So, my annual garden review is a rollercoaster of wins and losses before I look at the new seed catalogs!
Let’s kick off with the radishes. Radishes are my nostalgic weakness. Every year I plant them, hoping for those crisp, peppery roots but, they have a mind of their own. Seems like they’re on a mission to shoot up and bolt before giving me anything to eat. Maybe it’s the memory of childhood radish love that keeps me going, but next year, I’ve sworn to myself, that a new direction awaits, stop planting them.
And then there’s the broccoli, playing hard to get with its tiny heads when it should be growing up big and strong. Those few hot spring days really throw them off. Time to reassess and find broccoli is not in tune with our unpredictable spring weather.
I planted melons with different maturity dates, but they decided to party together. Blame it on the weather, they say. It’s like they had a secret conference and decided, “Let’s surprise the gardener.” And they did bear not over 5 weeks but most over 2 weeks
Last winter wreaked havoc with its heavy snow, and our poor shrubs and trees bore the brunt of it. Lilacs a year later are still waiting for that pruning session.
Now, onto the cool-season flowers – calendula, surprised me with your lackluster performance, and those early tulips, what happened there? It’s like they decided to take a gardening vacation. And don’t get me started on the fruit trees – opened too early for the pollinators to get to them.
But wait, there are silver linings! Old carpet between garden rows and weed barrier cloth down the plant rows. Drip irrigation system under the barrier to conserve water and moisten the soil
.Tomatoes were a mixed bag, but Celebrity stole the show with many medium fruits. Lemon Boy, is a yellow tomato with a low acid content. Watermelons, especially the Clay County yellow ones were the sweet surprise. Summer squash – early bird and Rugosa Fruilana, you stole the nutty spotlight. And the winter squashes, Kabocha and Rogosa Violina Gioia, you’re the kings with that dry, stringless flesh.
The flowerbed has a perpetual fiesta with 4 o’clock, Mexican sunflowers, castor beans, amaranth, and blue salvia. Just a note – perennial salvia, you’re not invited to this party. Annuals, you rock!
Here’s to lessons learned, surprises embraced, and the ever-optimistic gardener in me gearing up for a new year of planting, pruning, and, of course, a few gardening mysteries along the way. Cheers to the green adventures ahead!