The Garden Box - The Planting

Almost immediately after setting the grid we went to work starting to plant.  I think I mentioned the excitement to get things in the ground asfastaspossible.  We'll see if the seasons smite our little garden plot, as I've been told that the official guideline for frost-free planting is April 15 (keep your fingers crossed for the next month or so).  Ok, so to appease my (over)eager anticipation of spring we went ahead with some of the little guys.  And have a blanket close by in case the weatherman predicts baby-plant doom!

Arranging the seeds -
How sweet of Bill to try and crop my plumber's crack out of the shot

The Tomatoes - Just one classic Roma paste tomato plant is in so far.  Bill couldn't resist sticking just one in the ground before the Heirlooms come in next month.  If it gets chilly again, I'll hope we're home to cover it.

The Chilis - We got a couple varieties from a friend at work.  The Cherry Bomb and an unknown (maybe Cayenne?).  Then the Carnivals seemed sorta picky so Bill's got them going in seed cups that can be coddled a bit.  The others are coming in at the same time as the tomatoes.

UFO Squash!

The Squash - HOW MUCH FUN ARE THESE CRAZY BUGGERS????  These crazy white scallop type squashes are so cute!  We planted some in the bed, and started some in seedlings in cups too and we'll see how each does.  I really don't know what I'm doing.  It's mostly hoping for the best. Zucchini and yellow summer squash are in seedling cups too, and we'll move them over when it gets a little warmer.

The Peas - Nothing too wild and crazy about snow peas, except they'll be awesome as snacks, in salads, in stir-frys, pasta primavera... 

The Roots - Hmmm... We'll see how these turn out.  Have I mentioned that I'm not a gardener?  The red onions, yellow onions, and beets we did 1 square each planted directly into the bed, and then the 2nd square into cups to grow seedlings for transplanting later. Check out the Bull's Eye pattern of the beet slices!!  So pretty!!!  And then the next six squares of root veggies are all planted straight into the bed.  Icicle radishes (I've heard they're way yummier than a normal radish, which would be great because I don't really like the radish), normal carrots, and Kaleidoscope carrots (the package says "unique flavor".  Wonder what that means).  I'm excited about the strange veggies.

Bull's Eye Beets

Icicle Radishes

Kaleidoscope Carrots

The Flowers - SWEETPEAS!!!  I miss Montana and having these all summer.  I don't know how well the do in the heat and humidity, but it's worth a shot. I grabbed two varieties... one's a shorter vine with two-toned flowers, and the other has long long long vines that would look pretty up a trellis.  Then some Orange Poppies, some Chartreuse Green Zinnias (might look good with peonies? I like the color), and some orange-yellow-red cosmos.  I also grabbed a pack of Columbines (Colorado style) but stuck them in a planter rather than in the bed.  They might need to make a sneak appearance somewhere else in the yard too... ohhh.. or maybe out at the townhouse!

Sad Dahlia
from wikipedia

The Questions - uuuuggghhh!!!!  I picked up some dahlia bulbs (tubers) to include in my flower experiments and they were going to be so pretty and lovely.  Then when I looked at them and they were moldy and gross. Boo!  So what now?  New seeds?  See if we can exchange the gross dahlias for happy ones? Try a strange variety of cucumber?  Right now we've got an Iris from Bill's grandma that will probably find a temporary home in one of the squares until we can pick a good permanent home for it.  And jury's still out about the other two.  I've heard that marigolds are an excellent natural pest control for certain types of bug species.  Court mentioned starting some herbs, which I think we'll to in some ledge boxes on the porch.  

The garden plot... black text squares are planted and the grey ones aren't yet in the ground.  

Currently planted!