It’s finally heating up, here in the Willamette Valley (OR). We’ve swapped out the poly- for fabric row covers on the raised beds and have spent the last few weeks preparing the soil for this year’s garden. Pepper starts (in the green house) and direct-sown peas, lettuce and spinach (outdoors) are doing very well. Here’s a snapshot of the garlic bed (planted last Fall) and the onion/shallot bed (planted earlier this Spring). Next week we’ll do some serious planting: corn, beans, potatoes. Yippee!
I finished planting out the rest of my mail-order tomatoes Friday. The ones from Laurel’s Heirlooms (CA) look good, and the Territorial (OR) plants that went in last week are doing fine, but some of the Tasteful Garden (AR) specimens aren’t looking very healthy right now. (Not that I actually need three dozen different varieties, but any plant that doesn’t bounce back will leave me regretting its absence all summer.)
The irises have just about finished blooming here, but the white-edged magenta dianthus are going great guns, nicely complementing the classic pink Zepherine Drouhan and Jeanne Lajoie roses that are just emerging. I still need to finish transplanting all the blue and white annuals (lobelia, allysum, veronica, stock) from the latest garden center expedition, though.
How are things looking in your gardens?