End of Month View: May 2014

As we close out May and head into June, it is time to join Helen at The Patient Gardener, as well as other garden bloggers for the End of the Month View of the garden.

This month's view shows a lot of growth over the past several weeks, thanks to all the rain that Central Texas has gotten (you can even see the mini 'pond' we have in the park behind our house, thanks to all the runoff in the neighborhood).  It is great to be able to take a look back at how much the garden has grown since last month.

Veggie Beds
The vegetable beds have definitely seen the most growth.

The tomato bed is an absolute jungle.  Most of the tomato plants are close to 6 feet high.  Thank goodness I have my sturdy tomato cages to contain them.  Most have fruit, but nothing ripe for the harvest, yet.  I've started harvesting some peppers, and the eggplant fruits are starting to grow.

The squash bed is starting to overflow with vines.  A couple of the plants have succumbed to the squash vine borer and mildew.  I'm trying my best to combat both, but I foresee a new planting of squash in my future.

The peas are about finished, so I'll rip them out of Bed 3 soon to make room for my cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon and okra that is starting to grow.  Bed 4 (foreground of picture below) has some green beans that are producing well, and a second sowing of beans that should be producing in no time.  The collards and spinach that was planted earlier this spring hasn't done much, so I think I'll pull them soon to make room for something else that will be more fruitful.

Backyard Beds
The butterfly garden is full of zinnias, lantana, and some butterfly/hummingbird wildflower mix.

The bulb bed has a couple of gladiolas that have blossomed, as well as my Black-Eyed Susan, which was planted last year, but this is the first year it has bloomed.

Front Yard
All of the plants that were planted in the front beds last month after the new landscaping are doing well.  They are slowly filling out the space.  It is good to see the progress, if only a little bit.

You'll see our flags are up -  in honor of Memorial Day and will stay up through July for Independence Day.