Garden Update ~ Polycultures and Blooms Galore

Some photos from today and the past couple days:

Ferns and Jack in the pulpit are probably six inches higher than when I snapped this photo two days ago.

The other side of the driveway, with irises, blueberry bushes, cardoon, liatris, echinacea, my prized medlar tree and the back/side yard gardens in the distance, including Garden Tower.

The mixed edible cover crops are growing fast.

I knew the fava beans would look pretty, but I wasn’t expecting pink blossoms from the rest of the mix!

Chives, sea kale, elecampane, grape vine and the beginnings of good bug mix flowers.

Black lace elderberry starting to bloom next to quince, strawberries, hazel and comfrey.

Rhododendrons always bloomed on my birthday as a child. This year they arrived one week early but still going strong.

Iris in the front of the driveway, next to yarrow, just sprouting hyssop, aster, echinacea (coneflower), lavender, thyme, forsythia and more.

More iris along the back fence, with grape, raspberries and more echinacea.

Most of these starts went in the ground during Tania’s visit last week, but I replanted some pots with seeds for even more abundance.

First squash blossoms are already out. In addition to companion planting borage, calendula and cilantro, I’ve protected the base of the stems with aluminum foil to foil the squash vine borers.