Spring Garden Abundance

I transplanted these pineland milkweed, Asclepias obovata, seeds before we left and worried they wouldn’t take well without some constant watching but they have thrived. I’ll leave them in the pot for a month or so and may transplant them later this spring.

I have felt little urge to do much edible gardening the last several years, mostly because I lost the urge to do all of the processing that comes along with harvesting what we grow. This year I managed to grow decent crops of radishes and it brought back some of the more hardcore edible gardening days from a decade ago.

Of course, winter didn’t want to let go too easily, so I had to cover the tomatoes, of which many are 3-4′ tall already, last night for our mid-30s temps early this morning. I could have probably skipped it but I did see some frost on rooftops this morning so I’m glad I took some precautions.

Forest’s Cherokee purple tomato we bought as a start from our local nursery.

Fleabanes are taking off and they are so delightful!

As is the white fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus. Blooming tree season goes by way too fast.

Well, I thought these were going to be the foxglove penstemons but they are turning out to be the sharpsepal penstemons, Penstemon tenuis. Which is totally fine, I just forgot I even planted those! Coming into the second year of this native bed is going to be interesting—mostly to see where I made mistakes of adding plants in I shouldn’t have! Not this one…but…

probably this one, which is a monarda. Yes, yes, what was I thinking? I’m already thinning it a bit, but I’ll give it a whirl and see how it performs. I suspect it will be one of constant vigilance to keep contained.

Oh yeah, back to my expert edible gardener phase—kale and lettuce harvest are really rolling in and as much as a pain as putting a crop cover up was this year I am being rewarded! No more battling bugs for me!

Tomatillo flower

Texas ragwort is beginning to bloom and the pollinators are already very happy about it!

Oh, and one last edible garden photo, the mustard greens! Aphids or caterpillars usually destroy it fast and I never get a chance to eat any! Look a the coloring on the leaves!

Happy First Day of Spring!