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Who Needs A Flower Garden?
| Posted on June 22, 2010 at 9:10 AM |
While I appreciate a beautiful flower garden as much as anyone, I honestly cannot bring myself to spend more than a passing amount of time and resources on flower gardens anymore. There was a time where I devoted much more energy to them, but those days appear to be behind me. My heart belongs to the food production garden because it has both beauty AND good taste! So many vegetable and fruit plants put on such a nice flower show and then go on to produce food for our table.
Who needs a flower garden when we have our food production gardens that nourishes both body and soul?
Categories: Vegetables, Plants, Just For Fun
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13 Comments
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Thomas
11:43 AM on June 22, 2010
I agree. I as much I tell myself that I have to do something about our flower beds (which are covered in weeds at the moment) I just don't have any motivation to do so. My excuse is that there just isn't enough time during the day. Of course I look at my neighbor's flower beds with envy and torture myself.
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GrafixMuse
01:10 PM on June 22, 2010
So true. Now that my vegetable gardens are weeded and mulched, I thought I should tackle the overgrown and weedy flower gardens. I just wasn't motivated and blamed it on the heat.
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Daphne
01:21 PM on June 22, 2010
My heart is more in the vegetables too, but I do love the flowers. Most of the flowers I plant are a border to the veggie garden and designed to bring in the good insects. There are a few however that I grow just for their fleeting beauty - like the iris and peony. Now do my daylilies count as a vegetable since they are edible (and they take no effort at all after planting)?
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Martha
09:18 PM on June 22, 2010
I so understand what you're saying. I've grown flowers for years, and i've enjoyed it. But this year I learned about veggie gardening in containers, and I am in love! Not to say I have great harvests. I've got a lot to learn even with gardening in containers, but I'm so thrill with each crop that it's unreal.
Plus, I was reading another post and appreciate your tip for early fall planting. What you said made so much sense that I realized had I not read your post, I'd have gotten my fall crops out way too late. Thank you!
Plus, I was reading another post and appreciate your tip for early fall planting. What you said made so much sense that I realized had I not read your post, I'd have gotten my fall crops out way too late. Thank you!
Thomas - I did finally drag myself out to the front landscaping area over the past two weekends and made myself weed the big perennial beds. My motivation was the upcoming visit from family for my daughter's graduation or I probably would have put it off for weeks more.
GrafixMuse - I wish I had heat to blame!
Daphne - Learn something new every day! I never knew that daylilies are edible!
Martha - I am so glad that post was timely for you and congratulations on your adventures in container vegetable gardening. It's amazing how much you can grow in containers - crops in pots! Even though I have a fairly goodsized amount of traditional garden bed space available to me... I still grow quite a few items in pots as well because it allows me to tuck in some items I otherwise would not have room for and I can locate them in the optimal spot to get sun etc.
GrafixMuse - I wish I had heat to blame!
Daphne - Learn something new every day! I never knew that daylilies are edible!
Martha - I am so glad that post was timely for you and congratulations on your adventures in container vegetable gardening. It's amazing how much you can grow in containers - crops in pots! Even though I have a fairly goodsized amount of traditional garden bed space available to me... I still grow quite a few items in pots as well because it allows me to tuck in some items I otherwise would not have room for and I can locate them in the optimal spot to get sun etc.
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KimIMilwaukee
12:39 AM on June 23, 2010
My tomatoes are 6 feet and rampant in June due to heavy rains and heat, indeterminate of course. How do I prune? My goal is to have large harvest and freeze harvest, mostly San Marzonos, also 1 beefsteak and 3 grape/cherry variety. I am gardening in a very small area in containers. My instinct is to not prune and just cage to the best of my ability, but they are already monster plants at the end of June. What do you do? I also planted my first time ever potato crop in straw on the ground. There is huge plant growth, slightly late, don't know yet what yield will be, but seems promising. I just think maximum yield seems to come from unpruned tomato plants. What do you do?
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Sustainable Eats
12:53 AM on June 23, 2010
I have 1 potato flower but I noticed some of my vines are yellowing - what the heck does that mean? It's the yukon golds which have no flowers whatsoever?
Lovely edible flower tour! I've really been enjoying eating the nasturtiums this year.
Lovely edible flower tour! I've really been enjoying eating the nasturtiums this year.
