What's happening in your mid summer garden?

Yes, QG...the things that didn't make it into the ground by last month will wait until probably late October to be planted. A few things get planted if they're going into shade, or if they've been acclimated to being in full sun in their pots and I have a bunch of $7 small, lightweight umbrellas from Harbor Freight that I stick in the ground to shade those plants. I've not been doing veggies for quite awhile, so I've not done lined beds, but each and every plant here is planted in chicken wire baskets unless I know it's one the gophers have not bothered here as it spreads, such as salvia leucantha/ Mexican Bush Sage. It's definitely a pain, but I don't plant things just to feed the gophers. Right now I have about 30 salvias that I want to get planted and it's a drag to make 30 baskets first, but....you don't look at the overall number of things you're going to plant, you just see one thing at a time and it's not so bad. It would be a joy to once again be able to just dig a hole and plant whatever, but that's not gonna happen for me, not in gopher territory.

We cross-posted, PC. How about a photo of one of your raised beds? I have one that's like a four-poster bed with bird netting draped over it, but I'll never get another one! LOL Too many projects on the list. Aviary wire sounds good - can you buy it locally? I had to make do with what DH brought home, but so far, so good.

I admire everyone's efforts and successes. I wish I had some voluptuous thing to post, like doss's dahlia, but alas not this year... everything seems to be crisped (does neem oil damage foliage?). On the one hand I will post a picture of one of my cyclamen blooming in July as my contribution to what is happening in my mid-summer garden because it is so unexpected, but I also have a question for you all about what is NOT happening. I planted tuberous begonias in pots that I keep on my patio. They have been in since April and took a pretty long time to even leaf out. Now they have healthy leaves but only 1 is blooming and it is the end of July. They are in bright shade to even a little late afternoon sun - do they need even more sun? It seems awfully late to have no flowers. Is it temperature or light? In spite of the hot days, the delta breezes cool things down in the evening and they have been pretty consistent this year. It seems I had flowers by this time last year but I didn't keep notes, so I really don't remember. Advice appreciated!

My begonias are just getting started and they've been in the ground forever. Some of them aren't even blooming yet. Have patience!

IF you spray neem oil on plants when the sun is on them you certainly will get damage.

Doss is correct, tuberous begonias take a while before they bloom. Which is a good thing if you have quality tubers that are going to produce the huge flowers they can get on them. Those flowers will need big sturdy plants to support them. I worked for Antonelli Brothers Begonia Gardens for over ten years. I think they still have website with good information on the care of tuberous begonias. The big begonia parades and shows were always in September because it was late August when they were really in full bloom. The entire ceiling of the retail yard would be covered in hanging baskets so thick with flowers that you could barely see the roof! Maybe I can dig up a photo or two of us picking begonias out in the fields to wire onto the parade floats in Capitola.

This message was edited Jul 23, 2009 2:30 PM

I LOVED the old Antonelli nursery---was only there a couple of times before it burned. Got some of their tubers on sale late spring at ProBuild, and they're putting out nice leaves but no blooms yet. Glad to know they're not off-schedule!

Hi, guess I lost track of this thread. I received a large section of a cactus at the RU in March and can't remember who from. She said it wouldn't grow for her and maybe it would grow for me. Well, I stuck it in a galvinized tub and just left it there. I almost pulled it out several times, but glad I didn't now. A sprout came up so looks like I'm going to have a nice plant that I know nothing about. I'll give it a better home after it gets established well enough.

Samigal, I think what you have there is an Epidendrum, aka an 'Orchid Cactus.' Could have come from me - I certainly have enough of them around here!

K, you've been drinkin' the Irish again...you mean epiphyllum......

Duh, of course! Thank you, wise one. :-)

k
(maybe I will go get a bit o' the Irish)

I'm trying to break the habit again, but I've discovered that I love iced coffee,so I'm guzzling that through the hot summer days. Why would it take me all of my life to try iced coffee?

Do you make it strong? I used to go to a little cafe with a friend for iced coffee - they made it with espresso strength coffee and it was sooooo good. Most places just pour regular coffee over ice, which isn't the same.

No, I don't make it strong and I use decaf and sweetened and cream poured in also. I'm not real big on espresso, but I did think I would have to make the coffee double strength...perhaps if I didn't drink it so fast it might get 'watered down', but it doesn't last that long..lol...

My old cat drinks leftover coffee...iced or otherwise. Go figure.

Anyone remember "Ovaltine" ???

I think the ice in iced coffee dilutes it too much, so when I make iced coffee, I use double the anount of coffee...after three of those you can cutthegrasstrimthehedgesmakethebedvacuumthehousereadWarandPeaceandthenstartyourday.

ROFL! You bet!

Maybe I should have some of that double strength ice coffee!

KaperC, this piece of cactus didn't come from you, as I would remember that. I'm usually pretty good at remembering names, but not as easy the older I get. Guess I will have to read up on it.

Sure, I remember Ovaltine but never cared for it. I've got a mini schnauzer who will lap up my coffee if I set it within her reach.

I'm afraid Ovaltine was before my time.......

LOL! Of course it was. I didn't care for it, either. I think we used Nestle's.

My first Stargazer of the summer opened up this morning! Now my front yard is going to smell wonderful for weeks. They aren't as tall this year as usual though. They usually get to eye level. Maybe the bulbs are getting old? They have been in their pot with yellow calla lilies and tuberose for 8 years now. The tuberose have never, ever bloomed. I have no idea why, but they come up and grow every year.
Samigal, looks like you and I will be playing the same mystery waiting game, to find out what colors our epiphyllums are going to be. I know one of mine is red, but have no idea what color the two new ones are going to be :-)
That is if we can keep the snails and slugs off of them!

