What's Blooming Now

Now is not the best my garden has looked. There are few flowers blooming. The ones that are are either stressed or past their prime.

The best of the lot is my climbing rose shown here overexposed but still lovely.

Society garlic.

Ivy geraneum

Lantana

I'm grateful they are even trying.

I wouldn't call any of them a favorite (well maybe the rose) but I have to love anything that puts out an effort in a Sacramento valley summer.

Tomato

After all the hoopla. After building the raised bed. After weeks of watering and fertilizing.

My first tomato.

Tomatoes

I have tomatoes! Two of the three plants have green fruits.

So far so good!

Scared Straight

Last week I posted my offensive effort to green up the front of my house by letting my climbing rose Mermaid grow out the window in the bell tower at the entrance to our house. Now everything is copacetic and my house looks just as bland and inoffensive as everybody else's.

By the way, Mermaid is just fine after the surgery and is directing her efforts to growing around the eaves in the courtyard.

I am growing to love zinnias

And this little guy is a big part of the reason. Last year I planted the white form of this single type of zinnia. They were wonderful, cheery, perky and tough. This year I tried growing them from seed but failed to get a single one to survive my haphazard care. Luckily I found six packs of the red ones. I only bought one pack because I didn't think I would like the color. Now I wish I had bought all there were.

This guy is having the time of his life while most every other plant I grow looks beat down.

Encore

Speaking of roses, both of my climbers have rebloomed; this one more exuberantly than the other bad boy who has been spanked and sent back to his room (see below).

This time I am aware of the frangrance.

Busted

I have talked about my two climbing roses in the courtyard entrace to my house. One of them, I decided to encourage to climb through the widow in the bell tower and out onto the front of the house. The idea was to prune and train the branches along the eves of the house above the garages.

As you can see the rose has quite enthusiatically followed my suggestion and I was getting ready for some pruning and tying to train it along the eves when I received a letter from the plant cops that I couldn't have anything vegetative climbing out of the front of the house.

This isn't my first run-in with the plant cops and, in fact, I started a post describing my earlier problem but never got around to finishing it. Another item on my to-do list. Suffice for now to say the I will be removing the offending vegetation this weekend. These guys mean business.