Allium

I lifted allium bulbs a few months ago from the southwest bed, and decided to plant them today in the southeast bed, the bed designated for herbs next year. They should provide some early-season blooms before it is warm enough to finish planting the more tender herbs. I removed the alyssum that had filled in the edge and planted the bulbs. I didn't count how many, at least 10 of good size and some smaller ones that may or may not grow. The two "pebble trays" shown in the image are splash guards to slow down the water streaming from the strawberry baskets hanging above. Five minutes of irrigation is about right for some of the 14 hanging baskets, but the two strawberry baskets in question get waterlogged and have to drain. Alliums do not require a lot of water.

This image also shows the Teddy Bear sunflowers that took a while to get going but are now churning out blooms. In the right corner are a couple of Bachelor Button plants with their blue blooms. The flowers shown, along with Coleus and marigolds, are destined next season for the west bed, currently planted with tomatoes and peppers.

This is the bed before the alyssum was removed. I tried to transplant some of it outside in the barrel and a window box. It has not grown in these locations because the deer keeping nipping it, but now the barrel is caged. I don't know if alyssum transplants well, so this is sort of an experiment. It certainly has grown well inside.

I spent all summer wondering whether we were going to get any peppers. The answer is yes. We are going to get at least a half dozen small bell peppers, and a dozen or so mild Jalapenos (Tam). It's not a big harvest but it is something. I am going to try to overwinter one of the Tam plants that is in a grow bag and be that much further ahead next spring. Way back when, maybe 30 years ago, I overwintered a pepper plant. It works.

As the first full season of the greenhouse grinds on, I keep coming back to the short growing season we have in the Beartooth foothills. Just as the peppers FINALLY get going, today is the end of the growing season, according to historical averages. (We haven't had a freeze yet but it is definitely cooler.) There are some plants in the greenhouse that need it above 40 degrees to keep growing (Petunias, Coleus, tomatoes, peppers), so the heater has been set on 50. My AC Infinity app shows it has kicked in on several nights. Based on last year, there still may be two more months in the extended growing season. Obviously not everything thriving in the greenhouse now will be there in November, but the controlled environment gives me the opportunity to have an orderly shutdown (tomatoes) or get things potted for transport to the heated garage (petunias). I'm curious to see how long the Teddy Bears will keep blooming.

A week ago I moved the Supertunias in out of the wind, gave them a good pruning, and put them on greenhouse irrigation. I think they look good, but I really don't know if any of them are going to leave here alive, at least not in this form. Eventually I will cut them down some more and try to jam them into 6-inch pots for overwintering in the garage. I overwintered petunias last year so I know it can be done, but this year I have 10 varieties instead of one. Finding space for petunias and 4-5 varieties of Coleus may be a challenge.