This message was edited Jul 24, 2009 3:10 PM

This message was edited Jul 24, 2009 3:11 PM

Ah-choo!!!! :-)

Hey KaperC, would you happen to have any idea what this is? A neighbor gave me a little piece of it two years ago and now I have two huge plants. I just love this color!!! It is some kind of succulent and it puts out these long, long stems for these blossoms. I haven't been able to figure out where they should be, so they are hanging out in the asparagus bin for now. Which reminds me, I need to take a photo of the apple bins.
But first I need some iced coffee with a bit o' the Irish in it, ha, ha!

I've heard that tuberose needs a lot of heat in order to bloom--could it be that you're too close to the coast and don't get enough hot days for them?

The pink flower looks like a Calandrinia of some sort, maybe C. grandiflora? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/64896/

In Contra Costa County I had large wooden boxes of tuberoses on the south side of the house under a lath roofed patio and they really, really bloomed well. This was a rather enclosed space with dark redwood fencing to the south, the lath overhead and dark wooden shingles on the walls of the house, so it was partial shade, but quite a heat sink for them also, I think with the dark wood soaking up heat. They were incredible and I've never had such luck with them again. I may need to try to duplicate that situation here.

Wow, it sounds like there is a possibility that I may be able to have begonias again. I thought I gave up those and impatiens when I left the coast. I remember it being so hot when our family lived in Danville, so if they work up there, it should be OK here. Maybe I could plant them under the Mexican fan palm which is on the south side of the house and has shade in summer and still catches some sun in the winter. I get so excited on these forums, but the follow through, especially in the heat and the questionable outcome of us being able to stay on this property slow me down.

WC, when you make your plant cages, do they have a top? Also, how much bigger than the root ball do you make them?

LOL, I stopped drinking hot coffee in favor of iced about the time I turned the ceiling fans on the first of May (they will get turned off in November). I recycle those tall plastic fast food cups through the dishwasher and use those for the iced coffee. I add some hershey's syrup to make them mocha & as a sweetener (in contrast to the nonfat milk). I mostly use instant coffee and retire the coffee maker for the summer, but I use 3 teaspoons of coffee.

Catherine - I don't know it, and I would never argue with Ecrane! LOL

ecrane3, KaperC is right!
I will never argue with you! You hit the nail on the head!
I just love this plant, and it is a tough bugger! That is exactly what it is.
Isn't botany fascinating? Another one of my favorite annuals are portulaca's. And if you are ever starving, purslane is an edible weed found in practically everyones garden. But that all three of these would be related is a nice surprise! Actually, I'd better go look up real purslane and see if it is indeed in the same family.
It is nice though, to finally have a name for this bright flower in my yard. They don't seem to mind all the water they are getting being next to the asparagus!

QG, I make cylinders of the wire with the 'prongs' of the cut wire bent back through, making a 'seamed' side and then the bottom of the cylinder folded back on itself to seal off the bottom...made only slightly larger than the pot size. I must single-handedly support the chicken wire industry. Somewhere in the future when I'm gone and all of the plants are dead, someone will dig this property and wonder what in the **** all of this wire is doing in the ground.

LOL ! I think you've altered the natural magnetic field in your area with all that buried wire. If you put your ear to the ground in your garden can you pick up the roar of bull fights in Spain ? One of my sisters has so much metal hardware in her spine, she swears she picks up radio shows broadcast from Argentina.

Our last house had chickenwire buried about 4 inches deep all through the property. I routinely cursed the previous owner for making it so shallow. Of course I had to alternate that with cursing the gophers....

My naked ladies are blooming!

and my yummy little green spire apples are ready to eat!

Unfortunately, my beautiful and fragrant white 4-o-clock blew over, and I had to cut it all back last weekend. I'm hoping it recovers quickly. I really miss it first thing in the morning.

Until yesterday we've had temps hovering around 100, but yesterday the marine layer moved in, and the high at our house was 79. Looks like it will be about the same today, as it's been 58 since I got up at 6:00. PERFECT weather for moi!

I have tons of the magenta 4 o'clocks and I detect no fragrance from them at all. I do have one white one blooming and I'm in hopes that there will be scent from those. I saw one Naked Lady flowering somewhere last week, the first I've seen and I'm wondering when mine will start. After all the years on this property I've finally quit cursing the previous people for all of the glass that I've found...surely I've gotten it all by now.

Oh those beautiful green apples, I could reach out and pick one off for myself.

Had some naked lady coming up when I lived in Long Beach, sure wish I had dug up the bulbs. They are so pretty. I fought gophers for years, but haven't found any here. Just possums and a few weeks ago animal control came out and captured a mama raccoon and her babies.

Here in the Oakland hills it has been mostly cool and foggy this summer, with occasional bursts of very hot days. Although there's no mandatory water rationing I am really trying to cut back. Have lost a couple of plants but most are doing okay. Soil is getting tired, though, as I crowd in a lot of plants. Spring is my biggest show but the nasturtiums are now yellowing and the callas and iris are all gone. The glads are coming to an end, too.

Here's my front yard today:

A closer look at one of the front yard beds:

Flowers come and go, but great foliage mixes last for months. This is a north-facing, shaded bed with an small young 'Endless Summer' hydrangea:

Our backyard is divided into two sections and I'm still trying to fill out the furthest half. Two big trees make it difficult for shrubs and perennials underneath. The canna here is 'Tropicanna' and the white oleander standard is 'Sister Mary Agnes'.

Beautiful garden, jkom51!

Finally managed to get some pictures before the blooms are gone from the Chitalpa trees. This week's gusty breezes have taken their toll, but they still look good.

St Catherine's Lace (Eriogonum giganteum) - I just love this plant.