Category: Information

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07/28/2023 surprise yellow flowers

I had assumed these tall plants were Gaura longifolia but they turned out to be Oenethera rhombipetala, four-point primrose! I did put seed out last winter. There are multiple plants! They are supposed to be self incompatible so hopefully they can reseed. (A few years ago I had just one plant come up and it didn’t reseed for that reason. This is from
new seeds.). I think they must bloom sometime after midnight but before 5am (my range of dog taking out times) because seed pods keep forming yet I only see spent flowers.
07/28 a flower done blooming was missing two petals.
07/28. The leaves.
A mystery plant in a small pot has turned out to be Ludwigia alternifolia! I collected the seeds locally because of its intriguing square seed pods. We have since planted the 4-5 plants near a rain barrel and a swamp milkweed plant, as it likes occasional moisture. The habitat I got it from was a dry wash leading to a lake, so I think it is pretty flexible in that requirement, but a wash definitely collects together more moisture than a flat open area. I believe Mom said she’s seen it in similar places. Happily, it is a perennial.

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09/16/2023 snow-on-the-yard

Clusters of small white flowers are surrounded by broad ovate leaves of pale gray-green. The leaves closest to the flowers have broadly white-striped edges.
We put out a few seeds last year and I just noticed this lovely snow-on-the-mountain plant blooming yesterday! there’s only one, so I’m not sure if its seeds will be viable or not.
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08/08/2023 belated friend melon

A very long faced wire coated white and tan dog looks with suspicion upon a hand holding a small striped melon.
Friend of the garden Ziggy the dog found this very smelly round thing on a plant that his human planted!
A hand holds a small melon. It has green stripes on its rinds going from the attachment point to the other end. The background color is a very pale orange-yellow.
It is a Madhu Ras melon from seeds that I gave Ziggy’s human from last year’s harvest. Apparently the first one didn’t taste great (maybe due to sudden rain?) but the second was properly sweet. Our vines have flowered but not fruited this year and I suspect I haven’t put them in a sunny enough spot.
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09/02/2023 behind on peppers

A peeling white enameled metal colander full of red, orange, brown, and yellow peppers of various shapes and sizes.
I got very behind on the garden and the blog the last few weeks with my household humans on a trip. The cats said they needed feeding and it just kept happening! The long skinny peppers in the colander are Corbaci peppers. The upper left conical red one is an Apple Pepper (I assume it’s named for the shape). The lower left orange one was California Wonder bell. The lower right brown one is a Chocolate Bell.
Peppers seeds and a wrinkly whole red apple pepper in a white bowl with black stripes bordering the rim.
Some peppers, like these apple peppers, were at a stage where I’ve just extracted their seeds to save.
Tomato sauced bow tie pasta is heaped with veggies and feta cheese, with a side of buttered sourdough bread on a white plate with stripe and square black border.
Mom made a delicious dish of veggies, pasta, and beans for dinner during her and Dad’s visit! From the garden, it had apple peppers and California Wonder peppers (both sweet bell-ish types) in it, as well as fresh basil and oregano.
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09/09/2023 dinner and a show

Paula made this Thai dish, rad nah. It has garden garlic in it. The chef made the broth from scratch, from chicken and turkey bones. He also provided Paula with the hearty noodles. It was delicious!
Earlier in the day, Shacks watched the herb garden for skinks and grasshoppers.