Heat index 100, and Eli basking in the hot sun. It was his decision. We didn't stay there long.
Remember back in early spring, my post about digging up a new flower bed...and that I mentioned showing you a picture later??? Well, it never amounted to anything worth showing.
It was a neat little spot up by the teeny tiny greenhouse. I sectioned it off with some old landscape timbers, loosened the soil, then added lots of stuff from the goat lot and bunny cages. It should have been wonderful, but look...
Behind the lattice wall is the teeny tiny playhouse, and growing on the lattice is all that came up from two packets of morning glory seeds. I've always wanted to grow morning glories. Always!
close-up of the one bloom
See the one pitiful bloom with the yellowed leaves? That's cock's comb. The only one in the whole bed, struggling to live. Why, that weed is the only healthy plant there! One of our egg customers brought a medicine bottle filled with tiny cock's comb seeds which were sowed over the entire bed.
Also along the side of the greenhouse I planted a row of gladiolas which came up only to flop over dead, never blooming.
Such a mystery. You know, I put pictures on this blog of beautiful flowers...the azaleas, the snowball bush, the peonies; but I simply cannot grow perennials. So, what do you think, all you who have those beautiful flower beds? Any help will be appreciated.
Moving to the other side of the greenhouse and into the garden, and on a happier note...
is this lovely vine growing and spreading all over the garden...
I spotted this tiny plant in July growing near the compost bin. It was wilted and dry and had only three leaves, so scooped it up and planted it in the garden. It has lots of yellow blooms that keep disappearing, and no fruit...until this...
still have no idea what it is. The vine looks kinda like a watermelon??
dirty boots and pretty pink zinnias.
Guess that's my gardening post for today. Sure looks like I need some lessons in growing flowers. That ugly flower bed does get the hot evening sun. Maybe a couple big bags of good potting soil would help, and adding mulch until planting time next spring.
Thank you, if you're still here.
Early morning play!
Love,
Henny
Oh, and about that big spider living on our back screen door.
It is an Argiope aurantia, yellow garden spider, sometimes called the writing spider. The weaving in it's web sometimes looks like a letter of the alphabet. :)
I understand your frustration.
ReplyDeleteWe bought and planted a morning glory in a wonderful sunny spot and it's as happy as a clam, climbing the trellis and grabbing everything within reach. Flowers? of course not.
We also have a volunteer morning glory that appeared in a completely different flower bed, one I pretty much ignore since all that's there are a few rose bushes who don't need any help from me.
The volunteer is chock-full of flowers. Go figure.
Henny you couldn't grow anything ugly because I know everything you do is done with love! There are some pretty flowers in that bed and I bet by next year there will be a lot more! I do not have a green thumb but I'm sure there are others here that have suggestions for growing in that location but you know it could just be all the hot weather this summer. A lot of people have had trouble. It is always good to hear from you and to see Eli and the kitties too!
ReplyDeleteIf you put a lot of rabbit and chicken manure in that small bet, you may have made it too "hot" with too much fertilizer. Try putting in a few bags of good potting soil and mix it in well, and I bet you will be surprised how well it does next year. I think you just had too much raw strong fertilizer this year
ReplyDeletebet = bed
ReplyDeleteI don't post pictures of the "failures", only the plants that are doing well. Believe me, there are lots of drooping and dying plants in my garden. I think I should make a list of about 10 perennials that do well in hot dry summers and stick to those. It seems we're getting more of those kind of summers now. Climate change??
ReplyDeleteI wonder what your mystery vine is. I hope someone can identify it.
I think it was just a bad summer for growing things; first it was too cool and then it turned hot and dry. My gladiolas didn't do well at all and now about all I do have blooming are a half dozen itsy bitsy sunflowers, three or four petunias in the wash tub, and past prime cone flowers. The leaves on that vine look like watermelon leaves; maybe came up from seed in the compost? Maybe we'll have better luck next year.
