Early Frost

The delicate frost looks pretty on this wild lupine, but I know how destructive it can be. I covered my lettuces and greens, and I'm hoping some plants survived enough to look good for the next month.

August Garden Update

A few weeks ago a strong thunderstorm knocked over all my tomato plants, mostly cherry tomatoes with four Roma type and one Cherokee Purple. They've been doing well. I have way too many cherry tomatoes because I didn't have the heart to compost all the extra plants that I started indoors. I've been cooking them into to sauce to freeze. They take longer to cook down because of all the juices, but they make a tasty sauce. Below is a ripe sweet pepper that I harvested yesterday. This spot has a lot more sun than my old place, so I was super happy to get this fully ripened pepper. I'm rationing it over two days to make it last. Next year I will plant more peppers...and fewer cherry tomatoes.

The fall greens are doing well..endive, assorted lettuces, and Swiss chard. The long dried stems are dill that I harvested and laid down between the rows to keep the rabbits out. Ha! I saw a rabbit nibbling on one, so I added the netting, which has worked well. Cooler weather is in the forecast, so I'm looking forward to getting some "heavy lifting" done this weekend.

Heat and Humidity

Heavy fog during my morning walk in the park shows how humid it is today. I don't do well with this level of heat and humidity, but the hibiscus loves it. (below)  I bought this hibiscus on clearance last summer in July, and it's doing well in spite of me. 

Below is my cardboard contraption to protect my fall crop of greens from this heat. The netting is to keep the rabbits away. I'll have more photos of the completed vegetable garden once I have the last garden bed ready, hopefully in early September. 

Bee on a bee lawn

A rusty patched bumble bee enjoys the clover in my bee lawn. I admit I'm guessing on the identification, and it's hard to tell in this video. In any case, a pollinator is happy, and that makes me happy.  

Cutting back annuals

Should you cut back annuals? It depends on the plant. If it's getting "leggy" (a term that means the stems are long and floppy) or if it's stopped blossoming, then it can be good idea.

Above is the before photo. See how the center is green and the flowers are on the end of the stems? The stems were long, too. The plant is healthy now, but we're experiencing humid weather, so I thought I could give that plant some air circulation, too. The photo below is "after. I lost some flowers, but I cut back to where there was new growth, meaning I'll have more flowers soon. I also trimmed off some seed heads.

Below is what I removed. It's about 1/4 of the plants. I could have pruned more viciously, but I find I can't do it. Even a little bit helps. P. S. Happy Fourth of July!

Garden update

Bunnies don't eat marigolds. Thank goodness! These are Strawberry Blond marigolds from Burpee. However, bunnies will eat zinnia seedlings...every single zinnia seedling. The photo below is where there are supposed to be lovely, blooming zinnias. There may be one straggler in the upper left corner, but I'm guessing that'll get munched eventually. Even with cayenne pepper and an over-the-counter repellent, the rabbits have been ruthless, probably because there are so many of them and it's been so dry until recently. 

I rescued some lettuce by raising it up with a makeshift cage around it. 

The next three photos are basil, which bunnies seem to avoid. I'll have tomatoes and basil for eating, which makes me happy. Next year...fencing!

Trying to save a lilac

At the center is my bee and butterfly house, a gift from my mother. The lilac is blooming, and the back is almost completely dead. I've trimmed all the dead branches, removing some part completely and cutting back to live wood in others. This is a lot of dead wood (below). 

Below is the "after." I may trim a little more for shaping. It may not bloom next year, but I'm hopeful that it will recover.