Vegetable Garden - July 23, 2012

Despite sever drought conditions, the garden is doing fairly well.  I know that it would be doing much better if I watered it every night, but with recommended water restrictions, I know that it doesn't make sense for me to risk running our well dry to water the garden.  All I can do is keep my fingers crossed that things get better.  And be thankful that the lack of rain doesn't effect my income.  And of course, I am praying for all the farmers who are going to be tragically affected by this.

So, here is the status of the garden veggies.  Onions and carrots are doing pretty well, the few carrots that were accidentally pulled while weeding yesterday are a little smaller than usual at this time of year, but not dramatically smaller.  Zucchini are a little disappointing so far, there are tons of flowers every day, but no zucchini yet.  Tomatoes have lots of blossoms and lots of fruit.  Unfortunately the romas are already showing signs of blossom end rot.  The peppers plants have lots of little peppers which are growing very quickly.  Lettuce, swiss chard, kale and beets are very slow.  As are the English cucumbers.  The other two kind of cucumbers are flowering like crazy and have a few tiny cucumbers.  Potatoes are covered in blossoms and I can see the ground starting to push up at the base of the plants.  Looking like it might be a good year for potatoes!

Onions and carrots.                                     Zucchini and tomatoes.

Cucumbers.                                                Peppers.

     Peppers and Beets.                                 Lettuce, swiss chard and kale.

What are these little ball things on my potatoes?  I have seen them on potatoes before, but don't know what they are or why they are there.

Really hoping that these little guys start ripening before they are all consumed by blossom end rot.

The potato jungle!  They are growing like crazy!

Flower Gardens - July 21, 2012

Everything is so very dry.  We haven't had any significant rain fall in over a month.  The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has declared a level 2 drought, which means water restrictions of 20%.  For me, that means that I can't water my flowers and gardens and it is really starting to take it's toll on my flower gardens.

 

Glardia is starting to die, so far, just this one piece, hopefully the rest will survive.

Lamb's Ears are turning brown and drying out.

Echinachea is looking very wilted, although it is still trying to bloom.

Although most things could still be saved if we were to get some rain, I think this astilbe is done.

Liatris is doing well.

Glardia always does well and brightens up the garden!

Daylilies are doing great, expect for the mauve one that hasn't had any blossoms or even buds.  I moved it last fall and I don't think it gets enough sunlight in it's current home.

Hostas are flowering like crazy!

Not sure if it is the heat and lack of moisture, but this is what my beebalm blossoms look like this year.  

Red and purple phlox are blooming, white isn't open yet.  I can only assume that the faded colour of the red one is due to lack of moisture.

Echinacea flowers.

Pink Tango lilies.

And the bright spot of this week in the flower garden was my star gazer lily.  They are my favorite lily and my favorite flower.  And they are close to the back door, so I can see them and smell them every time I go outside. 

Flowers - July 8, 2012

The flower beds, much like the garden are experience an invasion of weeds that I battle a little bit at time, crossing my fingers that I can keep them from taking over.  They are also suffering a little bit from the lack of rain, but most will survive without much trouble.

As always, here are some picture of my pretties!

The first lily of the year.  (More to come, probably in a post of their own because I love lilies so much!)

Morning glories . . . even one with a bee having a snack!

First Daylily!

Cone Flower (echinacea) buds.

Liattrice. 

Astilbe.

First Tango Asiatic Lily.

Fist Cancun Asiatic Lily.

The progression of Allium Flowers.

Galardia. 

Galardia . . . even after the petals are gone they look cool!

Hosta Flower.

The Vegetable Garden - July 8, 2012

The vegetable garden is doing quite well considering that the weeds are trying to take over.  So far, I am winning the battle, but only time will tell who wins the war.  Another challenge this year is a huge lack of rain.  It is only the first week of July and I am already having to put the sprinklers on the garden ever night, hoping that it will be enough.  The final challenge that has reared it's head since I last posted is woolly aphids on the potatoes.  But I will do a separate post on these little critters.

Take a look at how things are growing!

Zucchini flowers and a baby zucchini!

There are lots of tomato flowers and every plant has little tomatoes!

Pepper flowers and a jalapeno pepper!  No sweet peppers yet, but they were later to start flowering.

Carrots and Onions.

Potato plants and potato flowers!  

Cucumber flowers, but no baby cucumbers yet.

Soon it will be fresh lettuce from the garden for salads!