You would have to be in a cave to not know about all the crazy rains that this part of the country has had! Quite crazy, really! I think the weather channel has dubbed it "the Deadly Deluge". Well, we are blessed! The only way this has impacted us is all the schools have closed down, which makes for an interested week in the land of little children. HAH!
It has cleared up very nicely today and it is just gorgeous outside right now! We are forcasted for more rain the rest of the week. The news is still reporting 90 roads closed in our county....
I took advantage of the dry day to go take some picts. With all the rain, mixed with sun, the grass is SO high and it is still too wet to mow...
m>I think I may resort to weedeating it soon!
The trumpet trees are all just bursting with blooms and they are over 8 feet tall with all this rain we have had. They will start opening any day now!
The creek had quite a time in the "deluge" Our back yard was full of water, prob about 6 inches high at one point and the creek looked like white water rapids. (If it hadn't been so wild out there, I would have stepped out to take a picture) All the rain did a bit of re-shaping to the creek and took up some dead wood:
< p>We have a nice new little gravely beach that wasn't there before!
Our raised veggie beds really paid off, if we didn't have them, they would have been washed away! I have been slowly clearing out summer's spent crops while I wait for the garden centers to get their fall merchandise in. I am ready to plant! Good thing I hadn't yet - the rain would have drowned any seeds!
All that is left to produce anything is the pepper plant and all my basils.
Funny thing is... I pulled out all the marigolds that had died back and with all this rain, all the dropped seeds are growing. Nice fall color!
Hope none of you have damaged homes due to this rain. My boss had her entire downstairs flooded and has had to take vacation time to clean it!
This past Sunday I planted up all the veggie beds! I learned a lot from last year's garden. The main thing I learned was that we could not get enough of certain crops. So, instead of planting a lot of different things, we decided to plant more of our favorites. Also, I am still using the companion planting system - primarily with marigolds, onions and nastursiums. I had to go to 4 different stores to find all the varieties. While at Lowe's, I found a Fireworks Clematis (Clematis Fuegos Artficiales) for $5 that I could not pass up, it looks to be purple and red striped and I planted it by some knockouts in the front window seat bed. I also picked up 2 annual potato vines. One went in the back sun bed in progress to act as a ground cover and the other one went in a container by the front steps.
So, I planted 10 tomatoes:
Mr. Stripey
Yellow Cherry
Sweet 100 (2 plants)
Husky Cherry Red
Big Boy
Pink Brandywine
Better Boy
Roma
Lemon Boy
5 Eggplants:
Ic hiban (3 plants)
Green Eggplant
White Eggplant
Various Basils:
Basil Lime
Basil Sweet Bush (2)
Basil Siam Queen
Basil Genovese
Basil Sal's Italian Choice
Basil Osmin Purple
Cinnamon Basil
And, one token Mammoth Giant Jalepeno ( I love to make stuffed jalepenos)
I spread this all out between 3 beds and in the center of each bed I planted Mammoth Sunflowers and then planted a variety of items to grow up the sun flowers: sugar snap peas, Yard Long Asparagus Beans, Burpee's Tenderpod Garden Bean, Peas, Sequoia Purple Bean and Golden Wax Bean. I also sprinkled around marigold (crackerjack) and nastursium seeds (alaska mix).
In one bed I also started Emerald Green Artichokes. I interplanted them with Oriental Poppies and Lady Bird Poppies. Since these are perennial/self seeding items, this bed will be a permanent planting.
In my asparagus and strawberry bed, I stuck in someStuttgarter Onion Bulbs.
One of the three beds that got the tomatoes still have kale, lettuce and parsley that we have been enjoying since spring. I think they will die back as the tomatoes are ready to take over.
It was a fun day in the garden for all the ladies!
Well, things keep moving right along here in the garden...with or without my help - :) It has been very hot here with not a lot of rain fall - but luckily we are allowed to water at certain times...so I have been keeping up with that. I am still enjoying the results of all my hard work over the fall and winter (with things being somewhat more low maintenance) I have decided that that is definitely the way to go!
During a good session in the garden the other afternoon, I was able to capture these picts:
Butterfl y bush is looking great!
Daylilies doing their thing:
Looking forward to my canna blooms!
Northe rn Mountain Oats that I ordered on line last year are doing well and I look forward to them naturalizing a bit:
Oak Leaf Blooms turning pink:
< p>We have really started to enjoy more abundance from the veggie gardens as well! We have daily picking adventures and eat something from the garden just about every day!
Here is a view of the veggies from the back of the back yard:
I just love the shot of color that the marigold give...makes a great view from the kitchen window:
Althou gh, I did have to pull out all the broccolli due to that yucky wormy thing they got...just like last year! I guess I am just not cut out for broccolli growing :(
The corn is doing its thing:
But, has some yuck on it! This is my first time to grow corn, so I am not sure what to do about this or if it will effect production:
I am loving the purple pole beans! They are SO pretty and yummy too!
And, the spaghetti squash is jumping out of its bed!
Here is a good shot as you come around to the front yard:
< p>Things are doing well there, too...I am loving the moonbeam coreopsis and have decided that I want to add more of this to the front perrenial garden:
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The turks cap lilies are just starting to bloom. I can always count on these guys!
Getting ready for my hibiscus blooms!
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The little knockouts that i planted at the base of the sculpture are blooming and i know they will fill in nicely!:Here is the view as of late as i sit on my front porch:
And finally...the view of the front yard from across the street:
Can you tell most of what i have planted along the street was to block off the view of the rental house across the street from us - HAH! Guess its working :)