Happy Monday! I wanted to share an update on how our garden is doing so far this season. If you missed it, I shared my plans for this year's garden here: Garden Plans for the 2022 Season.
I'm so excited about how well the garden has been doing so far this year! We haven't had a lot of rain and it's been pretty hot the last few weeks, but I've stayed on top of the watering. The dahlia patch on the side of the garage is about to explode into bloom anytime now. I had my first dahlia bloom back in June, which is so early for me! I learn a little bit more every year I grow these plants. This past weekend I put in another level of corralling to hold the plants up. Here are a few dahlia bouquets that I've already picked so far this season:
The first bouquet I picked! Loving these colors.
This dahlias are all seedlings! I grew them from seeds that I saved at the end of last season. I'm so proud of them. Michael is going to help me name the ones that I decide to keep.
I picked this bouquet over the weekend. Finally starting to get a few other varieties to bloom!!
My hanging baskets have filled in so well. Impatiens aren't necessarily my favorite, but they do so well in the shade on either side of our front door!
On a whim I direct sowed some calendula seeds in a pot pretty late in the Spring without much expectation. They've done so well and have given me a lot of joy! I have some in ground too, but the pot of them has done so much better! They're bringing lots of bees to the vegetable garden which is great. They're also just so cheerful to look at.
Speaking of a cheerful flower, I'm growing giant orange marigolds for the first time this year. I loved growing the chrysanthemum style 'Mission Giant' marigolds last year, and I'm growing those again too. The orange ones look like a giant tall version of a standard marigold. The bees seem to like them too!
The self-seeded rudbeckia have been showstoppers this season! There is such a variety of shapes and colors, some of them have so many petals! I've refrained from deadheading any of them in the hopes that they will self-seed again.
The vegetable garden is doing great! I picked the first cherry tomato on July 1st, which felt so early! A few weeks ago I shared a tutorial for the wooden trellises I made for them, you ca find it here: Tutorial: DIY Budget Wooden Tomato Trellis.
We've been picking tomatoes every other day at this point. We're really loving the sungold tomatoes, this was our first year growing them. We also are liking the sunsugar tomatoes too, they're somehow even sweeter!
Very excited to try the first sunrise bumblebee tomatoes this week! They're so pretty, with their stripes. I hope they taste as good as they look!
That's it for now! I've been sharing little snippets of the garden nearly every day on my personal instagram @jenihanna, if you're interested in following along for more regular updates!
Happy Gardening!
Your garden looks very interesting. I really like the picture of the path through the dahlias. Those blooms are gorgeous! Such pretty colors. And your hanging impatien looks great too, so no doubt two of them are a pretty welcome to your front door . Yay for growing tomatoes. Those are something I desperately miss growing, since moving out of Iowa. There's nothing better than an Iowa-grown Big Boy tomato! Enjoy the fruit - err vegetables - of your labor!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful! We live in the mountains now and I so miss gardening. At our former home we had a shady porch too - you might want to try some tuberous begonias next year in the shade, they do well in planters and hanging baskets. I love your garden updates!
ReplyDeleteIt seems like everything was giant size this time around.
ReplyDeleteYour gardens are looking fabulous! I enjoy seeing your bright blooms, especially of flowers I have trouble growing here along the Gulf Coast. Your tomatoes look delicious…are about to finish here, it’s just been too hot. Enjoy your gardens, your investments of time are paying off!!!
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