Posted on 07/08/2023 6:03:06 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Meanwhile, we're enjoying a cooler summer in So Cal than last year - I've only had to run the a/c twice and it only goes on if the temp is over 90.
Plants are loving the cooler weather as well, I've even got cool weather pansies that are still blooming:
I'm having better luck with liles this year:
This is a Lucifer Lily:
And Hisbiscus:
"Sunset Blvd.":
Have no idea what this double hibiscus is called, I got it off the dead table at Lowe's years ago:
And, my helpers:
Happy Summer to All!
Those are beautiful!
I haven’t had much luck with Dahlias - although I’ve seen great ones in neighbor’s yards, just a few, though, they’re not widely grown here in So Cal.
I love zinnias and they can stand our hot, dry climate well - got a package from my sister-in-law last year that I think came from the .99 store (she lives a block away and loves it there). I got the most beautiful, colorful, tall zinnias that I had ever grown.
Here is one Gardening Sites list of different basil varities! ( I counted 35!)
Gardening Know How A List of Basil Types
(This list does NOT include hybrid varieties that have been developed for specific characteristics like slow bolting, heat resistance, a long harvest period, or fungal or disease resistance.)
In previous years my Genovese basil would shoot up get big and bolt and die off of disease. I wanted a genovese type basil that I could companion plant in between and on the back side of my tomatoes and tried Prospera Compact basil from Johnnies seed last year. It has worked well enough that I won't even plant tall genovese basil any more. It looks like it will hold most of the season as long as I keep it pruned. Johnnies has some nice videos about the variety that show the difference. (I just planted the last of my basil seedlings yesterday!) I still plant other basils, but this along with marigolds are great for companion planting!
Johnny's Prospera Compact Basil
Bon! Emphasis on Red this week! The magenta rose mallow (hibiscus) and blood red asiatic lily are incredible!
Good morn...as always, thanks for the thread...I am battling wind in the garden. It’s been a learning experience. Oh, and love the Basil history.
Looked out the kitchen window a few minutes ago and what in the world is that down in the grass? Was it the juvenile groundhog that’s hanging out in the back pole barn or the rabbit who hangs out in the yard? No, not either - it was a hawk, with its back to the window! It was eating something in the grass, but I am so glad to see a hawk hanging out around here because the squirrels have just gotten way too bold. When I went out to chase the crows away a few minutes later (their second visit this morning), the hawk flew out of the grass at the side of the house and up onto the pasture board fence, then when I tried to get a picture, it ended up on my garden fencing before flying away. It looked like a Red-tailed hawk, not a Red-shouldered.
Your skunks are probably looking for beetles...june bugs, japanese beetles. The skunks and possums do that in my yard and I have to collect the scat first thing in the mornings. Filled with little green sparkles from the Japanese Beetles. That and Fox scat and Owl pellets and I am not even out in the country!
You are correct about beetles (& grubs). We are probably going to have a June bug hatch with the rain yesterday & heat. The Japanese beetles are already around & eating up stuff.
It was a warm spring! Harvesting now:
Romano Pole Beans: Helda and Golden Gate (Japanese Beetle and Green June Bug favorite!)
Dill: Fernleaf
Tomatos: "42", Sweet 100, Thorburn's Terra Cotta, Black Krim; Jaune Flamme
Cucumbers: Artist and Diva (Beit Alpha type)
Basil: Prospera compact and Thai
Zucchini:; one lonely Cocozelle and some squash blossoms
Qiviut; It does not seem as bad as previous years. 4 or 5 years ago I put down Milky Spore 2 years running. Perhaps that is having an effect?
I pick the Beetles when I see them and remove them to a soapy water bucket, but I have also sprayed the Beans with a mix of neem oil with red cedar and eucalyptus oil in water with soap (surfractant) in hopes of discouraging them. Supposedly they do not like the scent. Now that its rained I suppose I will need to spray again.
Don't forget to spray the underside of the foliage too.
A lot of time the bugs will 'hide out' underneath, and lay egg masses there, too.
The milky spore probably helped a lot. We have an old, very large, ‘country’ sort of yard & all we do is mow. We have moles, too - if you get rid of beetle grubs with milky spore, the moles supposedly move on to ground with a better food supply.
We battle with grubs and moles nearly constantly in our yard, and chipmunks, while cute, are so destructive to my plants. Sometimes I think I should get the pellet gun out.
We have a ‘new’ chipmunk .... haven’t had one in years. I think it’s eating flowers. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about it.
Somebody has been eating my gerbera daisy blossoms. I suspect a bunny rabbit, though I don’t know. I have a camera that shows that area, and a deer would be obvious, so it’s not that. Makes me mad, but I never take any action other than an occasional sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
I love basil. One would think an old curmudgeon like me would be more drawn to growing cacti or other sticker-bush type things, but growing basil makes me a little less prickly. Maybe it’s that great scent it has. :-)
Not too good at growing the fancy kinds, but with ordinary old sweet basil, seeds anywhere from 2 to 5 years old to grow like there’s no tomorrow, and re-seed / self-sow generously too.
We had a Gerbera eaten and now it looks like the Echinacea are losing petals.
Little varmints!
Who is that handsome doggie! He looks great,
We just had a big thunderstorm pop up, seemingly out of nowhere. It caused flash flood warnings in our area and we had a real ‘frog strangler’ downpour. We now have an inch of rain in the rain gauge which is a combination of the 3/8 in we got yesterday afternoon and what we got a little bit ago. I am going to have cucumbers the size of baseball bats and spaghetti squash the size of watermelons!
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