beautiful pink mini rose

I just wanted to share this wonderful photo that TH sent of our mini pink rose bush. She's a beauty!

first harvest summer 2013

Here is our modest harvest of summer 2013. The cayenne pepper finally ripened! As did one of the cherry peppers. Several cherry tomatoes and a yellow plum tomato - I think it's a plum tomato. Do they come yellow? Anyways, we expect more later this summer.

tulips: May update

All 6 bulbs of the white tulips bloomed at the beginning of May. It was a very pretty sight!

The black T. Paul Scherer and black parrot tulips bloomed though with limited success. Only two black TPS tulips bloomed and one black parrot bloomed.

I did not have any issues with the tulips while they developed and grew until it blossomed and I found aphids on the underside of the leaves! I was horrified and dismayed. I only know this because one of the black parrot tulips was drained of color and withered-looking. When I went to inspect, I discovered a colony of aphids sucking the life out of it!

I was fortunate enough to take descent photos of the tulips because as soon as the tulips bloomed, our zone was hit with heavy rain and strong winds. We have a balcony garden so our plants are sheltered from the rain but the winds really beat our plants especially the tulips. All the petals of the white and black tulips were blown off. A couple of the white tulip stems snapped off, too. The black parrot survived the windy abuse. 

Even after the petals were blown off, the tulips were attacked by aphids. The planter with the white tulips were infested. I turned over leaves and saw a colony. It was a gross and upsetting sight. Whatever is left of the foliage looks terrible. I was going to wait for the leave to yellow before digging them up but now that the leaves are ruined, I will dig up the tulips and inspect their condition and store the good ones until autumn for replanting. 

hyacinths

As the Jeanne d'arc crocuses faded, the white hyacinths bloomed! They're such a pretty sight to see amongst the surrounding green foliage of other plants.

heirloom irises and daylilies

I planted the heirloom irises and daylilies I received from one of my favorite places to obtain flower bulbs. They do a great job carefully packaging the various rhizomes. The irises and daylilies were shipped with their roots intact and clean. The irises were very different looking from the irises I bought and planted last autumn. The ones I got last year will most likely shoot one flower stalk whereas these look like they may shoot multiple flower stalks.









Planting the bare roots of the irises and daylilies helped me to understand what is required for these plants to grow. They seem to require a lot of space at the roots. I'm also weary about exposing the iris rhizomes though that is what was instructed when planting.





I'm looking forward to them growing tall and flowering. I got some pretty colors. These include

spring balcony garden 2013

Last weekend, we bought a bag of compost at the Union Square Greenmarket. I thought it was a good time to lay down some nutrients for the plants as they were beginning to come out of the soil, sprout new foliage, and buds. The seller advised us to apply a half inch of compost to each planter.



A week later, there were visible improvements to their development and growth. The tulips shot up some more. The planter with hyacinths and crocuses are more lush and green. The new growth of the irises are also doing well!





I also pruned back the mini rose bushes though left some tall stems because I could see potential growth. They too got a sprinkling of compost, which seemed to help with their foliage. Lots of new bright green leaves. I also didn't notice anymore black aphids. I had sprayed all the roses neem oil based solution.



Unfortunately, it's not all goods news. We lost a bunch of 'Pauline' dwarf irises last weekend and I believe it is due to a couple of factors over watering and/or the pot sitting in water, and apparently, they needed to be planted closer to the surface. I noticed the green shoots looked dry with yellowing tips. When I tugged on them, the shoots easily pulled away leaving a hole where it sprouted forth.

A couple of bulbs have not shot through the soil, which has me concerned. These are the Florentine tulips, delicate yellow tulips, and coral lilies. After searching online for other people who have experienced or have knowledge of growing these particular flowers, I learned that the florentine tulips may need a bit more sun and the coral lilies comes out later in the season. Well, I hope that is the case and I will see something in the near future.

