brunosdream

Things are popping up nicely in the garden this year! It’s amazing how much the plants have grown in the past two weeks. I’m very pleased w/ the current status of my garden, especially in comparison to last year at this same time. The following link will take you to the post I did around this time last year so you can see for yourself. The only things that were doing better last year were the zinnias. As w/ everything else this year, the zinnias were started from seeds. They are forming flowers so it won’t be long before I get the bursts of color they provide to my yard all summer long. In the veggie garden this year I have 12 tomato plants (4 pineapple, 3 black krim, 3 yellow brandywine and 2 yellow tomatoes), 6 butternut squash plants, 4 jalapeno, 2 New Mexican chile, 1 ancho chile and 6 Swiss chard plants. The herb garden has a new location which provides more space and more sun. Due to the mild winter we experienced in St. Louis, my rosemary plant survived (a first since I moved to this house seven years ago!). Also new this year is another butterfly bush added to the wildflower garden and wisteria (which you will see in the photos). The plan is to attract more butterflies and bees to the yard to pollinate the vegetables. Although it’s been hot and very dry, everything is thriving due to my new watering regimen (1 hour daily early each morning). Also, I finally have piece of mind that my veggies will not become food for the local squirrels and rabbits thanks to my new garden enclosure (definitely lovin’ it!!). However, it seems that the resident rabbits have developed a liking to the type of zinnias I put in this year (Hot Crayon Cutting Zinnias). They’ve eaten the leaves off 5 of the plants so I’ve begun applying Bobbex… so far so good!

The following photos were taken on June 20th:

Rabbit-eaten zinnias and what’s left of the asparagus

Left to right: butternut squash, chard, and hot peppers w/ tomatoes in background

New home for the herbs and wisteria (next to trellis)

Herbs (clockwise from top left): basil, oregano, rosemary, chives, sage, lavender, tarragon and thyme

Wildflowers

Wishing everyone a Happy Summer and a successful gardening season!

Bruno