This carrot was not ready to pick. Ha!

More eggplant and cayenne peppers.

There are a lot of melons starting.

These photos were taken May 3 and May 6.

Lavender Queen or Lilac Time zinnias.

These perenialized California Giant zinnias reseeded themselves everywhere.

More California Giants

Lavender or Lilac Time?

These photos were taken May 6-7. See more photos in the Gardening 2012 album.

Pink 'Seminole'

Four or five blooms at a time on Monday.

'Indian Princess'

Unidentified big box store variety, the only one still in a pot.

Late to the party: The yellow hibiscus purchased to remind Kim of Hawaii. She said she wants it to bloom before she delivers Marshall. I think it might bloom on May 10, his due date. Which is tomorrow, by the way.

See more photos in the Gardening 2012 album.

New petunia, impatiens and salvia make up the flowerbed of pain.

Backyard phlox that perennialized from last year. I learned how to save its seed. Maybe no more four o'clocks next year, and more phlox.

Kim's peace rose.

The geranium on the porch bloomed for the first time this season this week.

Some cosmos. At least two varieties pictured.

By request, here's a shot of one of the wildflowers that have bloomed underneath Kim's roses. Not sure what this is, but we got the wildflower seed from Kim's parents - and still have a lot left over.

Some doves have been eyeing the backyard, probably for a nest. We've had to shoo them away from the porch ceiling fan a few times already.

The toad was in my shoe on Sunday when I was about to mow the lawn. He didn't like being disturbed.

Do you see anything?

Here he is, one of the baby mockingbirds was on the pot - containing the small zinnia that just won't grow - next to the shed on Sunday morning.

I snuck around and shot this from the other angle.

Another mockingbird baby was hiding in the tree. Though once I started to mow on Sunday, they all started to fly away. A little encouragement goes a long way.

Random wasp

Baby bird in the tree

I think this is the mother bird

Another shot of the mother bird

She did not like me taking the baby birds' photos.

Here's the other baby I found in Kim's knockout rose bush.

This is the father bird, I think.

The dad is, uh, pretty ugly.

This is the bird family's biggest fan.

Carnation! Last year, I bought some carnation seeds in the spring and tried to get them going one of the flowerbeds ... to no avail. But the one I kept in a container had its first big bloom today.

The cardinal vine began blooming a couple of weeks ago.

The pink hibiscus opened for the first time this season today.

The pink and white gerbera daisy.

I love this photo.

There's a mockingbird nest in our tree in the backyard. Here's a photo of the two parents, waiting until I'm not looking, so they can go and feed the babies. Bugs.

See more photos in the Gardening 2012 album.

The cosmos have started to bloom. But was this the red crest cosmos from Baker Creek, or the two different varieties of yellow-orange cosmos from different companies purchased last year? Once I plant the seedlings in the beds, I'm not usually obsessed with keeping them labeled, thus this happens.

The front yard Betty Prior rose.

The better bush burpee tomato is starting to fruit. It's the only tomato I'm growing this year. In a container.

The convolvulus returns for a second season. I need to learn how to save this seed.

The yellow miniature rose bloomed again. It was one of those grocery store roses that Kim bought for me, I believe for Valentine's Day. It struggled indoors, so I potted it up and put it out.

Red petunias in the front yard

Kim's yellow rose.

Also in the front yard. What is this called? I need to chop down an invasive bush-tree that is overshadowing this flowering-grass-like-plant.

These were flowers. Now they're turning into blackberries. In the backyard.

Morning glory blooms, gotta catch 'em early - they reseeded from last year and are very invasive. But worth it.

The 4 o'clocks also need to be seen early in the morning. They bloom at night and stay open only for a little time, they fall off at about 9 a.m.

The California Giant zinnias that reseeded itself has also started blooming. So far, I've had two pink ones and one orange one.

See more photos from the Gardening 2012 album.

As soon as I joined, I was welcomed by several new members, and I quickly put together my list of available seed for trade — most of which was leftover seeds from the two orders I placed at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Pinetree Garden Seeds this year.

Within two days, I had four trades set up and new friends to annoy with photos from my garden.

Seeds aren’t the first thing I’ve traded over the Internet. I also trade live music, but never sell it.

This weekend on April 1, I was able to plant seeds from three of the trades while I planted seeds from the first trade on March 26.

Here’s what’s growing and when it was planted:

Planted on April 1:

Tarragon – Mexican (Sweet Mace)
Butternut Squash Waltham
Dwarf Pink Zinnias
Pure Cherry Zinnia
Blanket Flower Aristata
Echinacea (Purple Coneflower)
Lavatara Silver Cup Pink
Pink Dawn Rose of Sharon Hibiscus
Thai red Roselle OG Heirloom
Zanzi Palm Castor Bean
Marigold (orange) (old seed)
Hollyhock Indian Spring Dbl Blooming Pink
Jalapeno M (old seed)

Planted on March 26:

Seashell Cosmos
Burgandy Hollyhock
Sheep Nose Pimento peppers
Ancho San Martin peppers

Today, on April 4, I have noticed germination of the following (in order of most seedlings):

Seashell Cosmos – Anton, Texas
Dwarf Pink Zinnias – Covington, Georgia
Burgandy Hollyhock – Anton, Texas
Lavatara Silver Cup Pink – Covington, Georgia
Ancho San Martin peppers – Anton, Texas
Tarragon – Mexican (Sweet Mace) – Wheat Ridge, Colorado

The first seeds to emerge were the Seashell Cosmos that I received first and planted first, as part of a trade from Anton, Texas. I can’t remember the first day they started to germinate, but it was less than a week after I planted them.

