Good morning and welcome to our weekly gathering of gardeners and plant-lovers! Today I am blogging from my pleasant little patio garden in the Pacific Northwest. Here in southern OR we have had a rather cold and wet spring which was helpful in terms of the drought conditions but it also set back some of my pepper and tomato plants. Thanks to a stretch of nice warm sunny days I am finally seeing fruits on the tomato plants and even a flower starting to form on one of the peppers.

I am using 7-gallon grow bags for the tomatoes and peppers. I filled them with a good organic potting mix and added a cup of Tomato-tone (a slow-release granular fertilizer) when I planted them. Then I added a good layer of garden straw as mulch. This helps keep the soil moist and cool as well as discouraging weeds. I hand water stuff so every couple of days I check with a finger stuck in the dirt to see how wet/dry it is and water as needed. 

A few bits of various patio flora in collage:

Obligatory cat in the garden pic:

With the new fence and partition I am still figuring out what to put in the gravel area off the deck. It is an area that gets some intense overhead sun mid-day so I am trying some nice big tall flowers like hollyhock and lupine. Good for visual interest as well as attracting the bees and hummingbirds. I also had a mullein plant from last year that was putting up a flower stalk so I got it into a container and put it out there. That will be a nice big pollinator beacon!

The dappled sun in late morning makes for pretty pictures:

I have some herbs scattered around the patio too; oregano and thyme on top of the wooden bookcase, mint and lavender on top of the metal rack.

I had been trying to start some chives from seed but I have tried twice now and the seeds are not sprouting so I will probably toss them. I suspect they were just old. I did have some basil seeds sprout but they have been growing very very slowly. I needed fresh basil for a recipe recently and when I got my groceries they were out of fresh basil from the deli so they subbed with a live plant! Nice! I actually ran out of potting soil so for now I just have it sitting in one of my empty pots. When weeding and inspecting my tomato plants a few days ago I went to pull a tomato leaf that I thought was growing just below the soil. To my surprise a whole seedling with roots came out! So of course I got it into a pot and it is recovering nicely.

As the daylight fades my little solar lantern comes on:

Once it darkens I plug in the string lights:

Sitting on the patio with a frosty cold beverage enjoying the glow and the lush greenery is one of my favorite things about summer. 

What’s going on in your gardens? Got questions? Chances are someone here has answers! Post pics if you got ‘em and share what’s happening in your corner of the world!