Container Garden 2010!

Hello, dear readers, how have you been? Since my last posting, I have been dealing with show drama (sick actors, no understudies, oh my!), looking for some sort of job to keep myself occupied with over the summer (4 months off is a little non-stimulating, not to mention not very well paid...), having house guests (Leah and Kris and Anthony, on their annual migration from NYC to Brevard Music Center) and fighting off the aforementioned plague that has been passed around the Walnut Street Theatre like a bad penny.

Throughout all of this, I've actually managed to get the container garden up and growing, and with the help of my amazingly creative girlfriend, I must say it's looking pretty stellar:

I decided to grow a huge variety of things this year just because well, I could. Here's the run-down, in vaguely left-right in the picture above: 2 zucchini plants, echinacea, bronze fennel, rosemary, sensitive plant, oregano, 3 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, geranium, sage, cilantro, thyme, a rosebush, salvia, 2 petunia plants, dianthus, begonia, basil, jalapeno pepper, swiss chard, bell pepper, wildflower mix, strawberries, morning glories, potato and verbena.

And I want to grow more. I'm always looking for new plants (and containers!) to try out. Any suggestions?

I've already got little baby zucchinis-- I can't wait for these babies to be ready to eat! Look how cute:

I'm excited to see the echinacea bloom:


And this has to be my favorite botanical purchase of the season. There's an awesome dude at my local farmer's market who sells plants that his daughter grows from seed. This little guy doesn't have any consumable parts, but it is a neat party trick. It's called a sensitive plant, and it looks like this:

But when you touch or shake it, the leaves fold into themselves like this:
So cute, right? Pictures really don't do it justice. You'll just have to come over to my house and touch my plant.

My heirloom oregano is looking good these days:

And this is bronze fennel, a gift from my new friend Adam Erace:
(More on that topic later...)

The tomatoes have already started to flower, leaving me with visions of those round globes of summer dancing about my head:
I was fully committed to growing only heirloom and organic tomatoes this season. For the life of me, I just cannot remember what variety this particular plant is, maybe Brandywine? Anyway, I also have Silvery Fir Tree and Black Cherry varieties in containers, all purchased at my local farmer's market.

I had been rather staunch about only growing vegetables and edibles in my garden, but this year I decided to loosen up and add some flowers as well. After all, it's important to entice those bees!

Deb rigged me up a beautiful hanging system for some colorful blooms:

I've really fallen in love with the begonias:

And on a total whim, I purchased an heirloom yellow potato plant. I can't wait to see how my tubers turn out!

Mmmm, Swiss Chard. Love me some leafy greens!

An okra plant, recently purchased at the farmer's market.

The thyme is growing like a weed, which is good because it's probably my favorite and most-used herb.

And my strawberry plants came back from the snowy grave! I planted these babies last year and experienced a rather disappointing haul, but after their winter hibernation they are up and running!

My green beans are a little out of control already:

I bought a packet of seeds at Whole Foods labeled "Fairy Garden" and this is my first fairy bloom:

Today's harvest:

So hopefully now things in my life will start to settle down and I can enjoy the fruits (and vegetables!) of my labor.

Until then, dear reader, I'm thinking that my beautifully green deck may indeed be the perfect place to crack open a beer on one of these unseasonably hot nights we've been having.