Veggie plants thriving

I’ve come to the conclusion that with my limited time to manage the garden, indeterminate tomatoes may not be a good idea. With so much rain in the last two weeks, some of my plants are, quite literally, soaring to great heights. I’ll soon need a ladder to get up there and pick tomatoes. Every year I seem to think a simple cage and a few steaks will keep the plants supported, and it works for a while, but almost overnight the plants take off again and easily overwhelm the support structures.

 

On the other hand, the squash plants are looking good, and one is starting to produce:

Slow growing in the garden this year

Sorry for the lack of updates….this has been quite an usual gardening season so far. Most of my plants have been delayed in their flowering by a good month or more, thanks to persistent cold that lasted through mid-May.  I’m just now starting to see tomatoes and squash forming, and many perennials and shrubs are only now beginning to form flower buds. Of course, I’ll post pictures as the garden really comes to life and hits its stride.

Beautiful blooms: Weigela

This is variegated Weigela, one of my absolute favorite flowering shrubs, as I’m sure you can see why. Creamy yellow variegation around the edges of the leaves, and pastel pink/white tubular flowers in spring! Because of the variegation, it does appreciate a little afternoon shade.

There are newer varieties being introduced by Proven Winners that will re-bloom throughout the summer into the fall.

 

Milkweed for Monarchs!

Wanted to highlight this great website by fellow garden blogger Benjamin Vought (The Deep Middle) advocating for the use of milkweed and other native plants to attract and support our native wildlife, particularly our endangered Monarch butterfly population. Monarch butterflies use milkweed (which is actually NOT a weed by any stretch) almost exclusively for food and to lay their eggs. Milkweed is actually quite an attractive plant, with showy clusters of orange, pink,  or white blooms. Check out 
http://milktheweed.blogspot.com/
 for more info!

What’s blooming this morning

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Bee-killing pesticides suspended across Europe

Big news…I just learned this morning that the European Commission is upholding a vote by a majority of EU member states to suspend the use of certain pesticides linked to the deaths of bees. This means these pesticides will not be able to be used anywhere in Europe. This creates a new safety zone for bees to hopefully rebuild their numbers. This is yet another smart decision out of the EU, on the heels of their landmark ban on GMOs a few years back. If only the United States had the same common sense and the will to do right for the environment. Below is the contact information for the EPA and USDA. Let’s give them an earful about their environmentally-hostile but chemical company-friendly policies that are allowing hundreds of thousands of bees to die each year.

http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navtype=MA&navid=CONTACT_US

Cheap and easy PVC pipe greenhouse

Since it appears cold nights will continue in my area for at least the next few weeks, I bought some pieces of PVC pipe and some painter’s tarp and put together this makeshift cover for my tomato, basil, and squash plants. Glad I won’t have to be moving them all in and out of the house anymore!