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 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.

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!

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!

Enjoy the pictures! More in the Gardening in Boise Flickr group, accessible from those pictures on the right.

Happy Summer Solstice!

The upside of my new office and the extended drive is that my chosen route takes me through the countryside. As much as it exists in the near-desert here, at least. I see farms of all types and sizes, and I think about how much I’d love to have so much room some day. So much potential and opportunities. It’s beautiful out here and I’m glad I have the small space I do at the moment.

Of course this area isn’t without it’s challenges. At our house, we fight against a very persistent and fearless gopher (he came out of the ground in front of Jon yesterday!). We’ve laid down metal mesh in our veggie bed and hope that will keep our edibles safe this year. But the rest of the yard is fair game as far as the critter is concerned. I worry for my flowers!!

A fun surprise this year is the presence of what seems to be a rabbit. All the leaves on my snap peas were delicately chewed off. And the lettuce was nibbled.  We’ve put some barriers up that should keep him out!

And finally there’s the weather. After a lovely few weeks before and after the frost date, the temperatures dropped, it rained for days on end, and we had no sun whatsoever. The seedlings I had planted started looking very sad indeed. Despite me being sick, yesterday we replaced a lot of those sad plants with the last of what we had inside. If these fail, I will have almost entirely failed my first year of growing things from seed!! Live and learn, I guess! I do have high hopes; the plants look great so far. I don’t have many seedlings of any kind left… mostly tomatoes.

My mom and I also planted most of my herbs in my containers. That was great, getting that done.

I made a few notes on how I could improve my process next year. I have certainly learned a lot and accomplished a lot.

Pictures of everything are on the way, I just need to get over this darn cold and find some time!

Hey, gardeners in Boise! I have a HUGE amount of seedlings, and in less than 2 weeks, it will be time to plant them outside! Here is my list of what I’m giving away. Send me a note on Facebook or leave a comment here telling me which seedlings you’d like to have. An asterik next to a plant means I have a limited supply of that particular seedling, and I’ll make a note when I run out.

I’ll be hardening off the seedlings this week, so they’ll be ready to go.

Veggies

Artichokes *
Cabbage
Cucumbers *
Lettuce (romaine and butterhead)
Peppers (green)
Tomatoes (cherry, “chocolate” cherry and normal size)
Zucchini *

Fruit

Cantaloupe *

Herbs

Basil (Genovese and sweet)
Chamomile
Lavender
Parsley
Thyme

Flowers

Sunflowers

Other

Dusty Miller

And the pansies on the front porch.

And here is a set of must-have links for any gardener in Boise!

Idaho Statesman Gardening Online - all the articles the newspaper publishes about gardening
-One good article to check out: Planting Calendar & More

The Idaho Botanical Gardens

University of Idaho Extension - lots of resources, including some about becoming a Master Gardener!

Ada County Extension Office

That’s all for now!

In my last post, I forgot to mention another resource for seeds. Local businesses such as hardware and garden stores have many seeds available this time of the year. I bought all of my vegetable seeds a few weeks ago, and will be buying my flowers this weekend. I bought a seed starting kit, and will be setting that up this weekend.

For everyone in Boise, Fred Meyer is offering a coupon for 50% off all their seeds. Go check that out!!

Stay tuned for pictures of seedlings!