July in the Garden

Stuff has really grown. The tomatoes are showing just a little pink. The kale you see in the front of the bed is more than knee high.

The lettuce is about done for the spring crop, but the zinnias are at their best and the chard is wild. Now if the bunnies would leave the beans alone, things would be great.

The gesneriad are also doing well this summer. The streps are enjoying their time outside under the trees but, the chipmunks dug up all three of the gloxinia bulbs and made them disappear. The two sinningias were also dumped out of their pots and flung to the ground. The interesting thing is that the streps and the orchids are all being left entirely alone.

July First

Wow, what a change a couple of weeks brings. As you can see, the grass in the background is very dry. We could use some more rain for more favorable conditions, but the gardens are being watered and even on the 90 degree F. days, the vegetables and flowers don't suffer too much wilting.

The streps are all outside under a big, dense maple tree and hoping for cool breezes. With some regular fertilization, they should grow well for the summer out under the shade of the trees.

The flowers in the photos from the community garden are zinnias. Magellan series.

More on the Garden

Wow... a little sun and the things grow. Who knew????

The streps are outside and the orchids too. One of the semi-dormant larger sinningias is starting to show some growth too. Let's hope we don't get any hail to spoil the pretty, lush growth.

Growth

Nothing has been growing as fast as it should for a typical year. The cold spring weather and sporadic rains have made planting tricky but finally I'm not the only one to put out their vegetables. The garden will be fun this year if the peas and beans grow up the trellises like they are supposed to. The front flowers are all zinnias! I can only hope that they are a huge success and I get enough for cut flowers.

The streps at my house are now outside on shelves and looking a little bewildered. Hopefully, they will start to actually grow. There have been quite a few garden centers that have featured streptocarpus as hanging baskets and single plants as fillers for containers. Go streps!!!!

The sinningias are also outside, but only recently. They need a few days to get used to the brighter light and perhaps then they can go out in some partial sun. I'm going to put some kohleria out as an experiment too.... something has to make them stay a little shorter and not so leggy.

What are YOU going to plant outside from the ye 'ole gesneriad collection???? Send a photo and we'll compare outdoor growing to indoor culture in a couple of months.

OOOOOH, It's Finally Time Again....

Ahh, finally time for the community gardening to begin. This ought to make someone wonder about my sanity, but .... come on, it's more fun this way. Last year I had more comments about why anyone would want to put "flowers" in with their boring rows of vegetables. Well, besides aesthetics, flowers help bring pollinators to the garden. This year after the gardens were tilled, I added 2 cu/ft of peat for its moisture and nutrient holding ability. Then came some 10-10-10 granulated fertilizer. I raked all that in and smoothed it out, after filling the planters. I am envisioning the pole beans on the trellises, the larger greens and chard to the back fence line.... the lettuces by the stepping stones.... I have some cilantro and parsely on the side along with some of that sweet Steveia. I hope to try a little lemonade this year sweetened with Steveia. There will be two heirloom tomatoes in the corners with some onions (I think). The small areas to the side will be for a short row of beans and the front will be filled with flowers. That ought to make everyone "happy".