End of June Garden Update 2018

I can’t believe that it’s already almost the end of June. That’s one thing about the warm weather – I spend all winter long waiting for it. It feels like it takes forever to arrive, but when it does – it flies by. That bothers me, a lot. Anyhow, let’s take a quick look around what’s going on in the garden.

The pole beans have really started to climb! The beans on this trellis are a mixed lot. In addition to some scarlet runner beans, I planted seed that I saved from last year’s pole beans. The varieties I planted were ‘Rattlesnake’. ‘Kentucky Wonder’, ‘Purple Podded’, and some type of yellow wax that I can’t remember the name of. And yes, there’s grass growing everywhere. 

Here’s a better look at some of the beans hanging from the fence. I’m pretty sure that these are ‘Rattlesnake’. You can see that they have a little bit of striping starting to develop on the pods. So pretty.

I’m also really excited to see how well the sweet corn is growing this year. Growing sweet corn at home can be so frustrating. It’s usually a lot shorter than you’d expect, not to mention that it takes up SO MUCH space. Even so, sweet corn is one of my absolute favorite things to grow. The weather has been extremely hot, so I’m a little worried how pollination is going to go. 

The variety of corn I’m planting this year is called ‘Bodacious’. I’ve grown this hybrid in the past and had good results, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

The celosia is finally starting to bloom. Though they’re still a lot shorter than they have been in the past, I’m hoping that they’ll keep growing, branching, and producing more flowers. I love how vibrant the flowers and the foliage are!

This is the ‘Torch’ tithonia. Tithonia have long been one of my favorite flowers. The main reason being the profusion of blooms – and the fact that the hummingbirds go absolutely crazy for these things. Monarch butterflies love them too! I can’t believe that more people don’t grow these things!

Tithonia in the foreground, ‘Christmas Pole’ lima beans climbing up the trellis in the back. If you look really close, you can see that a storm has already destroyed my zinnias and verbenas. It’s whatever, some things just aren’t preventable. 

The ‘Bicolor ProCut’ series sunflowers will be blooming soon. I’m really glad that I planted these next to the rudbeckia. I think the color combination is going to look really nice.

The squash vines are continuing to ramble through the yard. They’re now climbing all over the ground cherries. If you look closely, you may notice the damage to the ground cherry plants. I’m fairly certain this was due to herbicide drift. My neighbor absolutely LOVES using round-up weed killer. He uses it almost daily. It smells terrible, and is extremely frustrating.

Here are those rudbeckias I was talking about. The seed package was labeled ‘Gloriosa Daisy’.

Whoa! Look at those watermelon plants! The ‘Carolina Cross’ and ‘Moon and Stars’ watermelon varieties are both vining everywhere. I’ve even seen a couple of female flowers – and possibly one actual fruit! Woohoo!