Saturday Farmer's Market - Summer . . .

Created by Heather at Capricious Reader, and now hosted by Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made on.

(Oops! Late post on account of I set it wrong. Sorry.)

So, the California Summer heat is settling in for earnest. Who am I kidding? The California Summer heat settled in this year before Spring was even official. The main difference is that now there are no cool nights dropped in periodically to take the edge off, so life is moving at a slower pace.

My habit is to rotate my vegetables around the garden from year to year. Most of the time they are successful, and the rotation helps keep pests and diseases down. This year, however, wasn't so successful.

The place most of my veggies ended up this year (west side, between house and fence) was just too hot for them and the Peas and Cucumbers didn't do well in the heat. Last year the Tomatoes were there, and they thrived. They took over the area and kept producing right up until the first frost. I guess I'll put them back there next year, and find another place for everything else.

The Zucchini Squash is on the hot side of the house and doing well, but they are tucked in under the plum trees against the fence. Dappled sunlight becomes them.

After a spectacular Spring show, my garden is looking a bit underwhelming in the summer heat, and the fact that I keep changing things doesn't help. The Lantana is slow to fill in and I lost about half of them over the winter, so the largest bed still looks a bit bare in places.

This little sweety is the one bloom on my New Zealand Tea Tree.

Right now it's under the Crepe Myrtle but I need to move it soon. It's going to get very large large.







Speaking of change . . . I decided earlier this year to expand the Crepe Myrtle bed and I finally got the new border in.

I still have to turn the soil and get rid of the grass and weeds, but at least it doesn't look like I'm just planting things haphazardly around the yard anymore.

I'm sure the neighbors are wondering about the big hunks of tree lying around, but my policy is that if you don't ask I won't volunteer information.



The Pansies are all but spent. Long gangly plants continue to fade, but even still, some beautiful blooms remain.



These little guys have been more conspicuous throughout the garden this year than usual, and the Praying Mantis always has his own ideas of how things should be.

I have never seen one inclined to back down from me. In fact, they sometimes seem ready to pick a fight.

A new batch of California Poppies has come up in the middle of the Lavender.

They aren't large or thick like those who started the season, but they look lovely sprinkled among the Lavender spikes.

Zucchini Squash! 

Maybe.

So far I don't see any fruit; they all look like the male blossoms to me.

What do I know about sexing plants?!

Three Jalapenos so far

A Kumquat blossom.

The tree isn't covered in flowers, but it has a few.

To see the Summer Sky 
- Emily Dickinson

To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie --
True Poems flee --

The Complete Poems. Copyright 1976.