My garden’s not dead yet.That’s a triumphant statement. After
one full week in the ground, most of my plants are living
– nay, thriving – and that’s despite my one-and-a-half-year-old
labrador and perhaps because of my best efforts. Perhaps.
My garden’s not dead yet.That’s a triumphant statement. After one full week in the ground, most of my plants are living – nay, thriving – and that’s despite my one-and-a-half-year-old labrador and perhaps because of my best efforts. Perhaps.
I must admit, all is not puppies and rainbows in the Garden of Colleen. I am in the process of losing one tomato plant to the mysterious affliction that struck all five of my in-ground tomatoes after I planted them. But the others seem to be perking up.
As careful readers will recall, about three days after I stuck five of my tomato plants in my garden plot, the leaves of every one of them turned white and papery.
I blamed the soil, and I still suspect it, because the tomato plant that I put in a container is going gangbusters. But four of the affected plants now have new growth, and are doing OK.
The fifth, however, is on death’s door, and nothing I’ve done seems to help.
I take solace in the fact that my honeydew plant is no longer sickly and actually has new growth. I like honeydew better than tomatoes anyway.
I must commend my hearty little plants; they have a lot to stand up to. They must overcome my brownish thumb as well as survive periodic tramplings by my dog, who thinks the plot I’m using for my garden is the perfect raceway.
While she’s not usually much of a digger, she is very curious, and apparently, one of my Anaheim chile plants was just way too interesting for her to leave alone. I came home one evening to find the poor pepper plant upended and withered, lying near its once-comfy bed.
Of course, when I asked my dog if she had dug it up, she just looked at me and wagged her tail, but admitted nothing.
So I put the plant back in its spot, patted the dirt around it and watered, but I didn’t hold out much hope. I mean, it looked like it was toast. But the next day, it was perky and strong again, leading me to marvel at the stamina of pepper plants.
Luckily, my dog hasn’t destroyed any of my strawberry plants, because this year, I’m really hoping for some big, red, juicy berries. I’ve tried growing strawberry plants before, but for some reason, they weren’t happy, and only two of the plants ever got flowers.
The others never even sprouted more than two leaves. So far, I’ve got a few flowers on the different plants, and there’s even a little green berry forming. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on that one.
If anyone has any tips on growing strawberries, I’d appreciate them. Send me tips, comments and questions to share with readers at cv*****@**********rs.com or call (408) 842-9505.