Seashell cosmos

What’s great about trading seeds is that, for little investment, I’ve doubled the varieties of seed I’m growing this season thanks to people who have mostly saved heirloom seed from previous seasons. Now, to learn about saving my own seed so that there’s less to buy next season — and more to trade.

I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s what else bloomed this week. See even more photos in the Gardening 2012 album.

White and red porch hibiscus.

Phlox!

Salvia Leucantha!

Sky blue Lobelia!

You can also see the first time the Indian Princess ever bloomed, back in 2010. It was a selection I took home after attending a Space City Hibiscus club show earlier that year.

It’s the fifth week in the garden, and I’ve added photos to the Gardening 2012 album. This week, I transplanted from seedling trays on the porch the following varieties into the garden: Redcrest cosmos, other cosmos from last year, lilac zinnias, lavender zinnias, craig’s grande jalapeno peppers, pepperoncini peppers and chocolate peppers.

Here are some of my favorite shots.

The Caldwell Pink rose

Indian Princess hibiscus

The datura also bloomed. It has reseeded itself everywhere around the garden. Well, I did cut off its seed pods last year and fling it everywhere. I've kept some of it where it has started, but others I have removed or transplanted into seedling trays. I have more of it than I want!

A shot of the gerbera daisy on the porch. Three flowers on it. Likely headed for a vase, I'm told.

I started my seeds on Feb. 22. So, this is the fourth week in the garden. It’s also the fourth (spring) season I’ve been doing this.

Last year, I didn’t blog the garden much. In 2011, I only wrote 10 posts that were categorized as “Gardening.”

In 2010, I wrote at least one post a week, usually highlighting the photos I took of the garden on a weekly basis, usually on Sunday.

Last year, I also took photos just about every week, shared them all on Picasa (which feeds to my photos page on this site) and uploaded the same shot of every flower bed section to Facebook in a timelapse-style album.

In 2009, I didn’t blog regularly or take regular photos. I started one little bed that year, and every year but this year I expanded that bed until it stretched across the entire back yard. If it weren’t for Marshall coming in May, I would have found a new spot for a new bed this year. Next year, definitely. I need more room!

So, as you can see — I’ve done something different every year with my garden documentation efforts. See the Gardening 2009, Gardening 2010, Gardening 2011 and Gardening 2012 albums.

This year, I’m going to blog whenever I feel like it. Consistency is overrated, when you’re still finding your way. Today, I felt like getting out there and shooting everything. Five of my favorite photos are below, the rest were uploaded to Picasa and can be seen in the Gardening 2012 album (link above).

The Marie Daly rose is in fine form.

The lilac petunia was one that volunteered in the tree bed, likely an offspring of one of the purple petunias planted there last year. Above it, is a variety we got at Enchanted Gardens this year, called Yellow Madness.

See the petunias from last year.

Clarkia planted from seed in the fall, is in bloom on the porch.

This salvia was also planted in the fall next to the birdbath, and it has started flowering in the last few days.

The flower bed near the garage in the front yard. Some kind of flowering succulent that Kim put there last year is really happy, it's joined by two red petunias purchased this year.

I keep the shoes outside because I only use them when I mow the lawn.

This happened before. Time and time and time and time again. Oddly, I have no photos of frogs in my online Gardening 2011 album. Maybe it was too damn hot or I just didn’t see any frogs.

Over the last few days, the following seeds have sprouted – basically in this order:

Basil (from an “organic” Burpee seed packed I bought at Lowe’s last year), phlox, pepperoncini peppers, Renee’s Garden catmint ordered last year and lavender (from Botanical Interests seed packet purchased at Enchanted Forest last year).

At this point, only three varieties of seed I bought new for this season haven’t fully germinated yet. I did pick around in the soil today, and everything in this list below is on its way up — except the lobelia. Sigh — it was the one I was most looking forward to.

• Sweet chocolate peppers
• Kaleidoscope mix peppers
• Fan blue lobelia

Stay tuned.

Now if only the five other varieties of pepper seeds I planted would appear.

Here’s some photos I took on March 2.

Sprouts!

Lilac Time Zinnias, from Pinetree Garden Seeds, were the first seeds to germinate this year. Last Wednesday evening, I planted 200+ seeds in trays and kept them on the porch and watered them every day, sometimes twice a day, and now I finally have something to show for it.

I found two little sprouts this morning when I watered them (yes, before work), and one of the Redcrest Cosmos from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds also germinated.

And it’s still February. Happy Leap Day!

When I got home from work, more of the lilac zinnias came up and so did some of the Lavender Queen Zinnia.

Yeah, so what. I took this photo during the commercial break of Modern Family. After dark.