Nice photos! Vegetables really do have some nice flowers, lots of diversity.
KimIMilwaukee - There are two camps - tomato pruners and non pruners. Pruning helps to keep good air circulation around the plant and can help avoid fungal diseases which are a real problem in wet or humid environments. Pruning also channels the plants energy to making bigger fruits - less of them overall but bigger. If you planted your tomato plants very close together and air circulation around the plant is not good or you do not have a good caging system to keep the plants upright and secure - then you may very well want to prune. Here is a good link that discusses tomato growth and pruning to help you with the "how to do it" part. http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/pruning-tomatoes.asp
x I personally am in the no prune camp unless the plant is not well supported or is being grown up a vertical support structure OR if the plant has fungal or insufficient air circulation around it. Otherwise, I prefer to give them a good caging system that keeps them upright and contained and let them grow un restricted. The greater amount of leaf area produces more sugars for the fruit and the plant will also produce a greater number of fruit.
SustainableEats - I have some potato plants with the same yellowing of lower leaves. We have had heavy rains which can affect the plants ability to uptake magnesium and I am suspecting that is the problem. I personally was planning to give my potatoes a little drink of some epsom salts mixed with water to addresss the yellowing. Potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes are particularly sensitive to magnesium deficiencies. As to the flowering, I have little flowering this year as well (again likely due to the cool/wet conditions)... have no fear though, flowering is actually NOT a requirement and does not necessarily indicate a better harvest. I have had many years of low to no flowering and had fine harvests despite that.
Dan - Thanks! Coming from you who takes such beautiful photos is a real compliment.
x I personally am in the no prune camp unless the plant is not well supported or is being grown up a vertical support structure OR if the plant has fungal or insufficient air circulation around it. Otherwise, I prefer to give them a good caging system that keeps them upright and contained and let them grow un restricted. The greater amount of leaf area produces more sugars for the fruit and the plant will also produce a greater number of fruit.
SustainableEats - I have some potato plants with the same yellowing of lower leaves. We have had heavy rains which can affect the plants ability to uptake magnesium and I am suspecting that is the problem. I personally was planning to give my potatoes a little drink of some epsom salts mixed with water to addresss the yellowing. Potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes are particularly sensitive to magnesium deficiencies. As to the flowering, I have little flowering this year as well (again likely due to the cool/wet conditions)... have no fear though, flowering is actually NOT a requirement and does not necessarily indicate a better harvest. I have had many years of low to no flowering and had fine harvests despite that.
Dan - Thanks! Coming from you who takes such beautiful photos is a real compliment.
Oh yes, I can relate t o this post. We love flowers and every year we set aside some space for them and every year we kick ourselves for planting so many in the garden as we always run out of room for our veggies. Some of my favorite flowers are veggie flowers.:)
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miss m
09:56 AM on June 25, 2010
I feel ya ! Having been an ornamental gardener for years, I'm amazed how quick I've shifted sides. Today, when I spy a garden space, my eyes are drawn to the veggies. No doubt in my mind their blooms stand up to any other out there, with the added bonus of providing food. Now how perfect is that ?
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foodgardenkitchen
05:18 PM on June 26, 2010
Last year was our first year growing potatoes and I was amazed at how stunning potato blooms are! Snow pea blossoms are some of my favorite bloom now-a-days. I don't know if it's the variety we grew or if they're all pink & purple, but it's a gorgeous combination. Given that potato blooms vary in color by variety, it may be that the snow peas do as well...
Mike - At least you start out reserving space for flowers! I just bring myself to use precious garden room for ornamentals. 
miss m - Perfect indeed! I think working kitchen gardens are truly beautiful and my eye is very much drawn to the vegetable patch in other people's gardens and landscaping.
foodgardenkitchen - I have recently seen some beautiful salmon colored (with white) pea blooms on another site's blog and thought they were just gorgeous. Nany varieties of peas do have very different color variations and they are such a pretty flower too.
miss m - Perfect indeed! I think working kitchen gardens are truly beautiful and my eye is very much drawn to the vegetable patch in other people's gardens and landscaping.
foodgardenkitchen - I have recently seen some beautiful salmon colored (with white) pea blooms on another site's blog and thought they were just gorgeous. Nany varieties of peas do have very different color variations and they are such a pretty flower too.
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