Now that we've visited the front garden in June, I thought I'll take you on a quick tour of the back garden, where we have more things growing:
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| Broccoli Flowers |
One or two of the self seeded broccoli plants were left in place and some broccoli side shoots have bolted and are flowering. I'm leaving them to form seed pods; maybe they will seed themselves again!
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Unidentified Plant Flower
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One of my cousins gave me a cutting of this plant with the purple flower spikes. She didn't know the name of the plant, but, said it was very easy to grow and drought tolerant. The leaves have a very strong aroma; the plant is growing well and spreading.
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| Hibiscus |
The hibiscus plant is growing well, but, it is not growing very big! But, it is flowering!
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| Hibiscus Flower |
My onions are flowering, too! I know you are supposed to harvest them before the flowers bloom, but, the onion bulbs are too small to harvest. So, I allowed them to flower and I will enjoy the flowers! Maybe I'll be able to collect some seeds from the flowers!
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| Onion Flower |
The serrano chili plant is growing and producing. I was able to harvest about six or seven chilies to send to my daughter and there are more growing on the plant:
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| Serrano Chili |
The celery plants that M gave me decided to bolt before their stems became big enough to harvest! They are such pretty and delicate flowers and the bees love them!
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| Celery Flowers |
Nearby, the gaura plant is flowering, too:
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| Gaura |
And the tomatoes are getting bigger!
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| Tomatoes |
I was able to harvest two tomatoes on Sunday:
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| The First Tomatoes |
They are not very big, but, they were ripe enough to pick.
The red aloe plant is enjoying the sunshine - it turns red in the sunshine!
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| Red Aloe |
In comparison, here's how it looked in May, when we didn't have many sunny days:
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| The Red Aloe (and Flower Stalk) in May |
These are some of my green bean plants - the French round beans; they are bush beans and the plants are about a foot high. I sent the first picking of beans to my daughter and I picked another handful of beans this weekend. I sauteed them with a little garlic powder and had them as part of my dinner on Saturday night.
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| Green Beans |
There are still some roses, too (and those are potatoes growing in the pot behind them):
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| Roses |
The front garden has sage and rosemary; the back garden has a pot of mint:
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| Mint |
(There's another rosemary plant in the back garden, too, but, I didn't photograph it, this time,)
And, finally, the blueberries are coming to an end, but, there are still a few berries ripening on the bushes:
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| Blueberries are Coming to an End |
And that is a quick tour of the back garden in June. There are more plants to be seen, but, they will keep for another time.
How is your garden coming along?
Bless both your front & back gardens are so lush with bloom & interesting plants. Between you & M, your green thumbs come through. You have certainly a great blend of food & bloom plants. My garden is coming along & it struck me only yesterday leaving church, I'm missing a few plants, ones that have not returned. I noticed because they were growing in the church garden! Thankfully I was able to pick a few seed heads off one of the plants I'm missing. I did not feel too guilty as it was a plant I planted from my garden to the church garden. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary-Lou. I'm focusing on the good areas! The ground between plantings is turning brown! I'm trying to focus on growing water-wise plants, fruits, vegetables, and other edible plants.
DeleteSorry to hear that some of your plants have not returned this year, but, how nice to be able to collect a few seed heads of one of the missing plants, from a plant you planted in the church garden! No reason to feel guilty about it, I'm sure. :)
Your back garden has lots of interesting plants. Could the unidentified one be the scaredy cat plant ... I don't know the proper name for it, but it looks a bit like it. The red aloe is doing really well ... it looks great, but I think my favourite is the hibiscus! xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen, and you are right - it is the scaredy cat (also, apparently known as dogbane) plant! The botanical name is Coleus caninus (also known as Plectranthus caninus)! It is in the mint family. I had hoped that the hibiscus would grow to be a big bush, but, so far, that hasn't happened!
DeleteYour tomatoes are much more advanced than ours! We've only got flowers at the moment. The courgettes/zucchini are just starting to grow. You have some lovely flowers - I love the onion pompoms!
ReplyDeleteThank you, FD. The tomatoes are a variety known as Early Girl; they tend to produce earlier in the year, before our summer temperatures soar and scorch the fruit. The onion flowers are pretty, aren't they?
DeleteThanks for the enjoyable tour of your garden. I love seeing how red the aloe plant is getting. They are only house plants here, so I've only seen green ones before.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, June. The red aloe (Aloe cameronii) is a different variety than aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis), which is the more common houseplant. I have aloe vera growing outside, too, and it doesn't change color.
DeleteThanks for the tour of the garden. I really love that red aloe plant. It really is striking!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Sharon. I, too, love the color of the red aloe plant!
