Does Anyone Know.......

The sudden frost that happened a few nights ago has damaged the cucumber plants in the planter boxes.  Some of the leaves went crispy but there is still some green leaves and what looks like new growth.  How can I help the plants out and keep them alive?  Does anyone know?  Also the Marigolds are looking worse for wear as well.  The rest are doing ok.  It is expected to be in the upper 30's today so this should dry out the soil from our big rain storm the other night.  I think the tomato cages I have around many of the plants saved them from the hail during the night.  The pieces were rather large and would have crushed some of the smaller plants.

So if anyone has any suggestions for my cucumbers or Marigolds I would welcome any and all advice.  Thank you

Oh No Frost

Shortly after I had the garden all planted we had two days of cold temperatures and two very cold nights where we may or may not have had frost.  So far everything looks ok except for maybe the marigolds and the cucumbers.  I'm not sure if the marigolds have a little bit of transplant shock or they were affected by the cold temperatures.  Only time will tell.  Then there are the two planter boxes of cucumbers.  I'm not sure if they will survive or not.  Some of the leaves are damaged but it still looks like they are growing.  I brought them into the vestibule to keep them warm after the first night but I'm not sure if it was enough.  The week is suppose to be very hot and humid so let's hope this will help.

Let The 2013 Planting Season Begin

 The 2013 planting season has begun.  The weather has finally warmed up enough to plant and it was off to the garden center we went, bright and early before all of the crowds.  As you can see the strawberries are in full bloom and the planter below is looking great.

 Here is my lovely garden. This year we have planted corn along the back of the fence.  The last time I tried to grow corn was the year of the Barrie tornado so let's hope there are no tornadoes this year.  I've also planted peas, Sweet Million tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, zucchini, cauliflower and broccoli.  We have also planted Marigolds to keep the bugs away.  It seemed to do very nice as a pest control.

 Here are our lovely lilacs.  They are in full bloom and the backyard smells amazing!!!

 On the little table is a herb garden that my Dad gave me.  It has parsley, sage and thyme.  In the pot below is a patio tomato plant and in the two planter boxes are cucumbers.  Maybe they will grow better than in the actual garden.

In the two hanging baskets are two strawberry plants.  They have come back to life from last year.

Strawberries and Flowers Oh My....

Wow it seems like over night everything is in bloom.  The strawberry plants have woken up from their long slumber and are flowering all over the place.  When I say all over the place I mean it.  Last year we had to put in new front steps and some of the strawberry plants got dug up in the construction and got accidentally transplanted into our front lawn.  Well, we have had to step carefully so as not to crush our new strawberry patch.  I wonder if they will actually produce berries this year or not.  Only time will tell.  We also have two hanging baskets of strawberries and they too are coming back to life as well.

We also have many different colours of tulips.  So far deep purple, orange/yellow, red, pink and just plain orange.  A bunch of them have jumped out of the planter and are now blooming in the grass.  Does anyone know the best way to gently transplant them back into the planter without harming them?  We also have some lilies coming up.  So far just the leaves with no flowers.  There is a kind of bug that only eats lilies and last year they ate the whole plant.  So far....fingers crossed.....I don't see the bugs yet.

Then we have the lilac tree just ready to bloom.  My husband and neighbour helped to shape it so now it's a little more tame.  Before the tree was becoming one with the fence and getting far too tall.  Let's just hope it will bloom and look beautiful.

And last but certainly not least we have our happy Hostas.  Yes my friend the Hostas have started to peek out of the ground and come back to life.  I can't wait to see how far they have spread this year.

Happy gardening my friends!!!  Go out and get excited about growing your own vegetable garden and flowers.  Why pay the high prices for organic produce when you can grow it yourself.  If you plant a vegetable garden you can plant flowers in with the vegetables to ward off the bugs.  No chemicals needed.  Just water, great soil and some plant food.  Miracle Grow is the product I recommend.

Spring And A Pop Of Colour

So Spring has finally arrived and it went from us having one nasty ice storm to us wearing shorts and T-shirts and needing to put on the air conditioner.  It's weird how Mother Nature operates, but when it happens to go in our favour I don't hear anyone complaining.

 This is the first year that they have bloomed so beautifully.

Here are the first tulips to bloom.  It looks like there will be many more in the next day or two in all different colours.

Even our strawberry plants have come back to life and are already flowering.  I can't wait to eat fresh strawberries.  They always have such a sweet taste.