Bloomin’ Tuesday – Blooms and Berries

(From upper L-R across & down: Beautyberry, Sedum 'Autumn Joy', Viburnum 'Winterthur', 'Black-seeded Simpson' lettuce seedlings, Variegated Lirope, Violas and Hydrangea 'Pinky Winky')

September has brought some cooler morning & evening temperatures.  Along with that comes some of my favorite fall blooms & berries.   Violas, Sedums and Lirope bring color and add interest to the garden.  The purple berries on Beautyberry or Callicarpa americana make a striking combo against the lime green foliage of this native ornamental shrub.  Viburnum ‘Winterthur’ is another native shrub that produces berries that start out a off white color and fade to pink and eventually to a deep blue tone.  This has been a bountiful season for these two shrubs, both are loaded with berries for the birds.  My Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky’ is in it’s 3rd season and full of blooms that are maturing to a dusty rose color.  And it wouldn’t be fall without some fall veggies like this great loose-leaf lettuce ‘Black-seeded Simpson’ which I planted with some of those pretty purple Violas.  To see more Bloomin’ Tuesday posts or to join in this week, please visit our gracious host Jean by clicking on the link below:

Veggie Garden Update

This is what I harvested from my veggie garden this morning.  Considering how hot & dry it’s been this week  I was pleased with what I found out there.  And below is what I’ve done with them so far:

Two large cukes later and I have a quart of refrigerator dill pickles.  Yum!  🙂  And I still have one small one left to put in salads tonight for dinner with some of the tomatoes I also picked this morning.  Part of that yellow squash in the previous photo will also be included.  While the rest will be fried up for a nice summer snack.

Six decent sized green bell peppers sliced up almost fills up this gallon size freezer bag.  These will be used over the next month or so in stews, potato pouches etc…  And that was my Veggie Garden update for this week.  Hope everyone is staying cool.  🙂

Squash and Peppers: They thrive on neglect?

Summer Squash 'Dixie hybrid'

Ok somethings are just meant to be like this squash plant that is growing in my compost bin.  Now I know what you’re thinking, but this is not black gold in my bin so that is not the reason it settled here.  It’s the leftover potting soil from last year’s containers and maybe alittle compost.  However it is doing much better than the plant I deliberately planted in my raised bed this spring.  And the funny part is this one hasn’t gotten any extra attention such as watering, etc… Somethings just thrive on neglect don’t you think?  Another example is my Green Bellpeppers below:

Green Bellpeppers

The green Bellpeppers I planted in my blue pots this spring are thriving and producing little peppers like it’s no tomorrow.  Now I know for a fact that all peppers love to be ignored a bit.  That means no extra watering or pampering.  What gardener doesn’t love that?  However this doesn’t mean let them dry out to the point that the plant suffers, just don’t overdo it and you will be rewarded.  They love the heat too!  Which is a good thing, because our summers are hot, hot, hot.  And dry, dry, dry….lol  Do you have any plants that seem to thrive on neglect in your garden?

Veggie Garden Update

(From upper L-R: Cucumber 'Sassy x', Tomato 'Celebrity x', 'Bonnie Grape' Tomatoes, 'Husky Cherry' Tomatoes, 'Opal' Basil and Green Bell Pepper)

Look what the garden is producing so far this month.  I’ve been harvesting the cherry tomatoes for a few weeks now.   Their great in salads, but I love to eat them straight from the garden sun warmed and pesticide free.   No cukes or squash yet, but blossoms are always a good sign of things to come.  Glad to see the larger tomatoes are starting to ripen as well, love them on sandwiches and hamburgers.  I planted two of these Green Bell peppers in blue plastic tubs and two in the raised garden beds.  The ones in the tubs are twice as big and full of tiny peppers.  However they both get the same amount of sunlight and the soil is similar.  It’s a real puzzle to me, but the ones in the bed are starting to take off so only time will tell I guess.  I love this ‘Opal’ Basil not only for the flavor it adds to salads, but the deep burgundy color it adds to the garden.   What kinds of veggies are you hoping to harvest from your garden this season?  🙂

Tomatoes!

Bonnie Grape (background), Better Bush (upper right inset), and Husky Cherry (lower left inset)

 I planted 4 tomato plants this spring and here is a photo of three of the four producing fruit.  The fourth plant is the hybrid ‘Celebrity’ which I forgot to get a pic of but it’s forming fruit as well.  All of these are plants I’ve had success with in the past except ‘Bonnie Grape’ which is something new I decided to try this year.  My husband and I love salads and the smaller cherry and grape types are perfect for that.  Can’t wait to start picking some juicy maters from my own garden!   Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.  🙂