What's blooming? Aug 1, 2009

With the recent heatwave, the flowers are showing some stress. I have not watered every day, but try to water the veggies and major flowers every other day. Mulch helps. The fruit trees get water once weekly. The fruit trees that I planted this year, get deep water every other day. The lawn is brown - better for the environment, and it's what I do every summer.

Most of the lilies are scorched. A few, in the shade, are looking better. The sunflowers are courtesy of the birds, who managed to spill seeds all over the place.

Bird-planted sunflower.

This lily in in the shade, on the North side of the house.


Rose-of-Sharon is an unsung hero of the flowering shrubs. Even with neglect, scorching heat, and less than ideal location, it's blooming like crazy.

Who is visiting?

The map is about to be archived, meaning that the display will be wiped clean and start fresh. That way, it doesn't become a red smear. This is the last map before archiving. There have been 18,880 visits in the past year, and 39,980 visits in 3 years. Welcome to the garden!

My recent lack of posts. Garden log

Dueing the past few months, there have been fewer posts on growing greener. Despite that, there have been many readers checking in on the garden.

I've been making multiple trips to the midwest, with 2 very ill parents. The work schedule has been extended as well. This is not complaining - in this economy, just having a job and career is something to be grateful for. But it has meant significant neglect of the backyard garden and the blog.

So here are a few updates. Pictures to follow.

The chickens -

The Americauna pullet turned out to be a rooster. Not allowed in my town. Can't be kept secretly, either - he was announcing his presence early and loudly. SO he was given to a coworker. His fate... "Don't ask / Don't tell".

The Leghorn has grown up and is laying one nice, large, egg daily.

The Australorp pullets are nearly to laying size. They have a definite "hen-like" appearance (although so did the Americauna).

The tomatoes -

2 days ago I picked 3 medium sized Lemon Boy and a big handful of Supersweet 100.
The plants have remained small. Last week I added some organic high-N food to give them a boost.

The figs -
One ripe "Vancouver" breba yesterday. One getting close. Two ripe Petite negri, probably tomorrow. Two Lattarula probably ripe next week - that will be the first from these trees. Not much, but they are loaded with figs for fall crop, so I'm happy to get a preview.

The Peppers -
All are loaded with fruit. Not large yet, but peppers don't need to be ripe to be eaten.

Other Crops -
Roma beans yielded a bowl of beans last night. The summer crop of raspberries is done. With the recent heat, some of the leaves are scorched, but it looks like there will be a big fall crop. I'll post some peach photos - getting closer! Pears weighing down the tree. Lots of cucumbers. Zucchinis once again giving more than we can eat.

Flowers -
These have sufferred neglect, the most. Lillies are blooming, and fragrant. Some are scorched. I'm definitely moving more toward Xeriscaping with more succulents next year - the sedums and sempervivums are surviving like shamps. The night blooming cactus has the most buds, ever. Probably bloom in late august.

I have some photos to upload tonight.

With my Dad on hospice, and my Mom having Alzheimer's, there is a good chance that there will be more deferred maintenance in the yard. Even so, doing the gardening and writing about it give me peace of mind and something to look forward to, so I'll work on posting at least once weekly again. I ordered a large # of bulbs for fall planting, just to have something to look forward to. I have plans to re-engineer a couple of garden beds for better access and improved spacing. This will involve further encroachment into former lawn. No problem. I let the lawn go brown, so at least no mowing now.

What's blooming?

Family illnesses and other issues have kept me from keeping up with the garden and blog. Despite neglect, the garden appears to be growing rampantly. Weeds too, but despite being unsightly, they are not enough to get in the way of the veggies, fruits, and flowers.

What's up in the Kitchen Garden?

Ning's happy about his cherry tree producing so many cherries.

This is about half of the cherry crop. Yum!

Lots of stuff in bloom now.

Strawberries - Getting about a pound every day.
Raspberries - A bowl full daily now.
Tomatoes - All in bloom now.
Figs - The few brebas are getting larger, not there yet.
Peaches - I'm wondering if I should have thinned more. They are weighing down the tree branches! WIll need to get some supports soon.
cherries - I also summer pruned them. CUt most new growh back to 6 inches to a foot, in most cases leaving the first tuft of leaves pluys a few. Most of the removed growth was about 2 feet in length.