much pain can I take?

Spring: I Love You

 The hosui pear is in full, total, freakout, ultimate bloom. I have seen zero pollinators in our yard, so...I expect little in the way of fruit. STILL. Bloom plus leaves = transplant shock is over! My pear survived and even seems the tiniest bit happy.

Also, I learned about depth of field. A little. Notice the focused front and blurry back. Yes, it took only 10 years to learn. Call me brilliant. Above, the leaves of my espaliered apple tree. No blooms yet, which is wise. The apple might bear fruit this year because she's content to wait for bees to wake up.

The succulents return!

In the vegetable garden, the trees separating our yard from our neighbor are growing lots of tiny, delicate leaves. I discovered that one sad, overgrown tree is actually an ornamental cherry. If only I could climb over the fence and prune it.

But these. These! My peonies. All four are growing quickly. My fingers are crossed for flowers this year. Peonies are funny. If you bury them too deep you don't get flowers. Last year a late frost killed the buds (boo!). This year we'll see whether the weather and my planting skills work together.

At the very edge of the vegetable garden I planted three blackberry bushes last year. All are growing back vigorously. The idea is that eventually these will provide a thorny hedge. Edible, leafy, but enough to keep random dogs out of my garden. Whether that works or not, I hope for blackberries to eat this summer.

The sun is shining, everything's in bloom or bud, and you can see SLC starting to wake from the winter. The volume of bikers, joggers, strollers and hikers grows daily. 70 degrees today!

Last but not least: the seeds I planted. Lettuce, carrots, etc. Nothing's germinated yet, but we've had 2 rainy days each a week apart and another coming in 2-3 days. To me, that's perfect weather for seeds. Drenching water, time to dry out, and temperature fluctuations to break the seed pod.

Spring!

Spring has arrived in the vegetable garden. Above, sage returning to its soft, fuzzy warm-weather self. So far, it and a few tiny nubbins of thyme are the only residents of the herb garden.

 Except for the pansies we planted, I mean. Iain picked out some 4-packs on Saturday and we popped them into the bed for color.

Below, the beds. Seeds don't look like much, I know. But in a few weeks we'll have fresh lettuce in 2 beds and (hopefully) emerging peas and carrots. No carrots for 2.5 months, of course. One day...

Iain likes the vegetable garden. Because the soil's loose he can use his kiddie tools and dig around to his heart's content. And a sunny day never hurt anyone, either.

Time to Plant

Last year, I sowed lettuce seeds on March 21. Nothing happened. For a while. Finally, in earliest May - germination. Humph. Within weeks, though, I had beds full of lettuce. By the end of June: peas, spinach, carrot tops.

Let's not talk about those carrots.

But that was 2011. This is 2012 - everything's different.

Today Iain and I drove down to Millcreek Gardens (still waking up from winter - you can tell they're anticipating a spring rush in a couple of weeks). Six bags of soil, five four-packs of pansies and about ten seed packs later - time to garden.

We filled the beds with fresh soil (These are beds 3/4 full from last year. They contain a mixture of leaves, grass, dirt, and kitchen stuff from our compost pile. My compost never breaks down, though. Dunno what's up with that. I mean, never. It's been back there for a year but everything's completely intact. I'm considering making a vermiculture tub and letting the worms tackle it.).

Then we planted sugar-snap peas along the south parts of 3 beds. Lots of peas, I know, but last year I planted sugar-snap and snow. That was silly. I got about ten pieces at a time. It was never quite enough to feel like a "harvest." This year, more seeds of one variety = a more reasonable quantity.

Then we planted a packet of carrots in the northern portion of the purple bed. Sprinkled lettuce seeds in the other two completed the veggie plan.

We made a little gift for Grandma (pansies in a terracotta pot), then popped the remaining flowers into the herb bed (the green one, if you've been following the links above). Herbs, chard, and other plants won't go in until May - we shop the Wasatch Community Gardens sale at Rowland Hall. For the moment, though, I'm just happy to have flowers and to fantasize about lettuce.

Did I mention that the blackberries and peonies are coming back? Yep. Photos to come. I promise.

Hope Springs Eternal

Punny!

Anyway, spring is coming. Not quickly, of course, but it's coming nonetheless. Monday the temps promise to reach 60, with full sun. So it's time for a little planning.

We like a restaurant here called Kyoto. It's a neighborhood spot, nothing fancy, but you can get crispy tempura and big, sloppy udon and if you want to remove your shoes and sit in a Japanese booth that's available.

Outside, they have a gorgeous display of bamboo. Yes, bamboo. The plant that hates me but which I love with a stalkerish delight that makes me happy vegetation can't get restraining orders.

The shortest of Kyoto's specimens is this:

Sasa veitchii (click here for a link to White Flower Farm - you could buy one, too!)

It grows 3-5 feet tall, thrives in the cold, and has that pretty white edging. So I'll plant it and hopefully it won't die. Like every other bamboo.

