Hello friends,
There were a few days of warm weather this past weekend and that gave me the opportunity to do some gardening. It is much too early and cold still for me to plant anything, but I did manage to clean up a few things.
I spent my time weeding and removing dead foliage that was left over from last summer. I also managed to add some manure around my shrubs and perennials.
I have been carving out this bed for about 3 years. It is very difficult to get anything established due to the extreme drought we are experiencing. Not only is there drought, but the wind is fierce. Did I mention that I am in zone 2? I am in zone 2 and there are few perennials that will survive the winter here.
It is so early still that I do not know what perennials will have made it over the winter months! Hopefully all of them, but I see very few green shoots so far.
Last year, I planted quite a few annuals such as petunias, zinnias, sunflowers and amaranth. I additionally planted some Oaxaca green corn as an ornamental.
This type of corn is not normally grown in this region, but I wanted to experiment. The stalks grew nicely and cobs formed, but the season was too short for it to fully mature. I was happy however that a few cobs made it through the winter--freeze dried even--and have a beautiful colour. I will give myself extra points if I can get these seeds to sprout.
Here are all the green cobs I found during cleanup. I recovered lots of amaranth seeds as well. Way more than I have pictured here! I replanted most of them in the hope that I will get a good crop of them as they are a fast growing annual that provides lots of colour and height during my short growing season.
They are also delicious to eat. I have a Bangladeshi friend who raids my garden for them so I need to grow more than he can take.
Thanks for reading!
