The Garden, the Flowers & Perennial Flower Bed

 Knowing I was going to be gone for most of a week, I shopped for the tomatoes, cucumber plants, and some herbs and got them all planted around the middle of May.

I did some research before planting the tomatoes and I think it paid off as the plants look healthy and have almost doubled in height and size since first planted. They got a good dose of special fertilizer and now I'm hoping we get the rain that is forecasted. Four different varieties. Two of the plants have blossoms already!

Because I did not get any cucumbers from the plants in the raised bed last year, I added marigolds to help with the pollination. I've never had the issue of no cucumbers from the three plants in the past. Hope the flowers work this year!

The cucumbers have also doubled in size since the middle of May. I had to tie the plant stems to the support wire and trellis as they were sending out runners, or whatever the curly stems are called.

I see mojitos in my future! Basil is in the top planter.

This hibiscus was the first one of the season. More hibiscus have been added to the collection as have a few other flowers for planters. Those photos will appear when we get back from our camping trip, if the neighbor keeps them alive!

Now for the perennial flower bed. You may remember our experience in December when we were home for Christmas. The story is here: Week One in South Dakota

I talked to some guys from the city who mowed the wash the first time this spring. I told them I would keep my area clean of weeds and tall grass if I could just keep this little patch for my flowers. I promised not to put the rocks or landscaping blocks back. The peony plants are returning, so I but wire cages around them to help keep them upright. The Columbine plant is healthy and I added two more Columbines. Oh, and a poppy I had planted last summer is growing. That is also exciting as I have not been able to grow red poppies.

The neighbor tilled a small patch and planted potatoes this year. (He had corn hast year.) I see he also put two large rocks, one at each end of his potato patch.

I have watched the city mow two more times now and they leave our two little beds alone. So far, so good. 

In my December post I said I removed two plants. One was the peony I got from our son. I guess I didn't get all of it, because it was one of the plants that returned all on its own.

And this is the other plant I dug out in December. It's the Pasque flower I moved from Watertown. I had  put it in a 5 gallon pail in the garage when I dug it out of the perennial bed. The flower bed ground was very wet when I decided I had nothing to loose by digging a hole and putting it back in the perennial bed. Imagine my surprise when I saw green leaves and flower buds. (And grass! I'll take care of that later.) I am so pleased this little perennial survived as it is about 15 years old. 

The perennial bed needs some TLC, but until I knew what the city folks were going to do with their mower, I wasn't planning to put any extra effort into maintaining it. I just hope everything is still there later this month.