Deck Flowers. 7.2.14

Overwintered Dianthus.  7.2.14

Many of the deck plants resulted from overwintering deck plants from the past 2 or 3 years.  I simply let them dry out an keep them in the atached garage.  The dianthus overwintered on the covered porch, outside but out of the rain and next to the house.

Four O'clock "Marbles".  7.2.14

Overwintered geraniums.  7.2.14

 The four o'clocks will likely be  treated the same way.  It's 8pm and they are in bloom.  Today was in the 80s.

The geraniums overwinter very well.  The red is about 3 or 4 years old.  The smallest pink one was planted this summer.  The others are 2 or 3 years old.  Once they start blooming, they are impressive.

Four O'clock "Marvel of Peru".  7.2.14

Container Plants. Flowers and Kitchen Garden. 4.29.14

Dianthus in container

Overwintered geraniums.

 Today was warm, into the 80s.  Nights are still in the 40s.  Prediction for tomorrow is 90.  Wow.

Of the container plants, I cleaned up the dianthus that overwintered outside in a sheltered location.  I sheared it to a compact shape.  There was an agapanthus that did not survive the big freeze.

Of the geraniums that I overwintered in the garage, all appear to have survived.  They have been sitting on the deck a couple weeks.  I cleaned them up, just using scissors to remove dead parts.  I did not attempt to make them into compact looking garden department plants.  I'm going for the "these are old geraniums like grandma had" look.

I planted some of the Mirabilis seedlings into another container.  They are a little floppy.  Sunday I planted several at Battleground, and there was a hailstorm that tore holes in some leaves.  Still, they look ok today - 2 days later.

Overwintered geraniums.  After cleanup.

Mirabilis starts in container.

 I've been shuttling peppers and Mirabilis inside/outside.  Now they are outside to stay.  Now I am moving them into more full sun.

Tomato and okra seedlings are still under lights.  Except the 2 Sungold plants I bought.  They are in containers and in the sun.

The two largest, oldest okra plants are now in a larger container, along with a seedling.  There are early pods on the two oldest plants.  Okra here is a total experiment, there is almost nothing saying they can be grown this way and a fair amount of info saying they cannot be grown this way.  All I want is a few pods now and then for soups or fry.  If I'm getting the starts of pods now, then maybe this summer there will be a lot more.  The two larger plants are Burgundy and Baby Bubba Hybrid.  The smaller one is "Dwarf Green Long Pod".  It may be a stretch to have 3 plants in one container.

Starts of tomatoes, Mirabilis, peppers.  First day in full sun.

At Battleground, I uncovered the peppers that were in the poly tunnel.  I replaced the polyethylene sheeting with deer mesh.  They look good, nice and green and ready to grow.

More plant starts in the sun.

Okra plants moved into larger container.

Overwintered Deck Plants, in bloom

Brugmansia

 These were the deck plants that i let dry out in late fall, then stored in the garage.  In April, I got them out and watered. The brugmansia also needed a larger container.  Now all blooming nicely.

Agapanthus, Zantadeschia, Dianthus

Geraniums