Wednesday, October 6, 2010

After weeks of no blossoms during the drought, my roses are finally pumping out the blossoms. Here is my Jubilee Celebration rose with a strong citrus scent. Interestingly, the smaller flower has a strong tea scent. I've never experienced that with roses on the same bush before.Sparkle, Fort Laramie, and Sequoia strawberry plants starting to fill in their new raised bed.From a packet of mixed gourd seeds. This gourd has been growing up and back down my huge American Holly tree. It is approximately a foot long and 5 inches wide. The vine is about 30-40 feet long. This is one of the small ones hanging from the tree. It must have fallen from at least 10 feet up onto concrete hard, dry clay soil and stayed intact. Luckily no one was under it when it fell.
Autumn Joy sedum and a mum getting ready to put on its fall show.
Two of my mystery reblooming irises putting on a stunning show as everything else is fading out.

3 comments:

  1. I grew some gourds this summer but when I went to dry them they shriveled up. Do you leave yours on the vine to dry? I think I must have picked mine too soon.

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  2. This gourd fell off during a wind storm, but is still holding up well on top of my tv. All the rest are still on the vine in the holly tree.

    I thought the vine would have died back by now, but it seems to be thriving in the cooler temperatures. It put out lots of new green growth and lots of blossoms. The nights are getting into the mid-30s this weekend, so I don't expect them to last much longer. That will give me the chance to pull the vine out of the holly and see the rest of the gourds up close.

    I did have some small gourds that I left out on the porch to cure. They held up well. Unfortunately I left a little pumpkin on the vine too long and it got soft and shriveled up.

    I think that you're supposed to harvest gourds when the tendril on the top turns brown and the outside is tough when tested with a fingernail. Don't take my word for it. It might depend on what type of gourd you are growing. I haven't grown enough to know for sure.

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