The Garden Journal - May 22

I finally got the tubs to plant my last few tomato plants - I've been stopping by Lowe's every week or so to see if they have them, but no luck. Last year they had these great 20-gallon tubs displayed prominently for a long time - the perfect size for a keg, or a tomato plant. So I finally asked somebody, and we found them way back in a corner by the storage bins. Each holds about 2.5 cubic feet of potting soil, which costs about $5. I drilled 3 holes in the bottom of each, and now the Stupice, Black Brandywine, and Aunt Ruby's German Green are ready to go. I think this nice blue looks pretty good on the patio.

The chollas are blooming - aren't they just gorgeous? The flowers kind of close up in the evening.

And the hollyhocks (right) are about to burst into bloom. They are so amazing - they come up in all kinds of random places, and survive with no intentional watering. But if I try to plant them somewhere, they never seem to take. They just do their own thing. What a gift!

Not too much else is new since last week, except... the sugar snap peas are fat and sweet, and we ate about a pound of them this weekend! Since I planted them on Presidents' Day, I calculate that it took about 90 days to harvest. This is interesting, because the packet says 60-70 days. I usually don't remember to compare, but I feel like things always take longer for me! Now I wonder if planting them later would be better.

I planted some cilantro in the back yard in the shade, and some marigold and basil seeds around the edges of the tomato beds.