In the lower garden, last week I planted some Cannas (Cannae?) that had unfortunately sprouted in the (costco) bag. So we'll see how they do. I also sowed nasturtiums in groups, and liberally sprinkled Nigella and California poppy seed around. In the background, and here and there, I sowed some borage.
The general idea is to get some color in the lower area, while having it as trouble-free as possible (drought-resistant) and ideally, attracting insects to the garden that can pollinate the veggies. For the same reason, I'm growing herbs in the "lawn" immediately in front of the veggie plot. The theory with the herbs is that they can be mown in the winter, when they wont mind the haircut, and then in the summer, when the "grass" (largely weeds) goes brown, they will spring up forming an insect-attracting border for the veggies. Of course, I need reasonably invasive herbs for this that can compete with the weeds - Oregano, Chives, Thyme, Lemon Balm and so on.
I finally got my T&M broad bean seeds yesterday (I ordered them on the 11th and complained twice about the delay, the second time when they converted it to a "rush" order to be delivered "during the first part of march"), but as usual, the squeaky wheel finally gets the service. Expecting weather, I levelled the bed and put in 2 rows ASAP, and before 10 minutes, the rain had started! Perfect timing. The bad news is that the storms broke a few pea stalks near the top, as the winds were gusting fierce.
Today I threw a few cress seeds where I had planted the broad bean seeds, to get a but of an intercrop and maybe deter slugs. These invaders have been decapitating some of the broccoli I sowed this month. More iron phosphate, methinks.
The picture at the top is some tranplanted mesclun mix taken on Feb 10. Its grown since, and I'll post a new picture for comparison shortly.
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