Here’s what I’ve been doing lately…
I planted a Bearded Iris bulb. I left the tag outside, but I think it was called ‘Best Bet.” It is supposed to have light purple upper parts and deep royal purple lower petals. I bought the bulb on impulse because Irises remind me of my Grandma.
In front of the iris, I sowed Poppy seeds called ‘Peony Double Blend.’ If you have your heart set on growing a peony but just don’t have the space or growing conditions they need, then you should definitely check out these poppies. The blooms are gorgeous. You can see the seed packet art here.
I also planted this tomato seedling. A guy at my local nursery said that if our fall and winter are mild, we can often grow tomatoes right up to December in Southern California. I’ll let you know if that’s true or not.
Since I can’t stand to have bare dirt showing, I planted some Halloween (deep purple) and Crown Orange (I think you can guess what color that is) pansies with the tomato. I had originally planned on planting some signet marigolds with the tomatoes. But those are taking too long to grow, so I bought the pansies instead. I would normally plant everything closer together, because, like I said, I don’t like to see dirt. But I think I would be risking fungus growth on the tomato if I packed the plants in.
I planted up a pot my aunt gave me with the variegated aeonium I mentioned earlier, and some other odds and ends I had sitting around. I still have the other two variegated succulents waiting in the wings. I am looking for just the right plants to compliment them.
My Ruby Chard are going strong and are ready to harvest. I think I’ll pick the outer leaves and let the plants continue to make more leaves for as long as possible. If anyone has a favorite recipe that calls for chard, I’d love to hear about it. I was thinking of tweaking a stuffed cabbage recipe I have somewhere and using chard leaves instead. We’ll see.
You can also see the beet seedlings just begining to get started in between the chard. I’ve never tried eating beets before, let alone growing them, so it will be fun to have a taste test when they are ready. Mom, you interested in tasting a beet lovingly grown by yours truly?
I took this photo of the right side of my patio garden before I planted the Iris and did some other things that needed doing. I pulled out one of the cannas and am going to pull out the other soon. I wasn’t too impressed with them, and after the caterpillars and snails had their way with them, they look pretty ugly. I am thinking of planting those ranunculus tubers I bought in their place. What do you think?
