Good day to you all on this Friday after Christmas and before New Years. I thought I would provide a reminder of the summer in this darker and colder season. These are a three highlights from the garden this year. The hibiscus was spectacular. I hope it comes back in spring. I plan to collect and dry the flowers. I am looking for a rose that actually smells like a rose to add to the gardens this coming year. I found several candidates. This is the season for assessing what went well and what didn't. Obviously, the hibiscus did well. So did the bird feeders. We had a number of hummingbirds this year and the goldfinches in addition to our usual chickadees, wrens and other usual visitors.
I plan to put up both of the seed feeders this coming year.
As usual, the tomatoes did pretty well and went totally out of control. We got about 24 pounds of stewed tomatoes out of the gardens. This coming year I think I will put in the Amish paste and try out a couple of the small sized plants that fit in small pots I have seen in the catalogs.
The borage did really well and the bees loved it--so it stays. I collected seeds from it and from the hibiscus. I don't expect much form the hibiscus seeds because it is a hybrid but the borage should sprout well. I plan to put it in a different place this coming season. The chamomile and bee balm didn't do very well because I put them in the wrong place and near the wrong plants. The chamomile had to contend with nearby peppers and tomatoes, and the bee balm had to fight the pineapple sage. I didn't realize pineapple sage grew that big. If I put in again it will be by itself in a separate pot. It was an impressive plant.
The blueberry was disappointing and died toward the end of the fall. I will try again--I am very stubborn. This tim it will be in its own pot and I will make sure the soil is modified to suit it.
Other plants that did well: strawberries, stevia, spearmint, peppermint, grapefruit mint, and chocolate mint. I will keep the first four but put in something else for the last two mints.
I have reconfigured the pots so I can reach all of them easily. That is always a problem considering how small my space is and how much I try to shoehorn into it.
The catalogs are coming in. I do love the wish books. I usually note everything I would love to try out and then cull the list several times before I start planting--and after.
See what comes up this year.
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