Happy July 4th

Door County water lilies
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
Red Zinnia and a photo shop of the same picture.
'Packman' broccoli - a catalog quality picture
This little Trader Joe rose plant has really been a great buy even after 4 months.
These are the transplanted beets to date.
A critter is snacking on my carrots.

These are transplanted carrots.
I put cayenne pepper on these after they were eaten.

This lettuce is doing well under the trellis for the melons and cucumbers.



Sunny hot July weather sure makes the garden grow. After a quick trip to Kansas City, MO to move our eldest son, we arrived back to lush grass needing cutting and good growth in the garden even only after three days being gone. But in my absence an evil critter somehow got into the garden and the dandelions, broccoli, carrots and beans show its presence. I hope its a bunny and not a ground hog ( they are really tough to trap). The lettuce and pea vines are not eaten to the ground as in the last ground hog attack so I think (hope) it's a bunny. Now all I have to do is see it and then the chase is on. I figure it's a small one able to get under the fence someplace and now big enough not able to get back out so I'll help it out - PERMANENTLY.

I snapped suckers this week and did not break any terminal growth off. I have green tomatoes on several plants and the grafted plants are making a good effort to catch up with the other plants. The next set of scions and root stock is in the greenhouse and maybe in a week or so I should be able to try again. I should put out the watering jugs soon as I have rain barrel water but not enough gallon jugs to do all the tomatoes.

The beets are doing nicely and so are the carrots except for the ones the unknown critter ate. Fortunately, it did not eat them to the ground and only ate a few leaf stalks and that is why I am thinking - bunny. I planted more carrots today along with fennel, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and lettuce. I also planted another cucumber in a pot for greenhouse culture as the current plants seem to have run out of steam and are not putting on many new fruits so maybe it's time to pull them. I gave one a fertilizer shot in hopes of some new growth.

The cucumbers are finally taking off in the garden. The melons are still slow. I planted pole beans before I left and most of them are up. With the critter danger lurking, I will dust them with cayenne pepper religiously till the danger is removed. I buy the biggest containers of cayenne I can find as it work well to keep bunnies off transplants and spring crocus. One must reapply after rain. Some plants will show burning from the pepper but soon grow out of it faster than if the rabbits eat them to the ground.

I have again included some of the photos that were selected by the TGOA/MGCA convention judges.
Happy Gardening