Saturday, July 13, 2013

A Couple High (and Low) Spots of the Garden

I took a quick tour through the garden yesterday.  Here are some pictures to share and help me chronicle this unusual growing season.


The very first blossom on my bush zinnias.  They (usually) have a profusion of flowers and hold far into the fall.


I think the turnips found some steroids this year.  They are on the right side of this bed and the greens are two feet tall!  A four-foot wide trellis of Sensation Cosmos is in the center and some Forono beets on the far side.


The morning glories have finally stretched tall enough to start climbing up the tepee trellis.  Carrots on either side.


My green/red peppers just can't seem to take off this year.  They're spindly and still not very healthy looking.



This is what should be a 16 foot long row of green beans.  The first planting yielded very poor germination so I went back over the row and stuck in more seeds in the bare spots.  They didn't seem to take well either.  I've been sticking bean seeds into every nook and cranny I can find available in the garden . . . and those seem to be doing okay.  I'm crossing fingers I'll get enough green beans some how, some way yet this year.


This is my main stand of corn.  It has really shot up in the last week.  It wasn't even knee-high on the 4th of July.  I can hardly believe it's almost two feet tall now.


I planted a new cosmos this year . . . Rubenza.  All red, red, red flowers and this is the first one to pop out.  I'm so eager for the plants to become big and bushy covered with these gorgeous flowers.

I snapped a picture of golf ball sized (but very green) cherry tomatoes, too, but the picture turned out too fuzzy.  The plants are Washington Cherry tomatoes and have always been prolific producing LARGE cherry tomatoes for me.

We had a soaking rain last night.  Now warmth and humidity today so I'm expecting the garden is doing some more growing as we speak.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

11 comments:

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

I had to laugh when you mentioned your turnips found steroids, lol...... my Swiss Chard and Beets are the same way.

It's been very dry here for about 1 1/2 weeks, were expecting some rain late this evening into tomorrow. We really need this rain.

The weekend is going really good, were piddlin' around the house and catching up on our sleep when we can :-)

Homesteading wife said...

It must not be a good year for peppers. Mine are slow growing and everyone else I've talked to (and blogs I follow) are experiencing the same.

Tombstone Livestock said...

It has been a strange year, I was going back thru photos looking at flowers 2 years ago, vs now ..... this year has been a real struggle for some.

Have a good weekend, enjoy all your company.

tpals said...

I had two entire rows that didn't sprout this year...except for one carrot and one cosmos. Sad. Cucumbers may be my saving. :)

HeatherD76 said...

My peppers are having issues too. I even gave them more fertilizer because they looked like they were having a nitrogen issue. They are greener and growing more leaves, but they are still small plants.

I also have been having issues with my beans, but my problem is because of a ground hog seems to love them just as much as me and has ate two plantings of them. We did manage to catch her two young ones that decided that our butternut squash plants were yummy. They have since been moved to a much nicer spot very far away from ours. hehe

Sparkless said...

Our peppers look about the same as yours do. There are peppers on them but the plants don't look that healthy. Everything else looks wonderful in your garden.

Sue said...

My gosh, your corn looks great. I wish I had had some better germination on mine....it's growing now, but 95% never showed up to the party. My second planting of beans was a bust as well.
Love the zinnias--aren't they so bright and cheery! And I laughed when you said about the greens on the turnips---my kohlrabi are doing that this year. I must have put on a bit too much of the "doo"--they got a good ol' zap of that nitrogen!
Your garden is coming along nicely despite the sloooooooooow start. Most of my beds are empty. I've given up for this year. Even my "cool weather" crops aren't doing worth a ding-dong because we get small bursts of HOT weather in between. No one is happy. Ah, Ma Nature is a tough old bird this year!
:D
Oh dear--I wrote a novel again!
Sorry...

Anonymous said...

Your zinnia is pretty. The landlord's wife gave me some starts, but they all died with the rain we have had. I am praying the last few days of soaking rain is just what my seeds in the garden needed to get a good start.

Katidids said...

Peppers...I don't think many are having success with them this year. Your zinnia's are beautiful. My marigolds lived but only the zinnias I potted.
Gardening sure is like a game of craps. Do you plant kohlrabi? I had it for the first time this summer and want to get some in soon

DFW said...

Your garden looks great! And yes, those turnips do indeed look like they have had a boost of some
sort.

Leigh said...

Looks gorgeous! You've obviously been busy keeping everything neat and trim! I've not seen those dark red cosmos, very pretty. I have some bright orange ones and love those. Zinnias too. And I hope your corn gets busy and makes corn!