Bean Sprouts / Okra Blossom

Once of the second type of tulips ( which I didn't write down ) is up. This is the one I've been waiting for, with the yellows and red. It's just beautiful. It is much smaller than the other variety though.

Here is a picture of the soon-to-be melon garden. It is twice the size that it was last year. Two nights ago I removed the old winter veggies that had already flowered and gone to seed. All I have left is carrots and a few herbs. The 3x3 herb garden is pretty full, so I'll have to relocate these to one of the other beds. We'll plan on eating the last of the carrots this week. I have 2 cantaloupe, 2 watermelon and 2 cucumber seedlings that I picked up last weekend, awaiting their new home. The natural gardener only had 1 variety of each, which is why I got so few. I plan on going again this week to see if their selection has improved.

Herb garden with society garlic taking center stage.

Dewberry. I found it interesting how bushy this plant is compared to the blackberry, which is one long stick. 

I love the instant gratification of beans. As soon as they pop up from the ground they are instant plants, no tiny delicate leaves. In a day or two they'll be double the size of my peppers. I planted both green beans and butter beans. Mmmm! 

I also have two tomato plants in this bed from a swap I made with my neighbor. I gave her 1 roma and 1 sun gold. I have no idea what she gave me, I'll have to ask her again. I'm noticing a trend here of me having no idea what's planted  in my garden :)

The okra took quite a beating from the cold. I covered everything with row cover, but the leaves still haven't quite recovered. It appears the flowers don't care though. They plan on blooming anyway. 

Thai Basil. Added this because I thought it was pretty.

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.