May Gardening Update: Lots of Flowers! And More
This month has really got me thinking about weather. Nearly every day has been foggy. (They don't call it May Gray for nothing.) I didn't keep a weather record (maybe I should) but I would guess the sun came out in the afternoon about half the days - which is good enough for our afternoon sun-loving plants!
Fog, sun, rain, wind; a bird's gotta patrol.
Sun, fog, rain, wind; a bird's gotta patrol.
That said, we still had some beautiful days that made for nice planting adventures. Allow me to update you on everything I planted, sowed, and transplanted this month!
Lantanas
I got these on a quick stop to the nursery because of the name on the tag: Lucky Little Lavender. Of course, I liked the flowers, too. It is not actually lavender, but Lantanas, part of a family of tropical flowering plants.
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Date planted: May 4
I planted one in a pot and the other in an old drawer that I turned into a planter box.
Mini Garden Project: Drawer Planter Box
I found this drawer on the shelf I cleaned up. I've been wanting to turn it into a flower bed for quite some time. Flashback to March below when I lined it with plastic - cutting a piece from the soil bag - and filled it with soil. I also cut slits in the plastic for drainage.
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Now flash forward a few weeks later from planting and both lantanas seem to be a little lucky in the bloom department!
Note on toxicity: For a while I had the one in a pot on the steps outside the back door, but the other day I caught my brother's dog eating it, so I moved it. As it turns out, it is actually poisonous to dogs. She did have diarrhea for a few days before I saw her eating it, so she might have eaten it before and we didn't know. Although she was fine the next day. Thought I would mention that in case anyone out there reading this has dogs or pets with an appetite for plants and are growing or want to grow lantana.
Deep Rose Lavender
There's a big variety of lavender at my local nursery. I asked which one has the best fragrance and was told the Deep Rose.
Date planted: May 11
It really smells nice. I've been enjoying pausing whenever I walk by it to rub the leaves between my fingers and get an aromatic whiff.
It's blooming very nicely as well!
Goodwin Creek Lavender
I thought this lavender would be nice to beautify the Cantina area.
Date planted: May 11
The first lavender I got is happy in this area so I'm sure this one will be, too.
Fuchsia 'Candy'
It's nice to find a beautiful flower that likes shade (because much of the Courtyard is shady, most flowers like sun, and I like flowers).
I planted this Fuchsia 'Candy' variety in a pot and put it outside my bedroom door. In the picture below, you can see BJ dining at the Window Cantina in the background. Or perhaps spying on me, wondering when fresh seed will be served.
Date planted: May 12
It seems like every day another flower appears!
Skylark Lilac
This one was in the California native section, although I think it's technically a nursery-cultivated plant. I got it for the Stairway Slope because it's good for erosion control, and I think it will like the sandy soil.
Date planted: May 12
A few cute blue flowers have already grown!
SunPatiens
I picked these up from the shade section of the nursery but then later found out that they like full sun. I don't know what they were doing in the shade section but it changed my plan of where to plant them. Scratch that - I'm reading more about them now and apparently they thrive in both sun and shade!
Date planted: May 12
The pot I planted them in was one of those tenants-that-needed-to-be-evicted pots, so it was already cleared out and ready for the new residents. It worked out well because this spot needed something pretty, as it is the entrance to the house.
It sure likes it here! Here it is just 2.5 weeks after planting:
Maybe I'll get more to plant on the shelf next to the back door like I planned. That way we can see if there's a difference between full sun and part sun.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
Sing it. 😉
Date planted: May 12
For novelty purposes.
I said in my April gardening update that I had a plan for the pot with the little rosemary in it. You may notice this is techincally a different pot. I transplanted the rosemary to a deeper one to make room for the others.
Look how much it has grown already! And that is after I picked a bunch of the parsley.
I did start adding a fertilizer to the Apartments and this pot as well. I wonder how much growth is because of it. So far, this pot is the only one I see having such fast growth, but I also added it when I planted it. I wonder if that makes a difference.
Basil
After Bolted Lettuce moved out of The Botanic Apartments, new tenant, Basil, moved into a vacant unit.
Date planted: May 13
I picked a bunch of it last night for a pasta dish - it was delicious!
Sunflowers
The sunflowers I sowed in the ground have been thriving. But the ones in pots haven't. I don't know if it is the soil they don't like or the frequent overnight invasions of mushrooms, but they seem to grow a little and then stop. I'd really like to see them grow in the pots (talking about the dwarf variety here) so I am going to keep trying.
Date sowed: May 13
Sprouts emerged on May 19
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So far, they are coming along, although I don't think the sun has been out enough for them.
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The one on the right I planted in the same pot as the first round. As you can tell, that one seems to have stopped growing.
Cilantro
I should have mentioned this in my update on how the plants are doing post, but the cilantro also bolted. I tried pinching the stems to stop the bolting, but I think I was too late to it.
I think we weren't harvesting it enough. Still, I'd like to have fresh cilantro on hand so I got another to plant.
Date planted: May 24
This time I placed it in a spot that gets slightly less sun. I will also watch it closely for any signs of bolting and pinch the tips early if so.
Fuchsia Gets a Bigger Pot
This little propagated fuchsia was ready to move into its big home.
Date transplanted: May 24
It's next to the other fuchsia I talked about earlier in this post. That one is in the white pot on the right.
Snapdragon
Check out my pet dragon! Snapdragon, that is. So interesting and beautiful. I like how it gives the Courtyard a cottage feel.
Date planted: May 25
I read that snapdragons are perennials but are usually grown as annuals because they tend to bloom only through fall. However, we (me and the plants) are in a zone with mild winters.
My goal is to keep this snapdragon happy and blooming for as long as possible. It is stunning and bringing a lot of joy to the Courtyard.
Mandevilla
In my research of what grows best in my zone, I came across mandevilla. It is a tropical vine with pretty flowers that come in different colors, depending on the variety. At the nursery, I asked if they had them and they said they just got them in. Score! I got two.
I planted one next to the jasmine to grow up that metal gate leaning against the house and hopefully cover the raccoon barricade. Since the jasmine is doing so well in the afternoon sun, I'm thinking the mandevilla will, too.
The other I also planted in a pot but I'm not sure yet where to train it to climb. I'm thinking I will be able to move it around to chase the sun until I decide where it should settle up and vine itself.
Date planted: May 25
I don't know what the hot pink one is (it didn't have a label), but this one above is called Giant Peach Sunrise. I'm excited to see it bloom - it sounds like it will be very pretty!
Deep Rose Lavender (another one)
I really like the smell of this type of lavender, and since the other one is doing well, I got another.
It took me a few days though to plant it because I didn't know where it should go. There were no vacant pots available. Finally, I decided on a spot in the ground of the Courtyard next to the rosemary.
So far I haven't planted anything in the Courtyard ground successfully, but I think this lavender will prosper. Lavender likes dry, sandy soil.
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I hope you enjoyed my May gardening update! I'll end this with some pictures of our Cantina regulars from this month. Thanks for reading!
BJ
Oh, hello, you puny flightless human.
Posture!
Bath time
I'm so clean, I could sing!
Twitch
Twitch has reservations every evening at dusk.
Looks like there's still some good seed in here.
Mmmmmmm
I bet the other birds can't see me.
Finchesca
Fin
