August 20, 2011 - The August Garden, Part 3



The West, Shed and Patio Gardens


I let the Four O' Clocks volunteer around the patio this spring. I like them, and they certainly are low care and will self-seed for flowers each year. The old thyme plant was trimmed drastically this spring, but it survived. It's getting really woody, so probably will need to be replaced in the next year or so. Sweet alyssum is also a volunteer. Volunteer is good, as long as they aren't weeds.


This is one tomato plant. Not only does this Matt's Wild Cherry span across 10' of the patio and grow right up into the roof, it has been trimmed back multiple times! It was trying to come right into the house through the patio door. It is all vine, with few tomatoes. It does, however provide shade and privacy! It looks like two different plants, but if you enlarge the picture, you can see it grows up the center of the left patio opening, then I've fastened clothesline and wound the vines horizontally across the middle of the right opening where it has gone completely wild.


Another view of the MWC. It's growing from that bucket on the left. The plant on the right corner is Sunsugar. It's proving to be tasty and sweet, but I don't think quite as sweet as Sungold, but close enough that either is preferable to none at all. I eat all of them myself, they are that good. Maybe someday I'll be nice and share, but not yet. The Sunsugar is also very tall, so I have begun to train it around the corner and along the patio railing. Otherwise I'd have to use a ladder to pick the tomatoes.


The shed garden is becoming a jungle, but a good jungle. This is where the two Bloody Butcher tomato plants grow. I gave them tall stakes, not realizing they are quite a short variety. Next year they will be planted down my tomato alley, AKA the servant's entrance. Joining the BBs, are the remaining Coastal Pride Orange, another Matt's Wild Cherry and the Sungold. That Sungold was the tiniest of the seedlings, the last one planted, and the one I didn't think would survive. It is now the one that has grown up to the roof of the shed, and is bearing delicious little morsels for me to hoard. Bloody Butcher, besides being my earliest tomato, has become quite a tasty tomato too. Flavor has improve greatly from the earliest fruits, and they were pretty darned good then, too. Mr. Granny really likes the flavor of Coastal Pride Orange, even though it looks exactly like a peach when it's peeled. Basils (cinnamon, lemon and purple) are still loving this area of the garden, and growing great in pots. Same with the oregano and Leona the Meyer Lemon tree. I'm so happy I filled this corner with zinnias. Besides being nice to look at, and great as cut flowers for the house, I actually saw a hummingbird visiting them yesterday. I think that's about the first hummingbird I've seen around here.


The herbs, after a recent haircut, still growing healthy and full.


"Leona the Meyer Lemon " is fruiting again. She never has carried a fruit to full term, but this one looks very promising. I've never had a lemon grow this large before.


Leona's second child may not make it though. It's about half the size of its sibling.


Here we are in tomato alley, AKA the servant's entrance. There are actually only three tomatoes and a jalapeno, all in buckets, along this side of the patio. The plants are doing very well here, however, so I may utilize this spot for even more plants next year. They all have to be hand watered here, but they seem to like that just fine, and I have a lot of time to do it. The plant in the foreground is a Heatwave. I picked the first two tomatoes from it yesterday, and ate one for lunch today. It was really good, and exceptionally good for a "first" tomato....juicy and not a bit mealy. The plant is healthy, determinate, so not terribly large, and one I would consider growing again. It's a hybrid, but the trouble I've had with the heirlooms this year, maybe I should plant a few hybrids just in case. In the past I always grew Celebrity, and it grew disease free. The cherry tomato way down on the far corner is one of our favorites, Una Heartstock. I have bagged some blossoms for seed saving, and will grow it again next year.


The four Cherokee Purple tomato plants in the West Garden are healthy and producing, but fruit ripening has been very slow so far. This is where the new (this year) rhubarb plant lives. It has given me two harvests so far, so I think I'd better let it grow undisturbed for the rest of the season. Strawberries have actually grown quite well in this bed, and the berries are larger than the main bed in the North Garden.


Cherokee Purple


Sunflowers down (click photo to enlarge, and follow the red arrows) . We must have had a good gust of wind this morning, as two of the big sunflowers broke their tethers and fell. The one on the left wasn't broken, so I pulled it back up and tied it to the fence with clothesline. Its top is slightly wilted, but I'm hoping it will survive. The other one (right) was completely broken off and will have to be removed.


That ends the saga of the garden in August.





24 comments:

  1. Everything still looks good, healthy and blooming . The red flowers are very pretty, wish they were in my yard..My flowers are in front doing nicely, I'm usually in the back :o(.

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  2. Ginny, we're actually getting our fill of fresh tomatoes every day. With luck, I might get some to can yet! I have put three gallon bags in the freezer, so I'll have a bit of sauce from them at least.

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  3. wow even more pictures. What a treat! Looks like you will still have a lot of tomatoes. The flowers are just lovely!!

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  4. We have a large old Meyer lemon, and it sets fruit throughout the year. At the moment, it has bitty baby lemons and fully mature lemons. That's one of the magical things about this tree: its long season of fruitfulness.

