garden bloggers' bloom day

I'm joining in with bloggers who participate in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Since its the middle of the month, I'm posting photos of the what's blooming in my vegetable garden.


Right now my most prolific bloomer is the pretty purple violets. They pop up here and there with their happy little faces.


Once again, I have planted marigolds in the corners of my raised beds. Little french red and yellow ones. I enjoy their pungent smell.



I only have a few vegetables that are budded now. The extra large Big Boy tomato I bought this week with buds already on it. Likewise, pre-budded broccoli. Also, in bud is a garlic chive.


Most of the flowers I have are just outside my vegetable garden. These irises are next to my new tomato area. I'm hoping the weather clears and the soil dries up, so I can plant my tomatoes here later today.


Finally, here's a cheery daffodil I planted in between my raised beds. At May Dream's Gardens, you can find others gardeners participating in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

baby tomato plants

This looks like a family portrait of tomatoes! (Everyone line up and smile!) I have collected quite a few plants (35) and will give half to my parents. I have the following varieties: Moskvich (1), New Girl (1), Early Girl (6), Big Beef (6), Rutgers (1), Big Boy (1), Chadwich Cherry (1), Marglobe (6), Big Girl (6) and Brandywine (6). The Big Boy plant is an extra large one with flower buds already. I assume this means it will produce ripe tomatoes sooner. I'm still trying to get my first tomato a couple of weeks earlier than last year. Hopefully by July 17, 63 days from now! I hoping to get time to plant them tomorrow.

Solanum lycopersicum

broccoli

I'm not sure what happened to my last batch of broccoli. I bought and planted 12 seedlings two weeks ago. Five of the plants got up eaten off at the stem. It looks like a tomato cut worm. I didn't know cut worms ate broccoli, so I am blaming the squirrels. This weekend, I bought and planted another 6 plants. Since it looked like I planted the previous batch too close, II replanted all of the plants further apart. (I think I'll go out and put collars on all of my broccoli, just in case it really was cut worms.)

Brassicaceae

happy honey bee

The honey bees are out and about. This pollen covered bee was working in a field of dandelions near my house yesterday.

white violet

A white violet growing next to my vegetable garden.

growing

The fava beans are up! The peas are climbing on the trellis! And the lettuce and baby peppers are looking good!

Skippy

Here's some pictures of Skippy checking on the garden.

more pictures of skip

house sparrow

The sparrows have baby chicks now in the house by my vegetable gardens. I can hear their faint chirps when the parents come with food. Here's mom with a green worm.

gardenbirds

rows of growing plants!

garden centers bird nests

I like to buy my plants from small local garden centers. I've been enjoying looking for vegetable and flower plants for my gardens - especially interesting heirloom tomatoes. I also like looking for birds' nests at the garden centers. Three times now, I have found one hidden in the plants somewhere. The photo above is a nest of robin eggs I photographed this morning.

garden birds (Hortus Aves)

tomato plants

I'm starting to collect tomato plants. I usually plant 18 tomato plants. The varities I have are: Chadwick's Cherry (heirloom), Rutgers, Moskvich (heirloom), and New Girl. I've never grown any of these before.

I was just looking at my records from last year and noticed that last year it rained almost non-stop from May 8 to May 20. I didn't plant my tomatoes until May 23rd! I hope to do better this year. The weather doesn't look too bad for the near future. Hopefully the tomatoes will go in early next week - around May 14.

Solanum lycopersicum

pink hearts

Bleeding hearts in full bloom!

planting squash seeds

Skippy and I planted squash seeds today. Its a really sunny warm day (80F) and I'm guessing the soil is above 60F now. I turned over the soil to mix in all the compost I added to the squash bed. Looks like great soil. I put the cucumber trellis at the back of the bed and made three hills for three different types of summer squash at the front of the bed. I planted seeds for two types of cucumbers (Diva and sriped Armenian) and three summer squashes (zucchini, caserta, and sunburst). I have forgotten what the last two look like and I am looking forward to being surprised by the fruits.

Cucurbita pepo (summer squash)

more daffodils

I keep finding new kinds of daffodils in my backyard. The one with two shades of yellow is really nice.

making space for tomatoes

Sunday we moved a big yew bush out of my new tomato area. We replanted it in a nice shady spot behind the house where I have struggled to grow plants for many years. This hardy bush will probably do well there after it recovers from transplanting. Only the giant rhodo left to move.