Backyard Gardening Tips

I'd like to point out to all those who haven't notice: deciduous trees have "popped" for the season - that is, if you enjoy shade trees, then today is your day. It always amazes me how in one day trees appear to come back to life.

Now, for a veggie update: My snap peas are coming up really nicely. So far, this is the only vegetable I have in the garden for this year. My grandmother, who's wisdom I always bow down to, refuses to allow me to add tomatoes (our main crop) or cucumbers until we get nearer to the end of May. I have noticed how dry the ground is, and I have been hand watering each day to make sure that there is some dampness to the soil.

We are attempting to get some sunflowers to come into the garden this year, but this is the one plant I have NEVER had any success with, but after viewing hundreds of thousands of acres of sunflowers while vacationing in Turkey (one of their major national exports in the form of oil) I became determined to at least try. When I was a child my grandmother had huge (or maybe it just seemed like that to me) sunflowers that grew quickly and effortlessly in her garden. Maybe this extra-sunny season will make this my year for sunflowers. If anyone has any advice for this tricky plant, please share them with me and the rest of the followers of this discussion.

I'd also like to hear more about people who are growing exotic vegetables in their gardens - not your run of the mill radish or pepper - really exotic and unusual. Pictures are wonderful if you have them.