Excitement in the Garden!

A couple of weeks ago, I found baby Black Swallowtail cats on our dill plants. They were teeny tiny, much smaller than they appear in these pics, and weird looking. I've never seen Black Swallowtail cats, so I had no idea what they were! Before I could rescue them, though, the wasps got them. I was so upset!



This morning, as I was coming back inside from my morning stroll through the garden and checking on the tomato cages DH has built, I found a Black Swallowtail cat that had evidently escaped or survived the wasp attack! Woohoo! I was so excited! I showed it to DH and told him, "We HAVE TO rescue this guy!"


The husband had an appointment and had to leave, so I found a wide-mouthed plastic gallon jug, cut the parsley and put the sprigs in some water in old medicine bottles, and put the guy in the jug. I cut some holes in the top for ventilation until we can get some screen mesh put on the top. I need to get a stick for the cat in case he wants to make his cocoon on it. Otherwise, he'll probably use the screen mesh.


He's currently residing on my washing machine, but I think he'll probably be moved back outside to a shady spot. Stay tuned for updates!

The Flower's are a Bloomin'!

The front flower bed by our driveway is coming alive with color. In the past couple of days, I've added several new plants, which I'll profile later on at some point in time.

The gaillardia (Blanketflower) has come back in full force. I gave many of these away at the plant swap this past weekend and I've pulled some and put in the compost pile. There are many self-seeded plants in my flower bed as well.

This scabiosa daisy has really put on a show this year. I really wish this thing flowered all summer, but alas, it doesn't.

Phlox pilosa (Prairie phlox) was added last spring. It's a wonderful bloomer and the flowers have a very soft scent to them. It's most prevalent in the early morning and late evening hours when it's not so hot.

Here's a better pic of the little flowers that can range from pink to purple.

This Sweet William was also a new addition to the garden last year. It acted as a perennial last year, but I'm not sure if it really is. I absolutely LOVE the color and the long-lasting flowers. I hope to collect seeds from this to plant more next year. By the way, that's a Prairie Coreopsis sticking out from the middle of the plant!

The poppies have performed beautifully this year. I've pulled out several of the little ones that have already bloomed, but I'm waiting for the bigger ones to go to seed before pulling them.


The Brazos Penstemon is still blooming. It's gotten top heavy and some are laying down. The color is so pretty and the flowers are so dainty. Last year, when I didn't know what I was doing, I collected a seed pod. Threw the seeds into one of my winter sowing containers and they've sprouted! Now I'll need to transplant them to bigger containers and then plant them in the fall.

What's Going on in the Garden

Things are finally picking up in the veggie garden. We've finally gotten some steady warm weather and the veggies are thriving. I think I can safely say that spring is here and summer's on our doorstep.

This is the last radish of the ones I planted in March. I'm letting it go to seed. The radish itself is HUGE!

The broccoli is also going to seed. From the looks of it, I'm going to have TONS of seeds!

Both of the larger garlic plants have thrown up bloom stalks. I have cut them off so that the energy goes to the bulb and produces larger bulbs.


The companion planted bed is growing well. This bed has cucumbers, which you can't see well, onions, carrots, and volunteer tomatoes in it. We finally got it all mulched with oak leaves from our front yard.

Lookie what I found on one of the maters?!? How exciting is this?!?

I planted out my little orange bell peppers last week. Some are doing well and others have bit the dust.

The cukes have finally come up and are doing well. The squirrels kept digging up the little hills where I'd planted the seeds. Everyday I was having to stick seeds back down in the ground. It's one of the few times I wish I'd had a pea shooter or bb gun!


We have black-eyed peas! They only took 3 days to germinate and we didn't pre-soak them.

A few of the okra seeds have also started germinating.

The bush beans are also starting to germinate.

My lone jalapeno plant went into the ground last week, too. I traded 2 away at the plant swap and I'm giving 3 away to friends.


The dill is doing great! One of my plants has set a flower pod. I think this is called a "crown", but I'm not sure. I expect flowers soon and then some seeds! It's really been a nice plant and a wonderful scent to have in the garden this spring.

