Planting

We finally got some things planted this week!  It was way past time, and if we didn't hurry, we wouldn't have tomatoes until August!  We have a raised bed on the side of our house that gets great light.  We have always had good luck with tomatoes and cucumbers, not so much luck with zucchini and yellow squash.  For some reason, the squash always seem to produce one round of fruit and then shrivel up and die.  ????  Brad has tried something different each year to get them to grow.  He's added more/less manure to the garden, watered more/less, planted them farther apart, etc.  Nothing has seemed to work and it's frustrating.  This year we'll be buying our squash at the store!

This year we have 2 tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 2 basil and 1 green pepper.  Not much, but it's what we like and eat without it going to waste.  Alex calls it "his vegetable garden".   It's nice to see him have an interest in gardening like we do.

We also got a few other things planted.  We have a completely shady spot in the backyard.  Last year I tried to grow some shade bulbs there.  They didn't do so well and this year only a few things started to come up.  Brad went and bought me some hosta to put there.  They'll look great once they are in the ground and start to grow.

My brother suggested we plant knock out roses in our front bed when we moved in.  He said it was what lots of commercial places were planting because they are fairly easy to care for, are showy, and bloom from spring to fall.  We have been so happy with them.  They always look amazing.  They are in full bloom right now and are so full and pretty.  We do have a "hole" though, and so we bought one more to plant in the hole.  I bet by the end of the year, it'll be just as big as the ones that have been there 5 years.

We also moved a few things around outside.  We have some really pretty fountain grass that adds a nice and different texture to two spots in our front bed.  I wanted one more so we, and when I say we, I mean Brad did all the work while I supervised, moved one from the side of the house to the front.  It'll do better there anyways, as it will get more of the right kind of light.  We also moved one of the fountain grasses from the side of the house to a spot I had a hardy hibiscus.  It was totally the wrong light for where it was and always got real leggy and didnt' have too many leaves or blooms.  The grass will do much better by the garage.  After Brad went to work, I was able to plant the begonias.  We have had such great luck with them.  They always get so big and pretty.  Hopefully they'll do well this year, too!  Now we just need something pretty for the planters, a fern or something else that needs shade for the porch, I'd like a few more perennials for the front and side, and we're good to go!  Well, we need to replace some mulch, too.  Spring is finally here...just in time for summer!  Ha!