Oh my goodness, you all are WAY too kind to be worried about me! I should've checked in sooner, but have been so incredibly busy there just hasn't been the time (work, vacation, family, etc.). My apologies for dropping off the map, but I am back!
My hardening off week went exactly as planned, though the weather was much hotter than I anticipated - by far the hottest last week of May in recent memory. Highs were in the 80s to mid-90s with lows in the upper 40s and 50s. I planted flowers on Monday 05/21/18 and transplanted almost all of the veggies on Thursday 05/24/18. With the very warm nights, the plants were well-hardened within a couple of days, but I wanted to stick to my plan of planting on Thursday which worked well. The rest of the weekend allowed me time to get other household chores done, plant my mom's little garden and do a little bit of relaxing.
The garden has just exploded over the past few weeks with the continued hot weather and lack of locally severe weather - 10/14 days in June have been above 90F and today is supposed to be 93F. We're running 8.4F above normal for the month so far. The weekend heading into next week is supposed to FINALLY provide some relief in the form of heavy rainfall (remnants from TS Bud) and much cooler temps in the 70s to low 80s! I just hope the sudden turn to cloudy and cool doesn't let disease set in. Either way, I am so ready for a respite from the early heat.
I have 35 tomato plants in the garden this year (20 in Earthboxes, 11 in whiskey barrels and 4 in the ground), along with ~25 pepper plants. I have listed the tomato varieties below. I actually have more repeats in the garden than I originally anticipated, but oh well. Next year I will have to step out of my box and do all new varieties. I have seeds for about 160.
All of the plants are flowering and between 2 and 3' tall already. Very healthy.
Tomatoes:
1. 1884 (x2) (repeat)
2. Aker's West Virginia (repeat)
3. Amana Orange
4. Aussie (repeat)
5. Barnes Mountain
6. Big Beef (x2) (repeat)
7. Big Zac (x2)
8. Bush Early Girl (x3) (repeat)
9. Celebrity
10. Cosmonaut Volkov (repeat)
11. Cream Sausage (repeat)
12. Dester
13. Dr. Wyche's Yellow (repeat)
14. Earl's Faux
15. Giant Belgium
16. Golden Girl (x3)
17. Grandpa's White Wax
18. Green Moldovan (repeat)
19. Harless Creek
20. Hillbilly
21. Kosovo
22. Krasnodar Titans (repeat)
23. Manyel
24. Mr. Underwood's German Giant
25. Nicholajevna Pink
26. Paragon (repeat)
27. Stump of the World (repeat)
28. Yaqui (repeat)
Unfortunately, I do not have my list of peppers handy, but will update this with a list of the peppers in my next update next week.
I have a good mix of hot and sweet. Several are setting small fruit.
Otherwise, the only other things I've planted in the veggie garden this season are Marketmore 76 cucumbers for my partner, a Round Mauve eggplant and some basil. I've decided to forego squash and zucchini since I used most of my whiskey barrels for tomatoes. Next season I will grow them again. Veggie garden pics are the first 3 below.
Lastly, I also planted flowers out front where I've grown garlic for the past 3 years. I planted everything on 05/21/18 and it has taken some time for the flowers to get going, but with the heat and sunshine, the beds have just erupted in gorgeous color..
The bed closest to the front porch is planted with 9 PartyTime Pink coleus along the back and 19 Infinity Pink New Guinea impatiens throughout the bed. The 3 central containers each contain 4 large petunias, though I lost the tags and do not know the varieties (seem to be more upright than mounding or trailing). They are purple and white/purple intermixed with Dracaena spikes in the center of each. To add a pop of light color, I interplanted 5 WhiteWave petunias that have begun to cascade over the front of the wall - exactly as I wanted them to. This bed is shown in the 4th and 5th pics below.
In the low 36" container that is barely visible now, I have centered a Purple Fountain Grass and planted around it 3 WhiteWave petunias, 3 Superbells Hollywood Star, 3 Superbells Lemon Slice, 2 Tropical Rose Sunpatiens and 1 Sweet Caroline Light Green potato vine. This container is the 6th and 7th photos below.
Lastly, my lower flower bed closest to the driveway is still filling in. Some of the topsoil is still visible, but that shouldn't last long. I went for a color blocking effect with my plantings here. This bed contains 4 each Supertunia Black Cherry, Supertunia Vista Bubblegum, Supertunia Honey and Supertunia Vista Fuscia, 2 Supertunia Vista Silverberry and 2 Lobelia Leguna White. This bed also contains a lot of weeds that I will tend to this weekend when it's cooler. When these plants mature, they should mound and cascade over the retaining wall in dramatic effect. This bed is shown in the last 2 photos below.
I also have two urns of various impatiens (pink, fuscia and coral) on the front porch flanking the windows, along with 3 vinca in each (I LOVE the ethereal draping of the vinca - so beautiful). In the mulch are a few random plantings that I did not take good photos of because the plants are still small. One planting includes 2 Superbells Coralberry Punch, one includes 2 Superbells Cherry Blossom and one includes 2 Superbells Apricot Punch. Once they get larger and mature, I'll include photos.
OKAY, that's the update for now!! I hope to include lots more photos and progress in my next update.
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lol.
June 15 Update and SORRY!!
