August

Wow! The carrots did fab this year.
Everyone loved the flavor of Purple Haze. I will definitely be growing these again next year. They had nice size and color. With a mix of those and Contender, we ended up with 5 gallons, all processed and in the freezer for winter use. :) I think I'll plant some more for a early winter harvest.



This is the most interesting coreopsis I've ever had from crossed seed! The colors in these are awesome. I'll really have to remember to save seed from these this year and see what happens with them next year.



I'm excited I finally got nicotiana to do something. (ok, maybe I should chalk this one up to doing well because of/in spite of the weather) This is one of those flowers that is suppose to be so easy to grow, and one that I seem to have the most trouble with.



The flowers are huge. (and I just love this pic. lol)



The old standby alien nigella. I really adore these planted in masses. Although they're not showy, I would really miss these if I ever forgot to plant them.



I decided to try growing some birdhouse gourds this year so I could do something with them for Christmas gifts for next year, but with the crazy weather, I don't think I'll end up with any fruit. The flowers are really pretty though. I guess I'll just have to give them another try next year and hope for some better weather.



This is one of the spirea cuttings I started over the winter of 2008. It's on its second bloom this year.



And, finally, the poinsettias. This is just one pot of many. They're the ones I got on sale back in 2007 for 50 cents a pot (3 in a pot). They still flower faithfully every year for me. This spring I got braver when I repotted and cut them back much more (I was scared to go chopping at them). I think it made a big difference for the better. I wonder how many years I can keep these going? It seems so sad that people throw them out every year when they really aren't all that hard to keep going and make a nice bushy houseplant when they aren't flowering.



Our maples started turning back in the beginning of July! Will someone please tell them it's not time yet . . .

Mid July Update

Wow, what a difference two whole days of heat, sun and no rain can make. The ground actually looks dry - I'd forgotten what dry soil looks like!

For those of you in the upper eastern states - hang in there, it's on its way. I'm outside blowing the good weather in your direction. Man, my lips are tired! :(

An update on how well the tomato bale experiment is doing: Fantastic!



Thank God I haven't seen hide nor hair of the blight. ~fingers crossed~ Pays a bit to start your own seed in this instance. I think I only have one close neighbor that gardens and he grows his own also.
:)
Bonnie Plants first said they accepted that they were to blame, now this:

Dennis Thomas, Bonnie Plants general manager, insists there never was any evidence of blight at any of the company's 61 growing stations nationwide and that his company did not ship out any infected plants. "None whatsoever," he said. "The last inspections we've had in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and in West Virginia today, showed negative."

One of those things that makes you go, hmmmm...

On to happier stuff.

I only got one plant from the strawberry petunia seed (stupid weather!) but what a bloom it is!


Things that are finally taking off:

Popcorn


Potato (don't mind the weeds. potato is a DH thing, not a me thing, so unless he weeds them...)


Peppers (looking better!)


Onions are looking good.


Carrots have gone bonkers!


Yellow and green bush beans are finally flowering. Interesting how you can easily tell which row are which.


We had the first cabbage salad of the year yesterday. Yum! Was fabulous. I honestly should have let it go a few more days, but well, you know...
The cauliflower is almost ready and huge.
Half a gallon of peas in the freezer so far.

I guess that's it for the veg, so on to what few flowers I have that the freaking slugs didn't eat.

The view from my living room last week.


The honey bees are swarming the borage now that the sun has returned.


The bee balm is finally open for the hummers. They've been cleaning out the feeders in a day!





I lurve gloriosa daisies.


The lavender is looking beautiful.


Lilies are so fab they almost glow.


and last but not least, the coolest visitors of all to my flower beds-


Hope everyone's gardens are growing like gangbusters!
Happy gardening.
:)

(wow, I actually titled the post as June instead of July - talk about a Freudian slip - I'm still subconsciously waiting on some nice june weather! lol)

Transplanting

Yay!
The weather in this neck of the woods has finally broken. It's nice. And it looks as if it will be sticking around for a while.

I'm full of that excited feeling gardeners get when they can finally get their hands in the soil, and feet - and butt. The youngest planted a whole row of broccoli in the garden yesterday - on her butt. It's such a wonderful thing to know the soil is finally warm enough! :) It was fabulous to have her working in the dirt with me. She thinks it's no big deal, but to me, it's always the most joyful time with her I could ask for.

My plans to get all the cole crops in a week ahead of last year didn't quite make it, but 5 days is close enough.

Transplanted and sowed yesterday:

Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Brussel Sprout
2 types of head lettuce
Radish seed
Carrot seed

No sign of the peas yet, but I'm betting they'll start making an appearance this week.

I wanted to get so much more done yesterday, but got stopped in my tracks by another migraine.

I finally scraped together enough to get a new pair of glasses and learned something very interesting about my migraines from the eye doctor yesterday.
My regular doctor hasn't bothered doing anything about them as his answer to everything that is wrong with me is simply because I smoke. "Quit smoking and it'll go away."
~sigh~
So, he has had the same answer all these years about my migraines - quit smoking and they'll magically disappear. Trust me - if it were that easy, I would have done it years and years ago. Hindsight.

Anyway, I haven't been able to get new glasses for six years and when the eye doctor checked, my glasses hadn't been adjusted for my more dominant right eye. The last time I got new glasses, I thought it would help with the headaches (because, when you're straining to see, you can get headaches). I simply figured it was because I was doing so many small crafts and straining my eyes for hours on end. But, getting the new glasses last time didn't make any difference in the amount of headaches I was experiencing.

This doctor (bless him!) says, "No wonder you're getting headaches. Your lenses aren't adjusted correctly for your dominant eye."
Huh?
So he explained to me what was going on with my eyes and said with the new glasses my migraines and headaches might ease up. He showed me the difference with those flippy-lensy things, and I swear, it was like looking at the world in a totally new way. Not just clearer - different.

I'm going to be so overjoyed and miffed at the same time if all these years it has simply been my glasses!
After I get the new ones and wear them for a few weeks, he wants me to call and let him know if it made a difference in the amount of migraines and headaches. I hope (for my sake and his) I can report positive results. He seemed pretty sure it would make a huge difference.

On a different note, I was a naughty girl.
When we went to the casino for our free bingo for the week, I swiped a begonia leaf from one of the displays they were yanking out.
Shhh! Nobody saw? Right? And it was just lying there!
Ok, the hubs just ignored me as nothing surprises him anymore when it comes to plants, but youngest son was mortified. I got the, "I sooo can not believe you just did that" look, followed closely with the eye-roll.
He has yet to discover how deep this 'plant obsession' of mine really goes. Wouldn't it have been much worse if I had picked up the whole plant, roots and all, and walked out with it rather than just a broken-off leaf? It was headed for the trash anyway.
Well, that's my story and I'm stickin'!

So the leaf got sliced and mounted on some potting soil and I'll see what happens. How bad can I really screw it up? If it doesn't work, it was worth the experiment. My Aunt D does it with hers all the time. Of course, she has a green thumb to die for. lol.