Porch Garden revisited

Last night I was having no end of trouble getting photos to behave in my post about the porch garden, which made me exceedingly cross. The issue is now resolved so here they are!

I have for many years planted our porches with vegetables and flowers and this year is no exception. I'm especially pleased with this year's results and wanted to share some images. To the right is a luscious geranium growing in a cone of basketry. The photo doesn't begin to do it justice!

I have gone in for the Topsy Turvy upside down hanging planters in a big way this year after good results last year. I got a good crop and they seemed to hold their moisture pretty well through the day, which sometimes can be a trick on our porch where the temperature can climb to 100+ in the late afternoon. This year, in an effort to conserve their water further, I taped up some of their bottom drain holes and packed the bottoms with moistened sphagnum moss (a material I have used successfully as a mulch on planters in the past). Here we see three planters hanging from the beam on the left side of the porch, l. to r. they are one Jet Star tomato (potted on Memorial Day weekend), assorted hot peppers, and another Jet Star potted up on Sunday. You will note how the plants bend upwards. The Jet Star I planted earlier has developed into a very sturdy plant and has a number of blossoms. The peppers include habaneros, hot cherry peppers, and a little number called "Pretty in Purple" with purplish stems and flowers. The top row of holes have not been filled as yet. I have some seedlings that I am growing on which will go in those places. 

I have another shorter pepper pot hanging over the tomato tower, which also has mixed varieties of peppers. The tower has a Jet Star coming out the bottom hole and herbs growing in the top. In the back are basil with oregano in front and a little row of allysum for color and scent. The tower has a place in the base for weighting the whole thing down with sand. I decided instead to plant it with verbena and found a nice purple and white stripey variety to contrast the peachy ones I planted in the back. I had initially bought the tower for the front porch but since its going to be under construction this summer the tower has come to live in the back instead. Next year it, and probably another, will live in the front.

I have been reading for the past several years about planting potatoes in bags. It is a popular method in Britain which has made its way over here. This spring I found the bags and seed potatoes at Allendale Farm and decided to give it a try. To plant you roll the edges of the bag down and as the sprouts come up you roll them up as you "hill" up the spuds by adding more potting soil. There is a handy flap closed by velcro so you can stick a hand in and check on the size of the crop. I'm looking forward to the flowers which I believe will be lavender.

You can just see, hiding behind the potato bag, the bean and chard pot. You can see it better in the picture on the right. Last year we had very good luck growing scarlet runner beans, this year I planted them again along with Blue Lake pole beans and yard long beans. The scarlet runners have already run all the way up the trellis and are looking for an additional foothold. The Swiss chard is growing well but I very urgently need to thin the rows. I have been a little reluctant to do so tho because Gaston Kitty has tried to lay in the pots and devour the contents. However since I made him a large round pot of cat grass (in which he can curl up) he seems to be somewhat less interested. Lets hope this really is the case.

I have three more pots of single pepper plants on the plant table. From l. to r. we have a mild habanero, Super Chili and yellow bell. I had originally thought to put them in the hanging planters but they were well grown so I opted to pot them each on their own. I found some seed for bottle gourds and have tucked them in the backs of the two larger pepper pots. The gourd vines have taken off and I will train them to the trellis behind, past that (if they need it) I play to train them out the clothesline and along the cross beam.

To the right of the pepper table I have another chard pot (also in need of thinning) and hung above it one of last year's topsy turvies with Tumbler tomatoes planted in the top. Tumbler is a variety especially bred for hanging baskets and it will (in theory at least) spill over the edges. We shall see if that is actually the case...

Finally a bit of eye candy! We have enjoyed having portulacas in a pot on the table for the past few years and jdulac found some especially nice ones this year. For all these photos in larger format, plus a few more, please check out my gallery on Shutterfly.