Amid a series of temperature ups and downs, there have been tense moments this spring, deciding when to start seed outdoors, and when it would be safe to harden off tender seedlings started indoors; now, it finally seems like warmer weather is settling down in Southern Ontario. All in all, I have had a good crop of asparagus, and my herbs, onions and garlic are growing well. The cool weather seed was sowed, and the seedlings started indoors are all outside now. Here is a more detailed update of the new seed I mentioned back in March:
Rainbow carrots and purple radishes – Growing really well, and developing healthy tops. I am growing a batch in the ground, and a second, smaller one, in a large and tall pot, as seen in the photo above.
I created chicken wire cages for the crops most vulnerable to rabbits and squirrels, such as “Little Marvel” dwarf peas; the plants are intact, using the wire as a trellis, and growing well protected next to lettuce and epazote:
My new “Noche” variety of zucchini seed (photo below, left) was directly sowed a couple of weeks ago, and the seedlings are budding already (photo below, right), hopefully that will not interfere with general growth:
Bee balm (bergamot) seed was sprouted indoors (photo below, left), and after a few weeks under grow lights indoors (photo below, centre), the seedlings were successfully transplanted outside, and the clumps are growing well (photo below, right):
Mexican tarragon, also known as Yautli, is a new-to-me crop of an herb that blooms in late summer; its bright yellow flowers keep blooming until the beginning of the fall season, and are edible. the seed sprouted easily in a pot indoors (photo below, left), developing under grow lights (photo below, centre), and now growing outdoors, both in a garden bed, and in pots (photo below, right):
And last, but certainly not least, I am growing dahlias, Mexico’s national flower, for the first time in my Canadian garden. I started seed indoors as with the other tender crops; they sprouted really fast and easily (photo below, left). They also grew relatively fast, so I moved the pot by a south-facing window (photo below, centre). These plants are not frost-resistant, and before the weather was warm enough outside, they had grown so much that I had to transplant them to individual pots indoors (photo below, right):
I just transplanted the dahlia plants to the garden beds last week, and they seem to be transitioning fine:
Since this is also a new-to-me-crop, I bought a few dahlia crowns with tubers, and planted them at the same time as my started-from-seed plants, to compare how they perform, and see if the crowns will catch up. They are already sprouting, so hopefully they will grow well:
I am joining Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD) Challenge for June 11, 2022.
My Slice of Mexico 
You’re right there were lots of variable weather this spring. We had late frosts that I’ve noticed have effected the cherry, apple and pears.
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I know, right? Last year the poor cherry tree dropped all its flowers after a snow fall in May and did not have fruit at all! This year I was so happy just to see it come back. Good luck with your fruit trees, Lou.
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The plants look happy 🙂 So neat to learn that bee balm is bergamot. I’ve loved that essential oil forever and have used it in soap and also as part of therapeutic mixtures. I’ve tried to grow it a few times but the soil here doesn’t seem to be good for growing it.
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Oh yes, bergamot is a confusing name. There’s actually a citrusy fruit called bergamot, and the peel is used to extract the essential oils. Bee balm is the flower we know attracts pollinators, and I think it’s called bergamot because it has a slightly citrusy scent. The fruit for essential oil is supposedly a small tree, I wonder if it would be possible to cultivate in pots indoors …
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Ah! Ok, that *is* confusing. I’m glad you helped me sort it out. Interesting thought about cultivating tree indoors…
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Yeah, so confusing. You are successfully growing grapefruit, so maybe bergamot could be done …
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Will keep you posted!
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Your plants all look so fine. Dahlias seem like a special challenge. I tried overwintering them once, but without success. I haven’t heard of growing them from seed!
My peas are going gangbusters this year. Had wonderful asparagus. The zucchini remains to be seen. Harvested some radishes and tons of arugula! Now getting bug-eaten.
Those purple radishes you’re growing must be huge!
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I am very curious to see how the dahlia seed will perform compared to the crowns, and if I will get any crowns to save from them. Sounds like your garden is doing well, but yeah, bugs are so scary this year, I might post about some in my backyard. The radishes are a mini-daikon, so huge for regular radish standards, but small for winter radish sizes.
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Irene, this is very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you, Punam!
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My pleasure.
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