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...

Front garden: Month Two

Happy two month anniversary new garden! Everything's growing so fast and is already at the size I was hoping for by the end of summer rather than the beginning. That's a first.

Here's the front yard to the left of the path at the beginning of April.

And now.

The burgundy hibiscus hasn't bloomed in a few weeks, but it's, uh, huge. Or rather, it's outgrowing the space I allowed it, but I suppose that's what happens with an impulse purchase that doesn't have spacing requirements on the tag. Gave it some organic hibiscus food a couple of weeks ago to get the blooming chemistry right, but no effect yet. The fig's still there, hiding behind the hibiscus, but it hasn't really grown in size. The Mexican feathergrasses that came in 4 inch pots have already caught up to the ones that came in gallon pots, though.

And to the right of the front path back in early April.

And now.

The firebush really came into its own in the past two weeks, and the watermelon vine on the left has decided to tie the veggie bed in with the landscape. More power to it!

Veggie bed in early April:

And now. (note to self: next time around, try training the tomatoes up because they are not pretty when they do their own thing!) Clockwise from the top left corner: bush beans, zinnias, black plum tomato, basil, watermelon, yellow pear tomato, more zinnia seedlings, eggplant, and shallots.

And here's the veggie bed from another angle in early May, before squash vine borers killed the zucchini.

And now.

Looking forward to what the next month brings...aside from scorching heat.