How is your garden looking today?

We will keep watching for it. Meanwhile, let's get this thread back on track.

Eoe, have you tried the pepper spray yet? It will be interesting to find out if it did the trick.

Last year, we had a few tomato worms. One day, a big bird (we oldsters can't remember what kind of bird it was) was on one of the tomato plants. I walked over there, worried that it might eat up all the tomatoes. He flew into the nearby tree and watched my every move with a slightly sardonic look. As soon as I walked away, he flew back to the tomato plant, plucked a huge tomato worm off a leaf and flew away, looking at me askance, with one of those " gads, another stupid human" looks.

I've always had to pull the hornworms off myself.

The few little tomatoes that are left on my plants are up high and just now coming in. All of the energy was going into the big ones that the critters took. My fear at this point is that they'll go after my eggplants and cucumbers but so far they haven't touched them. I'll water tomorrow and then spray.

Do you have a cat? We do, and I haven't seen a squirrel, a rabbit, or even a field mouse in months, except for the uneaten pieces...

I need to vent for a few minutes - I just returned from vacation last evening and while I was gone a friend of mine came to my home to take care of my cat and water my plants. Yes, WATER my plants. I was very sad last evening when I returned home to find very dry, brown, and curled leaf tomato plants. Suffice to say, my garden is not looking that great at the moment. I know that she was doing me a favor by looking after my place but I really only asked her to do 2 things for me. Feed the cat and water the vegetables. I'm sure they will spring back to life but in the meantime they will need a lot of TLC.

Today I should get a real treat - the first green beans of the year. I grow Blue Lake pole beans - they are the best, nothing else comes close. I also grow yellow wax bush beans, but they're mostly for color - not as tasty.

Back patio-ette



Phlox



verbena in foreground

my garden is hot and tired, the penstemon are happy as are the coreopsis The salvia seem to be enjoying a second season, the cosmos are delighted. ajuga and ice plants are creeping out and the roses may bloom again.

Lovely, McTag, a perfect English garden.

Dys, we have had the advantage? of a very very wet summer here. The flowers are late, but at least they're well-watered.
I daresay Albuq is a good deal drier, almost desert conditions?

Thank you kindly btw, lady Diane. I spent some time today tidying the place up, mowing and edging the lawns , and suchlike.

My garden's a bloody disgrace. All overgrown and rubbly.

my eye got into a fight with a lavender bush---the bush won
Early Sunday morning, my eye got into a fight with a lavender bush---the bush won.

As I bent down to pick up the watering hose, a dead twig with a very sharp tip on the bush poked my left eyeball. OUCH!

If anything is going to happen to me it will be on a Saturday or Sunday when the hospital clinics are closed. Instead of going to the emergency room, I waited until Monday morning to get an appointment with my eye doctor. When I awoke Monday morning, I couldn't open my left eye because it was pasted shut from the sticky liquid my eye was producing. My vision was OK so I could drive to the clinic.

The doctor examined my eye, said I had a nasty abrasion but no damage to the cornea, etc. He put me on antibiotic eye drops three times a day for a week. The doctor said plant material is very bad re eyeball abrasion.

Tuesday morning, I woke up with an unstuck eye, no pain, and good vision.

Damn lavender bush is not going to be long for this world.

BBB

How is my garden looking today?

Mud, scaffolding and stacks of bricks. Did I mention mud?

Glad your eye is better, BBB! Eek, and lavender seems so sweet.

Osso


Sweet only as long as it branches are alive. The dead twigs can be deadly sharp.

BBB

Mud... mud... mud. If it's clay, maybe you can make some more bricks.

Solution: Wear goggles or glasses when gardening. Eye protection is key. Why ban the bush? Geesh.

cjhsa


I know you don't approve of anything I do or post, but the bush has blocked the water faucet location has grown out of control due to volunteers, one of the bad things about planting lavender. It spreads faster than weeds.

BBB

Re: cjhsa


??? I simply offered a solution. This is A2K.

June 20th, 2005:


Since this photo, the pineapple mint went wild and I've been pulling it out ever since. I had some iris under the magnolia that was all foliage (the wrong look) and few flowers. I just took out the iris and moved the lady's mantle to the spot under the magnolia to free up space for sun-loving plants I have bought.

I put in 3 harvest moon echinacea and 3 geum (1 fireball, 2 borisii). I split them up into two groups, one with 2 echinacea and 1 geum, an one with 1 echinacea and 2 geum. I put in a red husker penstemon with two creeping thymes and a small burgundy sedum. I fell in love with a dwarf black mondo grass when I saw it in bloom. Why didn't anyone tell me about their flowers! I tucked it between the three japanese painted ferns. I moved the nasturtions around (I bought more this year). And then mulched the whole thing in old, dark mulch. The itea had taken a bit of a hit last winter, but they are withstanding very little watering and high heat well. The boys at the blue house are allowing me to use their water to water the bed so I don't have to truck it from home. This makes the endeavor a 4-house project!

From the driveway/tree end:


From the apartment building end:


Some close ups:

It's raining, actually raining. A steady if not drenching rain. But it is raining, First time in weeks.