June Flowers at the Ladner Community Garden

June is here and all of our gardens are planted. Thanks to all of our allotment gardeners for doing such a fine job getting their seedlings in. The gardens are full of vegetables almost ready to harvest. I know I am having lettuce envy over some of the gardeners. Lettuce just won't grow well back in the children's garden. I use the same seed at home and its fine. Lets take a walk through the garden today.

The rockery which borders the front of the community garden is full of blooms. The Sweet William or Dianthus barbatus is stunning, isn't it? This plant attracts butterflies and bees to the garden.

Next to it is Limnanthes douglasii or poached egg flower. This cute as a button flower is easy to grow from seed. Let it self sow to have it year after year in your garden. This flower attracts hoverflies to the garden and they eat aphids.

The Campanula rambles nicely over the rock wall. This spark of blue in June is a welcome sight.

There are many more blooms to come in our rock wall garden. Did you know this garden is made from four recycled driveways? Now that's recycling for you.

If you are by the garden, please stop and visit to see the unique ways our members are growing vegetables. This allotment gardener is trying out straw bale gardening. Its a tough climate for this here as we get a fair amount of rainfall. In the top of the bale she has added soil and planted a squash plant. Adding a cage to the top, this plant will grow vertically and maximize the space in this garden.

We also have a children's garden located in the north east corner of the community garden. Here a grade three class comes to learn. All the food grown in this part of the garden is donated to the food bank and other charities. By the looks of the beans and peas we should have a good harvest this year.

Check out the first of the radishes! Now there is room for another vegetable to go in. Remember when planting that you always need to think one step ahead. If you are harvesting all your lettuce, what will go in that empty spot?

Our partner, West Coast Seeds, is growing some new crops this year. Welcome Peppermint Swiss Chard with its pretty pink and white stems.
The Ladner Community Garden is located at 6467 Holly Park drive in Ladner, BC. At present the garden is full and we have a short waiting list for next season.
If you have any questions about how to get involved or want to be placed on the wait list please contact us at deltagardener at dccnet.com

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