kayaking on Loch Leven near Glencoe, Scotland, 2018

kayaking on Loch Leven near Glencoe, Scotland, 2018

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Gardening

I’ve lived in Lake Charles almost five years, and I’m still trying to figure out how to garden here in the south. It’s completely different from gardening in the northeast. There are two growing seasons here instead of one – that’s a bonus. But I’ve struggled to get the knack of starting so early. Planting a garden in February just feels . . . wrong. In Pennsylvania, no one in their right mind plants a seed or puts in a flat of flowers before Memorial Day. Never know when you might get a rogue frost. It’s not unusual for it to snow on Easter back east. So until this year, I never got most of my plants in early enough, and before they’d start producing, the heat sapped the life right out of them. I’ve managed to grow peppers, cucumbers, spinach, and, to a lesser degree, lettuce. Oh, and a couple radishes. Herbs have done well. But strawberries? Withered away. Tomatoes? The plants grew but bore little fruit. And don’t dare take a vacation in June. We completely missed our blueberries last year. And the green beans succumbed to the heat and died of thirst.

This year, I planted the tomatoes early.




Because I love to garden, I went to the Garden Show at Burton Coliseum today. The flats of strawberries were oh so tempting. But unless I made jam, which I don’t, what would I do with that many? It was great fun to peruse all the beautiful plants. Such a wonderful assortment . . . orchids, bromeliads, perennials, vines, bonsai, herbs, hanging baskets, vegetables, trees.




A couple things I was interested in but didn’t see – composting ideas and rain barrels.

Worst aspect of gardening? Weeding. Especially when the beds are beleaguered with fire ants. I’d love to know how to get rid of these vicious pests. Most fire ant killers only make them move their mound over a couple feet.




Got any gardening tips for me?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Angie, you might get some tips from Jim about gardening. He has a compost pile to enrich his garden and put a black material from (Wal-Mart) that helps control weeds.

Your tomato blooms look very healthy. Jim has his planted also. He has had two crops a year for quite a while now.

Good luck with the garden.

bev

Unknown said...

I'm a pretty hopeless gardener; I don't stick with it. The only things that grow on my watch are hardy things that thrive on neglect.

Angie said...

Bev, what is the black stuff? Jan, I understand completely.

James R Tate said...

Take those pictures and blow them up, then stake them out in your garden. Guarenteed to be beautiful year round,(Except when the rain fades the ink)

Angie Kay Dilmore said...

Great idea, James!

Cheri @ Blog This Mom!® said...

I love this garden tour! And your is magnificent! I wish I had a tip for you, but I am no gardener. I especially love your strawberries. I have several plants that have produced ten berries 12 months. :-)

Daisy said...

Moving to a new zone would be hard for me, too. NE Wisconsin is another place where we wait until Memorial Day to put the seedlings in for fear of frost.

Moving to a completely different zone like yours would mean learning a whole new philosophy of gardening!