We are almost done surveying the garden plans for this year. After this post, there are just the containers and the Prairie Star areas to talk about.

Beds 8, 9, and 10 are the square, 4’x4′ beds along the back edge of the garden. For several years, Bed 8 has been designated as our perennial herb / kitchen herb garden, and that continues this year.

The winter was a bit of a challenge and we lost some plants out of this garden. We also discovered this spring that the usually well-behaved Pineapple Mint has run amok all over the bed. So this map is more of a suggestion than reality. We have planted some cilantro already, since it is the Herb of the Year being featured at Herb Day. We will also plant the basil and lemon verbena once it’s warmer.

Beds 9 and 10 don’t have any fancy maps. Bed 9 continues to be where our ‘Cascade’ Hops are planted. Hops have a reputation as vigorous growers with large vines. Our plant was rather small last year, as a new planting.

This year….not so much. Yes, this picture is what the plant looks like RIGHT NOW. It is already grown well over the top of the tomato cage. Ideally, we would figure out a better trellising system for it. However, we’re probably not going to keep it in the garden past next year, so there’s no good reason to do that.

In Bed 10, we have planted a new variety of globe artichoke, ‘Colorado Star,’ which is supposed to have a shorter days to maturity, making it more likely to be successful here. The flower buds, which are the edible part, are purple on this variety.

Supposedly, for best production, the plants are supposed to be subjected to several days of colder temperatures after transplanting to mimic a “winter” season. At least the weather is kind of playing nice for that purpose! We’ll just have to wait and see if it works.