The Joke is On Me

These weren't sunflowers after all!

This is the bed of mixed seeds for butterflies.  I was sure these were sunflowers... but I guess if I had thought about it, I would have realized that sunflowes and butterflies aren't necessarily an obvious match.  I guess I just wanted them to be sunflowers.  These look like gerber daisies or something similar.  They are as tall as I am!  (I had to stand on the yoga platforms to get the photos.)
I have tried so many different seeds to get the sunflowers with the heads the size of dinner plates -- and so far - FAIL.  Waaah.  I don't understand.  Unless the ones along my garden suddenly transform;  I haven't totally given up yet.

A few garden notes

Eight of my 10 asparagus plants are up!  A couple of them are as high as my elbows!

And I have a few baby cucumbers!  I found them this morning.  I was getting worried that I was once again going to have a plethora of blossoms that just don't produce -- my cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini are positively covered in blossoms, but so far no fruit -- until I saw these -- so maybe I'm just impatient!  (Yeah, whatever, keep those comments to yourself... lol)

This is my first year of trellising my cucumbers -- not exactly sure how it is going to work if the fruit gets really heavy.  I'm contemplating slipping knee high pantyhose over them and tying them to the trellis...  Have you trellised cucumbers before?  Did you have any issues with it?
And, my sunflowers are now officially taller than I am.  No signs of the heads yet, so presumably they are still growing taller:

The birds will love them...

Speaking of birds, this week I've found 2 baby birds in my yard who had shuffled off their mortal coils*.  They look like they probably fell out of their nests, because there is no way they were old enough to being trying to fly.  One was a sparrow, and one was a blue jay.  Sad to see.

* http://my1929tudor.blogspot.com/2009/08/living-with-nature.html

Back to the Ommmm

I was finally able to get back into some outdoor yoga this morning!  It was so nice to be back. My alley neighbor stuck his head out, but no men in hard hats, and no earth moving equipment!

Here are some views from the yoga platforms.  I should have taken one of the lavender bed behind me, but I didn't think about it.

This is a sky view of the mixed butterfly bed.  If you look closely you can see the Borage blossoms on the right -- and those big circular plants -- I think those  Maximillian (?) sunflowers.  If they are, wow, they will be majestic when they are grown. 

Here's a close up -- with my hand for sizing:

First Sunflower

Happy, isn't it?  It's one of the plants that I started indoors from seed.

Here are it's siblings along the driveway...

Soon I'll have to give them some supports...

"O-tay!"

Things have gone seriously downhill when I start quoting the Little Rascals.  But I couldn't resist, because last night I planted buckwheat seeds in the backyard.

I needed some type of cover crop to hold the dirt in place until I can get plants in everywhere.  Last Fall I planted Hairy Vetch which was pretty successful, but it didn't till in quite as easily as I had hoped.  It was sort of viney, and then the vines wrapped around the rototiller tines.  Sure, it came off easily, but it wasn't optimal.

I went to Redenta's and explained my conundrum and they suggested buckwheat as a cover crop.  They had 3 packages, and I bought all three.  I've planted one and a half packages so far.  The package says it likes sun, and I'm worried that my remaining areas aren't sunny enough.

I planted it in 2 areas, and then I staked them off.  The staking was partly to give the dog guidance and partly to give some guidance to a contractor who will be in my backyard on Thursday.  It turned out that I liked the look of having the yard sectioned off, so I also staked off my three flower beds where seeds are sprouting.  (It looks like all my sunflowers came up!!)  It has the benefit of breaking the yard up into manageable sections, it keeps the dog mostly out of areas where I don't want the seeds disturbed, and it also helps me remember what I have planted where, until the plants become identifiable.

Then I put down some rectangular pavers that I have on hand around the new plot of St. Augustine.   Mostly to contain it, partly to provide additional dirt cover, and partially because it looks nicer with a defined border.  I think I will make some type of concrete stones to edge it, but I haven't decided.  The pavers aren't my favorite, but I do have a heap of them on hand.  I also want/need to make some type of sign for the yoga platforms that says, "No Shoes, Please" as folks seem to be inclined to hop up on them with shoes on when I'm not looking.  One, you've probably learned that I think the bottoms of shoes are filthy; two, the soles leave prints on my beautiful surface; and three, hello, I lay up there, I'm trying to keep them clean...

Here's my yard this morning in the dappled sunshine.  Yes, the herbs are still sitting in their seedling pots... I still haven't gotten them planted in front.  Trust me, they are like an albatross around my neck... but they still look quite happy and healthy, so there's that...

Reaching Higher

My sunflower sprouts are moving merrily along:

I leave them out front all the time now, no longer bringing them indoors at night or on windy days.  Several of them are 3" tall and all of them have double sets of leaves.

As I have been moving the toting the tray of sprouts around, and tending to the other front perennials coming up, one of my neighbors has more than once remarked that she is more of an "instant" person, that she isn't patient enough to plant anything so tiny and wait.  I don't know... I guess I enjoy seeing the dormant beds come alive in the Spring (without hardly any effort on my part other than pushing mulch back to allow them to get sun) and there is something about the basics of covering a tiny seed with dirt and watching that I enjoy.  In many other arenas I'll be the first one to tell you that I am not a patient person; but watching plants grow is different.

Sunflower Delight

My sunflowers have sprouted!  That's record time...

All but one pot has a sprout! 

Sunflowers

My neighbor came over Monday evening and we sat on my porch -- our second attempt to plan our gardens.  We didn't actually prepare any seed orders, but I did compile a dream list for this year.  Among the plants on it? 

Kale -- Wholefoods has me hooked on a raw kale salad that is divine. 

Rhubarb -- a childhood favorite --  I've never tried to grow it...

Moonflower -- a blooming vine whose fragrant flowers open at night.

Sunflowers

A huge bed of lavender

Red and fingerling potatoes

Herbs.  A ton of herbs.  I didn't get very many in last year!

I think last year I got too hung up in details and structure, and my garden wasn't as successful as I would have liked.  This year I am going to relax a bit, plant the things that I am dying to eat.  I did plant things that I enjoy eating last year, but the garden I planted was the "here are the 12 traditional vegetables every garden should have."  Yeah... I'm not going to be quite as well rounded this year!

Our evening inspired me to get my sunflower seeds started indoors.  I had saved all my leftover seeds from last year.  I got them out of the freezer and looked... hmmm no Mammoth Sunflower seeds, but I found a sunflower seed mixture.  Last year I also saved a bunch of pots and trays from the seedlings I bought -- just for this purpose!  I trundled to my garden shed, grabbed a bucket, and mixed up some potting soil, some Perlite, and some Redenta's Bed Prep.  I put the pots in their original tray for good drainage, and then put that tray on a melomine tray for easy transport.  Here's the end result:

I put them out on my porch in the sun in the morning, and bring them inside in the evening.  When our nights warm up a bit I'll be able to leave them outside at night.  Very fun!   I think I am going to plant them on the driveway side of the porch -- they should make a nice screen.  And speaking of the porch?  My porch furniture?  Some of the best money I've spent recently.  I am using it a LOT.  So comfy and calm out there. Ahhh.