Green Thumb Sunday: August Garden Update

Real life has been interfering with my blogging and a garden update is overdue (or so says my friend and one faithful reader, Hanna). I'm happy to oblige!

It's been so dry here, and while the month started pleasantly, the heat has returned. The garden and grass have suffered from a lack of rain. There wasn't a drop of rain for two weeks, but we did finally get a tiny bit at the end of last week. My watering routine consists of keeping the veggies and new plants alive. The more established plants and grass are on their own and it shows. My grass is brown and crunchy, and not much is blooming. The weeds, however, are still thriving, and I haven't been keeping up.

There has been some excitement recently, my winter-sown Irish Eyes Rudbeckia bloomed! Aren't their pretty lime green faces fabulous? I just love them and I take great pride in seeing anything I grew from seed bloom.

The lavender and roses are beginning their second flush of blooms, which is great because I enjoy them so much. This also gives me a second chance to clip and dry some lavender, as I didn't get to the first flush of blooms in time.

The veggie harvest this year has been GREAT! I've picked early girl tomatoes, golden girl tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes (lost the tag so am not sure of the variety), lemon cucumbers, green onions and peppers. Unlike last year, when I didn't even have enough tomatoes to feed myself, this year I've made several batches of salsa and given a dozen tomatoes away. What made the difference between this year and last? Earth boxes. Yup, the tomatoes in the garden didn't grow, didn't produce much and are half dead. The tomatoes I planted in the earth box? Still producing ripe tomatoes daily. The lemon cuke seeds I planted in the garden? Didn't even germinate. The ones planted in the earth box produced the lovely specimen above and others. I think the key is good soil and consistent moisture, something I haven't fixed in the veggie garden yet.

before and after weeding today

My side garden, thought it isn't as far along as I'd hoped, is starting to bloom. This bit is directly below my bedroom window and I wanted to be able to look out and see pretty flowers, not just rocks and weeds. Beginning last fall ,I started hauling rocks out and pulling weeds. Then this spring (maybe summer?) I planted winter-sown and inexpensive perennials. And in spite of my neglect they're starting to bloom. Here you can see Salvia, Black Eyed-Susans, Lavender, Cleome and Zinnia (the first pic in this post is also from this area).

Tomorrow we begin to see what September will bring for the garden.

Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join Green Thumb Sunday every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.