first cantaloupe

Charentais melon - I knew it was ready because I could smell it as I walked passed the vine and then it pulled off the vine easily. Hope it's good. :)

rain garden

Joe pye weed and anise hyssop in the rain garden.

federle tomatoes

They aren't pretty, but they are finally ripening in numbers that give me hope.

cardinal flower

Cardinal flowers continue to appear in the rain garden. Not prolific, but a pleasant surprise.

nasturtiums

Grown from seed I collected from last year's flowers, these guys are in their glory - a little beaten up from a recent hailstorm, but thriving nonetheless.

sun flowers

These are from the sunflower mix. Plus an aztec sun is peeking in at the right.

These started themselves from birdseed debris. The goldfinches love them.

rain garden addition

new joe pye weed in the rain garden - the dry, very dry, rain garden.

new plants:)

As usual, it doesn't look like much now, but it is surely better than the aronia berry bush flanked by has-been dill and calendula and weeds. We'll see if it turns into anything awesome. Next year, I want to put butterfly weed, grown from seed, in the bed.

got new plants today :O)

Put bugbane, butterfly flower, daylilies, and one joe pye weed in the front-yard raised bed where the aronia berry had been. Also put in the grasses that had been at the back of the house where the aronia berry was transplanted. Some serious, and completely engrossing, transplanting went on today.

 

seed saving

Decided it's time to set and enforce boundaries - no more willy-nilly self-sowing going on. So I pulled the calendula, dill and cilantro and put some of their seeds in envelopes. Next year, if this idea doesn't escape me, I'll seed them in pots, or one big pot, and let them do their thing there. And I'll weed them out of the beds where they take over and create clutter.

aronia's new location

Will she make it? Now she's on the west side of the house, where the ornamental grasses were.They'd gotten ratty looking, so this, with some mulch, time and good fortune, will look better. Don't know how big this shrub will grow. Sources say 3-6 feet. That's quite a range.

joe's round peppers

... quite spicy, quite prolific. Gloves are definitely recommended when seeding and chopping. 

One joe's round + 2 lbs. tomatoes (seeded) + 1 hinkelhatz pepper + 1/2 onion + 1/2 sheepnose bell + 1 garlic clove + 1/2 white onion + 1 tsp. sugar + 1.5 TBS lime or lemon juice + 1.5 tsp. salt = delicious fresh salsa. Use food processor :)

finally ... federle tomatoes

complete with the blossom end rot I've come to expect. But I'll take what I can get. These guys are great for salsa and for freezing and using in chili and more salsa throughout the winter.

New daylilies

Barbara from the neighborhood was giving away free daylilies. She's a true day lily connoisseur, has many varieties, all labeled. Super pleased to have some of her Siloam varieties. 

They were hybridized by someone in another state (Arkansas?) and I got 4 different Siloam varieties. I don't know what I planted where, but I know what the kinds are...

Siloam New Toy (lilac colored)

Siloam Prissy (mauve?)

Siloam June Bug (Yellow with maroon center)

Siloam Plum Tree (plum colored)

Spring 2019 to-do

1. get composted manure for all the raised veg. beds.
2. get a jalapeno plant.

aronia berry harvest

Not a glut, by any means, but the first "harvest" of aronia berries since they were planted.

According to https://www.gardeningchannel.com/how-to-grow-aronia-berries-chokeberry-a-superfruit/, I need to 

1. wait to harvest after a frost - they get sweeter after a freeze.

2. make sure they get as much sun as possible - so pull the dill and things that are overshadowing the shrub now.

3. add some composted manure in the spring...

I tried one berry and would give it an A+ for a tartness that sucks all the moisture out of your mouth and for a gritty seedy texture. Definitely need to wait for a freeze next time and use for jelly rather than fresh eating.