ReplyDeleteI agree with KCD, you’ve probably got too much fertilizer high in nitrogen to support growth. And I think your green vine is some kind of melon. The leaves and flowers look too small to be squash or zucchini. My go to, just can’t kill it perennial is black eyed Susan. I love the new colors and fancy flowers but the old fashioned yellow ones do the best in almost every growing situation. White daisies are almost as hardy. Anything that is a “native” plant for your area has a greater chance of succeeding.
ReplyDeleteCan't help with the flowers but it looks as though you have been given some good advice already.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can't grow the flowers you want to but you sure do have a way with animals and I think that is better.
Perhaps the soil was too rich with the goat lot and rabbit "stuff" Add some black dirt and mix it all up and then see what happens...that is lots of seeds to plant with no success. Is there anyway weed killer got into that area...like with grass clippings. Sometimes people compost with grass clippings that have been from a weed and feed lawn and stuff doesn't grow worth a darn:(
ReplyDeleteNext year your little flower garden will see success.
ReplyDeleteIt's been an awful hot summer, the flowers tend to get stressed with so much heat and humidity.
ReplyDeleteWatering every single day has wore us out !
I love the colors of your zinnias, can't help you with the morning glories, mine usually take over, but could be a different variety ?
Sweet little garden spider, I love their zigg-zaggy webs.
Just look at those little kitties having fun......not a care in the world :)
Hugs,
~Jo
Not ugly at all. I don't feel so bad now, because I have NEVER successfully grown morning glories from seed, only a few that have come up out of the blue, maybe brought in by birds. Like others have said, maybe a good idea to just let the garden sit until next spring and let the manure do its thing, ha. Phil
ReplyDeleteFields and gardens here got off to a slow start because of a very cool and dry spring, and really never fully recovered. Of course, it seems that gardeners and farmers are always looking forward to next year...
ReplyDeleteI see someone has already mentioned the fertilizer might be too hot. If it gets to dry the seeds won't germinate. If it gets too wet the seeds may rot. Perennials need about six hours of sunlight. Also do some research about what perennials, and annuals, are suitable for your micro climate, that is, right there in your yard. Let is rest, re-work it again next spring, and try something else. Morning glory and celosia (cock;s comb) are hard to grow.
ReplyDeleteI guess white fur reflects the heat right?
ReplyDeleteI'm the last person to advise on gardening..
ReplyDeleteBut, l think your new bed needs time to
establish itself..the manure etc..you've
added needs time to break down and work...!
All the other beds have done very well, lot's
of lovely colour..!
Yesterday..over here in the UK, it was announced,
that this summer has equaled 1976 as the hottest
ever..the fruit and veg has suffered by it to..! :(.
Never mind..plenty of other things to eat and enjoy!
The furry ones seem to be enjoying a play about, love
watching cats play..Fudge, my latest visitor likes
play on the window sill, and knocks all the ornaments
off..Bless!
The writing spider..interesting..if you look at the
photo sideways..it gives you it's e~mail address...
It must be..after all it is on the..'WEB'...HeHe! :).
I think maybe it could be the fertilizer but I see that this has already been suggested. I am sure it will be so much better next year.
ReplyDeleteI'm smiling because if I ever did get around to planting my very own garden, I'd probably have the same hilarious results! My mom planted some morning glory, the same color as yours, and it is out of control. She keeps pulling it out and there's still plenty more coming up. She feels bad putting it in the compost bin, so what she pulls out from the front garden, she replants at the back and now it's taking over things at the back! Weirdly, your morning glory is in a shady spot which you would think it would like... ours faces east at the front and west at the back. Anyway, that spider must have inspired Charlotte's Web. I'm surprised to see she's still on your door, she must love the screen itself for presenting her work! P.S how is the Rose of Sharon doing?
ReplyDeleteHi, HP. That does look like a watermelon leaf/vine to me, but the flowers maybe aren't right? Perhaps another type of melon? If it's a volunteer it might never amount to much. I had a massive volunteer gourd vine that grew and grew and bloomed ... and yielded one nice, small gourd. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the little flower garden ... is it perhaps your soil? How new was the bunny/goat poop you added? If it was too fresh, it would have affected the soil badly. It may need to age, or perhaps you can add compost or grass clippings to cool it down. I wouldn't give up! And I think it can be hard to find flowers that prefer partial shade ... but want that hot afternoon sun after a day in the shade. Might need to research which flowers can tolerate that. Good luck!!
