my little garden

Side view from under the deck. I have moved most of my pots and containers off the upper deck, because my husband has plans to pressure wash, strip and stain or paint sometime this summer. Easier if most of the plants are out of the way beforehand. So there are more pots sitting around the garden space. Here in front, next to the nasturtium stump- basil and my 'kiwi fern' coleus.

from the front. The left-hand bed there all lush is full of greens-

arugula- so hot in taste now from bolting I can't eat it- swiss chard growing like mad- we've eaten it twice already this week- sliced thin in a teriyaki chicken dish, and in a fritatta. The rest of the bed is volunteer borage, invading sensitive fern, and bolting lettuces.

Here's the fern side of it-

They are so lovely I really don't mind the spreading behavior, I'm actually looking forward to digging them up in fall or spring so I can enjoy them in another part of the yard

First marigold flower is opening-

It's the velvety red type I like

Mini geranium 'bonsai' pot is temporarily sitting next to the beets- which are finally looking decent. In the back there's where some borage collapsed in a rainstorm- next to my pink 'watermelon' coleus.

Potatoes! I took time the other day to level out their bed. Forgot they were still sitting in a shallow trench. I hope it's not too late, to keep the growing potatoes shielded from sun. I removed all the mulch, used a garden fork to loosen the soil, and leveled it with my hands back into the trenches the plants grow in. Replaced mulch. (One of the very few times I've used my garden fork, actually).

In the herb bed, my largest, handsome borage plant just fell over (rainstorm).

Lemon balm has got too large- it is spreading over, crowding the young basil and leeks. I ask myself now why I wanted to grow this plant again... I need to learn to use it in the kitchen.

Lemon verbena, on the other hand, is neat and upright in its pot. It's looking healthier, I think (frequent soap sprays).

I still love rue just for its pretty foliage. And its blue is a nice complement to the sage. Which suffers most in my garden right now- from leafhoppers as far as I can tell. I've sprayed this one too, at least once a week.

In the corner pot, ginger mint is blooming. Curiously, it doesn't make flower spikes like other mints I've grown. The flowers are little bells clustered above the leaf nodes on the stalk. This one so far I've just enjoyed the scent of it, but next time I make that teriyaki dish I'm going to experiment adding fresh ginger mint at the end.

around the side yard- I finally have a baby tomato!

and plenty of tiny cucumbers forming

I've started picking green beans! Not much yet- a good handful every third day, but I have to save them up in the fridge until there's enough to use for a meal. Maybe next year I should start twenty or thirty green beans... I am pleased they seem relatively free of disease so far.

I've squashed the only two japanese beetles found in the yard, and am more diligent about getting the stink bugs, leafhoppers, katydids, using soap against mealybug and haven't seen any whitefly since the first few weeks. Also using soapy dishwater on the garden as often as I can- which means no garden-picked bugs for the fishes- but my plants look a lot healthier this year all around.

Up on the deck I've kept just a few plants: sweet potato vine and salad burnet decorative on the table, chocolate mint and stevia- I use them frequently for tea.