Lordy, we could use some sunshine! I've been happy to have an actual spring this year - something I haven't seen since I was a child - but enough rain is enough rain. (Yes, I'll be complaining in a few weeks about how hot and dry it is.)
The plants don't like it any more than I do. They can't get green without sun. And if they can't get green, they won't grow.
Poor little cucumbers.
And the basil! Oh my.
Peppers are no better off.
All the warm season crops look very sad indeed. I sprayed them with a fish emulsion solution to give them a nitrogen boost, and side-dressed them with epsom salts for better nitrogen uptake. They look a little better.
Basil
Pepper
Celery
However, the lettuce and arugula, both cool season crops, don't mind at all.
I haven't even set the tomatoes out yet. They look pathetic. I didn't have a greenhouse set up this year. Everything had to go outdoors and under a row cover tunnel. There just wasn't enough heat or sun for the tomatoes. They look like they have herbicide damage, but it's just the cold.
The first year of my garden, I put the tomatoes out too soon, and the cold did this same damage. I thought it was herbicide damage from the nearby field so threw them away and started over. This year, since they weren't anywhere near the field, I realized this is what happens when it's too cool for them. I'm expecting them to shape up when we finally get summer. I hope I'm not disappointed, because I'm not starting any new ones.
Even the shirley poppies are unhappy.
But let's quit looking at all the sad stuff and turn to the flowers that ARE happy.
Foreground: Oriental poppies (red), 'Jade Eyes' allium, Spanish poppies (orange)
Background: 'Caradonna' salvia (dark purple) and orange thyme (light purple ground cover)
Mountain lily (Chionodoxa)
Japanese iris
Copper iris (Iris fulva)
The whole shebang (click the picture to enlarge)
Go on out there and do a sun dance, if you don't mind.
'Til next time.
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