It’s been a while since I’ve posted, because the gardening situation has been bleak. First, we were hit with a ridiculous string of over 100 degree days, which usually doesn’t happen until August. Then, we had rain. Lots and lots of rain. Daily rain. Now, we’re back to hot again. Today’s heat advisory number was […]
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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Bust
Today’s the 15th, so I would normally be flaunting the lovliness that’s blooming in my garden—but it’s July in Texas, and we’ve now had 15 days of over 100 degree temps. It’s bleak in the garden today… This butterfly weed is still sitting in the holding pen on the front porch, where I can dump […]
Note To Self…
…find a place in the backyard to grow sunflowers! I bought these at Central Market today, after spending part of our monthly mixed-media group meeting staring at them from above. They’re as big as salad plates, with stalks as thick as my index finger. Amazing. I want to grow some. I tried putting these in […]
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Summer in Texas. It’s a beating. It’s so hot and humid outside, it’s hard to breathe.Clearly, the tomatoes love the heat. We had a few days of under 100 degree weather this week, and the cooler temps triggered a tidal wave of ripening. This was what I had yesterday. Today, all the ripe romas and […]
Dallas Planting Manual
Anyone who lives in this area knows how freaky our gardening conditions are. Between the weather and the soil conditions, it’s hard to know what to plant when, and how to take care of it. I’ve seen the Dallas Plantin Manual mentioned on several local garden blogs, and finally got around to ordering a used […]
It’s All About Tomatoes
After weeks of a ripe tomato here and there, the romas and cherry tomatoes have started ripening with a vengance. I’ve discovered that if I pick them when they just start to blush, and toss them in a bowl with some that are already ripe, they red right up. I now have so many red, […]
A Photo Free Update
I have no pics today. It’s hot, and I’ve been keeping my garden time down to a minimum. Usually, I’m outside just before the sun goes down, which is not prime photo time. Anyway, here’s the garden news for the week: 1. In keepimg with the general tone of this year’s garden experience, I moved […]
June Bloom Day
On the 15th of every month, May Dreams Gardens hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day—and here’s what’s blooming in my North Texas garden today for my Bloom Day post:Stepping out the front door, there’s this very sad butterfly weed that’s been sitting on the porch for over a month. I bought it just before the poison […]
Too Much Rain
Last night’s storm dumped about 6 inches of rain in a very short time. Here’s what the backyard looked like today, as it was still pouring down:No power for 23 hours. It truly sucked. The Oncor trucks passed through twice in the wee hours, but didn’t fix anything. By the time they rolled up our […]
Marshall Grain is in Grapevine!
On my way elsewhere earlier this week, I discovered that the old Calloway’s building on 121 in Grapevine, empty since last summer, is now inhabited by Marshall Grain. I stopped in today, and it looks like they have all the same stuff inside that the one in Fort Worth does—plus, they’ve taken over the greenhouse […]
Today’s Harvest
More greens, another zucchini, and a tiny cherry tomato. Salad for dinner! I think the tomatoes are taunting me. There are SO MANY cherry and roma tomatoes that are the right size, but completely green. They just refuse to blush. I think they’re coordinating their schedules to ripen all on the same day!
Zucchini: WIN!
At long last, after dozens of male blossoms, my enormous zucchini bushes have started to produce females. I’ve learned from experience that once this happens, the zucchini come faster and faster, so I should cut them while they’re small, and not waste time waiting for them to get much larger than this. Little zucchini are […]