Hi Michele,
I have some new things to show you from my garden. First off, the peonies are starting to open. I went outside in the rain today to get a photo for you.
My lady's mantle is also blooming.
and my siberian iris.
The rhododendron I showed you last week is starting to go by, but this magenta specimen produced one perfect flower head. Just one. Years ago, I found a sale on rhododendrons. If memory serves me correctly, they were about 3 dollars per bush. I bought more than I can remember and planted them along the edge of the forest hoping to naturalize them. Only two survived and aren't doing so well. I think I might try to start some new bushes from cuttings from this one. It's such a beautiful color. Maybe a better location would produce more lovely blossoms.
I picked some pansies to bring inside for my tiny little vase collection.
Here you see my early phlox. I have three colors-pink, purple, and white- of this phlox which I think is the wild variety. Later in the summer I will have blossoms from cultivated phlox to show you.
My Egyptian walking onions are up to their old tricks. Soon I will have some bulbs to send to you. These are great for permaculture settings.
Now this is something new I'm trying. I saw this on Pinterest. I saved the bottoms of celery I purchased at the grocery store. I soaked them in water for about a week. As you can see, they have started to re-sprout from the center. I have now planted them in the garden and should, according to reports on the internet, produce a new bunch of celery. I'll keep you posted on this experiment. Hopefully, we can grow more celery from a part I usually toss into the compost.
This is the Tennessee sweet potato squash from the heirloom Baker Creek Seeds you sent me. It's hard to see in this photo but this seedling is about five inches across. It's huge! I planted many of these seeds but this is the only one that sprouted. How are yours doing?
In addition, this week I planted heirloom Early Girl tomatoes from starts as well as Spanish heirloom Padron peppers. The three varieties of beets are about two inches up, radishes are starting to form and several types of cukes, kale, collards, and zucchini a few inches high. My kids each have a Big Mac pumpkin plant bought from the nursery. We're hoping to get some nice big pumpkins for Halloween this year. We've started harvesting lettuce and mustard greens.
That's the update from Maine. How are things in your garden?
Caroline
