Next Year's List

Next year will be bigger and better, right?  I'm a great experimenter in the garden, and have been doing it enough years now, that I have a pretty good sense of (1) what works, (2) what doesn't and (3) what looks like I need to try it next year.  You may debate the merits and virtues of need versus want here if you need/want to.

So I thought I would make up a few lists.


What I would like to try next year:

Vegetable Garden:

Celeriac  

Cheese Pumpkin

Larger Jack-O'Lantern Pumpkins

English Cucumbers in the Greenhouse - more early and late tomatoes and peppers in same

Jalapeno Peppers - love them in cheese filled, bacon wrapped h'ordeveurs

Purple Carrots

Upside down basket/container with Sweetie Tomatoes

Romanesco Veronica - grew this a couple of years back, really liked it, thought I had 24 plants of it this year    -  mislabeled seed package - it was cheap early broccoli
Salsify, also known as oyster plant - grew this as a child, thought it would be fun to try for my veggie loving family

Romanesco Veronica Cauliflower

Cheese Pumpkins

Flower Bed:

Amaranthus - Love Lies Bleeding    

Dutch Iris Bulbs (had a couple of these this year, and most impressed with them)

Many more nasturtiums

More delphinium (from seed)
Zinnias
More Coleus

Shorter, multicoloured sunflowers in back of perennial bed

White Daffodils

Morning Glories and Nasturtium in Hanging Baskets ???

Orange, yellow, red Callobrochoa (Million Belles) in baskets

Sweet Potato Vines
More Blue Flowers (pansies, ageratum or any other suggestions my reader's might offer)

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory

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What did I find really successful this year?

Vegetable Garden:

German Fingerling Potatoes

Fennel

Cylinder Beets

Sweetie Tomatoes

Flower Beds:

Nasturtium

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory (need to get more and earlier blooming though)

Perennial Sweet Pea (I hope they do not become invasive - although they are isolated right now)
Tulips - I bought a swat of tulip bulbs last fall (actually I virtually stole a lot of them - few cents a bulb).  We had tulips from May 1st to mid June - unbelievable, and amazing colour and variety.
Red Hot Poker - a new plant to me - very short season, but fun and colourful

Perennial Sweet Pea

     

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What I was not particularly impressed with this year:

Vegetable Garden:

Tomatillos (did not like flavour and the plants have the look of an invasive weed)

Cucumbers ( Missus does not like seeds, and since we've reduced our sodium, dills are no longer on the menu)

Parsnips - although I think they will grow yet     

Cheap Early Broccoli - see above tale on Veronica

Gourds - have had good luck in the past, but this year, virtually no yield ??

Flower Bed:

Castor Beans - got them in too late, only just nicely growing now - plant earlier next year

Too much pink - am going to go more orange and yellow in my scheme next year - it was like Barbie World this year.

Dahlias - going to scrap - too much foliage, not enough blossom, plus winter storage etc

Gladiolus - one of my favourites, but too thrip infested to even blossom properly - bye bye to all my                       varieties that I imported from Russia and saved for years   

Perennial Phlox and Echinacea - will keep, but very mildew/rust infested this year - chopping block next    year if I don't see major improvement - you've been forewarned
Golden Glow, Outhouse Flower - tall and straggly and infected with mildew - most turfed out already  

I'd love to hear what worked for you this year, what you'd like to try and what will never again see the light of day in your particular garden.

And that is about all I have to say for today.

Musings and meanderings from the Musical Gardener.