I've never had success with sunflowers before.....UNTIL NOW!!!! They are loving this heat.
I planted just a small area, approximately 2 square feet of space, because I didn't expect much. Squirrels, birds, or underwatering usually due them in before they get a chance to sprout. This year, with a bit of wet Spring weather at just the right time, they found their time to shine. I wish I knew the variety. I know it's a dwarf. My computer got a virus, and everything was deleted. I lost all my old photos and gardening logs for the last two years. This is why I need to start relying on paper records again....just in case. I'm glad I at least have this journal.
A Golden Acre head of cabbage that I harvested last week. It made a delicious sweet and sour slaw.Three Spirit pumpkins at different maturities. A hybrid, bush pumpkin that is doing well despite the extreme, unrelenting heatwave.There's no way that this one is lasting until Halloween, so I'll be freezing some pumpkin puree sometime soon. I don't regret planting early. I had poor results in past season due to SVBs. This season I have at least 4 pumpkins on this plant. No SVBs. I hope I didn't just jinx myself. Maybe I'll get lucky enough to have one still around for Halloween.Mucho Nacho jalapeno peppers. Mexican, anyone?

Spirit pumpkin. I've never had one so healthy, so long. SVBs have always been a huge problem. This is a more compact cultivar.Golden Acre cabbage starting to form a head.Florence fennel. A volunteer. Note the black swallowtail caterpillar in the upper portion. He's already about an inch and a half long!
One of my three Sungold tomatoes started blossoming a few days ago. I can't wait for these tasty nuggets!
Sweet Basil planted last season. It overwintered and is now starting to flower. It came in a gift herb kit. I never harvested any of it, so I'm hoping the beneficials will like it. That's why it's still hanging around. Peas are planted on both sides of it. You can see my Spirit Pumpkin in the back left.
Below are my tomatoes, a Spirit pumpkin in the near-middle, Golden Acre cabbage in front of that, onions in the back right, peas lining the lower of the picture.
The birdhouse I built a few weeks ago has found its first resident. A lovely pair of wrens! You can see one on the tomato cage holding nesting material.
Ellagance Purple lavender that I started from seed last season. Smells lovely.
Jacob Kline monarda. Five feet tall already!!! My Endless Summer hydrangea is blooming as well.
Rosy Returns daylily.
Flamenco Torch Lily. More of a light apricot than the orange I expected. Perhaps because it is so shaded by the monarda.

Scarlet Oklahoma zinnia are in bloom. A treat planted for both butterflies (nectar), bees (pollen), birds (seeds), and hummingbirds (nectar).Blueray blueberry plant. In it's second season from Jungseed. It came as an overpriced, small twig. Now I will only buy my blueberries from nurseries/garden centers. For the same price, I can get a large plant. Anyway....The three blueberries I planted from them were beat down a bit by the severe drought last season, but all three sprung back nicely. Earliglow strawberries and planted underneath as an edible ground cover. Both of my Salad Bush cucumbers are flowering. Here is one on the left. These are my favorite variety. The vines only reach 3 feet long, but they are very heavy produces of full-sized cukes. The taste is great as well, and my hubby's favorite trait... they're not too seedy. On the right is a Golden Acre cabbage. These grow quickly and will be fully grown and harvested well before the cucumber needs to use the space.Red Zeppelin and Copra onions from Dixondale Farms. I planted these same varieties from them last season and they turned out to be excellent storage onions. I used up the last of them in January, so this season I planted twice as much.Mixed varieties of shelling peas. I definitely need to quadruple the amount I plant next season. My three year old daughter and I can't get enough!Reliance grape vine. Planted last Spring. It is a monster. Even after havy late winter pruning. I really need to summer prune it a bit to keep it more manageable. I will also replace the 6 foot supports with 8 foot ones early next season.The dwarf Stanley plum tree that I got from Starks last fall has been leafing and branching out well. I'm not sure why, but the leaves are turning red. I found two white leafhoppers (?) on the one leaf. Anybody have a guess as to why the leaves suddenly turned red? We did just go through a 3 day heatwave with high humidity and temperatures in the 90s. Your thoughts???

