Heat

The heat returned today with a vengeance.  The five days stretch of gorgeous weather is over.  While it did get to the mid 90's today, the heat's pal, humidity has not yet arrived. 

The drive way bed is sarting to take off. It was planted a bit later than last year, but seems to have almost caught up growth wise.

'Purple Ruffles' basil, 'Spun Gold' marigolds, 'Tennessee Spice' pepper and 'Coastal Pride Orange' tomato.

'Siam Queen' and 'Purple Ruffles' basil.

'Coastal Pride Orange' tomato from seed sent by Granny.

Volunteer 'Sweet 16' cosmos, basil, marild, tomato, sweet pepper and 'Cherry Brandy' rudbeckia.

Close up of 'Sweet 16' cosmos.

Close up of 'Cherry Brandy' rudbeckia.

In the potager the tomatoes and bush beans are also growing fast.  The polebeans are now at the top of the poles and should start blooming soon.

The dayliles are now passed their peak.  Those in bloom are still lovely.

'Out in Style'

'Pink Intrigue'

'Janet Benz'

'Ebony Jewel'

'Arctic Snow'

I'm still working on some on going projects.  The pea seeds have mostly been harvested.  When the vines come out, I'll be putting in a row of pole beans to grow up the fence.  The front of this section will temporarily house daylilies and iris after dividing.  I wish I had a month off from work to redo all my beds.

Harvest Monday- June 25, 2012

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions.  Stop by and show off your harvest.

The first of the beets were ready this week.  The white beets were started under lights and transplanted into the garden.  The red were pre-sprouted and direct sown.

I roasted the beets and was amazed at how sweet the white are!  I'll be planting more white beets this fall.  The white ones do oxidize after being cut and the cut surface does turn a bit gray.





The rest of the harvest was lettuce.  The heat wave caused the bulk of the spring lettuce to bolt.  The exception is 'Gentilina'.  The loose heads just get bulkier and the texture is still incredibly crisp.

My two favorite varieties this year.  'Gentilina' backed by 'Ruby'.



This was the first year I've grown a butter head well!



Today in the Garden- June 24, 2012

Not much is going on.  The temperature has gone done ten degrees, but it is till in the low 90's.  I've been getting a little more planting done, but the bulk of my involvement has been watering. 

The tomatoes and beans are loving this weather and growing fast.

'Victor' tomatoes backed by pole beans.

The bush beans planted at the beginning of the month.



The lettuce in pool bed #2 has begun to bolt.  The three that I am letting got to seed look quite ornamental.

The bolting lettuce looks like Christmas trees.

The daylilies continue to delight.

'At First Blush'

'Ed Brown'

'Victorian Collar'

'Tuscawilla Blackout', this picture shows the true color.

'Avante Garde'

Clump of 'Tuscawilla Blackout' backed by 'Avante Garde'.

'Pearl Harbor'

There are other things blooming as well.

First sweet pea bloom, 'Villa Roma Pink/White'.

'Arizona Apricot' gaillardia.

'Arizona Sun' gaillardia.

'Peppermint' balsam.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year- Part 2

More of the daylilies that ere coming into their peak bloom.

"Huckleberry Candy

'Northern Fancy'

'Full Moon Magic'

'Luverne'

'Purely Exotic'

'Tuscawilla Blackout'

'Spacecoast Krinkles'

Diploid seedling.

'Baby Lemonade' and 'Innocent Blush'

'Baby Lemonade'

'Spacecoast Starburst'



The Most Wonderful Time of the Year- Daylily Peak Bloom

It is no secret that I love daylilies.  Right now they are coming into their peak bloom time.  Every day is a constant change of scenery as the old blooms close and new ones open.  Next year the show should be incredible as this year I'm going to divide them and redo the beds.

Here is a sampling, I'll be posting a lot more pictures this week.

'Little Mystic Moon'

'Huckleberry Candy' and 'Mayfair Morning'

'Regency Fortune'

'Spacecoast Perfect Angel'

'Spacecoast Child Star'

'Cheddar Cheese' the bloom is actually more orange in tone.

'Inherited Wealth'

'Pink Ambrosia'

'Blazing Flame'

'Diamond Tiara'



Harvest Monday- June 18, 2012

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions.  Stop by and see what others are harvesting.

I'm still harvesting large amounts of lettuce. 

I'm also starting to harvest some of the smaller shallots to use as scallions.

The green cabbage was removed and discarded.  There was so much bug damage that I did not think the heads would amount to much.  In it's place I decided to to see what I could create with all of the odd pieces of bamboo I have.  Here is the result, I planted some pole beans on one side and will plant a my cucumber seedlings on the other.

The daylily seedling that I showed last week opened its second flower.  Wow!  What a difference. The form is much improved, larger bloom size and clearer color.

The last view is late in the day, still looking good.

This week I'm going to have to bite the bullet and start to harvest those huge escarole heads.  I've been putting it off because it's going to take so long wash them and then figure out what to store them in.