You've been given some great advice about this new bed that didn't produce this year. Patience and some added soil and you'll have lovely blooms growing hardily in this spot.
ReplyDeleteYour weather is hotter than we have. Right now we are having more rain, remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon maybe.
Enjoy your week ~ FlowerLady
Interesting spider. You're a better person than I to let him live on your screen. Our hot, humid, rainy summer has the spiders going and webbing everywhere. I planted purple morning glories about 6 years ago. The are annual plants here, but mine have come back every year since. Next year I'm going to plant more in the back near the pond area. I LOVE them. Almost every flower around my house is trumpet shaped. Your dog is beautiful. Is he a Spitz? I always want to plant Zinnia because my husband loves them, but I always forget until it's too late in the season.
ReplyDeleteHappy Day
xx, Carol
I think the problem may be the weather this year. It has been so hot that none of my plants did very well. Try again next year!
ReplyDeleteSounds as though it's been a hot summer in your part of the country. I like your pretty pink zinnias and morning glory. I hope you will soon get cooler weather with fall around the corner.
ReplyDeleteHi Henny,
ReplyDeleteGoodness, my Morning Glories also turned yellow and died! I had a few lovely blooms, then all the leaves turned yellow. Strange Indeed. Worms got into my glads, they eat down on the bulb and make the stalk weak and sick. ;-( a hard year with bugs!!
Carla
Henny don't give up on perennials...just may be the wrong spot for some. Also depends on sun and shade too. I have to say this year my veggie garden was a complete flop. Alas though when the cold weather sets in and winter comes calling - us gardeners will be curled up in our warm jammies looking through those lovely flower catalogs that start arriving in January. That is when hope springs up and we start making plans again. :)! Hugs
ReplyDeleteI asked my husband about the flower bed. He said that some things should only be fertilized (which is what your using from the goat and bunny cages) after they have bloomed...gladolia being one such flower. He also asked me if you were using fresh from the cages or if it was composted. The green (straight from the cages) would also be the cause for not coming up or dying shortly thereafter. Hope that helps?
ReplyDeleteI sure do wish we could get together again before the snow flies...and Andee and her husband as well. I think of you every. single. time. I am busy in the kitchen because I am wearing one of your wonderful aprons. They make me feel special. :-) xo
I love that spider's web. It's fascinating. That vine could be cantaloupe.
ReplyDeletewe dont get flowers right here either - ours is from lack of enough sunshine for all our trees!
ReplyDeleteI can't give you any advice on the annual flower(less) bed, but you sure know how to grow interesting arachnids! I gave up on a similar bed and put in two big ferns which are the only thing to grow there so far, except for the moon flower. Could it be the pine needles?
ReplyDeleteWhat a big beautiful fluffy handsome boy Eli is!! Love when he's on the blog! I think your mystery vine is some type of melon, at first I thought it was squash. I used to be known for my huge vines of pretty morning glories and the past two whole years, hardly NOTHING!! This year I have a vine similar to yours, it has a few blooms but nothing like what I used to grow and last year I dont' think any grew...they came up but didn't grow.Maybe it's THE SEEDS, i wonder? LOL
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a wonderful summer. This heat has been really bad around here also. We planted flowers in early May, but they didn't last. Hopefully next year won't be too hot and humid to plant. We love the pretty pink zinnias. They are a pretty color. Thanks for the share. Hope you are all having a great day.
ReplyDeleteWorld of Animals
It must be your soil, Henny - what did you use in the bed when you started it? I put in a couple of new perennials this year that got swallowed up by some of the older perennials, so sad. I doubt they will come back next year, and I'm pretty sure I lost another rose bush or two also. Uggghhh, the life of a gardener is not easy, is it?
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