The sunflowers finally bloomed and then immediately died; this is the only picture I have of them! It's been raining so much, the garden as a whole has hardly needed any effort from me at all, and sometimes I forget to even check on it. Which is why we're half-way through August before I set the seeds for the fall planting. ::facepalm::
The cukes are as gone as if I'd dug them up--they seem to have just evaporated since they stopped growing. There was one cucumber and it was bug-riddled; I should have picked it the day I saw it instead of waiting to see what would happen!
The zuke is gone without a single fruit. Next spring, I'm planting earlier and I'm planting more than one, and maybe then they'll fruit. There were flowers all over the place, but not one turned into anything. I also think I'll give them their own pots; this one ate up all the water and nutrients, and nothing in the pot with it did anything until it was gone! I think I'll keep them close, though; the rest of the plants seemed to like the shade those huge prickly leaves gave everything.
The lettuce is all but done. One went to seed, most evaporated, and one is still hanging on but doesn't taste all that great anymore.
The basil is looking really sad and the mint is down to one branch, but that one branch looks amazing. None of the other herbs even came up. Both of those were pre-grown when I got them; next spring, I'm getting nursery-started herbs! Lots of them! Enough where I can use them regularly instead of just once or twice a month!
The lily and the jade plant are doing just fine; I'll bring them in when it gets properly cold. This week has been in the 70s and it's
glorious after a whole summer of super-hot 90s and high humidity because of all that rain.
The roses are doing just fine. I need to look up how to over-winter them, but they're meant to be cold-weather tolerant so I might not even have to bring them in most of the season.
Nasturtiums are almost done. Next year, I'm planting more, and I'm eating the crap out of them while they're huge-leafed and tender there at the beginning of spring.
Peppers and tomatoes never grew more than 6 inches and are still there but aren't doing anything. They're coming from the nursery, too, next spring, and I'm starting the special varieties indoors weeks beforehand.
The compost is coming along quite nicely. That bottom box is closer to dirt every time I look at it, and the top one is already weathering down. I haven't even gotten to the third box in the stack yet! Maybe I won't have to buy much dirt this next spring when I do my planting. That'd be great--that means more money for plants and pots to put them in.
Seeds I planted out just now:
- Bulb and Bunching Onions in the long planter where the zuke and cuke were
- Arugula, Parsley, Salad Greens and Mesclun Greens in the lettuce pot
- Beets and Spinach in the Nasturtiums pot
- Arugula in the tomato pot.
- Bush beans in the new pot my brother found at work.
I wanted to plant cabbage and cauliflower, but they take a lot of space and I don't have anymore pots for them right now. I also wanted to plant carrots, but I seem to be missing every single pack of carrot seeds I ever owned, which is weird. Next time.
And I joined the Arbor Day Foundation last week because they were having a membership special where if you filled out a survey, there were ten trees and two crepe myrtles with a 10$ donation. I used to be a member ages ago, and I like supporting trees like that. I also like getting free plants for my garden. They said they'll send them "at an appropriate time for your region" which I figure is soon, for overwintering, or not until, like, March for the spring planting. But sooner or later I'll have two crabapples, two dogwoods, two golden raintrees, two hawthorns, two redbuds, and those two crepe myrtles. I'm excited! I haven't decided whether I'll find somewhere I'm allowed to plant them in the ground or pot them up and cart them around until I can settle somewhere permanently. Probably the second option. That's usually how I go.
Cat Update:
While I was gardening, I let Binka come out onto the porch and get some air, and she immediately started hunting the tiniest bird I've ever seen that make the biggest racket ever as soon as it saw her. She's so cute and strange when she hunts--she meyows every three seconds, flaps her tail around, makes these funny chattery noises by clicking her teeth together, and then complains when the bird flies away and I make her come inside.
Did you guys do any Fall Planting? What're you adding to your garden? What's your wishlist? Share!
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