Garden Uglies

Colleen from In the Garden Online has recently challenged us in her post The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to share some of our less than perfect garden endeavors, in order that it might encourage others. It's always fun to share our successes but it just plain goes against our nature to share the failures, as well. And that, in itself, is a good reason to do so. Humility really is a good character trait. Yessiree. Soooo....big sigh....here goes.

The Bad

This garden bed has been a huge challenge/disappointment. It has the difficult conditions of complete morning shade, followed by hot afternoon sun. It also has poor soil which doesn't retain moisture. In the Spring this bed is occupied by daffodils, with grape hyacinths in the foreground and actually looks pretty decent. Not so in summer!

I haven't planted perennials here for fear of disturbing the bulbs, and have instead tried planting countless different annuals, once the bulbs are finished each year. But, alas, nothing wants to grow here! This year I decided to try Nicotiana, as it is listed for sun or shade. You can barely see the plants it the photo, they are so small! They have just been sitting there since I planted them in late May. This is what happens to everything I have tried in this spot. Even the not fussy Lamb's Ears in the back of the bed looks spindly and sick. I am disheartened to have this bed be so obviously empty every summer. If you have a solution for me, please share it!

Some things I probably need to try:

1. Prune out the undergrowth behind the bed, in hopes of getting some filtered light through the deciduous tree growing directly behind the bed, and the pine trees behind and above that.
2. Improve the soil with organic matter. This will have to be something purchased, as my limited amount of precious homemade compost goes on my vegetable beds.
3. Try some Sun/Shade perennials instead of Annuals. I'm thinking of trying Cranesbill. Any plant suggestions are wholeheartedly welcomed!

Whew, I made it through that one. Now on to....

The Ugly

This is a photo of the bottom part of my tomato plants. Every year in the spring, shortly after I plant them, the Flea beetles have a feast on the leaves, and they end up full of tiny holes. Later in the season those same leaves turn yellow, curl up and become unsightly. This also happens to my cukes, beans,kale, and squash! So I end up just picking off the bad leaves, which doesn't seem to harm the plants and leaves them looking much better. I am in the process of doing this now, as it seems the yellowing of the damaged leaves really starts showing up in the summer heat.

Anyone know how to rid the garden of Flea Beetles?
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The Good

On a more positive note, Dear Husband and I managed to get the white picket fence painted this Spring, (We also had some help one weekend from Dear Daughter.) It was greatly in need of it, with it's peeling paint, dirt, and mildew. It was a lot of work with all the scrubbing, scraping, priming and painting but it is now sparkling again in it's fresh white coat! This photo, taken at dusk, reallly highlights the whiteness of the fence.

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There, that wasn't so bad after all. How about it, Gardeners? Anyone else want to show and tell your Bad and Uglies?