Sunday, March 22, 2009

New Banana Tree - First Tulip


Tulips are my favorite flower and I finally planted some last fall. They started sprouting weeks ago, but didn't flower until this morning. I'm not sure if the flower is supposed to be so close the ground, but I'm not complaining. I planted a total of 10 ( 2 different types) , all of which have sprouted, but only 1 flower so far.

The dewberry plant is flowering. You're not supposed to get any berries the first year, but I just may get a few. The blackberries are just about to flower as well.

I planted both nasturtium and marigold from seed a week or two ago. I haven't had any luck with the marigolds, but almost all of the nasturtiums came up. I didn't get a chance today, but plan on running drip lines to them as well.

After giving up on the marigolds coming up, I picked up 6 yesterday. These worked so well last year at keeping the horn worms away that I just can't do without them.

At the farmers market this weekend a guy was selling banana trees. My husband has been wanting on forever so I finally gave in. I ripped out some ruelllias that I wasn't too fond of and put the tree in a nice corner spot. This location will block the north wind and hopefully keep the tree alive. The type is "Gran Nain". This is the same as the commercial variety. From what I've been reading it should do fine with our weather. The only trick will be keeping the soil moist.



I noticed that a few of the veggies are looking a little rough. The squash is a little yellow in the leaves and the okra has some white veins and just overall looks unhappy. I have all of the veggies on the same drip system, and figure that the amount I'm giving the tomatoes is just too much for the other plants. I attached some 2GPH emitters to the tomatoes, so they'll receive twice as much water as the other plants. I also attached some on-off switches to the okra, so I can give them even less water, if necessary.

The same guy who was selling the banana tree also had columbine. I picked up two, the standard yellow, which is a Texas native and a very pretty purple and yellow. I planted these in the back corner of the yard where there isn't much sun. My only concern is the soil. I read that columbine prefers sandy well-drained soil and my soil is clay.


2 comments:

ConsciousGardener said...

I'm reading the tulip section in the "Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollen, I think you'd appreciate his point of view...also, I've got two Boston's...I love those little clowns!

SomeLikeItHot said...

I've never heard of that book, I'll have to give it a look. Thanks! We've got two Boston's Bean and Frankie, ages 8 and 7. They are definitely entertaining.