Bumblebee on bolting Golden Acre cabbage flowers.My bed of Yukon Gold and Red Norland potatoes. There are two Mucho Nacho jalapeno and two Fat N' Sassy pepper plants in the bed. Yesterday I added more straw mulch around the growing potatoes to keep them from turning green. Then I added even more straw around the strawberry plants to keep the berries away from the soil.
I purchased seed for Common Milkweed. Asclepias syriaca. Only one of them germinated. I hope it not only survives, but thrives and multiplies.Nepeta Walkers Low. It may be low but it sure isn't petite. This ONE plant that I added last summer is at least 4 feet wide. This is after I used a shovel to slice off a large chunk to plant out front. The bumblebees are absolutely loving it!Yesterday I placed some clothespins on the dwarf fruit trees I planted in the fall. It may not be attractive, but it will help with maintaining wide angles for the scaffolds. This is my dwarf Golden Delicious apple tree.I found apple aphid clusters on the new foliage of this apple tree. Their buddy, an ant, was hanging out with them. I didn't want to dig out the hose and haul it around the house to blast them off with water. I couldn't find my spray bottle either. What to do? Improvise. My kids' squirt guns came in handy. Not as good as a hose, but it slowly worked.

Today's Garden

Post number 2 of the morning.
Unknown iris.Atropurpurea barberry in bloom.Magnifica honeysuckle just starting to bloom. I'm hoping the hummers will find it soon! Reliance grape leafing out.
Scarlet Nantes carrot seedlings. I was worried that my first sowing might not be germinating, so I bought fresh, 20 cent Walmart seed. Now I have a lot of thinning to do.
Stella de Oro daylilies, Green Spice heuchera, Little Lanterns columbine (tucked in behind the heuchera).Three Golden Acre cabbage overwintered in my raised bed without protection. I was wondering if they were going to produce a good head since the spring growth has been so good. Turns out this one is bolting. Am I disappointed? No way. Free seed!

Spring Has Sprung!

Things are starting to show signs of life again. Here is a Heritage raspberry plant that was added last season. Off to the right is a Caroline raspberry added last fall that I ordered from Stark Bros. So far those are still dormant...I hope.I planted peas back on the 6th of March. They are finally starting to come up. I was really worried about these. Especially after seeing my resident mockingbird eating away at the peas on one very cold, frosty morning.
Below is my Frances Williams hosta. The first hosta to emerge this season.
Chives that I left out in this pot, unprotected, all winter. They didn't miss a beat.
My biggest disappointment. I really wanted this one to work out. :( I ordered this Black and Blue salvia last season. It got off to a slow start and then took off. It was absolutely gorgeous. The hummingbirds and bumble bees loved it too. I have a bad feeling about its survival. We're right on the border of hardiness. Although it was well mulched......
Hyacinths are in full bloom right now.
A Golden Acre cabbage that I planted last fall. I planted it too late and it didn't have time to produce a head. It survived unprotected in one of my raised beds...along with two others. I have doubts that it will produce a head of cabbage, but I wouldn't mind some free seed for next season from it.
German Extra Hardy and Musik garlic that was planted in mid-October. It is off to a great start. Very strong and healthy.
I just planted my onion plants from Dixondale Farms. Red Zeppelin and Copra again this season. They stored well into January...when I ran out. This time I ordered a full bunch of each. The only downside about growing onions is that the squirrels like to pull them out, so I have to replant quite a few of them each season. They tug them out. I put them back in.
Karl Rosenfeld peony coming up.
My Alberta Spruce appears happy. It is just starting to put on some new growth. That's a good sign.
One of my absolute favorite spring bulbs. My Tete-a-Tete daffodils. The cutest miniature flowers I have ever seen.

