Discoveries

I puttered around the yard and garden yesterday, and would have enjoyed it more had it not been so humid. We don't get much humidity here, so it affected me strongly. I have worked in the yard quite a lot, and never sweated like I did yesterday. Still, I managed to get some things done, and found a few surprises as I meandered around the yard.

These lovely pink flowers are blooming in front of the house. Snapdragons? I'm not sure. I bought some purple lobelia a few days ago and set them in a pot beside the front step. They should fill in and be beautiful there. I also moved my birthday gift pink azalea into a pot on the other side of the step. I have to keep it watered well, as it was quite droopy when I transplanted it, but after a good drink it perked right up.

I weeded one section of the vegetable garden, and now you can really see Elton's zucchini and corn, which have really taken off with the warm weather we've had. The tomotoes are growing and look very healthy. Elton's strawberries are beginning to turn red, and he plucked his first red radish from the patio planter yesterday. He said it was very spicy and good. As quickly as those radishes grew, I'm thinking that we can harvest these and plant more to get another crop.

The most surprising discovery I made was when I was weeding out near the sidewalk. I confess this is an area that is somewhat neglected, because it is filled in with mullein, yarrow, and other plants that don't require a lot of maintenance. I found a plant that I had not recognized before, but having planted a small sage herb in my herb garden, I certainly knew what it was now -- a nice big sage! I felt quite stupid that not only did I go out and buy one, but that this was there all along and I had no idea what it was.

And then.... I was watering the west side of the house, which I tend to forget about since it's not a traffic area and the shrubs there are largely self-maintaining: roses, flowering quince, mint. Near the back gate on that side I made an even more amazing discovery: another sage plant, this one very big, and in flower (see photo below). I was delighted and felt stupid all over again.

Elton set out cucumber plants and we cleaned out two more pots and he filled them with pepper plants. Our patio is quite full of lovely growing vegetables! The peas are flowering, but I believe the hot weather has probably been the death knell to them. My lettuce is going to seed after only one cutting. Ah well, I can plant more in the fall. The thai pepper plant is beginning to form buds. And my herb garden is thriving. I can see that the sage has grown, and the seeds I planted are beginning to sprout. The cilantro is doing particularly well.
I trimmed up the plants that grow along the sidewalk, as they were beginning to encroach. The yarrow, Oregon grape, and the big "mystery bush" that has delicate white flowers, all got a haircut. I watered the hens and chicks, and noticed that the yucca is sending up its shoots and will be flowering (I guess that's what you call it for yucca) soon.

We've noticed that the zucchini has been attacked by some sort of bug, the leaves have little holes in them. Interestingly, the one he planted near a sagebrush is untouched. I suspect that the pungent odor of the sagebrush drives away pests, and may be a good place to grow things. Just have to be sure not to plant them under it where they won't get any sun.