Pests, Pollinators and Predators

While out in the garden I have seen many different insects going about their lives.  Insects fall under three categories in the garden; pests, pollinators, and predators.  The last two are beneficial to the garden.  To encourage beneficial insects to come to the garden we want to plant flowers that attract them,  yarrow, alyssum, dill, and basil, to name a few.  Here are two pictures I took earlier this summer:

Honey Bee on an Onion Flower head.

Assassin Bug with prey on yarrow.

Feijoa Flowers

As I was watering the garden this morning I noticed the first flower on one of my Feijoa plants. I knew that the petals are edible but have never tried them before. The flavor was very sweet with some aromatic undertones that left my tongue semi-numb, much like an orange peel does. It was a pleasant experience. I look forward to getting fruit off of plant.
 

Maypop Popping up in May

The three Maypops (passiflora incarnata) are popping up.  Hopefully this summer I will have some flowers, then fruit.

Other March Developments

My Gooseberries, Strawberries,  and Currants are beginning to develop fruit.  The Redbuds, Albizia, Che, Jujube, and Pawpaws are leafing out as well.  There are a lot of exciting things going on in the garden...

Late March and early April planting

I've added a few new plants to my garden, some of these are experimental to being able to grow in my area. I planted:
Pawpaws - Asimina triloba
'Ice cream' Banana (A more cold hardy banana)
Lemon Verbena
Beauty Berry
May Apple
Various Sage
Three leaf and Five Leaf Akebia
Some new Feijoa
Greek Myrtle
Artichoke
As time goes on expect pictures and articles on each of the plants I add to my repertoire.

What's blooming in April 2012

While inspecting my plants I noticed some have already started to bloom.  The strawberries are putting out flowers and fruit already.  My Black Velvet Gooseberries and Red Currants have little flowers, as do my raspberries.  Since this is the first year I planted all of these I didn't expect much to happen, it's a pleasant surprise. As far as wild plants go I've notice the Elderberries and Pineapple Weed putting out blooms.

Elderberry Flowers

Prickly Pear and Kumquat

I planted a prickly pear cactus and Kumquat.  The Prickly Pear (Opuntia) will provide fruit and nopale pads, which can be eaten raw or cooked.  They are excellent cooked with egg and cheese, perhaps some mushrooms and onion added to the mix.  The Kumquat has edible fruit.  The peel of the fruit is sweet and the pulp of the fruit is sour.  Kumquat is in the genus Fortunella, which is closely related to the Citrus genus.