New Veggies

 

While I was plant shopping this weekend, I bought some asparagus, onions and some additional strawberries to fill in some of the empty pockets in my strawberry pots. Also I got some gladiola bulbs.

$5 blueberry vs. $10 blueberry

This was the first nice weekend in a long time, so I spent some time cleaning the garden up a bit, doing some pruning, and raking up leaves. Then I went to a couple of nurseries, one in the local Lowes, and the other was my local chain nursery, Navlets. At Lowes I got a $5 bare root blueberry which is a one year old shrub. Bluejay, and at Navlets I got a $10.99 bare root blueberry called O'Neal which is labeled as a two-year old shrub.

I love blueberries, I have a bunch already and I grow them all in containers.

Monarda Container

The container I had the Mondara in has something living in it.

Red Pot

Vitex Tree

I bought this Vitex Tree from Annies Annuals last summer, but I'm worried it's dead now that's it's been out in the elements all winter the trunk looks a little freeze damaged...

These buds look promising, but I'm not holding out too much hope. and I don't really want to snip off part of the trunk to see of it's still green, because that will create a branch point, and it s far too small to do that.

Narssisus

These Narcissus came with the house and come up every winter/spring. seems like they've been coming up earlier each year.

 

Aloe Vera

I bought a pathetic-looking aloe vera plant with three little damaged spikes at my local home depot last summer for something like $1.49. I was sad looking and I wasn't sure it would last, but it started growing...

  ...and growing, and now it turns out I got my money's worth, and maybe more...

Over the winter, it has sprouted new growth and it has many fat happy spikes of growth.  I checked the roots, and they are only using about half the depth of the container, so this plant can stay where it is for now.

Also, it's starting a new little plant at it's base, when it gets a little bigger I'll be able to separate that off and have two!

Aloe Vera info:
hardy to 9B
sunset zones 8,9, 12-24
Medicinal plant used to treat burns, bites and inflammation.
1-2 feet tall, but flowers appear in a dense stalk 3ft tall
survives without extra water, but looks better with some
mulch with gravel

Water Plants

I have two horsetail plants and two rushes in the wine barrel that is filled with water. I've had them in here for a couple of years, and they love it in here. In the heat of summer I need to ad water fairly often, but in the spring winter and fall I pretty much can leave it alone.