Memorial Day Weekend ~ Status Report

 Its funny, my garden is "in" and full of potential.  I feel on top of things.  And yet very little is visible.

Bed #1 invisible cole crops

Bed #2 Ranunculus plants, spare strawberry plants and space for cukes.

Bed #3 ready for summer squash

Bed #4 ready for cantaloupes

Bed #5 one row of bush beans planted on the left and too tiny to see

Bed # 6 soil warming for pole beans

Bed #7 Peas and Lettuce

Bed #8 Peas and Lettuce and container Carrots

Bed #9 Sweet corn too tiny to see

Bed #10 ready for cucumbers

Bed #11 Sweet Corn seeded

Bed #12 ready for Cucumbers

You can see my three trays of cucumbers, summer squash and cantaloupes above.  Some years I have a devil of a time getting these to germinate.  Not this year.  I barely know how to react to this unprecedented degree of success.  Now I just have to keep them from damping off before they get transplanted.  The inch and a half of rain the other day already killed a small percentage but those have been reseeded.

Bed #1:  Cole Crops growing (set out 4/15)

Bed #2: Replacement Strawberries growing and room for extra Cukes

Bed #3: Ready for Summer Squash transplants(seeded in pots 5/22)

Bed #4: Ready for Cantaloupe transplants (seeded in pots 5/22)

Bed #5: One row of bush beans planted 5/20

Bed #6: Soil warming for Pole Beans

Bed #7: Peas planted with Lettuce (3/15 and 4/1)

Bed #8: Peas planted with Lettuce (4/15 and 4/29)

Bed #9: Sweet Corn planted 5/20

Bed #10: Ready for Slicing and Pickling Cucumbers (seeded in pots 5/22)

Bed #11: Sweet Corn planted 5/29

Bed #12: Ready for Bush Cucumbers (seeded in pots 5/22)

Random corners: Sweet Potatoes growing (5/23 and 5/26)

Containers: Tomatoes growing

Peppers growing (5/20)

Carrots growing (3/15 reseeded as necessary)

Two varieties of Potatoes growing (5/7)

Sweet Potatoes growing (5/23 and 5/26)

I have four varieties of tomatoes potted up here and one pot of peppers

Sweet Potato Slips (baskets to keep mulch away)

Potatoes doing well

Quite well in fact

Since I ended up with so many nice sweet potato slips from my first attempt at sprouting them, I just kept planting.  Anywhere I had some deep, workable soil I poked one in.  We have two rabbits who feed on clover in the lawn so I put baskets over these slips until they are big enough to outgrow bunny munching, then I will spray them. 

Also on this bank are a spare Instant Karma elderberry bush that will move to one of two places, and some weed potatoes from last year that I am leaving to grow.  Besides the potatoes there are also some stray horseradish roots from the clump to the right.  I'll leave them until I dig the potatoes and if they are large enough to use that will be a bonus.

Instant Karma on the left and weed potatoes to its right

See how pitiful the strawberry plants look?

 The only thing I can think of with the strawberries is that they did not like being mulched in with leaves.  They are producing berries, but when they are done I will pull the plants, turn the leaves in and prepare the bed for the new transplants which are growing very well.

Spray Paint was on sale so the cages got a facelift.

Elsewhere in the landscape things are growing by leaps and bounds but there isn't a lot of color yet.  The daylilies are starting to show buds and I am working on adding Marigolds to blank spaces

Its a great year for Peonies.  The Itoh that had one bloom last year (its third year) has over a dozen buds.  The Sorbet that did so nicely last year with an unprecedented 20+ blooms probably has 50 or more buds this year.  I've given up counting and now am just worrying about supporting the stems.

The Petticoats Peach Geums that I mail ordered a few years ago to plant along the deck are looking doing fantastic and covered in blooms.  This is nice early show for late spring and much needed color in a sea of green.

Geum

I put a row of Marigolds along the front which are tiny now but will grow fast.

The Dahlias I am planting instead of Geraniums this year are putting on good growth already. 
Both the Marigolds and Dahlias will require constant vigilance to protect them from slugs.

I hope everyone has a good holiday weekend and that your gardens do well this year.  It won't be a perfect year but I am expecting some new fun things to do well for me.