See all photos of flowers inside in water-filled vases.

The two bluebonnet plants I planted in September have started to bloom. Kim documented the first bloom yesterday on Facebook (you have to be my friend or her friend to see the link – why not be my friend on Facebook?).

Here’s some more photos I took of them today.

The Tabasco peppers are the really tiny orange and red ones.

I removed about 12 Tabasco pepper plants from the beds today. I’m just never going to get around to making my own sauce. And the damn things are too hot to eat otherwise. I’m really looking forward to filling those beds with something I can eat, or something that looks better than a bunch of half frost-bitten Tabasco pepper plants. And I wrote this song today, if you can call it that.

This happens every day on the fence above the birdbath. Photo taken Sept. 27.

I know I’ve learned a lot.

I’ve never seen anything like this before.

Weighing down the oak tree branch

A close up shot

From another angle

These photos were taken from indoors, thanks to my camera’s 10X zoom. Whew.

This week, I captured a lot of wildlife in the backyard.

This, I believe, is the baby dove who was born in our backyard oak tree.

Week Nineteen

A moth hangs out on the carefree beauty rose

A Hungarian hot wax pepper plant given to me by Kim's Uncle Bennie

There's a ton of adolescent frogs back there, like this guy, who have grown up in the backyard. They hate it when I mow the lawn.

When I started blogging again this spring, I tried my best to keep posting every workday every week, and occasionally I’d miss a day here or there but I think it’s OK to cease the daily publishing for now, considering I have three paying jobs at the moment. But that’s enough bragging.

Photos from the twelfth week in the garden are up, spanning May 30-June 5, and have been tagged "Week Twelve" in my Gardening 2010, Part Two album in my Picasa Web Albums. To see the original bed photos — in a slideshow from week to week — visit my Gardening 2010 photo album on Facebook.

The Carefree Beauty rose.

The zinnias are attracting all sorts of wildlife.

Some visitors crawl, and some fly.

The red and white verbena haven't looked better.

Kim's red roses have bloomed again.

The original bed, week twelve.

Location: Rosenberg, Texas
Date: Jul 11, 2010
Number of Photos in Album: 758

View Album ]]> http://brandonmoeller.com/blog/2010/06/07/gardening-2010-part-three/feed/ 0 http://brandonmoeller.com/blog/2010/06/03/nom-nom-hansel-eggplant-nom-nom-nom/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nom-nom-hansel-eggplant-nom-nom-nom http://brandonmoeller.com/blog/2010/06/03/nom-nom-hansel-eggplant-nom-nom-nom/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:24:55 +0000 Brandon Moeller http://www.brandonmoeller.com/blog/?p=952 Continue reading →]]> Who knew I could get this excited about eggplant? And, who knew the small little plant I bought would turn into such a fruit-wielding monster?

Here's a shot of the monster from today, after it finally stopped raining.

I planted the thing up against the fence, planning for it to grow up and be happy. I didn’t know it would instead grow out, and be happy. I’m happy, because on Tuesday, I was able to add my first eggplant to a chicken-mushroom-bell-pepper-and-rice casserole I made for Kim for dinner.

The first harvest!

There's a lot more where that came from!

There are at least two fruits on a very healthy plant that keeps growing and blooming. I’ve relocated two pots that were in its proximity to encourage its continued growth.

First blooms of the eggplant, May 16.

Before the fruit comes, May 20.

The fruit and a frog, May 27

More flowers mean more fruit, May 27

It’s been my goal to post something every weekday, but because of recent developments – all of which have been good – I’ve been a little preoccupied. But I have been sure to post-date these four posts so that it Appears I’ve been blogging faithfully. But not last Friday – let’s just call that one a blog furlough day.

Onward and upward, people, there’s been a lot of new blooms in the garden this week.

First, let’s take a look at the Psyche Mix cosmos which started to explode in color.

A white cosmos psyche mix, about to bloom, shot on May 23.

The same bud, shot on May 25.

And, ka-bloom. A white cosmos on a very large and staked plant, shot today.

This magenta cosmos from the psyche mix seed packet was actually the first to bloom, earlier this week.

Here's a shot of the magenta psyche cosmos from today.

Also to bloom this week were some baby breath, I think, from the mixed cut wildflower seed packet.

Also, the vinca that re-volunteered itself in Kim's bed from last year finally bloomed. The first two that came up, however, I moved to a container then put back in the bed extension. Those aren't growing as quickly as the ones that were left alone.

Other blooms soon to open will be a the purple coneflower which stuck around from last year, as well as some night and day snapdragons and more random wildflowers.

I’ve learned a lot from him at family gatherings when the conversation strays into horticulture territory.

This week, he surprised us with four superfluous plants from his collection, two tomatoes and two peppers.

The new additions: The tall tomato, the short tomato, the short pepper and the tall pepper.

The tall tomato

Where I placed the tall tomato

The small tomato

Where I placed the short tomato.

The tall pepper

Where I placed the tall pepper

The short pepper

Where I placed the short pepper

Thanks again, Uncle Bennie and Aunt Kathy for the plants – I’m sure I’ll have a lot of fun trying my hand at them and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from them, too!