stuffs

the okra i planted a month or so back is producing buds. i know that's not the part i should be concerned about but i can't wait for them to open. if i'm not mistaken they should be a pretty white color with a dark center. it's amazing just how fast they grow.

in keeping on the veggies, my tomatoes are still green. its a bit irritating b/c my neighbors across the street already harvested some nice red ones. i dont know what variety they planted but these are an experimental variety.

i'm getting blossom drop too. i'm guessing it's because of the nasty heat we've been having.

i need to start getting everything together sooner before the heat gets bad and drops the buds.






The above right is one of the magnolia bush seeds i started in a SIP planter and then transferred into it's own container. This one is showing the best progress so far. The left one, i dont know what that one is. it was one of the seeds that was in the batch that got flooded in the rain and all mixed together, so it'll be a surprise i suppose.


i also realize that i'm super horrible about getting around to watering... sometimes i'm not home for 2 days and that's enough for them to wilt. so i moved the queen datura back into a SIP planter (painted this time). i'll post a pic when it doesnt' look all horribly wilted. i was very surprised when i saw the nice little root system it had going on it.

Revival

Ok, so two of my plants have sprung back almost 100% but the poor bellflower is only at about 60% recovery. I had to clip off all the scorched bits but i think they're gonna make it... they look pitiful tho : ( moved them out of the harsh sunlight too.

Sudden wilt... :(

I came home yesterday and was pleasantly suprised to see that the Datura Metel had a huge growth spurt. for a second or two i had it confused with the angel trumpet, it had grown so much in the span of 2 days.

And now i come home from work and look outside and notice, to my horror, everything is all wilted. i ran inside and asked Dad if he sprayed anything on them accidently. It happened to the aster hulk, bellflower and the metel. its gotta be a watering problem... not being home for a few days can really hurt things.

 the leaves aren't crispy (well except for the scorched bits on the bellflower) they're just all wilty. ...sigh...  if they dont recover by friday i'm gonna be super depressed.




in better news the patio is finished. Dad finished cutting the new brick today to fill in the gaps. i think he did a pretty good job. he should have put sand under the bricks but maybe they'll be alright and not crack, as that dirt under them is like a rock. i know, i had to help lower it down a couple inches and i assure you, it sucked.

Oh and i was poking around the veggies today and had to take a picture of this ridiculously tiny little asparagus. he's just a little babies.

Nicotiana seed collecting

Its always amazing to me that a tiny little seed can jam pack so much DNA to code for all of the dynamics of a flower. i mean the things are practically micro!

< these are nicotiana seeds

When collecting seed i'm making sure to separate by color since online i only found them mixed. this way i can plant them in waves or more evenly color distributed if i want. a little bit of control ya know?

i didn't really care for these flowers at first b/c i wanted some jaw dropping, showy flower. so far they're the longest (not to mention repeat) bloomers i've had success with so far, they're STILL blooming new flowers even today. i never thought they would last so long. i'll defiantly plant them again next season. it'll feel pretty neat when they come up again knowing its from a generation that i collected.

Tomato fruiting

My first little tomato fruit has emerged from the little flower ovaries! odd to think of it that way, but that's really what it is i suppose. 

I had a few blossom drops and i was getting a bit scared but everything seems to be going well. Hopefully the fruit comes out fine. 

here are the gardenia sprouts from the SIP plastic bottle. they are doing much better than i expected. Every seed i planted germinated. 

the moonlight roses i bought are blooming so pretty. the flowers come out so perfect. they dont last as long as i would like, but i'm sure it has to do with all the heat lately. and the information tag it came with was no lie, this rose smells exactly like raspberries, it's crazy.