Fargesia murielae (click here for a link, also to WFF)

Second, I got one of these. It grows 6-12 feet tall (unless it dies) and should anchor the corner where last year's specimen...died.

Last year Boris peed on the bamboo all summer. We think that might have had something to do with its demise. This year Boris has his own little side yard (poop yard) so his pee is isolated. If we're lucky, very lucky, these two will survive.

Gardener's Little Helper

I grew a cucumber. And nearly lost it.

How?

Iain and I spent a happy half hour outside, planting neglected grasses, watering (him), and harvesting a few tomatoes plus one ripe cuke.

At some point, Iain was wandering around the backyard with that cucumber, exclaiming that it would be good to eat. This is pure BS, of course, since he only eats fruit, dairy, and carbs. But I encourage admiration for vegetables.

That was an hour ago. Just now, I thought "Where's that cucumber?" Not in the yard. Not in his tool bag. Not hidden in the grill.

So I asked him. "I put it in the watering can so it could have a bath."

Oh, of course. And there it was, wet.

Tomato Freakout 2011

Lots and lots of little, tiny tomatoes. The larger ones are tastier, but the smaller ones are available in glorious profusion.

Meanwhile, in carrot-land:

That's the entire harvest. Let me give you some perspective on size:

Yeah. I did something wrong, obvy. Better luck next time. Care for a tomato?

Summer Garden - August

Above, the late-summer garden. Note the empty spaces.

The Herbs are great. Curly parsley, sage, thyme, lemon verbena, tarragon, and rosemary all thrived this year. The blueberries seem kind of meh, but I'm not sure what the problem is and I'm waiting and seeing on that.

These are the blue planters from the backyard. With help from Iain's Nana, I replanted them in early July and they're thriving. It's a big improvement on the conifers I planted in spring (they died, so that can't be called a success).

But the veggie garden as a whole is about 50/50 this year. The herbs, tomatoes, lettuce and edible peas (snow/Sugar Snap) worked well. Lettuce was a huge success, in fact. But the summer was a challenge, partly because I didn't really know what to plant for hot weather. I put in some cucumbers and bell pepper plants, but they grew without setting any fruit. And you know what happened to the carrots. Ahem.

For next year, I need to figure out what to plant for hot days and when to plant it. I'm thinking bush beans and maybe even melons. I avoided those this year because they take up so much room. But it would seem that I have plenty of space. So.

Tomatoes! (But No Carrots)

So the carrot experience: not a success. It was my first time growing carrots, and while I know they didn't have any trouble penetrating the soil (raised beds!), something must have gone wrong.

The cherry tomatoes are doing great, though. They're covered in tomatoes, many ripening, and some have already gone to their reward (in my belly). All the rain we've gotten this summer really helped, but I also attribute some success to the seedlings we bought. They're heirlooms grown from seed by the local community garden. In other words: grown by someone other than me.

So far, the herbs, tomatoes, and peas (sugar and snow) have been a great success. Oh, and the AMAZING incredible lettuce, too. Spinach, chard, and carrots are a bust. The bell pepper plants are doing well, but I'm not harvesting anything. So we'll have to wait for a verdict in that case.

There are big changes afoot in our garden, though. Stay tuned for photos.

.

Garden Update: Raspberries

Our neighbor, Linda, is a master gardener. She also inherited an amazing property from her parents. She's lived in her house all her life, and thus has enjoyed things like her 40-foot apricot tree for...a lot of years.

When we moved in last year, she and I chatted about the raspberries growing on the line between our properties. "Should I cut them back?" she asked. Uh...you're kidding, right?

No. Do not cut them back. In fact, if you have any especially powerful fertilizers, pour them on. I have no objection to Unobtainium, Kryptonite, or any other magical stuff, either.

Last year we got a few handfuls of berries. I thought that was pretty great.

This year, having watched the canes hungrily for months, we're harvesting bowls of raspberries every few days. It's fantastic. I've planted new raspberry and blackberry plants along the border of my vegetable garden and I will probably put in more next spring. Because you simply cannot have too many berries.

But even now: wow.

Scent, Aroma, Stink

At some point in May, I remembered one of the most fleeting pleasures of last spring. For a while, we slept with the windows open. All night the room throbbed with a sweet, thick perfume. The source?

Linda's honeysuckle vine. It climbs across the fence dividing our properties. That's the same strip where her raspberries have colonized our land, providing us with a bounty of fruit in early July. Look out the eastern windows and you see roses, raspberries, lilacs, and these honeysuckle flowers. Right now, they welcome you when you come in the back gate.

It's hot here - suddenly - so we can't sleep with the windows open as we did last year. Still. I love honeysuckle. I love that in the path from spring to summer I can count on the honeysuckle to mark the transition.

Not Dead Yet

Above, our new apple tree. It's a semi-dwarf Fuji, and as you can see it has already been espaliered. It's not much older than our "stick" (the bare-root that never was), but much farther along the path I hope it will follow for us. Fingers crossed, please.

Underplanting the apple and pear trees are a pair of tiny miniature gingkoes. They're doing well, producing those characteristic gingko leaves and adding an interesting leaf shape to the garden.

