Amazing Plants

Plants are so amazing! Over the years I have learned that plants will do their best with whatever they have.

My tomato plant, which on my patio doesn't get 6 or more hours of full sun, is still growing. Not as fast as it would in full sun I know. My dad's tomato plants, which do get a full day's sunlight, are twice as big as mine, but mine is still growing. I have just moved it to the one spot on my patio that does get about 4 hours of sunlight, so next time I check, it should be about two thirds the size of my dads. (Uh oh, am I doing fractions here? Math, in the garden? Who would have thought.)

The mint was in that sunniest spot, and it is spilling over it's pot on all sides. I just moved it to one that doesn't get as much sun, but I have learned that mint can handle the shade. The mint at my last house grew very well in a shady flower bed under the fruitless mulberry tree.

I have strawberries that are starting to bloom, and that conjures up visions of strawberry shortcake. Homemade shortcake with my mother's recipe. Yum! Cover that shortcake with spoonfuls of strawberries, and top it with a scoop of ice cream, and you will think you are in heaven! Store bought cakes and shortcakes just don't compare. Any of you who have your own favorite homemade dish will know exactly what I mean.

Okay, back to the plants. The chives need to be trimmed. They just keep growing and spreading, even though they are in a spot that gets very little sun. I think maybe the sun's reflection off the white walls and sliding glass door help provide enough light.

The comfrey has several leaves shooting up now. Maybe in it's shadier spot, it will stay at a managable size for a patio. (In full sun, it will grow 3 or 4 feet high and just as wide.)

My latest planting dilemma, where could I put a lemon tree. My parents get fresh lemons from a neighbor, and over the past week we have been making lemonade. Regular lemonade, raspberry lemonade, and strawberry lemonade. Come summer and fresh watermelons, we will try watermelon lemonade. (We loved that when we had it at the state fair.)

So I have begun to think about how and where I could grow a lemon tree. If I get a dwarf tree, or a miniature, I could still fit it on my patio. Time for another visit to Stark's Brothers. They always show lovely pictures of all these miniature fruit trees, that grow full size fruit. Oh yes, they don't ship to my state. I guess it's time for a visit to my local nursery.

If a lemon tree lives up to what I have seen, that plants do the best they can, whatever conditions they are given, I should be making my own lemonade by next year!