Accidental tomatoes and other adventures

Select Seeds was selling plants for $5 each so inevitably I bought some.

Three primroses, which are inexplicably blooming now.

Looking at the dark soil spot to the back, there are three new anemones, and then on this side of the lavender (which is not new) is a delphinium.

My beloved foxgloves are looking glorious.

This four-lined plant bug was on Emma's zinnias. I don't want to make the picture too large because yuck.

Remember the dianthus that was mixed in with some sort of super-enthusiastic grass? Well I ripped out the grass, and now it looks *great.* Ha ha,

Here's the other one, looking all alive and whatnot!

For weeks, amidst the zinnias, I have been eyeing some mystery plants. They look like tomatoes, I told myself, but naw, how could they be tomatoes? Must be a look-alike weed. They got bigger, and they still looked like tomatoes. I considered and rejected the idea that tomato seeds might have been mixed in with the zinnia seeds. They got bigger still, and it finally hit me: THESE ARE TOMATOES. And then I came belatedly to the realization that my compost must have had some tomatoes with seeds just waiting for a spot in a garden.

Even if they grow fruit, I fully expect the accursed squirrels to make off with them, but still, it's a little exciting. Since they are amidst the zinnias, they probably feel staked, but I am wondering whether I should truly stake them. But that would be admitting I care, and then I'm just asking for my heart to be broken when tragedy befalls them.

See, this is why I don't grow vegetables.

See also the grassy-looking gypsophila, and the tall cornflower appear poised to bloom.

This is the general scene of Emma's plants (plus tomatoes!). Note the anti-deer spray in the foreground, which has clogged up every spray bottle I've had it in, so I've taken to painting it on the plants, which is a total pain. But darned if I'm going to lose the zinnias, cornflower, and balloon flowers to the wicked deer.

Finally, last year I cut back the Shasta daisy stems, and when they grew back this year, it was to the side of the dead stem stumps. I just pulled those stumps out, and look how beautiful they are!

Late bloomers and revolting beetles

I don't remember this happening last year, though quite possibly it did, but the rhododendron bush behind the bird-favored evergreen bush, just outside the solarium, started blooming in late June and peaked around July 1 - wayyy after the other, purple rhododendrons. It was quite lovely; the pictures below don't do it justice.

Then there are my small, belated alliums. Here they are on June 26 (the hand is Emma's).

And here they are today, below (hand is mine) Does this represent a full bloom? If so, pretty disappointing! I had to stake two of them, too, lest they should fall over.

Is it my imagination, or is the hydrangea doing better than last year? I don't seem to have any pictures from last June/July. Also note the little seedling hydrangea on the left - doing very well.

Below we have a repulsive oriental beetle, [Anomala (=Exomala) orientalis] that I killed. Apparently the grubs of this thing are what destroys a lot of Jersey lawns. Blech. http://njaes.rutgers.edu:8080/pubs/fs1009/

Garden happenings

The wormwood has spread out nicely, although it's got some yellow parts underneath. Hmmm. The thing next to it with purple flowers, brachyscome, is also doing great. Two winners.

Most of the flowers did not spread out as much as I'd hoped, so the lesson is to plant more of them, spaced closer together, next year. Still, the begonias are doing great, and the geraniums are doing well. The stock has petered out. I'm not sure whether it was being eaten, or it just didn't thrive. I'll avoid that next year.

In the back, I think these were going to be purple coneflowers - four of them. I think it is deer that have basically kept them munched low to the ground, and then I spotted this beetle on them too.

This bud was cruelly chewed off the very night after I took this picture. It was literally nipped in the bud.

The hydrangea is a little anemic, but still it's nice to see some blooms. I panicked a little when the bleeding heart turned yellow but then read that that's normal and you just cut it down.

This is the front where all the ground cover was pulled out. If I ever get my act together, it's going to be a rock garden. I plan to put the rocks and soil down this year and wait to plant until next year. Meanwhile I'm waiting for Frank's Tree Service to pull down the dead tree.

The view up the walk:

The lantana has done very nicely. Must get more for next year. The lavender bloomed and now the blooms just look dead. I thought they would keep blooming? I am not pleased.

The moss roses/portulaca have been a great success and I just wish I had more.

Not pictured, some bug has completely razed the mint that was growing wildly in a pot. My basil also came under attack (from a caterpillar, I believe) but is now looking reasonably good again - I think the caterpillar became moths or butterflies or something.

Last note: I have decided I don't like the gazanias, though they are doing well. Too spiky and garish colors.