Gardening Boise

Tour de Fleurs

// August 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Flowers, Summer

I focus mostly on my vegetables and herbs here, but today I want to show off my flowers!

Just yesterday I bought a new camera; I’ve been planning on getting one for our vacation and ended up getting it a bit early! I haven’t learned all the settings yet or anything, but I’ll get the hang of it. I enjoyed taking these pictures so much, and I saw my garden in a whole new way.

My front yard has done well this year. My zinnias took awhile to bloom, but finally they did, and it was definitely worth the wait!

A nice shot after the sprinklers turned off and the bees starting buzzing around again!

I have a small group of sunflowers, which is a first for my garden. Next year I hope to have a bigger area filled with these beautiful flowers.

And my flowering herbs, chamomile and basil.

I Love July (and August)

// August 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Summer, Vegetables

It’s super hot in July and August in Southern Idaho and sometimes it can be a little unpleasant. But look at what it’s done for my garden:

I can’t believe how different it looks from just a month ago! I’ve harvested cucumbers, zucchini, one bean (haha) and the tomatoes are really starting to come in.

All of our hard work in the spring has been worth it. I knew it would be, of course, but sometimes its hard to remember to have patience and faith in Mother Nature.

Mid-season Lull

// July 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Flowers, Summer, Vegetables

My garden has gone into low-maintenance mode; I just need to make sure the plants get enough water and they do the rest! The plants are starting to really flourish, some are starting to produce vegetables. I’m feeling a lot better about the general state of things, though there are still some things I’m worried about. My zucchini plant in particular hasn’t started growing any zucchinis yet, although it’s finally starting to grow well.

This year I have many more kinds of flowers growing throughout the yard. The cosmos and zinnias I planted as seeds have stayed alive and the cosmos started to bloom this week! I was beyond proud of them! I wasn’t sure they’d make it. I’m waiting on the zinnias to bloom!

And my containers are doing well, too. I replaced my pansies in my bench pot, they finally wilted. I planted Vinca and Angelonia and I’m excited to see how they do!

June Thoughts

// June 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // Summer

Wow, what a month. It started out COLD and rainy, and has ended HOT. I feel like the weather has been more wild and unpredictable than usual, but I feel like I always say that! I know there has been more rain than usual, that is for sure. In general that’s good, of course, but we haven’t had enough sunny days to really get the veggies going.

I had some days when I doubted that I would have any successful plants at all. We’ve had more bug and animal pests than last year, and it’s been very frustrating. All of my morning glories, seedlings and seeds, were destroyed. I plan to try again in a container instead of in the ground (so the neighborhood cats don’t dig them up!) so we’ll see how that goes.

Last weekend, I spent hours outside weeding, replanting seeds, and planting some new flowers in the front yard. My mom came over to help with the new flowers, and to weed more! I always appreciate her help with the weeds.

After we were done, I looked at my dirt-covered hands, and it reminded me of my days in art classes. Going home with paint, clay or ink all over my fingers and clothes. Gardening has become an outlet for my creativity and energy (the little I have these days) and gives me something to look forward to.

I feel a lot more optimistic now about how things are going to turn out… I can’t wait to see all the flowers and vegetables start to take off like last year. My veggie garden was so vibrant at the end of the season, and I know it will be that beautiful or even better this time. The front yard is a new project this year, and already looks much better than it has is the past.

That’s all my thoughts for now… here is a picture of the lovely sunset produced by the thunderstorm tonight. Farewell, June!

Mid-August Update

// August 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // Containers, Flowers, Summer, Vegetables

I’m sorry for the delay in getting this photo up, I wanted to wait until I pruned back the tomato plant. It was growing like crazy and starting to take over a couple of the other plants. Here’s what my veggie garden looks like now:

My catnip plant in the pot is flowering and it looks so pretty! My cat loves the fresh leaves too, I will have to make sure to always have a catnip plant growing somewhere no matter what.

And finally the black-eyed Susans my mom brought from her yard. Hopefully I will have more next year, they really are pretty!

A Comeback Story!

// July 15th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Containers, Summer, Vegetables

One of my cucumber plants was looking really sad about a month ago. It wasn’t getting any bigger and I was worried it wouldn’t ever grow. So I dug up the poor thing and planted it in a container (the back left container in the photo - ignore the dead flower in the front, it has since been pulled up *sad*).

About 10 days later, it became evident that it wasn’t a problem with the plant.

And just 6 days after that, WHOA. Haha.

As of right now, it hasn’t gotten tons bigger but it has quite a few flowers so I think it’ll be OK. It will be interesting to see. I replaced this plant in the garden with another plant from the store, and that seems to be growing alright. We’ll see.

Almost Ready!

// July 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Summer, Vegetables

One of our pepper plants has been doing very well, and this little pepper is almost ready. I’m not sure how to know when it IS ready to be picked, though.

And these tomatoes are looking good, too!

Garden Pests

// July 10th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Pests, Summer, Vegetables

Oh, the frustration of garden pests!!

First, we’ve got the gophers. They figured out how to get into the garden despite the chicken wire and are now stealing onions and chewing on other plants. Everyday or so I find a new place they’ve come up. I’m not sure what to do about them! We’ve tried the sonic deterrent devices, but apparently those don’t work anymore either.

And second, I now have TONS of earwigs (ewww) all over my zucchini and maybe my strawberries too. I found some advice for trapping them in water, so I put out a tin full of water (and bread, since they like yeast I guess) so we’ll check on that in the morning.

I did make some zucchini bread that turned out awesome, so that’s fun. I just hope I don’t lose the rest of my zucchinis to the bugs!!