leaves and tomatoes

This morning I planted some of my tokyo bekana into an empty deck pot

the rest really need to go in ground; I'll plant them tonight (tomorrow rains)

I'm now only finding one striped beetle per day on the amaranth, some days none. The leaves have holes here and there instead of being skeletonized, so I think progress.

The best tomatoes so far this year were the cherokee purples. All the ones I think of as my 'big tomato' varieties, didn't get big at all, and only made one or two fruits per plant. Still bringing them indoors to ripen. Fault of the hornrworms, or suboptimal soil? Next time I do a new bed will plant beans the first year.

Some of my sunberries look like this, and get tossed. Is a critter eating the bottoms off the fruits? or some kind of disease making them decay, I don't know.

these are leaves

The one sweet potato vine I had, is filling up its planter box. Wish I had the other still. 

Of all the coleus on the deck, this one alone suffers from sun. I think I need to move it to the other side.

I have this little houseplant on an edge of the cat tower that never did well, and is kind of ignored.

 A week ago doused it with soapy water, several times in a row. Maybe I finally got rid of the microscopic pest that had been making its leaves so anemic? It has new growth!

outside blooms

Turtlehead are starting 

Hot pink mini geranium flowering this week:

Lemon geranium is also flowering again:

Some closeups

 japanese yellow salvia are starting to bloom

Tiny sunberry flower

Funny rue seedpods

more blooms!

Newest of the newer african violets- I think this is 'Frosted Brandy'

But mine doesn't have the darker petal margin. Still lovely.

Next up budding is 'Crackerjack Red'. I really like its foliage.

monarch

Sitting near the garden, saw not yellow or black flitting around the back perennial bed, but orange. 

It's a monarch! 

Maybe one of the ones that fed on my milkweed- the larger caterpillars have dispersed so I assume they crawled away to pupate.

cantaloupe and zucchini

Cantaloupe flower on the gravel

Vines have sprawled out of the bed, across the nearby turnips, and into the space under deck

Quite a few cantaloupes forming now, but they have odd shape-

Another zucchini almost ready to eat. 

I don't have zucchini glut this year. Only one of my plants seems to be producing fruit, and just one at a time. Soil poor in nutrients? Or lack of sun. I've noticed my zucchini plants -and some others in the new row of beds- lead towards the deck, not outwards or evenly spread. I think that indicates that towards the center of the yard across the lawn, there's less light available. Because of the tree cover. Dampens my idea to add another row of beds next year...

Deer came through at night and ate the rest of my blue hostas downhill from the shady side yard again, plus another of the lance-leaved ones. Soap shavings didn't seem to deter them at all. Maybe I was mistaken thinking that helped. Or the heavy rain we've been having washed the scent away. Still surprised they haven't touched the garden plants at all.

pretty wings

In the garden saw a tiger swallowtail on tithonia- 

managed to get a closeup. 

Also this pair of skippers on cosmos flower- one orange (very common) and the other dark brown, almost black, with blue edges on the wings- 

I knew there are different kinds of skippers- just looked it up- 3,500 species! 22 listed in my state. No idea which one pictured here. Do they interbreed and create hybrids? or am I misinterpreting their behavior.

One seemed to be following the other around, as they flitted to the sunberry and then the cantaloupe, and on. The orange one was always behind the dark one, just to one side, both would quiver their wings and abdomens, then pause as the orange one stepped slightly to the other side, repeat. Some kind of mating ritual? It reminded me of how the fishes will quiver their fins at each other, or the female bird her wings at the male... 

A new helper in my garden- the blue-winged wasp, Scolia dubia. I saw them on the blooming joe pye-weed, the wings are so brilliant. 

I'm delighted they're here. These wasps eat japanese bettle larvae! (and green june bug larvae too). They burrow under ground to find the grubs. Wow. What a fantastic little predator to have around.

first fig

Ripened on my hardy chicago fig- 

small enough 

it was just one tasty bite. 

There's more on the way- also on the brown turkey fig!

beets and eats

Pulled some beets. I like them when the roots are just golf-ball sized

then the greens are nicer, sautéed with olive oil and garlic. Had them with lentils and cornbread. 

The day before it was fish cooked with dry basil, lentils simmered with fresh bay leaf, rice and chard greens, a few cherry and cherokee purple tomatoes sliced on the side.

Most of my leaf beet chard has long, narrow brighter green leaves, 

and one plant has wider, darker leaves, almost like a cross between this and the swiss chard (but seed from the same packet as leaf beet). Can't discern if the taste is any different, the wider/darker leaf one, just find it interesting.

flowers!

Zinnia on the edge of echinacea patch in the back look much better than they ever did in my front yard. 

Bee balm flowers all brown and crumpled- done for the season, but I still have plenty of echinace going strong. 

And rudbeckia. 

And tithonia- which are doing much better against the aphids this year, not nearly as many dead shriveled leaves to remove, but no pics right now.

fewer pests

I think I might get a good lot of green beans this season. The plants are looking good! Have been regularly checking for those striped beetles on the amaranth greens several times a day, usually managing to squish one per check, yesterday I saw two, got 'em both- this morning for the first time, none. Will keep checking in case more show up, but glad the leaves are growing back new without holes now. 

Found three more tomato hornworms on the vines- noticed more leaves missing but only found the caterpillars because the white of wasp eggs stood out. Each one is rather -um- deflated so I know those caterpillars are dead anyway. Left 'em there so the wasps can hatch out and help my garden, even though it's kinda gross. 

Deer have been in my yard again- most of the newer blue and mouse-ear hostas around the tree near rose of sharon are eaten, one of the lance-leaved hostas and some of the big ones against the house on the shady sideyard. Surprisingly, although I found a pile of deer droppings near the patch of nicotiana, which is rather close to the garden, none of the garden plants were touched by the deer. Something startled them away before they got into the garden? Or did my smelly plants- marigolds, hyssop, winter savory, lime geranium and pretty blue rue- really keep them away.