Coneflowers look amazing! I've tried several times to grow them, and I think they just don't like it here. Too hot, not enough soil...
I put in one little zinnia though, and it's grown into a happy orange-flowered mound. The butterflies like it. And I've got a rosemary plant that's trying to be a shrubbery. They like the heat-- might as well be cacti.
And I've picked fourteen pumpkins! I'm going to be cooking and freezing a bunch of them, because the caterpillars have been gnawing at them, and the compromised rind means they won't keep all that long (a good one can sit on the shelf over a year and still be good!). Have already eaten three, and they are sooo good. There are at least a couple that seem to have resisted the bugs pretty well, and also gotten fairly large-- those are the ones I'll be saving seeds from, for next year. This year's were grown from my 2-years-ago saved seeds-- it'll be my first attempt at basic selective breeding and I'm so excited! The bugs got in of course, and they have eaten most of the leaves off the vines-- it's been upper nineties and low 100s for a few weeks, and it weakens everything. But most of the pumpkins ripened anyway, and some of the vines are still hanging in there, so some of the still-green ones may make it, if they can survive until the heat breaks.
Since this is one of the mostly-dead times of year for gardening, I'm eagerly planning what to plant for the second growing season, starting next month :)
In the Garden
I put in one little zinnia though, and it's grown into a happy orange-flowered mound. The butterflies like it. And I've got a rosemary plant that's trying to be a shrubbery. They like the heat-- might as well be cacti.
And I've picked fourteen pumpkins! I'm going to be cooking and freezing a bunch of them, because the caterpillars have been gnawing at them, and the compromised rind means they won't keep all that long (a good one can sit on the shelf over a year and still be good!). Have already eaten three, and they are sooo good. There are at least a couple that seem to have resisted the bugs pretty well, and also gotten fairly large-- those are the ones I'll be saving seeds from, for next year. This year's were grown from my 2-years-ago saved seeds-- it'll be my first attempt at basic selective breeding and I'm so excited! The bugs got in of course, and they have eaten most of the leaves off the vines-- it's been upper nineties and low 100s for a few weeks, and it weakens everything. But most of the pumpkins ripened anyway, and some of the vines are still hanging in there, so some of the still-green ones may make it, if they can survive until the heat breaks.
Since this is one of the mostly-dead times of year for gardening, I'm eagerly planning what to plant for the second growing season, starting next month :)