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?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Fern,
Someone needs to contact the City….I think a “Beautification” award is due. The chard is beautiful. Grandma is smiling in heaven.
Marilyn
Fern, you have a very interesting collection. I still can’t get over the idea that you can grow most of the winter. Things are starting to wind down here, sigh…….
Jen
Gosh you can grow tomatoes up to December? My vegetables have come to a growth stunt because of a few chilly days. It’s 63 outside today and I had to put on a sweater this morning. I wonder what I can plant before the frost comes? Should I try pansies? My garden is looking a little pathetic now.
Marilyn — Thanks! I think about Gramma a lot when I work on stuff in my garden.
Jen — It’s kind of weird, because I have a hard time imagining what it would be like to not have a garden for a few months out of the year, which is the norm for most of the world. I understand the basics of first frost and last frost and of tender perennials, but it’s not something I think about very often. The only thing about winter that might kill my garden is that we get our entire year’s worth of rain over a period of a month or so.
Louise — Yep. My first frost date is December 8th. Pretty soon, we’ll start getting Santa Ana winds here in So Cal, and things will be pretty dry and warm until November. Today it is supposed to be slightly overcast and 79 at my apartment.
Good luck on the irises. It can be hard to get them to bloom in the warm SoCal weather. What’s the little support thing around the Chard stalks? Looks innovative
Ben — Grandma’s bloomed, so I have my fingers crossed that mine will too. Although my patio is a bit sunnier than her garden.
The cuffs around the chard are made from water bottles. They’re to keep the snails off my plants and they helped keep the plants upright when they were younger.
Louise — I just realized that I didn’t answer your question about pansies. I say go for it! A couple of six packs will set you back less than $5 and their flowers are so happy and peppy looking.
cool idea on the cups. I have heard that copper wire/sheeting works well also.
fern,
Love the chard and chard cuffs! I’m going to sow some chard seeds tomorrow, hope it’s not too late.
Here’s a cook-it-to-death recipe that I love (from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian cooking for Everyone):
2 large bunches chard, sliced into 1″ wide ribbons
1.5 c. chard stems, trimmed and diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1/3 c. olive oil
1 t. paprika
1 garlic clove pounded w/1 t. salt
put in a big heavy pot with a little salt. add 1/4 c. water, cover, cook over low for 45 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t dry out. yum. (It’s a lot simpler than it seems now as I’m typing it up).
Or…boil it for a couple of brief minutes and put good olive oil on it.
thanks for letting me indulge in a little chard-o-philia.
Ben — I hadn’t heard that. I’ll have to give it a try when I run out of water bottles.
Liz — That recipe sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing it. I harvested a bunch of leaves a few hours ago, and I like the idea of using the leaf and the stem.
I love the stems, my boyfriend doesn’t. If you’re boiling or steaming the chard, you just have to remember to give the stems a head start by a minute or two. Off to go sow my chard seeds…
Liz — Good luck with the chard! It’s such a beautiful plant, I hope you’ll post photos!