See how the Jalapeño stems start up then hang down.  That's how most of our peppers grow on the bushes.  That's why those cherry peppers sticking straight up tickled me so.  We only planted two of these.  They will give us, (not us,) they will give Jon hot peppers all the way into November.

 

We planted one cayenne plant too.  Some people like that stuff.  I just like watching them grow leaves and fruit, then turn red.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

My friend, Sheri sent us some cherry peppers last year.  Jon loved them:  HOT!!!  She also sent us seeds that she had saved.

 

So I planted some this spring, and they are starting to bear fruit.  They are about the size of a golfball.  Look how they stand up on the bush.  Funny.  Eventually they will turn red.  Then they will be REALLY HOT!!!

 

No thanks for eating, but I love seeing how different things grow.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

It is time to preorder garlic from the Seed Catalogs.  They ship it in October, but if you want to plant the kind you want, you need to order now.  I just went to the So True Seed website, and several of the kinds I like to grow are already sold out!!!

 

Garlic is so fun to grow.  And it will grow just about anywhere you have sun.  Flower beds, garden, compost bin, anywhere.

 

You plant cloves in the fall, at least by Thanksgiving, and they grow roots all through the winter and early spring.  Then they sprout leaves, and grow in the summer.  Then in early July you get to harvest your own garlic bulbs.  Better than buying garlic in the store, because you grew it yourself.    

 

HURRY, HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Yoo-hoo!!!  My cauliflower is almost ready to harvest.  I planted 6 plants, and 2 have been chewed up by Cabbage white worms.  See all those little holes in the leaves?  That's what cabbage white caterpillars do to all the Brassicas.  I've managed to keep them off most everything, but they got into those two cauliflowers.  Once they get into the heads, they aren't any good.  

 

That's ok, I don't mind sharing, to a point.  Besides, there is plenty of other stuff to harvest right now.  I will try again with cauliflower in my fall/winter garden.  The seedlings are coming along well.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Don't you just LOVE Hydrangeas?  

 

This one is in one of our neighbor's front flower bed, but my fondest memory is of the ones in Nanny's back yard.  I'm thinking back to the 1950s.  

 

There were a few Hydrangea bushes beside the garage.  And the story is that Granddaddy hammered rusty nails into the ground around them to make the flowers turn blue.  Horticulturally, blue Hydrangea flowers are a sign of acid soil, and pink flowers grow where the soil is alkaline.  And if the soil pH is 7.0 (neutral) the flowers are white.  My favorite ones are purple, maybe in transition between acid and alkaline soil.  Or maybe just because.

 

It doesn't really matter WHY they do what they do;  it's just wonderful that they do it, and the sweet memories they bring.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANNY!!!

 

This is blooming all along our roads right now.  Not in Five Forks, but in Murphy, in Blairsville, and on the roads in between.  

 

It is Asclepias tuberosa, or Butterfly weed.  It is a member of the Milkweed family, and its brilliant orange flower clusters attract Monarch butterflies.  They use it for a host plant for their caterpillars.  The butterfly lays her eggs on the underside of the leaves, and when the caterpillars hatch, they feed on the leaves.  Monarchs love all kinds of milkweed.  

 

I have some growing in my wild garden, but for some unknown reason it didn't bloom this year.  

 

Oh well, I get to see it when we go for a drive.  I love its bright color.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I'm not sure exactly what my aim was for this picture, but you can see lots of cool things.

 

Start down left with the red cabbage with her silver leaves, go left from there and you can see butternut squashes growing up the north side of the tomato cages.  Look up for delightful sunflowers.  Just beyond the cabbage is a good stand of kale:  this one grows purple leaves!!!  That tangle in the pathway is Salad Burnet.  Obviously it planted itself there, because I would have put it on the hill, not in the walk space.  It is too nice to remove.  We just step over it.

 

All the way at the end is our cucumber trellis.  The cucumbers grow vertically, not because I need more garden space, but because we grow Asian long cucumbers, and they do best when they hang down.  Otherwise they curl and are really hard to peel.  

 

Last in this picture, just across from the red cabbage you can see some tall marigolds.  They stand about 3-4 feet tall.  I got seeds from Rosalie's garden a couple years ago, and love how cheerful they are in the garden.  So I make sure I plant some in between other stuff.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Nice afternoon's work:  6 jars of dilly beans.  

 

It took about 2 pounds of beans, some vinegar, salt, garlic and dill.  All of which we had plenty.  

 

Now we have dilly beans to look forward to.  :)

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I went out to look for some pictures of my garden to show you, and I saw a bit of chewage on the Lovage.  Then I saw these little ones.  

 

Not so little, actually;  they are about the size of my pinky finger.  And munching away!!!  

 

These are caterpillars of the Black Swallowtail butterfly.  They choose members of the parsley family for their host plants.  The butterflies lay eggs, and when the eggs hatch they feed on the plant on which they are planted.  :)

 

I never mind finding them on my plants, because I know they will be beautiful butterflies in the end.

 

Besides, I have enough to share.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is what they look like.  Not all of them are this color.  Some are more red, some have only a single blossom.  

 

But we have lots of sunflowers to make the birds and us happy.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!