Bloomin' Tuesday

The heat and humidity are upon us.
I'm not complaining too much though,
because it's also brought some much-needed rain.
The past week has given us over 2 inches.
What a treat!

Things are startin' to look lively around here!

Shasta daisy

Sweet potato vine with cosmos and thryallis

Backyard jasmine, sage and bulbine

Not sure what this funky lil' thing is, but it's growing.

I think it should be blooming soon.

The leaf tips sort of unwind from a spiral shape.

Some of the sunflowers are lovin' the consistent rain.
I'm right there with 'em.

Ferns and daisies

morning glory vine

morning glory bloom

morning glory lover

The thryallis is blooming like crazy!

This beauty doesn't ask for a thing,

although I trim it back a couple of times a year.

The dwarf Fakahatchee is a native that really makes an impact.

I kinda wish I had a few more.

Agapanthus blooms

I'm a cotton-pickin' native lover!

The first beans I planted in the square-foot bed 

got eaten by something.

I had started some others in cell pots 

and transplanted them a couple of weeks ago.

After reading about natural pest control, 

I decided to try this method of dealing 

with whatever it was that was enjoying our produce.

A few of Lil' Guy's Dixie cups were borrowed for the project.

The bottoms were cut out.

The idea is that the cup acts as a collar 

so that the creepy crawler can't get at the crop.

We'll see if it helps.

It does add a little eccentricity to the garden.

That works for me!

As you may be able to detect here,

our turtle beans had suffered the same fate,

so we used the same treatment.

So far, so good.
These came up this week after being reseeded with the collars on.

The Calabaza pumpkins are faring pretty well.

I have to say I'm a bit surprised.

The two shown here are planted under the lemon tree 

to provide a smidgeon of relief from the blazing sun.

This is a good sign.

This lettuce is in the square-foot bed, 

exposed to the scorching heat.

It's since bolted.

I placed a couple others in pots under some shade,

although I think it's just too hot to expect any goodies from them.

This San Marzano roma plant is also enjoying some shade.

So far, it looks pretty good, 

but I don't want to jinx myself.

It's the first time I've tried to grow my own tomatoes for gravy.

This is a variety called Old Virginia tomato.

It's in a pot too, although still out in the direct sun.

 

A week later, it looks like this.

Anything I get from it will be so appreciated.

We have three pineapples growing right now.
This one looks nearest to being ripe.
Pineapple is one of the best fruits for digestion.

The beautyberry is loaded with these 

delicate, poofy blooms.

(That's the technical term.)

The wildflowers reseed easily 

with absolutely no help from me.

society garlic

Since the square-foot garden is looking pretty sparse,

I decided to plant some flowers around it.

I never tire of zinnias.

gerbera daisy

The lillies decided to make a return appearance.

You'll get no complaint from me.

Anything that is willing to bloom in this heat 

gets a sincere thank you from me!

Forgive me,

but I just couldn't help sharing these frog "fotos".

Hope your garden is thriving, 

whatever the conditions!

 
backyard farming connection hop