Early summer garden

Perennials and roses are abloom, and the vegetable garden is providing harvests.  This may be peak time for gardeners in mid-Missouri.  Peas are finished, but I'm now harvesting green beans.

'Calima' green beans

Stray volunteer lettuce plants are growing in various places, including the bean row, and I'm just letting them go so I can collect seeds.

The cabbages I (trans)planted June 10 don't seem to be growing very fast.  Maybe it's too hot.  The 'Primo Vantage' green variety is doing better than the 'Omero' red ones.

'Omero' cabbage

Okra seed germination was poor this year even though it wasn't old seed.  I started with 2 rows, and had to move some to end up with just one row.  

'Carmine Splendor' okra

There are a couple of fruits on the long sweet pepper plants.  I grew them from seeds I collected from a pepper I got at the grocery store, so I don't know what variety they are.  I just hope they're as good as the store peppers.  I've been spraying them with an epsom salt solution to try to enhance growth.   Probably need to water them more.

I tried the method of growing potatoes in straw, but I've not been pleased.  I did get three medium-sized potatoes off one plant today, but the rest aren't producing.  Maybe it's been too dry?  Maybe 'Yukon Gold' potatoes don't do well by that method?  Maybe I don't know what I'm doing?

The garlic was finally ready to be harvested.  I'm going to braid and hang them.

The French Charentais melons ('Savor') are starting to climb their cages and flower.

One 'German Johnson' plant has a small green fruit on it.

Cucumbers have finally gotten going.  The seeds were two or three years old, and even being held in the freezeer, they're losing viability.  I'll have to buy new seed for the next planting.  Before I started freezing leftover seeds, I found that even in the second year, seed viability was greatly reduced.

'Marketmore' cucumber

I pulled up a couple wasabi radishes and found that while the plants are grown and setting seed, the taproots were no bigger than my little finger.  

They were planted last fall.

Wasabi seed heads

I finally decided to read up on how you're supposed to harvest these things and found out they aren't ready for harvesting until the second year.  I guess I'll just leave them in the ground and see what happens.

The onions are at the stage for harvesting as green onions, and since I planted them waaaay to densely, it's working out that I get the perfect size green onions by thinning the crop.

Of course there's no way I was going to get a year without raccoon damage.  The kids are out before dawn and wreaking havoc wherever they can.

I thought I'd discourage this darling little guy by turning the hose on him before letting him go.  At first he tried to get away from the stream, and then he just started playing with it.  What can you do?

'Hens and chicks' poppy

Still roasting, no rain

I went away for 10 days, watering the vegetable garden to almost an inch of water by sprinkler before I went.  Everything there looked fine when I returned.

Not so lucky in other areas.  I didn't realize there was a raccoon trap propped open.  I know there was no bait in it, but during the wild tear they went on, one got itself trapped anyway.  I feel badly because I assume it starved to death in the hell heat we had while I was gone.

On the other hand, I'm really pissed at them for digging up and killing five potted saplings and for what they did to my new roses:

Also, before I left, there were beautiful white flowers on the 'Navajo' blackberry.

It looks like the raccoons took out their aggression on it while I was gone, breaking down large branches.  Maybe they were retaliating for their trapped comrade.

And, of course, that was the week the Japanese beetles showed up.

They hit the roses, which were looking really good before I left:

But, the vegetables were unharmed.  There was a load of 'Calima' green beans ready for harvest.

And some volunteer 'Cardinal' basil, which I was happy to see, because I didn't get any seeded this year.

All the tomatoes look great.  And there were three little ripe 'Supersweet 100' cherry tomatoes.  

'German Johnson' tomato

Before I left, I netted the 'Golden Muscat' grapes in case they got ripe enough to attract raccoons and crossed my fingers, thinking they'd probably just tear the whole thing down, trellis and all.  Fortunately, they were unscathed.  But I'm not holding my breath they'll remain that way.

The perennial bed, which didn't get any water, looks lovely.

drumstick allium

If anyone knows a rain dance, please do it.

Ye Gods, It's Hot!

What a depressing 10-day forecast:

I heard the weatherman say Thursday's 96 will feel like 105.  Nice.  Next Tuesday's 100 should be great.

And not a drop of rain in that forecast.  I'm going to be gone all next week, so I guess I'll soak the garden as best I can before I leave and cross my fingers.

One rhubarb plant has one beautiful red leaf.  That's the color I expected the stalks to be, but they manage to stay green.  The two new plants I had hopes for were both killed in last year's flood conditions.

I've picked and eaten all the 'Premium' peas.  They were perfect.  'Miss Lillian's Case Load' is prolific, but has smaller peas, and I don't think they're as sweet.  I have some 'Lincoln' peas that are just now flowering because the rabbits have been keeping them pruned.  I planted that variety last year, and as I recall, they were sweet and had lots of peas per pod.

'Miss Lillian's Case Load'

My cabbages have gotten large enough that I put them in the ground.  I hope they make it through next week.  After planting I mulched them with straw to help keep the soil from drying out.  Fingers crossed.

'Primo Vantage' cabbages and 'Calima' green beans

I planted the same two varieties as last year.  Purple 'Omero' and green 'Primo Vantage'.  I wasn't that impressed with either, but I forgot to order different varieties for this year.

The grapes are getting large.  I'm going to try to cover them with a light crop cloth before I leave so they might - and I mean MIGHT - not get eaten by the raccoons before I get back.  The coyote urine I got doesn't seem to deter the little devils.  

It just occurred to me a couple of days ago that I should try transplanting some mint and oregano around the trellises the grapes climb on, because the raccoons don't try to go through those.  Too late this year.

'Golden muscat'

Blackberries and raspberries are blooming and setting fruit.  Sadly, half of my raspberries didn't survive winter this year.

The tomatoes have all started looking very good.  But this heat won't be good for setting flowers or fruit.

'Supersweet 100' cherry tomato

'German Johnson' tomato

I put in eight 'German Johnson' and two 'Missouri Pink Love Apple' tomato plants, both of which I've grown before, but not at the same time, to see how the taste compares.  Alas, I think the 'Missouri Pink' plants are going to get too much shade to do as well, and that will no doubt affect the flavor.  

Over in the flower world, there's a lovely pale apricot-colored hollyhock.

The misplaced plant I thought looked like some sort of melon, since it was in last year's melon plot, that I figured (!) was somehow a miracle that overwintered, is a pretty pink.

Late winter: hollyhock mistaken for a melon

Actual melon ('Savor' - a French charentais)

Most of the other hollyhocks are wine and red.

The bright blue delphinium is stunning.

There are lots of coneflowers (Echinacea and Ratibida) in the wildflower garden, but I planted pale purple (Echinacea pallida) and Ozark (Echinacea paradoxa) at the edge because I love the downturned petals.

pale purple coneflower and Ozark coneflower

Oriental poppies have bloomed and gone, but the annuals and Shirley (corn poppies) and breadseeds are blooming.  My Spanish poppies haven't shown up yet.  They should be blooming.

'Amazing Grey' corn poppy

 

'Pandora' corn poppy

An unexpected corn poppy appeared.   Either it came from a seed that got in the wrong packet or it's a mutant.  Whatever it is, it's lovely.

So far, this has been a good year for the roses. (Don't click on that link if you can't stand tear-jerker country songs.)

I managed to remember to get a systemic insecticide put down, and one early Sevin spray that seems to have taken care of the horrible aphid problem I had last year.  Hopefully it will also work to control Japanese beetles.  I hate to use it, because of the bees, but I haven't been able to control either of those pests in the past.

The rose garden in moonlight.