Snow!

Had a brief bit of snowfall this afternoon...

Lilac Bushes

The two lilac bushes we planted last year are located on the East side of the East deck:

What to Put Near Lilacs
"Lilacs are lime-lovers, so lime well, and don't add acid-lovers to the bed. You'll still need to get close to the flowers for sniffing and pruning purposes, so add a few step stones and maybe some Lavender (which is another lime-lover), Forget-me-nots and Thymes. Mulch the areas in between, and you can add more later... such as Daffodils and other Spring bulbs."


That sounds lovely. Probably instead of forget-me-nots, I would opt for a Kansas Native that likes limey soils.

West Side Garden Beds

Here is the drafted plan for the West Garden Beds:

(You can click on it to see it enlarged.)

Here is the general idea:

The Bleeding Heart

has been growing!

Sunday 03/20 - 

And then this afternoon 03/22 - 

But keepin' it in perspective -

Far East Garden Plan

Here are the plans for the Far East Beds - that is, those along Mr. Deckat's fenceline –

So in the southern bed I plan to have a couple lavender plants with a rose bush in between them, and clematis climbing the chain-link fence behind. I read once that in the Old World it was common to grow lavender near the clothes line because it scented the clothes! I am going to try it. :-)

In the middle bed, I was planning to have a rock garden and plant the wildflower seeds from Yellowstone Nat'l Park there, but Dad didn't like the idea of using garden bed space for a rock garden. Mom and I reconsidered and are thinking now of putting a grove with the wildflowers by the back patch of Austrees (in the Southwest section of the yard). So now I'm not sure what I'll do with this bed.

Sultry Too Soon!

It is already sultry and only the first day of Spring. The air is very heavy, the temperature around 80F. Phew! It is partly overcast and windy. This bespeaks a storm on the way.

The Bleeding Heart sprouts have about doubled in height! It always amazes me the way that plant completely disappears every Fall and then resurrects into full, hearty bloom every Spring.

An Early Shade of Green!

The trees are betraying an early shade of Spring - apropos for the first day of the season today! See:

It is very windy this afternoon - you can tell:

See the blush of green on the Murphys' trees? (below)

The family is a week into their 2-week trip in the Holy Land. Happy 50th birthday to Dad today! And a happy feast of St. Benedict and first day of Spring to all!

Pictures from Today 03/20/11

This is a clump of Henbit:

What is the weed with tiny blue blossoms?

I trimmed back the lavender last Saturday (03/12) -

Are these daffodils or tulips? This is just on the other side of the mini-spruce, by the West stairs.

UPDATED Garden Plan East Side

Garden Plan East Side

Here is the plan for the East Main Garden Beds –

The two southern beds with the wire arch will not be used this year - I plan to put Yellow Blossom Sweetclover there. I ordered it from Seeds of Change. This is their description: "Melilotus officinalis 4-7' Hardy Biennial. Fast growing legume with deep taproot aerates both top- and subsoil, releases phosphorus and potassium, and attracts beneficials. More biomass than other legumes. Drought tolerant once established. Sow mid-spring, incorporate about 14 months later. Works well on marginal ground. (1/4-1/2 lb./1,000 sq. ft.)"

The central beds I have labelled. . . my idea was to grow pole beans in the middle, as an annual, and grapes on the outside, as perennials. Then as a ground cover (to hold in a little cool and moisture) Medium Red Clover (also a "Cover Crop" from Seeds of Change - suppresses weeds, loosens subsoil, releases phosphorus and potassium, hosts beneficials, and is a good forage). This does grow 1-2' tall, but hopefully that will not be a problem. We shall see. Also here I thought of planting Giant Yellow Hyssop. Hyssop is said to stimulate grape growth, and Giant Yellow is actually native to Kansas. However, it is a perennial and grows quite tall (4-7'), so perhaps I will plant it on the ground near the clothes line or something. It attracts bees as well.

Then I would plant strawberries, which are friendly to beans, onions (which are companions to strawberries), and actually borage would be good here, as it increases the resistance of strawberries to insects and disease. Also I think I would intermix chives, leeks, and mint. Leeks are good for onions; chives are good for tomatoes (which will be on the East Side of this bed); mint - actually, take out the mint. This guide says, "Be careful where you plant mint as it is an incredibly invasive perennial." However, it is good because you can "use [its] cuttings as mulch around members of the brassica family".

So skip the mint in the West Side of that bed - I'll have to think of somewhere more contained to put it - maybe a pot.

The East Side of this central bed will have clover as well (or whatever ground cover I decide on, to keep in coolness and moisture). Then lettuce and tomatoes as the main plants, with oregano, bee balm, and marigolds, and geraniums as companions. Oregano can benefit grapes; bee balm, marigolds, and geraniums profit tomatoes. That should be good for that bed. I may plant chives on both sides.

In the asparagus beds, (the south one is the 2-year-old; the north one is 3) we will have Parsley, Comfrey, Basil, Asters, and Marigold - all of which are companionable to asparagus. I may place calendula in this bed as well. When planting I will need to remember to keep asparagus away from onions - so the onions need to go on the far side of the central bed; and also to keep mint and parsley separate.

~~

Farmers' Almanac

North Central U.S. Long Range Weather Forecast

for March 20th - May 15th

Includes Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana

March 2011
20th-23rd. Sunshine gives way to increasing, thickening clouds.
24th-27th. A major storm evolves over the Southern Rockies and pushes eastward, bringing significant snows to Kansas and Missouri. Less snow farther north.
28th-31st. Clear most areas. Unseasonably cold for the Northern Plains.


April 2011
1st-3rd. Unsettled.
4th-7th. Clearing.
8th-11th. Strong, gusty winds spread east from the Northern Rockies into the Northern Plains.
12th-15th. Fair and dry for most areas.
16th-19th. Unsettled.
20th-23rd. Potentially severe thunderstorms from Minnesota south through Iowa and Missouri. Storms might be capable of frequent lightning, damaging winds, large hail, and even a few tornadoes.
24th-27th. Fair.
28th-30th. Unsettled weather sweeps in from the west.


May 2011
1st-3rd. Dry and pleasant.
4th-7th. Widespread showery and thundery weather.
8th-11th. Skies slowly clear.
12th-15th. Changeable; breezy under a mix of sun and clouds.

A Note on Henbit Tea

Henbit is a weed that I always thought was "honeysuckle" - as kids, we would suck the little purple tubular blossoms on the ends of these plants. Come to find out (just this morning!) their real name is "Henbit." Here is a picture:

It's good to know your weeds! Some are edible, and I am going to experiment with including more edible native weeds in my diet, to see if it helps my allergies / asthma, that usually gives me so much trouble.

This morning was a start - Henbit is an edible weed, and you can make tea from it. It tastes just like it smells, so it will take time for me to get more used to it. It tastes quite "weedy".

Blog Intro

I had originally not intended to keep a blog for this year's garden, but on second thought it will probably be clearer and easier to reference next year if it's in Web Format.

Our area - Pottawatomie County - is in Hardiness Zone 5:

We are not planning too big a garden this year, because I don't know if Monnie will be able to help with canning and Mom is not really interested. We will probably do cover crops on a few different garden beds, to hopefully enrich their soil so that next year we can do cover crops in the remaining beds, and use them for our garden - alternating different years like that.

I have been doing a lot of research on companion planting - "guilds" as they are called in the permaculture world. I am going to employ some of my discoveries this year and see how it works in our climate and our yard.