Never Say Die---Mystery Cactus

When we bought this house a few years ago there was a lonely cactus growing amongst the heavy weeds along the house. This little cactus keeps appearing year after year. It was even pulled out and tossed frivilously back on the ground. It managed to re-root itself and continue to thrive. I didn't even know that a cactus could be hardy in zone 6! See what I know? I have no idea what kind of cactus it. I never bothered to figure it out, but if you have any idea, let me know. It's one tough little plant that refuses to die. I'm glad though, because this little oddity has grown on me.

What Is This?---Mystery Skipper

Time to get out my butterfly ID book. I just snapped this picture of a beautiful, little skipper taking a break on an old, wilted, mildewy pumpkin leaf. A male Zabulon skipper, perhaps? I'll have to look it up and try to solve the mini-mystery tonight. Whatever it is, it sure is cute.

Black Swallowtail

I love looking outside and seeing butterflies. They are finally here in good numbers. Not as many as last season though. I guessing due to the wet and cool periods we've been through this season. This black swallowtail was just nectaring out back on some verbena bonariensis, my favorite addition to my garden this season. Unfortunately there are no signs of cats on the parsley, fennel, or asclepias yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Yesterday's Tomato Harvest

Back row and bottom layer- Opalkas

Middle Row- Sandul Moldovan, Cherokee Green, Sandul Moldovan

Front Three Tomatoes- They were supposed to be KBX seed, but they must have been cross-pollinated. They are not orange. They are red when ripe with great variation in shapes and sizes.

Iroquois Muskmelons

The Iroquois melons are doing quite well. They have suffered from powdery mildew due to our heavy rains and high humidity yet they are producing beautiful melons just the same. Here is a look at this vigorous melons vines. This is two plants with vines that are now around 8-10 feet long and growing.The vines have infiltrated areas designated for other plants. As you can see in the picture above, they are now climbing up and over my Autumn Joy sedum.
Here are the two largest melons on the plants. There are many other baby melons hiding among the foliage as well. I bet these plants would have been spectacular if I amended the soil before planting this season.

Winged Wonders

We have just endured a heatwave. The last five or six days have been in the high 80s to low 90s with high humidity. Is it ever going to end? You know it is going to be a tough day when you step outside first thing in the morning and it is already 78 degrees, extremely muggy, and humidity is at 84%. Gross. It is too oppressive for me to accomplish much in the garden, but winged wonders are loving it. They can't seem to resist this Pink Delight butterfly bush.

Muskmelon and Watermelon

Iroquois muskmelons---
There are two large ones in the top picture. One melon on the lower left and one that is difficult to see in the upper right. Here is a closeup of one of these melons.

Bush Sugar Baby watermelons. There are three in this photo. Two sitting on the pavers and the largest one on the middle right amongst the foliage. There could easily be more than three watermelons, but I didn't move the vines around to take a closer look.

Square Foot Garden Expansion

I have now expanded my 3' x 3' square foot garden beds from three beds to five last weekend. Four will be used for tomatoes next year. The fifth will be for garlic, onions, and celery.

Christmas in August

What a beautiful morning. As I walked onto the back porch to take in some cool morning air I was greeted with a delightful sight. A female ruby throated hummingbird sipping nectar from my Yvonne's salvia plant in the backyard. Soon after my Pink Delight butterfly bush was decorated with an assortment of butterflies. It was like a Christmas tree alive with winged wonders. One monarch. One Tiger Swallowtail. One Black Swallowtail (photo on right). Like Christmas during a heatwave. It sure did feel like a gift.

Tomatoes

Back row: Two Cherokee Greens, Black Krim; Front row: Opalkas

Overall impressions of each as of this point:

Cherokee Green- Excellent flavor. Good production. Weighing in between 6 and 12.2 oz., little if any cracking, held flavor despite all the heavy rain this season. This will be back in the garden next year. In fact, I plan on planting two and trying Cherokee Purple as well.

Black Krim- Production is high. Flavor...can't say. I have yet to get one that didn't severely catface or crack before starting to blush. I do think that this would be a great tomato in a drier season. Fruits have weighed between 3 and 13 oz. Most likely will not be back next season due to susceptibility to catfacing and cracking.

Opalka- Production is good. I think I would have had more tomatoes if I amended my soil better before planting this season though. Overall it is a healthy plant. This is a great tomato to use for salsa. Easy to dice without turning to mush. It has very little juice and lots of meat that tastes very good. This will make a great sauce tomato as well. These will definitely be back again next season.