The Japanese maples and peach tree loved the compost. The Beni Hime JM is doing especially well! It's leaves are bright pink, almost fuchsia, and like delicate feathers unfurling. It's really quite a pretty sight!



The buds of the peach tree are showing their blushing pink color. They are ready to explode open! I'm looking forward to these blossoms opening soon!



It won't be long until the garden will be filled with color and sweet fragrance from the flowers.

garden plans 2013

We are going to cut back on the "grow your own" in 2013. We will buy a limited number of starter plants, which will include heirloom tomatoes and a variety of chili peppers. We may include a few herbs like basil and lemongrass though our basil crop from last year was ruined by leaf miners. I love lemongrass! Besides enjoying them as an aromatic in cooking, I like them as ornamental grass. And at the end of the growing season, I collect the dried grass to use as mulch.

In addition to the fall planted bulbs, which have already begun to pop from the dirt filled planters on the balcony, I think we will grow more flowers in 2013. Flowers in summer will be great especially if they are fragrant! We tried to grow dahlias last year. They started out great but was infected with both the white powdery mildew, spider mites, and aphids. I'm going to try to grow dahlias again this year. Other flowers we will grow in 2013 are daylilies, gladiolus, and more irises though I planted some in the fall for what I assume will bloom in the spring? I guess I will find out sooner or later.

 

Hopefully growing flowers on the balcony will make a nice little haven for us to enjoy. And in order to enjoy the garden, we will need a place to sit so acquiring furniture is a must for 2013. I have had my eyes on this French bistro set by Fermob.

Here's to an exciting new gardening year!

sunflowers: week 10

I'm very pleased to see that the sunflowers have bloomed! TH explained that the bigger one bloomed Wednesday. The second one which grew crookedly is opening up.

Seeing the sunflowers makes me happy. I certainly feel more confident about growing flowers. For whatever reason, I thought growing flowers from seeds would be more difficult. Had I known how easy it is to grow sunflowers, I would have planted all the seeds and I would not have bothered to thin out what I planted originally.

Well, I have seeds for next year.

jalapeños

Last week I wrote about the success of one of the other chili pepper plants, the jalapeños. Another jalapeño plant has also produced some fruit as well. It's not a great abundance but we certainly have more than we normally buy. I love how plentiful they look on a single plant, just dangling the way they are.

sunflowers: week 1

The sunflower seeds I planted last weekend have sprouted seedlings. They look pretty good so far. Hopefully, the others will pop our of the dirt too. I planted 7 to 8 seeds. I'll have to be diligent about thinning them out for healthy ones. Maybe I'll even try to transplant them to single pots. For now, I'm just happy they've come through the ground.

dahlias

We finally have a blossomed dahlias! It's a deep reddish purple color - beautiful! It's the first of many! There are buds that will explode open towards the end of the week if not already - the balcony will be exciting to see!

 

balcony update: week 3

The balcony now has a dwarf peach tree, which I bought at the green market in Union Square. It was the right size for the balcony. There are pink buds that are at the brink of blossoming. Lugging it back wasn't fun but I got a good work out on my arms for the effort. I've also added a dwarf burning bush, which promises to show gorgeous red leaves in late spring.

The watering can arrived. It's beautiful! TH liked my choice, too. I've already showered the plants with water.

The strawberry plants from The Strawberry Store were delivered as expected via USPS. They were carefully packed in the box. I had also picked up a couple of strawberry plants at Home Depot last weekend. They're doing well. And the strawberry jar planters arrived the next day.

The hyacinths have all bloomed and the balcony has a lovely sweet fragrance. The crocus and iris bulbs are doing well and photosynthesizing.

I've begun to transplant the sprouted seedlings to larger pots so they can grow bigger and develop their roots.

This is merely the beginning of the balcony garden. There's still lots more to do and more plants to add. Spring is going to be busy. Hopefully, with all the effort, the summer and fall will be pretty and bountiful. Stay tuned!