Summer Garden Update
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Summer can be brutal when it comes to gardening, but there is still so much beauty out there to enjoy.
Wow!!! The month of July has really been extremely wet. Even for this time of the year. Every day for the past 3 weeks we have had some real downpours. These rains will definitely make my water bill go down. Here in Florida, we pay quite a bit for water and most of it goes to keep the yard watered during the spring/dry season.
All that is left in my garden is 3 green pepper plants and boy are they producing. They are enjoying all the rain. I picked one the other day that was over 6 inches long. I’ve never had one grow that big. I will be putting them up in the freezer and using some for cooking.
I really don’t have much of a bug problem around here because I don’t grow in the summertime. Until this year. The main reason my tomatoes were gone early this year. The Leptoglossus phyllopus or Eastern Leaf Footed Bug was everywhere. All over my sunflowers and covered my tomatoes. The bug on the left is the baby and the one on the right is full grown. The best way to get rid of them is to pick them off and drop in soapy water with a bit of oil in them. Sunflowers do attract them and you can grow a patch of them to go to. I did try an organic spray and it didn’t faze them. Tough bugger for sure.
Leaf-footed bugs are a common name that comes from the hind legs that have a flattened, leaf-like expansion, you can see it in the above picture. It is a very common insect in the United States, there are reported sightings as far north as Long Island, New York, and then they range south to Florida, west to Iowa and Kansas, and southwest through Texas to California. Adults are about 3/4 inch in length and are dark brown with a whitish-to-yellowish stripe across the central part of the back. The nymphs have much the same shape as adults, though they are usually a bright Orange and do not acquire the flattened leaf-like hind leg until they are almost full-grown adults.
This time of the year, my main love is watching the butterfly garden. I enjoy just sitting and watching one of God’s most delicate creatures. The butterfly. Since all the rain, the flowers have flourished. Zinnias, sunflowers, Mexican sunflowers, miniature cosmos, sage, marigolds, lantana, and milkweed. I also have flat-leaf parsley and dill for a host plant. Those are growing back from being munched on and will come back here in Central Florida. I really love, well I should say, the birds really love my easy DIY Tomato Cage Bird Bath. It looks so nice in my garden.
Tons of bees love coming to my butterfly garden too.
All of these flowers are started from seed. Some come back on their own. In about a month or so, I will start harvesting the seeds for next year and put them in small containers. But, I will have to wait until they dry off well enough first.
I am also growing Lemon Balm this year. I think it doesn’t like the really wet weather we are having. I hope when it cools down it will spike and the butterflies will enjoy it. Lemon Balm is a great herb to grow and really easy to grow from seeds.
I repotted my poinsettia from Christmas so I can bring it in the house around October so it will turn red for Christmas this year. Be sure to keep it pinched back until October so it will nice a bushy and not get leggy. One of the perks of living in Central Florida is you can keep plants like poinsettias from year to year.
Now it’s on to getting ready for the fall garden and I will start planting seeds in September.
Get your hands dirty,
Tammy
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I’m just a country girl loving my geeky life with my wonderful husband, always taking pictures, getting my hands dirty in the garden, being crafty, exploring with travels and enjoying all this on a budget. But above all, living my faith as a child of God!
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Glad you are having some success with your garden. I don’t have one of my own, so I am always impressed to hear what others are doing with theirs.
Thank you Robin and thanks for stopping by
Your garden looks so beautiful! You have done a great job. The peppers look so green and healthy! The rain did wonders on them!
Thank you Jennifer.
Your garden is splendid! We had a great success with ours this year, and our zucchini’s are gorgeous. Our eggplants are coming in nicely and so are our peppers.
Thanks Maria. Our zucchini did better this year. I had to use hybrid seeds to help with the wilt disease we get here. I’ve never tried eggplants.
Your garden looks so pretty! It would be so cool to see bees and butterflies happily pollinating out there each day.
Thanks Liz. Its been raining so much I wasn’t able to get pictures of all of the butterflies. But the bees don’t seem to care and hang around all the time.
Your garden is gorgeous! I wish my thumb was as green, I can’t grow anything.
Thank you. Everyone can grow something. Give a small plant a try.
You know what Tammy? your photos captivates me. Love the ones with bugs 🙂 About your garden, looks really nice!
Thanks so much Ron for the kind words. Those bugs are interesting looking for sure. 😉
This is inspiring me to get my garden sorted, it’s a small space but could be beautiful, thanks for sharing
Kay
Thank you Kay. I actually really love growing a garden in a small place. Easier to handle.Thanks for stopping by
Wow! You grew large peppers! And those flowers are all so pretty. I wish I had more space to do as you do. Gardening is so relaxing and rewarding.
Thanks! I guess it was from all the rain right now. My job today is put them in the freezer to use for later.
The flowers are so pretty! How I wish I have a garden, but I don’t have the space for it.
Thanks. Believe me when I say I have a very small space for everything. Even a container will give you some beauty.
Your garden looks great. Neat year I plan on planting more flowers to get more bees to our garden!
Thanks Amy. Your bees will love you for all the flowers.
Love your garden how pretty peppers & flowers and moist the soil looks. Great graphic. Gardening is a great way to pass the time and destress. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Patricia. I wish I could stay out more in my garden, but it gets so hot here in the summer. I”m out there at about 7am and back in the house in an hour.
I would love to start a garden and I say that every year. Yet, still no garden. Maybe this fall. What a beautiful one you have.
April, start with one container and plant something small. That way you aren’t over whelmed.
wow, good for you! I’m so jealous. I have not been successful with my garden this year.
Thanks Dhemz
Those green peppers look delicious! I have always wanted to have my own garden.
Thanks Dawn. You can start with containers.
Your garden’s impressive! You sure did an amazing job on taking care of your garden.
Thanks so much.
Great Garden. I really want to grow some herbs and things. It looks like you are getting lots of goodies. The flowers are so pretty too.
Thanks Katie
Your garden is so pretty. How I wish I have a garden where I can grow my own vegetables and herbs.
Start with a large pot Elizabeth. You can grow a lot in them
Omg what a lovely garden!!!! I wish I had a green thumb!!!maybe one day I will give the gardening thing a try 🙂
Thanks Courtney for stopping by
Glad you’re still having some success with your garden, especially since it seems to be a tough year for them. I know I didn’t get mine in on time this year, but next year it’s on! LOL
Thanks Melissa
Glad your garden is doing well. We are growing a few veggies and melons. Those little bugs gave me the creeps! Ick!
I hope you never see those bugs in person. Ew. Thanks for stopping by Camesha.
My garden also produced bell peppers that size and I love them stuffed with ground beef, wildrice and tomato sauce. I sprinkle some cheese on top/ & bake at 350.
I love stuffed peppers too like that. This year I will have bigger ones to make that with. Thanks for stopping by Terri
You have the most beautiful plants and garden. Mine turned out terrible this year and I’ve been pulling up veggies and flowers. I hope to do better next year. Your photos are awesome.
Thank you Terri. A lot of those beautiful flowers have perished because of all the rain. Pooh.