Phlox

Lavaterra

Zinnias

Sunflowers

Came home after being away only two days and my gardens have definitely changed. This is what's growing. No morning glories yet, and something is eating the pumpkins (trouble with pollinating and after I personally pollinate them, something eats them. Lucky if I end up with two pumpkins this year.) Oh well. There's a bunny out there who is well fed.

Botanical garden - Sarasota

On Gardening

I wrote a nice post and then I hit the "back" key and lost the whole thing. Ugh. Today is the hottest day of the year. It feels like I'm sitting in a refrigerator that's been placed inside an oven. On the upside, I found a cucumber in my garden today. Most gardeners probably don't revel in such minor accomplishments but for me, the idea that I can grow food never ceases to astonish me. Especially since last year I managed to grow a huge crop of weeds peppered with very few sickly looking tomatoes. This year I vowed to do better and I have been. I've been watering almost every day and I weed on Saturday mornings. Things are actually growing. I'm going to have tons of pumpkins and tomatoes and next week I'll be picking green beens. Too cool for words.

I should state here that my grass is another story. Brown and dead it mocks me. My neighbors look upon my yard with a brutal head shake. Do I care, no, not so much. If it were up to me, I'd plant food and flowers everywhere. I don't really get the grass thing.

I measure my years in the things I do each year that I've never done before. This year, so far, I made jam. It is the best jam ever and it was so easy. I have seven jars in my freezer. I also just got back from TN, but I don't count going new places. It seems to me this is a separate thing. Also, since I was working I didn't get to see much, but I did confirm that I'd like to go back.

Gardening knowledge: plant pumpkins as early as possible. Be ruthless about thinning your plants. They won't grow if there are too many. (This is my only advice right now)