Surprise!

Nearly every year my "Surprise Lilies" (Lycoris, "Naked Ladies", etc.) really do surprise me. The leave die off in the spring, but the flower stalks don't emerge until July. Mine are planted on the side of the house I visit the least often, so I often miss their emergence. This year I was still mulching in July (bad me!), so I saw them coming.

Beans

I braved the midday, record-setting heat to harvest a few veggies. Some cukes, the first of my beans, and one Sungold tomato.

The tomato went straight from vine to mouth, so no picture. It was tasty. I steamed the beans for a late lunch. The cukes will go in salads and tzatziki.

Cucumber

My veggie garden hasn't produced much this summer, but I have had a few cucumbers.

I planted three varieties this year: Marketmore (my tried-and-true) and Poinsett, both of which I started form seed; and one plant I got in a swap this spring. It was labeled white something-or-other, and I was instrigued that if might be white-skinned.

I picked the first two cucumbers last week. The "white" one is the larger, and the other is Poinsett. I picked a Marketmore a few days later, but no picture.

They are all yummy. I'd say it was a waste to plant the extra non-white cucumber, but that one vine is larger than all the others combined. I think it may be the one to keep me in cukes through the summer.

July 2011 Blooms - The Front Walk

Rudbeckia steal the show in the summer. Along my front walk, five varieties are blooming today.

Annual rudbeckia:

Perennial Rudbeckia:

Goldsturm, I think

Rudbecki triloba

Rudbeckia 'Henry Eilers'

Keeping them company, some other annuals I started from seed this year. I'm not very good with annuals, so these have been scrawny and slow to bloom. But, finally, I have:

Melampodium

Zinnia

 

And here's the whole thing:

For more July blooms, head on over to May Dreams Gardens, where Carol hosts Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.

Birthday Blooms

Thanks, M&M, for the pretty birthday flowers yesterday!

Water Lily

A few years ago I got a water lily in a plant swap. The lilypads were just what I needed to fill the little concrete fishless fishpond at the bottom of the terrace garden.

This post was going to be a question: Why aren't my lilypads laying on the surface? Some are, but most are standing straight up. Is this ok?

But as I took the picture above yesterday, so I could make my query/post, I saw something I'd never seen before:

A flower bud! Three years, and I finally have a flower.

Here are some pictures taken this morning:

So now this post is about showing off my first ever waterlily flower. But if you have any insight into the leaf questions, I'm still interested.