[Cross-posted at My Left Wing]
Good morning, and may your vines twine vigorously! Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging.
We've been getting some strong afternoon and evening thundershowers here in Denver -- indeed, we lost our power for an hour last Sunday evening, which Da Boys thought was a great adventure. Temperatures have largely stayed in the 80's, crossing into the low 90's on only two days. And today is forecast for cloudy and on the cool side, staying in the 70's.
Yesterday morning I glanced out the window and saw a lovely play of light in the front yard as the sun rose between the clouds. I ran out barefoot and in my robe to catch a few shots. However, I no longer shock the neighbors by running out in dishabille in the wee morning hours, camera in hand.
This dahlia looked particularly stunning with the slanted light. I'm having a mixed-results year with dahlias. Some, such as this one, have been going gangbusters. Many died -- the first year I've lost so many dahlia plants. I planted Lilac Time dinner-plate dahlias in the front yard and, as hoped, they are going into bloom much earlier than the one planted in the back yard. I had a bloom open on one front-yard plant a week ago, and the plants are loaded with buds. I'll leave one plant, which I'm hoping will catch the front-porch microclimate, in the ground over winter and see what happens. If it survives, it should give me even earlier blossoms.
And the potted dahlias are a success, although I'm learning about technique. When I do this next year, I'll be much more ruthless about topping off the plants, forcing them into a shorter and bushier form. I am looking forward to the fact that there will be dahlias I don't have to dig to save their tubers. Just dump out the pots.
The veggie patch is another area of mixed results. We're having a bumper crop of corn this year. The first planting is now played out, and the second planting followed fast on its heels without a gap. Definitely a process to repeat next year. I started the first planting indoors, for 4 rows of 12 plants each, tightly spaced (I think I did it at 12 inches). One week after I set the plants out, I direct-seeded another 4 rows of corn. Although one has to be careful to adequately water -- corn does love water -- the tight spacing made for excellent pollination. I'm getting large, full ears of superbly sweet bi-color corn (Lancelot, from Pinetree Seed). Good thing I was raised to appreciate seasonal treats. Whereas the other Frankenoids have had enough with the motherfucking corn on their motherfucking plates, I'm happily snarfing down a couple of ears every day.
This year also marks the first time the pole beans and cucumbers have ever topped the garden arch and the first time I've ever needed a step stool to pick beans and cucumbers. I really should have taken this picture before I did the picking, but it is an amazing site, with the large clusters of beans, and nicely formed cucumbers hanging from above. The beans have not only reached the top of the arch, but are now growing down the other side amidst the cukes.
Of the two types of cucumbers I planted this year (I was experimenting), Diva is the one I'll keep, although I'll have fewer plants. I think 3 will be adequate because, right now, I've so many cucumber vines keeping them in check has been a project. Indeed, I've taken to just whacking them back they've become so unruly.
The tomatoes, however, are lagging far behind. I picked the first fully ripe carmello and a handful of supersweet 100 cherries yesterday. The plants, however, are huge, healthy and loaded with green tomatoes, and without a trace of verticillium wilt. It's been a major problem for the cherries, and a minor one for the carmellos, the last few years. I moved the tomato plantings all the way across the veggie patch. Although carmellos are resistant to verticillium wilt, it does, by the end of the growing season, start to affect the plants and cause the tomatoes to have unattractive leathery, wrinkled skins.
Yet another call for photos for the Garden Blogging Calendar, a fundraising effort for yKos '07. We do not have enough photos, and we are reaching the end of our time limit. We must have your photos submitted by the end of August. Beyond that the calendar should showcase as many garden bloggers as possible, I do not have enough photos of my own of sufficient resolution/quality to fill up twelve months of a mass-produced calendar. I know we all are busy with vacations, back-to-school, and processing the excess of our veggie patches, but please, we really need your submissions, the sooner the better. As you pick your beans, ruminate on what great pictures you have taken, then take an hour to track them down and submit them.
See Garden Blogging Volume 2.23 for details; e-mail think2004 at gmail dot com for further instructions. You all are invited to look at what has been uploaded already by going to our Flckr page
I'm also waiting for your text submissions; e-mail me, frankenoid at conen dot net.
So, what's happening in your gardens?