The Four O'clocks are coming into bloom. I wanted something along the fence that would be vigorous, colorful, cheerful, and low maintenance. These bloom from seeds the first year, then come op from the roots the following years and bloom again.
I noticed the several-years-old four o'clock plant by the house just came up a couple of weeks ago It seems to be growing rapidly and I think it will also be blooming soon.
I think this red one is the nicest.
These are the ones that Fedco in Maine describes as the earliest of the early. They are the first good crop of in-ground grown potatoes for me.
The ones I grew using the container method were a week or two earlier. They roast fine, but in potato salad are a little too chewy for my taste, despite cooking longer. Now to see how these work out.
I think this yield was from about three plants. Not a lot different from container method. These do seem bigger.
Here are the main twelve stars. Each is different. There is one more to complete.
I'm happy with this pattern. When completed, the stars will be surrounded by larger stars that connect, or by diamond shapes. I think I'll use a light blue checker pattern for the surrounding star blocks and a light grey or different light blue for the diamonds. Also, there will be a slightly different center star. In some, the white background shows a bit of the floor color. When completed, it will have white batting and I hope that doesn't show.
What looks like black is actually dark blue. There are three shades of grey.
This pattern is based on a homespun type quilt published in Today's Quilter by UK quilt designer Lynn Goldsworthy. My biggest changes from that are the colors and fabric choices, and it looks quite different.
More flowers. I couldn't help myself LOL.
Crocosmia
With the garlic harvested, I cleaned up the raised bed. I added coffee grounds (for nitrogen and organic natter) and biochar (for magical goodness). I watered it, let it soak for a few hours, dug it over, then hand-cultivated. Depending on who you read, Contender beans start bearing in about 50 to 55 days (Seeds'n'Such says 40 days but I don't believe it) one of the fastest. They are also considered excellent, stringless green beans.
I also replaced the useless soaker hoses, which I kept tripping over, with 1/4" tubes that have emitters every 6". The emitters are 1/2 gallon per hour, and the work much better than the soaker hoses which quickly clog up until they don't work at all. This time I didn't make loops with the tubing, which was part of the problem with the soaker hoses. Of course, I covered it all with anti-bird netting to give the beans a chance to grow.
Those seeds are pricey, but a packet that size can produce at least fifteen pounds of fresh green beans. Maybe more. I might see if I can leave a few plants to mature and make seeds for next year.
