Lotsa Gardening Going On…

My Coleus hunt continues… I went to Mid City Nursery and picked up three more Coleus:
Coleus ‘Henna’
Coleus ‘Dipt in Wine’
Coleus ‘Glennis’

Me and my Mom are clearing Veggie Bed #2. I’m pulling up the old Kale Dwarf Blue Curled and my Mom is gathering up the river rock mulch. I’ll add some compost and potting soil to raise back the soil, then figure out what to plant next. Most likely Tomatoes and Pepper and maybe a Potato.

I planted 4 more Coleus pots today…

Coleus Pot #7:
Coleus ‘Swallowtail’
Coleus ‘Rustic Orange’
Coleus ‘Dipt in Wine’

Coleus Pot #8:
Coleus ‘Chocolate Mint’
Coleus ‘Sunset Strip’
Coleus ‘Snazzy’

Coleus Pot #9:
Coleus ‘Molten Lava’
Coleus ‘Henna’
Coleus ‘Lava Rose’

Coleus Pot #10:
Coleus ‘Florida Sun Jade’
Coleus ‘Indian Summer’
Coleus ‘Glennis’

Sweet Peas in the backyard are pretty much spent so I’m collecting the seedpods and chopping them down…

Working in the garden with a Citronella candle to ward of the mosquitos

My Oriental Limelight Artemisia is growing way to big and overshadowing the Orange Fuz Geranium growing the the same pot, so I cut some of its canes down to make some room for the Geranium to get more light. I also removed a bunch of dead leaves from the bottom part of the Artemisia. I think they’ll be ok for now, but I’ll probably separate them come fall.

I was cutting some of the old Red Texas Star Hibiscus stem off and noticed a couple tiny blue balls in the Mondo Grass growing in the same pot. I think it’s the Mondo Grass seedpod… It really cool, but it’s too dark to take a photo of it right now. I’ll do that tomorrow…

There are currently 4 Red Texas Star Hibiscus growing. These have never bloomed, so I’m wondering if I should pot it up to a bigger pot…

I accidentally knocked over the Euphorbia genoudiana pot, so I potted it up into it’s new permanent home…

Getting Ready for Planting…

I’ve been slowly getting ready for this season’s planting.

I’ve already pulled up some old (and bolting) Bok Choy, Daikon and Swiss Chard to make room for Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant.

Nanay Harvesting Swiss Chard

I’ve been looking for tomato cages, but can’t seem to find the big ones; I’ve only seen the dinky 3 foot ones which are not tall enough. I did some searching online and found tomato cages made of PVC. That was an idea, but I found a welded wire mesh called Tomato Guard at OSH and thought I would try it. It rolls out to 5 x 20 feet and is enough to make 4 or 5 cages.

I’m going to use my old short Tomato Cages for Eggplants and Pepper.

While reading some forums online, I read about those water retaining crystals. I’ve known about these and seen them, but haven’t thought of getting them to the garden. They seem to be pricey, but I found a company that sells them in large quantities for a good price. I ordered 2 lbs. of medium polymers for $17.95 (includes shipping). I’m going to add these to my veggie beds and Coleus pots, because they then to dry out quickly.