July Growths

Bleeding Heart is going into dormancy and isn't looking so great. I'm also thinking it ought to be propped up like a peony too. Thinking of replacing the peony next to it too since it didn't turn out to be a Sarah Bernhardt!

Another view of the front.

Red blooming milkweed.

The two camellias I got from the Lyman Estate. The one on the left is pink and the one on the right is white.

The wild acorn squash plant! It's trying to take over my peppers!

Honeysuckle, Dahalia 'Seattle', Stargazer lilies, Black Krim tomato, Cherokee Purple tomato, basil, orange mini bell peppers, dill, strawberry.

The famous Bhut Jolokias are ripening! Be scared! Be very very scared! :P

Black cherry tomatoes growing, but what is that big tomato below?!

The Jungle & Vacation

After being away for a week I came home to a jungle! Well...sort of. It's never good to put someone else in charge, especially if that someone else is male and not into plants! My jasmine and Tiny Tim tomato are in shock. :( My lemon lost its baby lemon! :( Nothing died persay, but stressed for sure!
My acorn squash doubled in size as you can see in the above pic. It has a baby squash growing on it! The marigolds I planted last year has gotten HUGE! Had I known they were going to get that big I wouldn't have planted them next to the peppers! I might need to dig them out...in fact, that's probably a good idea! They weren't nearly as big last year!

Here's two pics of my Dahalia 'Seattle'. I accidentally broke this one so I had to cut it off the plant!

Agave in Bloom at Phipps Conservatory!

German Red Garlic

Today I decided to check on my German Red garlic. They all had about 4-5 green leaves left, which is a good thing. I decided to harvest them since I'll be going out of town this Saturday. Broke a few skinny stalks from the bulb. Some I could find, others I couldn't. I guess I'll know when they grow next year!

They were not nearly as big as the bulb I originally bought to put in, but compared to my Music/mystery bulbs they were bigger with the exception of the smaller bulbs planted. John said that they like rich soil...I think rich is an understatement since the German family I met just a few weeks back grows theirs in 100% year old compost! I'm gonna have to try that this fall. I need more space though...or grow less lilies, but they are oh so pretty to look at instead of just garlic! Dilemmas dilemmas dilemmas!

July Growths

Bhut Jolokia peppers growing.

Yellow jacket got into one of my pitcher plants and tried to escape by chewing a hole through the side, but that's where he died still!

Dahalia 'Seattle'

Dahalia 'Seattle' isn't as big as the package said the flower would be... :( Nor is it as yellow as it was shown. There is a lot of pink scattered all over. Maybe they packaged the wrong one in the bag?

Stargazer lilies

Close up of a Stargazer lily. I took off the pollen because they stain everything including me when I am gardening around it! I look forward to its fragrance every year!

Garlic Harvest

So my Music and mystery garlic patch was ready to harvest...they all had about 3-4 leaves that were brown. This year's harvest was kind of a disappointment. The bulbs were mostly small and some were even smaller than in previous years! German Red is yet to be ready so I haven't harvested those yet. I will have to add some good compost after all the garlic is harvested so that it is ready to be planted this fall.

Stargazer Lilies

The first of my stargazer lilies opened a few days ago, but in today's heat a whole bunch of them have bloomed! Love the scent of them!

Three Blooms for Paph. Pinocchio 'Dresden' x Paph hel '#5'

Tillandsia xerographica in Spike!

Hartwood Acres Garden Tour 2010

It was SO pretty!

Tiny Tim Tomato

Harvested my first eight tomatoes from my Tiny Tim tomato plant today. The skin is kind of thick and it isn't quite as flavorful as my regular sized heirlooms, but this plant grows like a WEED! It has TONS of tiny tomatoes all over it already!

Phipps Blog

http://porchsidegardening.wordpress.com/

BUGS! BUGS! EVERYWHERE!

Ack! It's definitely the first day of summer! I came home today to find a baby grasshopper. This time, I know what it is because I saw some last year! I also came home to my collard greens all eaten! Darn fat green worms! I don't know what they are, but I did squish them. There are a ton more eggs under those leaves. Neem and fish emulsion were sprayed on all! Lemon tree got some more too since it had scale. Hopefully this application will take care of what has hatched since. I still see ants on them so I am sure there are more to be found!

Yeah Baby!

Check out what's ripening up or growing!



Mysterious mud balls....hornets?

From Temporary Pics

Bonsai Society

I recently joined the local bonsai society and went to my first meeting tonight. I have to say...ouch! It is NOT cheap, no way, no how! If you thought orchids were expensive this really puts it into perspective! It makes orchids look like chump change! I guess if you do the classical bonsai it might be cheaper, but they were demonstrating Saikei (landscapes) and it is a bit rich for my taste!

Garden Tours

On Thursday our Master Gardener meeting was at a fellow MG's house. Boy was it pretty!




Today I went on a Pittsburgh Botanic Garden tour. It was nice to see everyone's gardens and styles of gardens! My favorite was the big stream/waterfall with the pond at the bottom! It was SO relaxing to be there! I could've stayed all day! I was asked to volunteer, to which I said yes an was happily surprised that I was assigned to Randyland! It has been on the Today show and I had always wanted to see it, but instead of seeing it on the outside I was able to see it from the inside and out too! I even got a bit of a history lesson from the owner, Randy, himself!

All the tiny buds on my Bhut Jolokia!

Look at all the tomatoes on my Micro Tom!

My find at the Bonsai show. Thought this had an interesting shape to work with.

My Bouganvilla bonsai I bought at the bonsai show. It had two flowers on it, but I knocked it off when I took it out of its bag! :(

Paph seedlings on top, Bulbophyllum seedlings on the bottom.

Tiny Tom!

Blooms on my Black Sambuca

Mystery sprouts popping up all over the garden! This one is right over where I buried my leopard gecko, Pinky. Later on I figured out they were Safflower sprouts! My little chipmunk must've planted them there!

'Sugar Ann' sugar snap peas are growing! Have eaten some off the vine already. There will probably be none left for cooking!

My garlic/lily patch.

Honeysuckle about to bloom.

Honeysuckle is full of buds! They are mostly in bloom already!

So much as been going on since my last entry...

My 'Sugar Ann' sugar snap peas are blooming and growing peas! They are quite tasty! I need to grow MORE! Surprisingly, the seeds under the honeysuckle aren't growing as well as the peas in the pots!

My honeysuckle has buds galore and the peonies are about done. :(

I put my Epiphyllums out for the first time (some in full sun!) and I am getting some mega growth on some of them! I am hoping they BLOOM!

Planted all my peppers except for Bhut Jolokia because I plan on overwintering it indoors. It has buds already at 4" tall! I gave my future Uncle B-in-law some seeds and my future Dad-in-law a plant I had started later. Both their plants are the same size if not taller than mine, but it takes about 180 days to reach maturity and mine has buds already, albeit small buds! They are buds nonetheless! I will be drowning in hot peppers this fall!

My Dahalia 'Seattle' has grown back! I was wondering if it would cuz by spring it was looking a bit shriveled up. I planted it in the ground this year because the peas are in the big pot it grew in last year. I might have to dig it up and transplant it because if it gets really big it's going to block my tomatoes, which is growing right next to it.

I still gotta find room for my one leftover ostrich fern, oregano, columbine and asparagus. I think I'll plant my thornless blackberry (Really! There is not one thorn on it!) in my neighbor's yard. It's a rental and there are already raspberries there. The owner said we were welcomed to eat from them as well as the fruit trees. He was the one who sold us our house too.

Peony 'Sorbet'

It finally bloomed its first bloom! :D