Garden Cleanup

Since it has been too hot to go outside during the day, I waited until 7pm this evening to go out and do my gardening. I pulled out all the dried husks of chile plants, put away the metal cages and pulled out what few weeds there were. A few of my old chile plants have survived. The fatali, the red scotch bonnet, a half dead cherry bomb, my yellow canary bell and what I believe is some sort of jalapeno. I also have the two blushing beauty bells that I purchased this spring. My salsa garden has never been this sparse before, but then again I haven't been putting in the effort into my garden this year as I normally do.

My husband is requesting that I devote more space to herbs since he discovered this year that he enjoys fresh basil leaves in his sandwiches, so that might be something that I look into over the next few weeks. The only herb that I have right now are the chives. Nothing kills those babies.

Why did so many of my plants die? It was because my soaker hose system has broken. One of the hoses has sprung a huge leak and needs to be replaced. I went to look for a replacement at the Home Depot this morning, but I couldn't find the part that I needed. I will try other hardware stores later. The timer also is not working. It probably needs a new battery. Once I get these two things working again, my salsa garden should be back to taking care of itself once again.

Treasures from the Nursery

The sun was shining and the birds were singing. I felt the call of the garden and ended up gardening for most of the day. Due to the heavy rains last week, all the soil was loose and I was able to dig easily. So I moved two of my semi-dormant roses into better positions in my backyard. I had two lavender roses side by side, now one of them is next to a red rose. I also moved one rose over by a foot and this created a planting space for the rose I moved across the yard. I have spaces for three new roses this year and I managed to find three bareroot roses at the nurserys this afternoon...not an easy feat for this time of year. They are all in cardboard pots waiting to be placed in the earth.

I picked up another pink jasmine vine at the nursery today and planted it beside the trellis that I had placed next to the a/c unit last summer. As the vine grows and fills in on the iron trellis, it will create a natural living wall and block my view of the a/c unit. I want to put in another of those trellis on the other side and put in another pink jasmine. The jasmine blooms when my roses are dormant, which gives my garden a little brightness and scent during these winter days.


While at the nursery, I also picked up a few new herbs for my patio herb garden. Lemon Thyme, French Thyme, Chervil, Marjarom and Garlic Chives. They should fill one of my patio pots and it will go next to my kitchen door as usual. I have missed having fresh herbs for my kitchen, so I'm greatly looking forward to having my little patio herb garden back.

I still have peppers growing in my raised beds, amazingly enough. Two red beauty bells are ripe and ready for harvest and I still have more habaneros, piquins and tepins ripening. I believe that I will keep a few of them in pots for next year, but if I have the time next week, I will clear out my plot and start getting it ready for spring planting. There will be no pepper plants available for at least another month, but when the time comes, I want things to be ready.

Another Herb Garden on my Patio

A second potted herb garden now resides on the other side of my kitchen door. The pair of them brings a note of symmetry to my kitchen patio. This herb pot holds Lemon Thyme, Stevia, Onion Chives, Marjoram, and Garlic Chives. I've already cut some of the marjoram for a recipe this week.

First Herb Garden of Spring 2005

I decided to drive down to Roger's Gardens to see what pepper seedlings might be available. I was happy to discover some Caribean Red Habaneros and Thai Dragons. They are waiting in their pots in a sunny and sheltered location. This is just the start of this year's collection. Hopefully, I'll be lucky and find the rest of the chiles and bell peppers that I'm seeking.

Roger's Gardens is famous for their herbs. I could not resist purchasing a few potted herbs to put together my first herb garden of the spring. The herbs are lush and have a wonderful scent. For my kitchen herb garden, I have purchased English Thyme, Flat and Curly leaf Parsley, Greek Oregano and Sage.

Last year, I had purchased what is called a "patio pot", it is a terracotta pot that is bowl shaped. I think it will be perfect for the herbs. My only fear is that my dog Libby might dig into the pot and destroy the new plants. She had a habit of doing this when she was a puppy. She is now two years old. I think it is time to put the dog to the test. I'd like to start having patio plants again!