DeleteHi Bless! 👋🏻 Your garden looks great! The red aloe is beautiful! I didn’t know they changed colors—very interesting. We had our first illegal fireworks go off in the park behind our house last night. (Sigh) I truly hate that. It’s going to be a long summer between those morons and Disneyland. Hope the nights are quiet for you. Take care. Judy in Anaheim.
ReplyDeleteHi Judy! Thank you! The red aloe is a variety called Aloe cameronii and it changes color with the amount of light it gets. Aloe vera plants will not change color (I have one growing in a pot outside).
DeleteOh, no! The celebrations have started, already! I haven't heard any in my neighborhood, yet, but, we'll have them this weekend, I'm sure!
Hope you have a nice, quiet week, Judy.
It's good to see the plants in your back garden and I'm sure those tomatoes will taste delicious. I like that your garden provides you with so much produce,My back garden is doing well except for my two patio roses which had black spot. I have treated them with a spray but not successfully, I didn't do it early enough.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed seeing the plants, Eileen. I'm looking forward to the tomatoes (I only like them cooked, though, not raw). I'm determined to grow edible plants in the garden - my reasoning is, if I am spending so much money on the garden, watering it, etc., then, it might as well produce something I can eat or make use of in some way. :)
DeletePretty broccoli - it would indeed be great if you got some more self-setters. The hibiscus looks very healthy (you could use the second photo for the June challenge, along with the rose). Anything that attracts the bees has to be a good thing, and yes good thinking to enjoy the small onions as flowers. My alliums are blooming at the moment - including some I have decided I don't like and others which I moved last year but seem to have seeded (and multipied!) in the original location, so now they look even worse than before!! Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella. It would be great if the broccoli (and celery and onions, too) will seed themselves for next year, wouldn't it?
DeleteThe hibiscus is supposed to be red, but, appear dark pink in my photos! I've taken some photos of roses for the June photo challenge. :) I'm happy to provide flowers for the bees and butterflies. Maybe you might change your mind about the alliums that insist on coming back! I've done that with a couple of plants in my garden - I've tried to take them out and they insist on coming back, so, eventually, I let them grow because they seem so determined to do so! :D
Wow! Beautiful tour of your back garden. Those onion flowers are amazing! xo Diana
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diana. The onion flowers look almost ornamental, don't they?
DeleteYour back garden looks to be in good shape and productive. I am intrigued by the purple plant with the aromatic leaves. I tried to find a possible name. I wondered if it was one of the varieties of catmint, as opposed to catnip. I think catmint is also attractive to cats so you could try a leaf under Dancer's nose! The tomatoes look perfect and they will taste wonderful being freshly picked.
ReplyDeleteWe have had thunder on and off all day, lots of rain, especially in the morning, and we have a chipmunk who decided to climb right up the patio screen to get attention! They are good climbers and go high up the trees with serviceberries. The robins are also after the berries and it is fun to watch them land heavily on the branches.
Thank you, Bushlady. Eileen T had said that the unidentified plant might be "scaredy cat" and I believe it is! The botanical name is Coleus caninus ( see her comment above and my response). It is apparently reputed to keep cats away (and dogs, too - it is also called dogbane).
DeleteGlad you are getting some rain - you need that for those wildfires! Too funny about the chipmunk climbing up the patio screen! Sounds like your serviceberry tree is helping to feed the neighborhood wildlife! I have a baby possum visiting the cat food dish, outside! :D
The tomatoes might be small, but I imagine they tasted delicious and sweet. Your mint looks like it is growing well. I have just dug up a large quantity from my garden, as it was beginning to take over! I use it quite often when I'm cooking, so I think I'll grow some in a container next time. X
ReplyDeleteTo be quite honest, Jules, I don't particularly like the taste of raw tomatoes! I use them in my cooking and add them to my curries, etc.
DeleteYes, mint tends to spread and growing them in a container will prevent them from taking over the garden!
Your back garden is very happy this year - and productive!
ReplyDeleteYou've got tomatoes early?? Or no? Gosh mine just have a couple flowers.
I've never heard of or seen that scaredy cat plant that Eileen identified.
You had a good blueberry and peach season. Do you think your extra rain was a cause of some of your peach crop rotting/molding?
Yes, the garden enjoyed the rain it had and the milder days - we've been consistently below normal where our temperatures are concerned.
DeleteYes, it's a variety called Early Girl - the tomatoes start to ripen before the really hot days of summer are upon us and scorch the tomatoes. There's another tomato ripening on the plant and it should be ready to pick in a day or two.
I like the name of the plant - scaredy cat! :D
Yes, I do believe it was the rain, and perhaps, even more than the rain, the damp, chilly days we've had, that caused the peaches to get moldy and rot - the weather was not warm and dry enough to dry the water off the fruit. The mold started at the bottom of the fruit - presumably where the moisture would have dripped down and remained on the fruit. On dryer years, when we water the peach tree, we take care not to get the fruit wet.