Garden Friday

 

 

 

It's summertime and Garden Friday is the chill spot.

Several of our Mammoth sunflowers have bloomed

and it brings a smile to my face every time I turn the corner.

What a wonderful, cheery welcome home!

 

This common milkweed has been attracting hummingbirds,

which was a surprise to me.

That alone will ensure that they get planted every season.

We're looking forward to an invasion of Monarch caterpillars

in the next few weeks.

We have many, many milkweed plants near the front porch.

 

The other type of milkweed we have planted

is distributed generously around the cannas

as well as in the front porch bed.

How wonderful it will be to greet these yearly visitors!

 

The hyacinth bean teepees are filling out,

but we have yet to have seen any of the flowers

or striking seed pods on them.

This is one ornamental plant that seems

not to have any pest pressure.

 

The pollinator bed is abuzz with activity.

The rudbekia really went wild this year,

and this plant in the front will be transplanted to a neighbor's bed.

 

 

Look what I spied yesterday morning while doing a garden check.

I had never seen a moth with this color combination before.

It's called a Rosy Maple moth and as you might guess,

the host for the caterpillars is the maple tree.

The caterpillars look very similar to tomato hornworms,

so I can imagine them getting mistaken for those critters.

You can learn more about this creature here.

 

While at work yesterday,

this little cutie showed up.

It actually hopped toward a plant I was watering,

and I was happy to help the lil' thing out.

It's been so dry here, that I can imagine many critters looking for water.

 

In the veg garden, I've left some of my favorite lettuce to bolt and reseed the spot in the bed.

The green oakleaf will be left in place

so that crisp, tender lettuce can be enjoyed for months to come.

 

The pumpkins are rockin' the bed!

So far, so good.

They were fertilized this week,

along with the melons and front porch ornamentals.

 

The sweet potatoes soak up every bit of heat they can get.

I will start becoming better at remembering to harvest leaves for my salads.

This plant just keeps giving, from leaves to tubers.

 

Another watermelon was discovered this week,

with many more flowers on the vines.

Fingers crossed that we get some homegrown fruit!

The okra is doing better since some drip irrigation

was added to help it along.

We are quite late in the season to have it this size,

but it doesn't look like the heat is letting up any,

so hopefully we will still get enough to quick pickle.

 

Our oregano patch is full and lush.

It rambles wildly and is a haven for pollinators.

Would you look at this guy?

He's sun bathing on the arch that covers the chicken coop.

He's practically an honorary chicken,

since he hangs out so much near the run.

At least none of the chooks' food goes to waste.

 

A couple of the girls are molting,

so we're back to getting only 3 eggs most days.

No worries.

We're happy to have whatever they can offer.

They are such a blessing.