My tomatoes are looking fantastic, thanks to a lucky shift in the weather and a little bit of TLC. I got them caged today using concrete reinforcing wire shaped into 18-20" diameter cages. It's reassuring to see plenty of flowers and immature fruit. Unlike last summer, I think this is going to be a great tomato season.
Went to POW Nursery the other day and got some great deals on one-gallon perennials to fill in some gaps in the garden. Home Depot has some nice stuff too. When I'm done shopping thriftily, I'll head for my favorite nearby independent retail nurseries like Capital (Sunrise), Windmill and Bushnell's.
Here are some quick and dirty pics of the plants I bought for filling in some gaps in my backyard beds. The campanula, sage, pretty pink million bells and lavender verbena are from POW. The 'Peter Pan' agapanthus is from HD. I think I bought one campanula, three sages, five million bells and five agapanthus. When I looked at my filled cart at POW, my overall impression of my selection was that I picked very girly colors. Go figure.
I'd love to use concrete reinforcing wire for my tomato cages but don't have the space to store them over the winter. Do you plan on leaving the cages in your beds or do you have somewhere to put them? I think I'm going with an ugly solution of 1x2s & twine this year for tomato support. I'm undecided but still have another week or so before the plants start sprawling.
ReplyDeleteHi Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI can't leave the cages in the beds over the winter because I'll be growing cool-season crops in the beds. I do have a narrow side yard, a.k.a. "the junkyard", where I can store the cages.
1x2's and twine sounds like an elegant solution, actually. A couple of my container tomatoes will be staked because I waited too long to cage them. I plan to stake them today.