Garden Friday

It's Garden Friday

and it also happens to be my birthday!

The giving starts here with these shots of the garden

taken with my new phone.

C'mon, let's take a stroll.

Tuesday night brought a fierce storm

with ferocious winds and about an inch of rain.

The poor sunflowers held on for dear life

and I have no way to prop them up because of their size.

Some of these are upwards of 12 feet tall!

Thankfully, most of the garden was unharmed.

This butternut squash should be ready to harvest within days.

I see soup in my future...

The pumpkins started flowering this week

and were promptly fertilized.

No doubt the rainfall helped them along their way.

Last year, I grew okra in a raised bed.

This year, they are in raised rows,

and they are much more difficult to harvest 

because they are low to the ground.

I have a couple in a straw bale,

so I'm hoping those will be a bit easier.

The magic of beans, in this case,

Red Ripper beans.

Here they are in two stages,

fresh and dried on the vine.

The dried beans will be used to make soup

and also used for sprouting.

The loofah is really taking off now.

It seems to thrive in the heat

and doesn't mind one bit if it stays dry for a while.

This is the first gourd I spotted on the trellis,

and it's now turning yellow.

Never having grown these before,

I'll have to do a little research about peak harvest times.

This plant is a delight to grow and I will continue to add it 

to the summer garden each year.

It asks for very little and the sweet golden blooms alone

make it worth growing.

The melons are starting to suffer from something.

Many leaves are turning yellow or brown

and it's too late in the season to try to save them.

There is one hanging on the arches that looks promising.
Even if it's the only one we get, I'll be over the moon!

Here's a little bitty one just getting started.
This is one crop I will try to do better with next year.
We can't get enough melon around here!

Considering that I wasn't planning to grow tomatoes this year,

these volunteers sure look healthy.

I picked a couple of them so that the critters couldn't get them,

and I'll most likely give them to a neighbor as they come in.

(I'm avoiding tomatoes at the moment.)

Aren't these sweet potato blossoms just the cutest things?

The bees love 'em and I often see them fighting for space inside.

The black-eyed Susan vine is enveloping the straw bales

where the cucumbers refused to grow.

Works for me.

With summer coming to a close in the next month or so,
the butterflies will soon be bidding us adieu for another season.
They have been plentiful and spectacular this year,
and for that I am truly grateful.

Today I start the last year of my 50's.
Where has it gone?
I'm thankful to have had another year with my family,
friends and neighbors.
I hope this year is filled with opportunities to give back.

Enjoy your weekend!

If You Plant It, They Will Come

One of the reasons I was so excited for spring to show up,

is because I knew I wanted to add more pollinator-friendly plants to the landscape.

A butterfly bed seemed like the most appropriate choice,

since at our former homestead, 

we were a certified Monarch Way Station.

Cardboard was laid down to kill the grass,
and prevent potential weeds from creeping into the bed.
With bricks gifted by a sweet neighbor,
we outlined the parameters of the bed.
There weren't enough bricks to completely surround the bed,
but they will be added as they are acquired.

The bed was filled in with magnificent compost
that we acquired from PC Mulch.

The bed shares space with two crepe myrtles
and one pink dogwood tree.
Isn't that soil a lovely sight?
It just screams, 
"Plant me, plant me!"

A bevy of beauties awaits planting.
These were picked up at a couple of local nurseries
and left on site until I could get to them.
They are all pollinator attractors
and several are host or nectar sources for caterpillars and butterflies.

 The lavender was added to one side of the bed.
The fragrance is quite intoxicating.

 There were gaillardia (blanket flower) plants in an existing front bed,
which I transplanted to this butterfly bed.
This stunner will provide blooms all summer long.

agapanthus buds

Agapanthus was introduced to me by a neighbor in Florida.
I've been in love with it ever since.
These amazing periwinkle (my favorite color) blooms will
 radiate out from the center, reminding me of shooting stars.

Milkweed is the host plant for the monarch butterfly.
Monarchs lay their eggs on this plant,
and after the eggs hatch, the caterpillar spends its life eating the plant.
Once they reach their full size, they crawl off to form their chrysalis
and begin the metamorphosis of becoming butterflies.
In Florida, we often gave away caterpillars
so that we could teach others about this fascinating process.
Here are some of our former butterfly posts:

Hosting Butterflies
Home to Monarchs
The Maple Hill Hop 129
Native Milkweed 

 Joe Pye Weed is one of the best pollinator attractors
and I'm thrilled to have this dwarf variety included in this bed.

Lantana was another staple in my Florida garden,
although it grows year-round there.
No doubt the colorful blooms will catch many an eye!

The parsley is planted in the nearby mailbox planter,
and I'm hoping that the black swallowtail butterflies find it.
This is one of the host plants for the swallowtail caterpillars,
along with dill, fennel and rue.

A friend gifted me with these balloon flower starts,
which will offer another beautiful blue-hued addition to the garden.

It's hard to believe that something this unsightly
can transform into such a spectacular specimen.

I added some rosemary to the bed
and left it in the containers because I know how they get if left to their own devices.
This is gonna be one sweet-smellin' garden!

Considering that an herb garden may be created at a later date,
I thought it best to keep them corralled so that they may be easily moved.

With the plants all installed, it was time for mulch.
Remember how I shared with you that we were gifted with free mulch
from a local tree service company?
Wow, has it come in handy!

The mulch should help to regulate the soil temperature,
as well as deter any weeds from popping through.
It also helps to retain moisture in the soil
and aids with drainage, so that plants are not water-logged.

This is my secret weapon.
This vintage sprinkler was purchased at a yard sale about a year ago.

Since we have no irrigation system,
watering by hand is necessary.
Fortunately, most of the additions to this bed
are highly drought-tolerant, and once established,
shouldn't need supplemental watering.
For now though, I'm grateful that I have this lil' cutie to help them along.

OK butterflies, we're ready for ya!

Wordless Wednesday-Creature Comforts

Things are Springin' Up All Over!

The weather doesn't seem to be too sure of the season.

Over the last week,

we've had temperatures from the mid 80's to the mid 40's,

and everything in between.

As I write this, we're getting an unexpected (but very welcome) thunderstorm,

complete with steady rain.

So much for getting some gardening done tonight.

There are some sure-fire signs of spring though.

Over at Faye & Lynn's last weekend, 

the most perfect hibiscus bloom was spotted.

 As you can see on the new spring header,

their azalea bush is bursting with intoxicating color!

One of the topics for discussion while I was there,

was this odd-looking Queen palm tree.

The steep angle at which it now grows 

is thanks to Hurricane Charley.

In 2004, this area was hit hard by 3 hurricanes 

in a matter of months. 

It was just before we moved to the area.

We came anyway.  ;0D

The portion that looks a bit straighter,

is the section of new growth since the storms.

 It's one massive tree.

So grateful that this one didn't topple,

as did so many others.

Faye & Lynn lost over 200 trees on their 10 acres.

 Back at our place,

one sure sign of spring has made itself known.

Our native milkweeds are coming back all over the garden.

And soon we'll be overrun by monarch caterpillars devouring them all.

That's the price we must pay for enjoying the beautiful butterflies in our yard.

We are a Certified Monarch Way Station,

and are happy to host these and several other types of caterpillars all spring and summer.

It's spring and the cats are here!

Enjoy your weekend, y'all!