SFG Garden - Fayetteville GA, 2016

Wow!  Gardenias are my favorite flower in all the world!
CC

Yolos, you have no idea how happy you've made me!  That is wonderful news.  BTW... you know I was teasing about the Four o'Clock right?  I'm just jealous.

CC:  Also my favorite flower, and my Dad's and it was my Mom's.  They have such a wonderful smell, especially morning and evening.

Windmere wrote:Yolos, you have no idea how happy you've made me!  That is wonderful news.  BTW... you know I was teasing about the Four o'Clock right?  I'm just jealous.

I know you were just teasing.  I was also teasing you by posting the picture of the Four O'Clocks.

I've had some interesting results with this year's eggplants.  I modified my MM to accommodate the needs of an EarthBox. 

The high moisture content of the modified MM discourages flea beetles (I researched and found they prefer to multiply in the crusty dried surface of soil). 

And... I rubbed neem oil along the edges of the EarthBox.  I can't tell you that all this will make a difference for you if you try... but it's working really well for me.

To my wife's chagrin, I've been picking off the early blossoms of our eggplants to encourage strong plant structure growth.  Here's one:



This year, I'm only planting one eggplant per EarthBox, but as you can see, I'm sort of incubating a Persian Zinnia for future transplant to our flower beds.

Speaking of Zinnias... I've got two new varieties this year:

Crouching Tiger:


and Hidden Dragon:


Hidden Dragon does come in as full as Crouching Tiger... I only had this one in bloom today.

Anyone remember the martial arts fantasy Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?  Well, I was inspired. 

Windmere wrote:
The high moisture content of the modified MM discourages flea beetles (I researched and found they prefer to multiply in the crusty dried surface of soil). 

Good to know!

Windmere wrote:

Speaking of Zinnias... I've got two new varieties this year:

Crouching Tiger:


and Hidden Dragon:

Lovely! I'm a zinnia nut but have never tried specialty ones. Thanks for showing these.

CC

Last year I planted "Fireball Zinnias" and the wrens got to my seedlings.  This year, I planted the seeds I had left (protected them with bird netting).  This is one of the first blooms.  I really haven't been outside much.  However, when I saw this creature that resembles a bee... I ran and got my camera.

I don't think I'll be going outside much today.  But I did get a few interesting shots of my garden this morning:




Ace 55 tomato.  The largest size tomato I've ever grown.


And, I'm posting flower pictures because they are all in a pocket of MM or a full pot of it.

A honey bee spellbound by an echinacea flower.


A new variety of zinnia for me.  Apricot Blush:


Rudbeckia - Gloriosa hybrid:


It's too hot for sweet peas, but this is a perennial hybrid.  Unfortunately, in exchange for heat resistance, you give up any scent.  It's pretty though~


I'm thrilled to see bees of all kinds visiting.  Hopefully they'll go around the corner to my tomato plants!

Nice photos!

Thanks Sanderson.  I might re-post the echinacea with the bee under the "Are you seeing any bees" thread.

Gosh you guys, I know it's been a while since I've visited the forum.  You know how life just happens, and things go on the back burner.

Well, I just wanted to look in and show you some of the fruits of my labor.  The tomatoes are starting to come in nicely.  All but the large tomato were harvested a few minutes ago.



That large Ace 55 tomato has got to be the largest I've ever grown!

Hey guys.  Hope you are all well.  My wife arranged this basket to show you our harvest from the last couple of days.  It's awfully nice to be able to post a success picture. 

Windmere ... What a wonderful collection of yummy vegetables.

Looks good Windmere.  Have you tried one of your Gilberties yet.

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Yolos, the Gilbertie in that last photo is the only one we've gotten so far.  We're going to let it ripen a bit more before we try it.  I'll let you know what we think, probably in a couple days.