An August Day In The Garden

The coleus that I potted from pinched tops are
coming along nicely. I will
eventually put these by my front door.

Bloom on "William Shakespeare 2000" David Austin English rose.
It's growing right in the middle of the
zinnia patch.

Purple Fountain grass. I just love
when sun shines through
it in the mornings. Comes across
as golden shimmery lights.

I moved the decorative
bird house over here. The birds
have been eating on the sunflowers.

If you look closely, in the middle of the photo
is a tiny crepe myrtle growing. I took an offshoot
of the mother plant last fall from my old
house and kept it in the garage all winter.
 It was about an inch
high. I planted it in the cantaloupe patch
because I didn't know yet where I wanted to
put it permanently and I didn't want the mower to
get it. It is now 6 inches tall and has flower buds on it.
This variety is "Dynamite", a brilliant red.

Another shot of "Dynamite" 

Small purple flower on the liriope.

Here are some snapdragons I grew from seed.
I'm hoping they will bloom in the fall.

This morning's little harvest. The melon on the right
is "Charentais". This is the first one I have
been able to bring in the house to eat. I've thrown about 6 out to
the rabbits. The bugs have been getting
them just as soon as they are ripe, but not this one.
I got two little tiny bell peppers - hey it's hot here. I
guess you could call them "bite-size".  I
will mix this okra with yesterdays harvest and cook up
some fried okra tonight.

Are We Farmers Yet?

Two more cantaloupe this morning. These are
the Hale's Best Jumbo.
I also planted some Charentais Melon but the
first one that was ready had these little brown hard
shelled bugs on it and they ate right into it along with
ants. So, I am waiting on another one
to ripen. 

Okra in the cantaloupe/watermelon patch.

Watermelon

Okra - Clemson Spineless. It is real smooth
to the touch. We had a batch of 4 okra last
week. I made a pot of soup with it. Hopefully
this time I'll get more than that at one time.

Getting my fall pots ready - the coleus looks
pretty good despite the heat. I pinched
more tops to start this pot.

Happy Birthday to my sister today!

We Have Cantaloupe

Despite 100+ temperatures this little Encore azalea
managed one bloom for it's mid summer
bloom cycle.

This is a Janice Brown daylily seed pod. I've never tried
to grow daylilies from seed. If anyone has any tips on
harvesting the seeds and growing them, I would welcome the
advice.

I was out watering the okra this morning and discovered
 cantaloupes in the vines. There are about 6 of them in
varying stages of development.  I'm not
sure which variety this one is, as I planted two kinds
together - Hale's Best Jumbo and Charentais.

A baby watermelon - Crimson Sweet variety.

Another shot of the newly dug
hosta bed. Note the red coleus which I
started in pots a couple of weeks ago and the newly divided
 lambs ear. When I moved here I brought
one plant with me from my old house
and now I have about 10,
all from dividing them. My
grandson recently discovered the nice
soft texture of the leaves. 

Lambs ear, coleus and hosta.

Fireworks Purple Fountain Grass. 

Another shot of Fireworks Purple Fountain Grass

Hornworm

We think this is a tomato hornworm. I went out this morning and was
inspecting the cherry tomato plants that are
growing in pots next to my chair on the patio.
I didn't have my "reading" glasses on and I
thought this was a curled leaf. As I reached
to pick it off I realized it
wasn't a leaf.

Catnip with William Shakespeare 2000 English rose.
My cats are not interested in it.
We have had 100 degree temps the whole
month of June and no rain since the middle of May.

I love the bicolor zinnia.

This is the Lemonade Mix sunflower. See the seed packet
below. I haven't gotten any of the lighter shade ones.

The okra is coming along. It's not bothered by the heat.

I like the shape of the okra leaf. This is Clemson Spineless.

The cantaloupe are intermingling with the okra.
I'm not sure which one this is - I planted
two varieties. Hale's Best Jumbo and Charentais

I like the little tendril in this photo.

Photos of the seed packets.