This is the new pear. It's a big improvement over the stick, don't you think? Yeah. It's a Hosui, the same type, but obviously older, healthier, and even:

Bearing fruit. I have no idea whether the fruit on it this year will mature (transplant shock and all), but I'm hoping. There are maybe 20 pears on the tree, and given its size we hope to be able to eat from it next year at the latest.

I chose to take pictures at absolutely the wrong time of day, but what you're seeing here is the backyard from the southern vantage, looking west. On the left out of the frame is the Blue Weeping Atlas Cedar. Eight feet to the north, the Fuji apple, then the Hosui pear, and in the corner our little bamboo.

It still struggles, and I really don't know if the bamboo will survive. But at this point I'm hoping that the warmth of the sun and the ample water we provide (drainage is goooood here) help everyone to settle in.

If, and this is a big if, they all make it we'll have established the basic framework of our Japanese garden. After that it's underplanting with conifers and grasses, creating the rock border, and deciding where to place a fountain and a seating area.

More Photos by Iain

Suddenly, it's HOT. As in 93 degrees. And SUNNY, as in all day long. Whew! We turned on the swamp cooler, broke out the tank tops, and I don't know if I'll wear socks again until September.

The garden moves forward, changing from spring crops to summer ones. I've pulled out most of the lettuce because it went bitter. And note to self: that oak leaf lettuce is just nasty. Nasty. Next year we will not be growing any of that.

The new fruit trees went in the ground early this week (photos soon), and the bamboo and bare-root roses are settling in. I suspect those roses may not make it, but time will tell. They came too late, they took a long time in shipping...meh. I dunno. Some things live and some die and I honestly can't tell which will do which.

But the tomatoes are in bloom, the raspberries are on their stalks (ripening, ripening) and I could go pick a few snow peas right now. The herb garden's simply amazing. So hurray for the raised beds!

Hippies! In the Park!

Recently, the most effective tool in our Battle of the Toddler arsenal has been...the threat of a haircut. Iain says he doesn't like the sound of the clippers. Whatever the reason, he will do (or not do) nearly anything to avoid a haircut.

So he looks like this. Check out those waves. I could make a great little mohawk out of that.

In other news, I drove down to Millcreek today to buy tomato cages. But you know how they are. I bought two tomato cages (and I love them because one is magenta and the other lemon yellow!), about ten small drought-tolerant ground covers (hens-n-chicks, plus a bunch of other stuff), and...

A big ol' Korean pear plus an espaliered Fuji apple tree.

Yes. I know. I only blogged yesterday about the sad demise of our bare-root trees. But here in the Snowy Mountains/Desert you have to act fast or you lose your window. So when the man at Millcreek said "yes, I have fruit trees" and I saw that lovely little apple tree...

They arrive Saturday. I already love them.

Good News, Bad News

Good news: I planted bamboo (finally!) and it's happily settling into its corner. This is a clumping bamboo (fargesia rufa), which will get to a bout 8-10 feet tall in about 2 years.

Good news: Iain's road grader helped me to dig, then plant two holes. Roses in both. I've put in one Graham Thomas plus one Gertrude Jekyll, and if things go right we should have a beautiful display of roses climbing on the fence corner in a few years. They'll be outside the fence, so our neighbors enjoy them but within the fence we'll preserve the Japanese garden aesthetic.

There's that Gertie.

Bad news: not only do I think the pear tree I planted last fall has died, I think the apple tree has died, too. The apple made lovely leaves all over, but they've now turned grey and shriveled. Neither tree looks like it's putting out anything new. Wah. So now I'll have to go check out local trees (not bare-root specimens) and see what happens.

No peonies this year, either. The bushes made buds but then a late frost made them burn. So I don't think there will be any flowers until next spring.

Gardening: not for the weak.

Spring Color

Our neighbor owns this little duplex on the corner. Above it tower a set of trees that bloom in late May. I love these trees. The one you see here produces huge sprays of white flowers - similar to a crepe myrtle, but much more appealing as a tree. But wait...

This tree is really the superstar. Just like its neighbors except pink. And I mean, PINK.

With flecks of yellow to pop your eyes to the center of each tiny flower, pink!

I'm not normally a pink enthusiast. I prefer yellow and purple in the garden. But these trees are a delight. Our neighbor's grandfather planted the pink specimens more than seventy years ago. Last winter, one lost a huge branch and the city decided to cut it down. It's quite a loss, from my point of view. But today I saw several just like it, perhaps ten years old, blooming along 13th South.

Unrelated: today we had to buy a new booster seat on the fly. When we got to camp this morning (Camp! Glorious camp!) Iain asked me, "What's this?" That's a plastic part from your carseat, son. It should not be in your hand.

So I bought a new booster, installed it, and used that on the pickup.

• Me: "Iain, you have a new booster, see? Just like in Grandma's car."
• Iain: "Thank you, it's lovely!"

In other news, Iain pooped in the potty tonight. Twice.