Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: June 2012

It's all about zinnias and cosmos in the backyard. I threw out several kinds of seeds of both, so I'm not sure which these are.


The zinnias in the veggie garden are a larger size, 3-4 inches across. You can see an eggplant bloom and fruit in the background.

My sister's larkspur and wildflower patch in the back is looking all shades of lovely.

The volunteer sunflowers formed this natural arch a couple of weeks ago, and I've seen goldfinches feeding from it twice this week. Pretty cool.

Mexican heather is looking healthy and happy in the front yard.

Black Knight butterfly bush

Beach vitex

Firecracker fern

Gaura is tall and covered in blooms, but it's a little tough to photograph with its mass of thin stems.

Gaura against a backdrop of artemesia

Gregg's Mist (left) has been blooming steadily since April, and the firebush is covered in flame colored flowers.

Delicate yellow flowers of the watermelon vine

Not so delicate growth of the watermelon vine. There's a grapefruit-sized watermelon hiding in the blackie sweet potato vine...which might actually be a good thing, keeping it away from greedy birds and squirrels.

Trumpet vine

Bougainvillea

Mexican petunias

Celosia, potted where the purple kale used to be

And the fruit of the blooms...

And check out other gardens today at May Dreams Gardens.

The trouble with watermelons

So, in my last post I was very excited to break into this sugar baby watermelon, first from the veggie patch (or ever from my yard). It was in the appropriate 6-8 inches across range. The skin had gone from pale green with dark green stripes to an all-over dark green. There was a pale yellow spot where it rested on the ground. It made a nice thumping sound and was very heavy for its size. Imagine the disappointment at finding this (right). Smelled like a watermelon but absolutely no sweetness. Or color. I went ahead and picked the little guy on the above left because it was sitting right next to the front sidewalk, in plain sight of birds, squirrels, and people walking their dogs. There are other melons on the vine that have a better chance of making it to ripeness without being picked on. Cut it open and same deal. Guess I'll just try leaving the other ones on the vine a few days longer...sigh.

Scenes from the week

A watermelon! First one I've ever grown, it's the size of a large honeydew or canteloupe (sugar baby variety). Can't wait to test this out tonight...(this is the perfect side, but you can see here that someone already tried to test it).
I was moving the bird bath the other day and turned around to see a lesser goldfinch less than six feet away, nibbling on the rainbow chard. I had no idea that some birds eat greens! He was there and gone before I could grab a camera, so I grabbed the paintbrush instead. Bee enjoying cosmos in the afternoon sun.
Trying out cardinal vine on the trellis outside my shower window.

First time this tillandsia in my studio has bloomed. Not very showy, but it reminds me of a tiny closed parasol.

Most of the wildflowers at Walnut Creek are looking pretty shaggy up close, but from a distance, the huge drifts of horsemint are gorgeous.

Couldn't find this caterpillar in my butterfly ID guide, but it was a lovely tawny gold.

And I couldn't resist lining up the tomato varieties in rainbow order: black plum, gumdrop, cherry, yellow pear.

Jewel tones of summer

First watermelon's just over grapefruit size! Horn worm chomping on the angel's trumpet. One bite bandits! Those bad, bad squirrels...

This week in the garden

Pavonia is finally blooming!

Late larkspur from my sister's patch.

The lemon cucumber only produced one fruit before the vine mysteriously died. The skin was a little thick, but really good flavor.

Roasted eggplant, volunteer cherry tomatoes with some goat cheese & vinaigrette on quinoa.

Cosmos and zinnia patch beginning to bloom.

Beach vitex seems to like its new spot.

Grandpa Otts morning glory is a bit of a slow grower on the back fence, but put out a few blooms this week.

I thought the widow's tears (blue flowers) would be done by the time it got this hot, but they're aggressively spreading. Think it's time to start pulling them up. They do look pretty behind the cigar plant at the moment...