Caladium bloom

I didn't know Caladiums bloomed. But here mine is, blooming away. Huh - neat:



And a rain lily triumvirate:

Making Tomato Cages

I busied myself building tomato cages for my tomatoes this weekend. I find the ones from the store kinda flimsy, plus I don't like the way they are all narrow at the bottom, so I employed them to grown my cucumbers on instead and then made my own tomato cages. See my new cages in action (notice the cheapie store bought ones in the background quickly being consumed by the cucumber plants):




To make tomato cages just acquire a big ol' roll of caging, then measure out the correct length to make the right diameter cage you would like (Diameter = Circumference/3.14). I made my cages about a foot and a half wide. Snip the wire off the roll with wire cutters, roll up, then bend the ends around to make hooks to secure the cage together. Then snip off some of the horizontal wire at the bottom to leave vertical wire posts(4-6 inches is good)to stick in the ground to hold the cage in place. Easy-peasy! And so much more durable than those cheesy ones they sell at the store!

Oh and I have been harvesting carrots lately. I got a free pack of St. Valerie carrot seeds from Baker Creek seeds and so I planted them to see how they would do. these were long carrots and wasn't sure how they would do in my soil - the shorter carrots tend to do better in heavier soil like I tend to have in my garden. The result:



They grew very nicely! And taste good too. I will plant these again.

And here are some coreopsis - they are looking super pretty right now:

Bloom Day - May 15th - 2009

Bloom day already? Jeez. I have been consumed with a project at work the last several weeks, and have neglected my garden a bit, but let's see what is blooming....

Tahoka daisy:



The Alpine Strawberry is blooming and bearing fruit:



The Aloe is blooming for the first time. Nifty!:



Closer:



The Texas Tuberose (Manfreda Maculosa) is also blooming for the first time - so very cool!:



Closer:



The Pride of Barbados just started blooming:



Black and Blue Salvia:



Canna:



Coral Nymph Salvia:



The first coneflower:



Dill:



Heartleaf Skullcap:



White Skullcap:



Wright's Skullcap:



Lantana:



Lion's Tail:



Mexican hat:



Mountain Sage:



Morning Glories, Winecup, Columbine finishing up blooming:



Red Columbine in extremely deep shade in a pot. I am actually surprised it bloomed:



Rock Penstemon beginning to bloom:



Rock Rose and Guara:



Russian Sage:



Shrimp Plant:



Scarlet Runner Bean:



Sunflower that sprouted from the black oil sunflower seeds the birds knocked out of the feeder:



Wild petunia:



Yarrow:



Yellow Cosmos:



And a garden friend: