Fusarium Wilt...

Something isn't right in the tomato patch. All of my tomato plants are doing very well except for the Yellow Pear Tomato. I think it has Fusarium Wilt, caused by a fungus in the soil. So, out it must come. I just hope that it doesn't spread to the other plants. But, now that it is in the soil, it'll be there for several years.



And I thought this would be the year that I had a great vegetable garden. The first cucumbers tasted wonderful. The first peppers were delicious. The squash plants are looking nice. There are lots of green tomatoes. But now there is Fusariam Wilt. I guess that is a reality of gardening.



This is a brownish-sort-of post. The pods of the 'Captain of the Blues' Sweet Peas are ripening. Today I picked them to be able to collect the seeds. Some of them had already twisted open, so I missed those seeds.




But I will still be able to have some to save for next year. I really enjoyed these Sweet Peas, so I am looking forward to growing them again. Even though the plants haven't been that attractive for the past few weeks, I have left them on the trellises so I could harvest the seeds.



And one more brown thing. Look what I discovered as I was examining the Sweet Pea pods. Usually the Praying Mantises are green, but I think that when they are living on something brown, they turn brown. He/she camouflages very well. I like having these guys around. They are fun to watch.


Have a beautiful day!

Hummingbird visit...

A hummingbird came to visit today. I was working on building another stone wall and Kirstin was standing on the porch steps talking to me when we heard a little hummer. And then we saw it. It was adorable, but don't look for it among my photos because I don't have a picture of it.




These flowers are growing to the right of the porch, if you are facing it. They make such a lovely color combination. The hummingbird visited my Salvia guaranitica 'Argentina Skies.' 'Argentina Skies' is one of my favorites, but I'll tell you more about it some other day.




The little hummer had the most brilliant red neck I have ever seen. It was so gorgeous as it was flitting around and drinking nectar. And it didn't seem to be concerned that Kirstin was only a few feet away.




These pink Sweet Peas reseeded themselves from last year. They are amazingly fragrant. Almost overwhelmingly so, when you are "in them" to take pictures. Did they know they would look so nice with 'Argentina Skies' and Verbena bonariensis?





I love the little hummingbirds and am so glad they come to my garden. They are very welcome visitors.


Have a beautiful day!

Mother's Day...

To the mothers reading my blog: I appreciate your efforts and hard work as mothers and I share with you this poem, written by Kirstin, as a tribute to all you do.

My Proverbs 31 Mother

Who can find a Mother like mine?
Her value great and very fine.
My Mother's up before the sun,
And makes us biscuits golden done.

In her yard spends many hours,
Shovels mulch, and plants her flowers,
And vegetables she also grows;
Tomatoes, squashes in their rows.

She makes us dresses fine and neat;
And finds us outfits very sweet,
And coats and gloves when it is cold,
So in the snow we venture bold.

She brings the groceries from the store,
From twenty miles, even more...
We at the table she home-schools
In language arts and odd math rules.

She keeps the house-hold running right,
And keeps on working 'till the night.
"Oh, she is wonderful!" we say,
And wish her happy Mother's Day!

Have a beautiful Mother's Day!

Sweet peas...

My Sweet Pea crop of the year is pretty much limited to the vines growing up the wooden tuteurs on either side of my front porch. The seed packets promised that these were "Very Fragrant," and with a name like "Captain of the Blues," do you really think that I could not give them a try?




I love seeing them out the front door. And going out on the porch and smelling them. I don't think they are as fragrant as "Old Spice," which I have grown a number of times, but I like them very much.




Given that my front porch lacks an awful lot, I thought I would try to make up for it just a little bit by building these garden towers to stand on either side of the porch. They are made of oak and the wood became much too hard for me to drive nails into it, so I drilled holes instead and wired them together with copper wire. The tuteurs are planted in large pots, along with my Johnnies, and, of course, the Sweet Peas.




I don't know whose red shutters those are or what they are doing on my house. You see, my house has blue shutters. Well, at least, on my to-do list, my house has blue shutters.


Have a beautiful day!

Anticipation...

As fall darkens into winter, the bleakness increases, drawing me down. It is easy to think that months must pass before there are any signs of life and newness reappearing in my garden. But I have noticed, if I look carefully, I find niches of hope for the coming warmth. Even as the leaves of a hydrangea are falling, the beginnings of young ones are emerging.




New leaves of Iris pallida are forming.




Hidden bulbs are starting to show, telling me to hang in there, that spring will come.




The tendrils of sweet peas show the promises of a much larger vine and of the fragrance of the blooms to come in spring, while the little Johnnies will bolster me through the coming winter.


Have a beautiful day!