Monday, August 15, 2011

August 2011 Blooms - Surprises

August has become a month of surprises! Here are some in the garden:

Larkspur I was so excited that the larkspur I planted last year finally bloomed in June. But I was really surprised to see repeat blooms in August!
Larkspur

Cosmos Last year I started some cosmos from seed, and planted them in the lower front bed, where they did absolutely nothing. Oh, well, not much likes that scorching hot space. So I was quite surprised to see one cosmos plant growing - and blooming - this summer. How did this annual, that never flowered last year, so never made seeds, come back and flower this year? So pretty.
Picotee Cosmos

Lycoris I wasn't surprised by my surprise lilies this year. Or so I thought. But I wasn't expecting a second round of blooms, from later-sprouting flower stalks. Got me!
Lycoris

Also blooming this August: Zinnia, Crape Myrtle, and Four O'Clocks.
Zinnia
Crape Myrtle
self-seeded Four O'Clocks

That's all I have to show for August.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Sneak Some Zucchini Here

According to Wellcat.com, today, Aug 8, is "Sneak Some Zucchini onto your Neighbor's Porch" Day.

Apparently, by the second week of August, most zucchini growers are so sick of the stuff they must resort to underhanded techniques to rid themselves of the excess. Well, you successful zucchini growers are welcome to leave all your unwanted squash on my porch, no sneakiness necessary.

This porch needs zucchini!

Why? Because my squash plants fell victim to the squash vine borers this year, same as last year. I started with four plants, pulled out the worst two about a month ago, and thought the remaining two might be able to make a go of it. They produced flowers, but had no energy left to actually make squash. They were just trying to stay alive. The plants (leaves) looked healthy, until one looked closer at the stems to see: emptiness.

A few days ago I went out to pull the remaining two squash plants. When I got to the garden I saw this:
New sprouts at the base of the plant, presumably below the borer damage. Smart plants! (But why didn't they do this a month ago?) So I cut off the plants above the new growth. We'll see what happens.


There's already a male flower bud on one of the new plants, but I'm a long way from squash. So leave some zucchini on my porch, would ya?

Update:  my reborn zucchini went kaput.  And no one left any squash on my porch.  Boo.