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  5. Lisa and Robb, this is an Improved Dwarf Meyer Lemon, in a pot. I hope I can keep it alive, as it travels south with us for the winter. It didn't look very healthy after a winter in AZ, but I pruned it back by about 1/3 and it's looking quite healthy now. I do hope I can get a lemon on it this time! I've had it for just over a year, and it was only 4" tall when it arrived from the nursery.

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  6. It all looks so nice--sorry your new neighbors aren't keeping up THEIR end! The zinnias--oh how nice. I didn't plant any this year because the NWS said we were going to have a COLD summer. Guess they don't know what they're talking about---and I'm out zinnias for the year. Oh pooh!
    :D

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  7. the matts wild cherry might be going crazy b/c of high nitrogen in the soil, promoting foliar growth. maybe put some lower or no nitrogen fertilizer on the plant and see if it'll provide you with some tomatoes. We have a Matt's wild cherry and though smallish, it's proving to have some incredibly sugary sweet little gems.

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  8. That's exciting all those tomatoes, and a Lemon! Ever try to grow figs? I'm tempted to give it a go.

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  9. mmmm tomatoes - can't wait till we have fresh ones again, a few months yet.

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  10. Sue, this is the first year my zinnias have been successful. Every other year the insects have always completely eradicated the young plants.

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    Fleur, I rather doubt that's the problem, as I use the same soiless mix in all the buckets, with the same added amendments. It's had no additional fertilizer at all since being planted. The few fruits it does bear are tart, with no hint of sweetness. Both plants are equal when it comes to flavor, yet it is a favorite of many who, like you, find it prolific and sweet.

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    David, if I had one more plant to haul back and forth from WA to AZ, Mr. Granny would divorce me! He puts up with the lemon tree, grumps about one pot of herbs, and is having fits that I'm now starting a tomato plant to take along! We have to spend the first night of travel in a motel, and all the potted plants have to be carried into the room so they don't freeze! In other words, no fig tree.

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    Kirsty, I'm thankful we're finally getting enough for fresh eating, but I wish there were enough to can. You'll be enjoying your tomatoes when I'm using those tasteless ones from the grocer!

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  11. Your Four O' Clocks are lovely! Very lovely flower bed! My MWC is wildly out of control and huge too! Except mine is loaded with more cherry tomatoes than I can get my family to eat! I had to give some away! My kids like them cause they are so small and cute! I have fertilized with organic fertilizers though and sprayed with epsom salt and water a couple of times. I heard it wasn't a huge producer, but it fooled me! Different places, different growing techniques!
    Hope you get a lemon!

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  12. Shawn Ann, I have a feeling a lack of sun might be the reason for the lack of sweetness. The only tomato bed that gets sun all day is the Brandywine bed, and they have always been sweet. I've noticed more sweetness in the tomatoes on the west side of the patio too, where they get the hot afternoon sun. Even my Sunsweet and Sunsugar aren't as sweet as I think they should be. I might be putting most of my tomatoes along that west side next year, even if they nearly obliterate the narrow pathway.

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  13. A treat for the eyes to see your garden. Its beautiful as always,,

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  14. Thank you, Sarada, but the big pile of diseased tomato vines I cut off today isn't very pretty, and they made my arms and hands itch! You'd think I'd learn to wear long sleeves and gloves :-(

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  15. Lovely flowers around the patio..:)

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  16. Beautiful!!

    I have some flower questions now. :) Do your 4:00s stay in p/s like what shows in the picture or do they get full sun for any certain amount of time during the day? And the zinnias.. wow! What variety is that w/ all those pink shades? I MUST grow those next year! :D

    Last but not least.. can you explain the bagging of the tomato flowers? Do you bag them as soon as they flower? I assume you pollinate them yourself and then bag til they fruit?

    Hugs!
    ~Wendy

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  17. Dear Nosy Nancy....er, I mean Wendy, I'm growing the 4:00, some in shade and some in sun. In the shade, they bloom all day, but in the sun they just bloom toward evening....hence the name Four O'Clocks. They reseed and grow like weeds, but here that's a good thing.

    I bagged the blossoms on the tom plant, using a square of nylon net (tulle) and gathered it around the stem with needle and thread. No pollination needed, as they'll pollinate from wind or vibrations...I give the bag a slap as I go by just to help it along. They have set fruit in the bag, so now I can remove it and mark the cluster of fruit to save.

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  18. Wendy, I missed the other question about the zinnias. The tall ones are "Sprite", a semi-dwarf variety, and the shorter ones are Thumbelina, a dwarf variety. I do think both got taller than they were supposed to, but they're pretty nonetheless. I've grown Sprite before, and they were only about 6" high, these are easily 12". The Sprite have grown to 3'-4'.

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  19. lol!

    Thanks for all the info :P

    I guess you are a 'tough love' gardener .. slappin' those 'mater blossoms.. my my.. :D

    Hugs!
    ~Wendy

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  20. Thank you, Torviewtoronto.

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    Wendy, just call me Tough Love Granny

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