Mornings like these make me smile big inside. It has been a couple weeks since I've written a blog. The weeks seem to keep going faster and faster.
This is by far the best our garden has looked since we started! The bugs aren't nearly as bad as predicted, at least here. The plants are vigourous and healthy producing a lot of fruit.
It's a bit of a transition time. The cool weather crops are fading out as the summer crops ripen. Expect turnips and beets to be replaced with tomatoes and blackberries in the next week or so.
In my garden stroll this morning I seen so many bees and bumblebees busy pollinating. (He could have landed on one of the coneflowers that wasn't spent!)
These guys are so important to vegetable and fruit farmers. Planting flowers specifically for them helps yields by attracting them to the area and thus pollinating not only the pretty flowers but also the vegetables. I thought I would share some of my favorite flowers to attract not only bees but also butterflies to your yard or garden.
Argyranthemum - This little flower I just got this year. When I seen it I thought of cotton candy. Maybe because of the coloring. The flowers are small on a compact bush that gets about a foot tall and wide. As with most flowers for pollinating it needs at least 6 hours of sun each day. This variety is called Cherry Red. The flowers turn from yellow to pink to finally a red, so there is a lot of color on this one little bush. You will need to prune off spent blooms to encourage new blooms. I will do a little plug for Bates Nursery on Whites Creek Pike. That is where I got this. They have a huge selection and a friendly helpful staff. I could spend an entire day just looking around.
Alyssum - Also called carpet of snow. I love this little flower. My kids call it the honey flower because of the smell. It does smell very sweet. It makes a great border plant and forms mounds of beautiful white clustered flowers. It is very easy to start from seed. I started all of mine from seed this year so you can plant a lot of it for minmal cost. After you get it going good it is low maintenance. It does not like to dry out so a good layer of mulch will do it much good. This is also used in containers a lot spilling over the edge. Alyssum is just a great multipurpose easy pollinator flower.
Purple Coneflower - (The picture of the bumblebee) By far the best pollinator in my garden is the coneflower. Bees and butterflies just flock to it. The best thing about this flower is it is so easy to grow. Once it is established it is very drought tolerant and comes back every year. The first year it may not get very big, but it comes back with a force the next year. Mine are around three feet tall and full of blooms.
I snapped a few photos of the garden to post how things are coming along.
Blackberries are just beginning to ripen. They should be ready in the next week.
Tomatoe plants are HUGE and absolutely full of tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are just beginning to ripen. I've got to eat just a couple so far and they are tasty!
This is the first year I have grown tomatillos so I am excited they are doing so well. There is always a surprise growing new things. What I didn't anticipate is 7 foot tall plants! Looking forward to salsa verde with these!
The first eggplant forming.
Green Beans about an inch long.
Things at Happy Half Acre Farm are coming along! Most planting is done and now anticipating harvest. By this fall I will begging for the first frost so I won't have to harvest every day!
