The Maple Hill Hop 90

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)

*Grab the button above to link back to Maple Hill 101.* 


It's a flippin' broiler out there.
With temperatures in the 90's on a daily basis,
my inner gardener is dwindling.
I have absolutely no ambition to get out there
and do anything,
and apparently, most of the plants feel the same way.
This time of year is tough for me,
as I prefer to be outside most waking hours.
That's not possible right now,
so I'm making the best of it
getting a lot of reading done, 
working on a book I'm writing,
and crafting "daisy totes" for selling locally. 

Most of the country is enjoying daily harvests,
but it's our slow season.

Here are some of the "flops and pops"
in our Central Florida garden in summer.

The canary melon we had growing is dying.
This was a new crop for us, so it's a bit disappointing.

I doubt if this fruit will ever make it to the table.
We can try it again at another time of year.
Our green beans offered a couple of meager harvests,
then gave up trying to produce.

 

The basil is barely holding on.

I think it may be getting too much sun,

but we really have very little shade in our yard.

Hopefully, we'll be able to harvest enough leaves to make pistou. 

The "Freckles" variety of lettuce is still on the small side,

and needs a little more size before being transplanted to the shaded area.

It's a real challenge to grow lettuce here in the heat of the summer,

but we keep on trying heat-resistant varieties.

 

The Sweet Million cherry tomatoes aren't yet flowering.

I have a lot of trouble growing tomatoes of any type.

It's a real art as far as I'm concerned,

and I'm not sure I have the required talent.

We just tend to do without tomatoes for a while.

 

A few things are pretty easy to grow here

and need very little to be successful.

For that, I am grateful.

Pineapples grown from the crown won't be ready for a while,

but they are definitely worth the wait.

The bonus is that they don't mind the heat one bit.

The sweet potato planted a few weeks ago from a slip
is looking healthy and growing well.
This is one of my all-time favorites to grow,
just because it's so doggone easy.
The fruit ain't so bad, either!

For the first time, we are growing pigeon peas.
This is the lone surviving plant,
after the other seeds sown never germinated.
I hope to at least be able to harvest some seed
for future plantings,
even if we don't get enough for eating.

The beautyberry is starting to be awash in color.
These magenta morsels are a treat for the birds,
and a wonderful sight for the gardener.

The periwinkle is a great spilling plant for baskets,
or groundcover around other plantings.
These are all volunteers in our backyard.

The zinnias are enjoyed daily by pollinators of all types.
Early morning is the perfect time to take cuttings
for filling vases indoors.
The more you cut, the more flowers you'll get.

It's hard to remember when this hibiscus plant
hasn't been blooming.
It provides some of the only red we have in the garden.
It can be seen from the kitchen window,
reminding me that life continues outside,
even if it's too hot for me to fully enjoy it.

The portulaca is popping up out of the container
in which the eggplant was growing.
This is another volunteer that returns each year.
Love how that works!

I call these "Faye's Sunflowers",
as the seeds were gifted me by my friend.
These are thriving in the heat.
and make the sweetest bouquets.

The heat isn't going anywhere,
so we're making the best of it.
Glad some critters don't mind it one bit!

What's going on where you are?
HOP on!

 

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