radishes | suburban garden zone 4

I have stock blooms. The smell is so worth the wait!

Dianthus is starting to bloom, too. I started a few varieties from seed this winter without labeling them (Why did I do that?!). This appears to be one of the Ipswich Pinks.

Gotta love those marigolds! They get my vote for easiest annuals to start from seed using Petite Mix (Tagetes patula). Second place goes to the petunia. I had great results with the Petunia Multiflora F2 Mix this year.

I have waited patiently for three years to see this peony bloom. It started from little leftover shoots after transplanting a bigger plant to a better spot.

No signs of foxglove blooms yet. At the bottom of this picture, you can see tiny morning glory seedlings. I started two morning glories indoors in March and direct sowed several more. The ones started indoors looked strong and were trailing well up a support system in my greenhouse. However, they didn’t transplant well. One was eaten by a critter and the other seems weak and isn’t growing very well. Possibly, these could have used a more focused hardening-off effort. I’ll just direct sow next year.

Continued progress in veggie gardens. Alternated Scarlet Runner and Heirloom Purple Podded Pole Beans are starting to climb.

I need some practice building/ choosing support structures for tomatoes, cucumbers, and all climbing plants. My structure here is sturdy, but looks quite crooked. I worry that I am not optimizing air flow and sunlight with this structure. Not enough time to try to do everything perfectly all in the same year.

I finally found the inner strength needed to thin my radishes properly. Had a hard time yanking any of my precious baby seedlings in previous years. Here’s another rickety support structure:). I mulched with leftover straw from last fall’s halloween display.

This little garden looks so cute to me, but I’m reminded by my inner critic that it probably looks like a mess to some. I am not a neat-nick. I’m trying to love this about myself, but I’m not quite there. I think maybe when my kids are older, I’ll have more time to do things in a more orderly manner…..maybe.

I love watching the strawberries develop! So do the chipmunks, I suspect.

My hybrid tea roses are getting ready to look gorgeous. Like clockwork, the pests and problems are appearing on my rose leafs. Now, it’s a race against the inch worms to treat the problems before they destroy the blooms.

Why did I put Johnny Jump-Ups all over my garden beds? I’m too sentimental. I’m thinking of transplanting these to the back yard very soon.

Various seedlings becoming stronger and filling-in. I hope I get some blooms from the Lupines this year.

I have many tiny red flowers on what I thought was Scarlet Penstemon (Penstemon hartwegii)? They are much smaller than I expected them to be. It’s a mystery. Maybe this is the Poor Man’s Weather Glass (Anagallis monellii) in orange instead of the blue promised on the seed packet?

One of the various lilies brought home from church after Easter. I think this one is about three years old now.

My shade garden is filling-in. I started this hosta garden after struggling to get grass to grow under these silver maples. The violets are really taking-off.