Lastly, I scored 3 blackberry bushes for my berry lovin' husband at the plant swap. One of the guys in the group was digging his berry bushes up to get rid of them, so I told him I'd take them They came with some young fruit. I know nothing about growing blackberries, so this is strictly the husband's project.

Spring Has Arrived (Pic heavy)

You wouldn't know it with the drop in temps we've had this past week, but spring has definitely arrived in the garden. I've spent about 30 mins or so each night pulling weeds in the flower beds and trying to ID seedlings. I've been successful with some, but most I have no idea what they are! In the first flower bed I started I am now to the point where I'm ready to move plants and rearrange things so the shorter plants are closer to the front and the taller plants are towards the back. I have a few plants I'm still waiting on to come back to life, especially the Esperanza plant. It's always the last thing to come back, but I'm not so sure it survived the extremely cold winter we had. Here are some pics from my walk about the garden beds this morning.

The butterfly weed showed up last week sometime. Hooray!

My Brazos Penstemon has really taken off since the late winter. I can't wait to see this thing bloom.

This Balloon Flower will be moved. This is the first year I've gotten a volunteer in addition to the mother plant.

This sedum will bloom a pretty yellow. It's planted in a small Weber grill!

The Texas Gold Columbines are starting to bloom. Love these flowers! The plant gets pretty scraggly looking in the hot summer weather, but they go crazy in the winter and really start growing like crazy.

The gaillardia (Blanket flower) is starting to get its flowers on! This thing will bloom non-stop till fall.

I thought I'd lost my Four Nerve Daisies this winter, but they survived!! Here they are with their happy little flowers.

This dianthus (Sweet William) has been waiting for a year to bloom. Finally put out flower buds and started blooming this past week. Love the color!

My Cranesbill Geranium is going like gangbusters. I have it in a pot, but I'm going to divide it and transplant it out in the flower bed by the front curb. It loves the sun and will survive the winters.

My little Cowpen Daisy has come back from the dead of winter as well. Sooooo excited about this!

May Night Salvia does so well in my flower bed. It's a bee attractant like none other in my garden.

Pincusion Daisy (scabiosa daisy) is putting out its pretty pink flowers.

A look across the flower bed to see the height of the poppy in relation to the pincushion daisy.

I Hilled

Some of my potato plants were getting tall enough to progress to the next stage, hilling. This helps the potatoes produce more potatoes. I'm using leaves as my hilling medium, but you can use compost, soil, straw, or mulch. Basically, you pile your hilling medium up the stems of the plants, leaving only about 2" or so of leaves showing.

Hilling has many purposes. One, it cools the soil, which here in Texas is very much needed. Second, it creates space for tuber development. All tubers (spuds) form at the same level as the seed piece and higher, so you are also creating more growing space. Third, it keeps the sun's rays from the tubers. Exposure to the sun causes 'greening' of the potatoes, which often taste bitter when eaten. Fourth, it gives you something to do with all those leaves and dried grass clippings in your yard. Fifth, it helps with drainage and prevents weed growth. Lastly, it makes harvesting easier since the tubers are in the leaves, straw, dead grass clippings, compost or whatever you use.

Here are the first containers with leaves. I only hilled around the plants that were 6"-8" tall. I covered the stems and any leaves at the lower level. If you're overly zealous, you can clip off the lower leaves. I am lazy, so I didn't do that.

We already need to add either another layer of sides or some kind of wire caging to the box so we can add more leaves!

Same planter, different angle. In this pic, you can see that I have too much plant showing and need to add more leaves. I know what I'll be doing on Easter Sunday! LOL

The big blue planter. One of these plants is growing like it's on steroids! Couldn't completely cover the bottom with leaves because of the new little shoot poking its head out.

Junior sprout!

This plant is appropriately hilled--for now.

I'll continue hilling until the plants start blooming and stop growing. Then they'll start making tubers!!

For more information on potato growing, check out the growing guide on Ronningers Potato Farm's website. Scroll down the page to the *.pdf documents under the form for the paper catalog.