Dosanko in the South

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Topiary and Flowers

More gardening! I've been liking small topiary plants for our patio. I bought just a simple topiary from Home Depot and added a few flowers around it to make it bright.

Start with a simple topiary.
Invest in a nice looking planter.

Choose bright-colored flowers.

Voila!

Re-plant the small topiary into a big planter. Add bright-colored flowers around it. They become the focal points on your patio when there are lots of small planters with tomatoes and herbs scattered around.

Kona approves.

I don't mind sitting out here now.

Here is another one. With a dwarf spruce.

Ready for hummingbirds!

Let's enjoy sitting out here more before the weather gets too hot.

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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

More Plants for the Vegetable Garden

So I added more tomato plants in the raised garden bed. Having learned from my mistakes, I've decided to settle with just a few plants in the bed so it doesn't get too crowded later on.

A few more plants in the bed.

Mr. Stripey. Yellow and orange stripes on tomatoes.

Heatmaster tomato is heat tolerant.
Good for our climate.

Rutgers. We've always liked these tomatoes.
They are meaty and delicious.

Yummy Snacking Orange Bell Peppers.
A new plant for us this year.

Kona is the gardening supervisor.

Ichiban eggplants. I planted two of them. Should last us all season!

Sweet basil and Thai basil.

Shiso and shishito peppers are coming along.

You passed the inspection, Mommy!

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Monday, May 5, 2014

Kona Gets a Haircut

It is May, but it sure feels like summer already. There seem to be no more in-between seasons here in Atlanta. We decided to give our dog an early summer haircut so he could keep cooler.

Kona in summer haircut

"Photo-shoot is a drag..."

"Are we done yet, Mommy?"

"A treat?"

Good for his hips. It has glucosamin and chondroitin.

"I'm being GOOD!"

"Get that camera away from me!"

Stay cool, y'all!

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Thursday, May 1, 2014

Tomatoes for the Garden

We didn't use the raised garden beds whole last year so the soil could rest. I didn't miss gardening much, but I did miss getting fresh tomatoes from our own garden. Today, I finally got off the couch and planted a few tomato plants.

Husky Cherry Red tomatoes

I like having Husky Cherry Red tomatoes because the plant is compact, and it produces lots of tomatoes throughout the season. We sit out on the patio and munch on them during the season.

Mr. Stripey

I guess there will be red and yellow stripes on the tomatoes.

The weather is calm enough that gardening is finally fun. I still have several plants and herbs in mind for the garden.

Mr. Stripey is the only plant in the raised garden so far.

Late last month, I sowed the seeds of shishito peppers and shiso leaves. I had to protect them from cold snaps and thunderstorms in the past several weeks so they wouldn't get washed away by rain, but they seemed to have stayed in place. I got so excited to see some buds come out in the planters!