Pollinators & Pests in the Vegetable Garden

Achillea millefolium
Apricot Delight Yarrow
& white cosmos

For the pollinators I planted yarrow in a pot with some cosmos and pansies. It's sort of weird, but I wanted the yarrow for the butterflies & hummingbirds, but not to spread throughout the vegetable bed in our small(ish) garden yard. Weird but pretty, and as the plants start to fill out (after living in tiny pots) it's growing into a beautiful arrangement marking a corner of the bed. 

Rhodochiton / Lophospermum

climbing the twig trellis

vegetable garden in the background

The herb garden is growing in with some in the ground and others in pots. I'm hoping that by varying the heights of things everybody will have a little more room this year. The little garlic chives which used to grow under the Tamarack are blooming happily in their second year in their new spot; with English Lavender, Lavanda inglesia, & Lavender 'Coconut Ice' near the steps to the back porch.

We have a few sprigs of asparagus appearing,
excellent for being first year transplants.

 Zinnias mark the rows.

Zinnia
Megellan Cherry

It's been a good year so far in our new vegetable bed. Cutworms have taken out some of the radishes, two tomatoes, and some leaves of kale, but they can be sent away with eggshells and coffee grounds and kept under control in a garden this size. Most of the wee carrots washed away in the heavy rain, so I'll have to replant those..., but with the heat, humidity, and deep rainfalls we've had the garden looks lush and unbeatable.

We're really growing into our yard, making it our space rather than someone's adopted garden. Soon there will be no grass anywhere, with our fire pit and outdoor living space surrounded by a garden we planted, and I can't wait. R's rebuilt back fence is beautifully constructed, and so will be the ornamental picket fence surrounding the main garden. I think we've really really found a way to reconcile three dogs in a downtown garden - complete with poop compost, and one for kitchen waste. R's next artistic (and practical) wood working project will be a beehive wormery - another thing I can't wait to have operational. :)

evidence of cutworms and Cliffords
mini dachshund feet are the same size
as radish leaves
who knew

in the blue pot

Pretty Much Picasso, supertunia

blue & lilac verbena

bumble bee on May fifteen

 following a bee with my lens, 15 May 2012

Red Admiral

Red Admiral
butterfly
VANESSA ATLANTA

A beneficial garden (in this case, greenhouse) bug, Red Admiral feasts on the sweet nectar of fruit trees and plants. Migratory, and common in the northern hemisphere, these pretty little pollinators are making news all over Ontario this spring, arriving earlier than recent years, and in great numbers. A sign that summer is right around the corner.

Red Admiral
on Giant Bacopa
at Bill Martin's Garden Centre