2010 Garden Review Part II

2010 REVIEW
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BIGGEST HITS
Salad Bush Hybrid Cucumber - Excellent production and flavor. A must-have, compact cucumber. Vine are about 3’ long. Has yet to disappoint me like other varieties. Canned TONS of pickles using these (not picklers) and they were excellent. Maintained a pleasing texture and crispiness with canning. Seed is a bit pricier and has to be ordered online, but it will definitely be returning next season.
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Reliance Grape- Newly planted in the beginning of the season. Very vigorous, disease resistant. Very happy with its growth so far.
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Apache Blackberry- I planted one in the beginning of the season. It is an upright variety, healthy, and growing vigorously. Branches topped at around 4 feet to encourage laterals. Fruits on previous years growth.
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Red Norland potato- Good production and flavor in container. Beautiful color. Will be back.
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Russet Burbank potato- Very large potatoes in ground. Good flavor and great production. Rough skin. Will be replaced with Yukons.
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Yukon Gold potato- Good production and flavor in containers. Will be the staple potato here next season. Love it!
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Golden Acre Cabbage- Small cabbage that produces quickly. Very easy to grow with great flavor. Successful in Spring and Fall. Will be back.
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Lady Emma Hamilton rose- An excellent David Austin, disease resistant shrub rose. I don’t spray, so this is important. The heavy humidity didn’t take a toll until very late in the season. A light spotting of black spot. No big deal. New foliage is a gorgeous burgundy which sets of the deep apricot-colored blooms. A stunning rose. Branches form a nicely rounded shape. Heavy bloomer. Strong, citrus scent. Love it!
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Scarlet Nantes carrots- I could place these in either category. Last year these were fantastic. Sweet, large, they froze well. A huge hit. This year, well…black swallowtail butterflies used the to lay their eggs on. They would devour all of the young, supple foliage. I would bring them indoors and raise the cats…picking off the young foliage myself to feed them. Although the plants kept pumping out fresh leaves, it took a huge toll on the size of the carrot. Would I have changed a thing? Not for a second. We may not be eating homegrown carrots this winter, but we have lots of great memories of the butterflies we raised and released.
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Sterling onion- from Dixondale Farms. Large, white onion. Storing well so far. Only a few
Began to spoil. Great flavor.
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Red Zeppelin onion- from Dixondale Farms- still storing well, very strong flavor. Lovely red rings.
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Copra onion- from Dixondale Farms, yellow, long storer, small size, but weather was quite dry.
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BIGGEST MISSES - A large part of these varieties landing in the “misses” list was due to the weather. Record heat. Drought. High humidity. Not exactly a recipe for success. Another huge factor was the soil mix that was filling the raised beds. I used Mel’s Mix. A combination of 1/3 peat, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. The peat portion was detrimental to many of my plants because it refused to stay moist or remoisten despite repetitive, deep waterings. My recommendation. DON’T USE MEL’S MIX. Half of the soil in these beds will be removed and mixed into spots with heavy clay soil. The other half will stay in the beds and get mixed with my existing clay soil to help it retain water and nutrients better. With that said, here were the biggest misses:
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Spirit Hybrid Pumpkins - All three plants succumbed to borers early in the season. Willing to try this shorter-vined pumpkin one more time next season.
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Black Beauty Squash- I must be the only one that has yet to grow a successful squash. Of the two I planted, one was eaten by rabbits. The other….just barely hung onto life until the drought hit. Then died. Not willing to save space and try it again. I like zucchini bread, but not that much. I’ll just ask for one or two from my in-laws. They can’t get rid of their fast enough.
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Serendipity Corn- Bicolor, synergistic. Started out so impressive, but it was impossible to get the peat in Mel’s mix within the raised bed to moisten. Would try again. The few ears produced were filled out well with excellent flavor.

Summer Cabbage

I few months ago I planted one early-season, heirloom Golden Acre cabbage plant. The seed purchase was an impulse buy. One of those 20 cent packets sold at Walmart. Knowing that I should have planted it in early Spring....not late Spring....I didn't expect much. It was more of just an experiment. Turns out that this cabbage did incredibly well in the high heat, humidity, and long periods of drought. Not sure how, but I'm amazed. I can only imagine how well it would have done if I watered it more. This was my first attempt at growing cabbage, and I will definitely be growing it again next season. This is going to make a nice side of sweet and sour cabbage for lunch tomorrow!