July Garden

One of the things I find so wonderfully challenging about gardening is that you can do the exact same thing year after year and every single year will bring a different outcome. Last year we really struggled with chipmunks, white flies and spider mites. We had lots of dry weather with sunshine and low humidity so we saw less powdery mildew and black spot, though the pests more than made up for it. This year everything is different. May and June it barely rained (and I was constantly watering the yard), but in July it rained all the time, even if it was just a thunderstorm blowing through (there were weeks where that happened daily). The wildfire smoke comes in so frequently the sun is often lost in a weird haze and I can't help but think that's effecting the plants too. 

This year the pests are chipmunks, lantern fly nymphs (soon to be lantern fly adults, ugh) and blackspot mildew so far. Some of my plants are doing amazing, and other plants are struggling. Plants that did great last year are doing terrible this year. It's funny how gardening always keeps you on your toes. 

The flowers are fantastic right now. I have a rotation of bouquets in the house all the time and they make me so happy. I love flowers and having a constant supply of my favorite flowers in my favorite colors is just the best. 

Tomatoes

The plants are noticeably smaller than last year. They aren't nearly as tall, the branches are weaker and floppier, there is less foliage. Black spot is doing a number on a few. I gave the plants extra tomato fertilizer, but they are still struggling. It must be the weather. 

It's the end of July and we're getting cherry tomatoes finally. The big tomatoes are still green but I can see a slight blush on a couple so they will be ready soon. The chipmunks are DEFINITELY eating my cherry tomatoes, leaving the shells of the fruits behind after enjoying the pulp and seeds. I'm still getting some, but it makes me mad that they are getting into the garden at all. I'm pretty sure those little monsters are climbing and have learned to steer clear of the traps.

The marigolds and borage are doing phenomenally in this bed. Last year the marigolds struggled with some sort of blight, but this year's from my own seed are huge and so healthy. The little blue borage flowers are the bees' favorite. 

Vines and Things

The cucumber vines are at their July peak. Everything is green, there are a ton of flowers everywhere, the vines are criss-crossed every which way on the trellis. There are large cucumbers hiding under the leaves. The malabar spinach is slowly growing up the archway. I feel like it's growing even slower than previous years, but I might be wrong (I know it's a slow grower). The nasturtiums are already trying to take over the bed.

The rainbow chard has some sort of blight again like last year, but it's still pretty to look at in the garden (though it's unappetizing to eat). The carrots are growing. The melon vines have taken over the tower and there are a few tiny melons I'm hoping will become bigger melons. The medium pink snapdragons have been big flower producers despite their shorter size. 

Flower Cutting Bed

The snapdragons are doing fabulously. There are so many colors - pink, orange, magenta, purple, lavender, yellow. I love the colors and they are all huge producers. I constantly have bouquets of flowers in the house. The globe amaranth is also doing great - last year it didn't get enough sun and struggled, this year going in the corner with the snapdragons is the right position for it. There are so many flowers. 

The pink lemonade cosmo is enormous and looks pretty healthy, but it's not producing a lot of flowers yet. This happened last year and then suddenly the flowers came in non-stop, so I'm hoping that's the case again. The Apricotta cosmo is mostly dead. Some sort of blight. I direct-sowed a few new seeds in an attempt to get it to regrow, but we'll see how that goes. 

This is the worst season I've ever had with zinnias. Zinnias are usually the easiest thing to grow, because despite the blight on the leaves they still grow and thrive. This year, not so much. I'm watching half my plants wither and die. It's weird. I'm getting a few blooms, but I've never struggled like this with them before. 

Dahlia Bed

The dahlias are doing great and I'm constantly watching for spider mites constantly (though I think the weather right now is too wet and humid for them this year ... I hope). There are so many blooms and I'm enjoying all the bouquets of flowers. So many bouquets of flowers. Hopefully this year the dahlias continue to thrive! 

Herbs and Strawberries

The strawberry bed was taken over by borage and I had to cut it back. Between the oregano flopping over and the borage taking over, the strawberries haven't really filled in like they usually do in the summer. They also have spots on the leaves, which is concerning from a disease perspective. While the chipmunks left us nothing this year, there's always hope for next year... if the plants survive. 

The oregano is out of control. I'm pulling up a ton of oregano seedlings from the pathways and the long stems are trying to crowd every other herb out. The dill bolted in the heat. The thyme almost died off over the winter but the little bit the survived spread back out. Sage is doing well. The basil in the bed died off. The borage is trying to take over. The purple (red) sunflower is blooming and quite cheerful. The calendula has seen much better years production wise. The rosemary bush needs harvesting soon and is doing well. Chamomile always struggles a bit in my garden and this year is about normal, it just doesn't go crazy for me the way it does for others. The lavender I overwintered had a massive bloom production this year and I had a big harvest. Combined with the lavender from elsewhere in the yard I harvested 3 big bouquets. 

Pots

The lemon verbena in the pot is doing well. The lemon verbena weeds that cropped up on the pathways and even in the beds are a battle. The potted rosemary looks sickly and probably should be repotted into something bigger. The potted basil is starting to look sickly (it must be a bad year for basil). The potted dalinova doesn't look great either but dahlias don't really like small pots.

The medium potted snap dragons I harvest like the cutting beds. The morning glory is doing better than last year but still experiencing some wilt on the trellis. The potted peppers are both producing well. The patio tomato has tomatoes about to ripen if the chipmunks don't get them first. 

Elsewhere in the Yard

It's blackberry season. Despite the greedy, climbing (!) chipmunks, we are still enjoying tart blackberries. We still haven't built the blueberry boxes (life has been exceptionally busy), so the blueberries were eaten by birds long before they ever ripened.  

My citrus trees look healthy but we have yet to have a summer bloom like they usually do which is strange. The giant elderberry out back has lots of blooms and even the smaller one is blooming. This means... Berries?! Maybe? I will keep checking in August. 

There are tiny figs on the fig trees. I haven't pulled the potted brown turkey fig tree out of the greenhouse yet (it's been overwhelming for months) and at this point, I don't think we will. This year is an experiment in year-round greenhouse living. As long as I keep it watered and don't forget about it, it might be fine in there (though it's always about 10+ degrees hotter in there). 

I need to take more photos of the flowers. There are so many lovely flowers. Inside, outside, everywhere. The July garden had yard have hit peak magic.