Garden Pictures Chat Corner

Wow, you have so many. I have a few first strawberry blossoms. Tomatoes are still outside.

Nature is about 4 weeks behind this year.

Look, this was on April 19, 2020:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20200419_072354.jpg" type="full"]61453[/ATTACH]

And this on May 10 of this year:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20210509_095436.jpg" type="full"]61454[/ATTACH]

Last April, the birch in the background already had significantly more green than this May...

Even my tulips still partly have flowers:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20210516_111426.jpg" type="full"]61455[/ATTACH]
Last year at this time, the tulip bloom was long over.

At least I have a raised bed this year and even a cold frame attachment for one area:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20210516_111657.jpg" type="full"]61456[/ATTACH]
Although it is now always open because it’s warm enough, it will stay on this week to protect against the nasty and strong west wind that’s supposed to blow around the house all week (and is already getting on my nerves...)

Last year, the view from my office looked like this:
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Now:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20210517_132819.jpg" type="full"]61458[/ATTACH]
Something has definitely changed :cool:

The leaf lettuce is already ready to harvest:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20210516_111645.jpg" type="full"]61459[/ATTACH]

The radishes will soon be eaten up:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20210516_111713.jpg" type="full"]61460[/ATTACH]

And my tomato plants are already outside, and a first, very daring tomato has already formed:
[ATTACH alt="IMG_20210516_111501.jpg" type="full"]61461[/ATTACH]

So it was worth starting the tomatoes early!

Now I hope we finally get temperatures appropriate for May so that everything grows and thrives. It has simply been too cold for the season for weeks (the coldest April in 40 years!) and we have had very strong wind so often, which not only strains my plants but also my nerves.

The pepper plants don’t like the wind either, and although I put them in a protected spot, they look totally bedraggled – we’ll see if anything comes of it.

My strawberry plants are also strong, but flowers are only just starting to appear gradually (but these are huge – I’m curious what kind of fruits that will give).

My tulips are still blooming as well. The irises are just starting to bloom; they had already faded by the end of April last year.

Wow, Steffi, and your [Funkien] are already so far along! Mine are just starting to poke out their first leaves...

Tell me, where did you get the cold frame attachment? I've been looking for exactly something like that forever, but the ones I find are either made of foil or just ugly.

They are not difficult to build yourself. Buy pre-cut kilogram batch profiles, there are also the connecting pieces, glass from the glazier doesn't cost the earth either. Make sure that glass and metal profiles expand differently when heated, so install it a bit loosely, use rubber seals to prevent rattling, and you're done. I used to screw together an extendable wooden frame and attach a twin-wall sheet as a lid with a hinge. It worked great for germination. Today we use a small glass greenhouse.