WOW! Something turned the garden growth up several notches (I think I know what, see further on) and there are some incredible things happening! What with the earwig invasion, the poor soil, the "dog vomit" slime mold, etc., etc., I'm so incredibly thrilled!
I was so disgruntled (why don't we use "gruntled" anymore, it's a great word!) with the earlier damage, I just took the rest of my seeds and planted them, anywhere, with no map. So, while I thought it was where I sowed the ornamental gourds, it must be the warty French pumpkins. It couldn't be the mini-pumpkins... or the Sweetmeat squash... I don't think. It's too big!
The for-sure warty French pumpkins are doing nicely too, with blossoms, although so far only male blossoms. That's normal, the female ones come later. The leaves aren't quite the same as the Humongo squash (whether it be pumpkin, squash or gourd), and quite a bit smaller.
I have to start looking where I step.
The Serendipity corn has tassels and what will become the ears! I am giddy with delight! I have never, in my entire life, grown corn! I was advised not to by Master Gardeners, as each plant only produces one ear, two at most, and corn is cheap to buy. But, I just wanted to try it, even if just once. The plants aren't the labeled 6' yet, but are over 5'.
What do I credit for this amazing turnaround? Gardner & Bloome Organic High Growth Fertilizer!
You can tell by the higher nitrogen content (the first number), it's meant to be used during active growth, before flower and fruit production. It's brown and sticky (molasses) and smelly (fish)! I was given it by an ex-coworker last year, and it is unbelievable stuff!
How else can you explain growth like this in under one month? Here's the same bed on June 23. Those monster leaf plants are the teeny ones in the upper right corner! Plus, look at the beans!
These are the beans today...
On a side note, the weather has been hot, hot, hot. Very. Over 100° for days and days. There was one thunderstorm on Sunday, but then it was just hot and humid! Loud thunder and gorgeous lightening though. I've noticed how nice the garden looks after a thunderstorm, nature's nitrogen fix! Our atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, and lightening break up the nitrogen molecules, some mix with oxygen and come down with the rain! So, even a little rain was beneficial. I was going to add that as of now the valley was clear of wildfire smoke, but then I got an email about a nearby "fast moving wildfire" just a few miles from here! It's not moving our way, so we're fine.
The heat is not beneficial to Edward the Goldendoodle. I've mentioned how he suffers from allergies, but I don't think the word sufficiently describes Edward's issue. I bathed him this morning in Boo's Pool® with E3 Antibacterial/Antifungal shampoo. It's great stuff for itches, gets rid of yeast and even handles ringworm! It's sold in feed stores, usually in the horse area, but it's safe for dogs too. My vet read the label and said it looked good for Edward. Here's how he looked after his bath:
Now, that's what Edward's allergies do it him! Not always, sometimes he gets hot spots he licks bloody, but so far this year he's been good there. If he gets an underlying bacterial infection his skin turns grey on his belly and his back has red spots. Some of these welts are from his frantic trashing around to ease the itch. He also tries to outrun the itch, racing around the house. It's horrible for him, and horrible for us to see it. His Doodle curls have been shaved quite short, as you can see, because Doodles don't shed and this helps him stay cooler in the summer. He just needs to stay out of the sun! So, while we can all say, "Poor Edward," let's not say I'm a "Bad Doodle Mama." He takes daily prescription allergy meds, and today I added two OTC store brand Benedryl. It's okay to mix them with this prescriptions. It's settled him down, and most of the redness and swelling are gone. He's also inside (he and Boo usually are, but now it's more important than ever due to the heat) in the AC. He doesn't have food allergies, he has seasonal allergies, with something each season! He used to be fine after a hard frost, but now he stays on his meds all year long. He wouldn't like the photo, it shows his "rolls of skin!" Under the adorable curls a Goldendoodle is just another dog!
Boo had a late night ER trip last night. He may have had a foxtail up his nose. He was sneezing blood all over the place. Since he had a fever (surprise!) they did a blood test before probing up his nose to rule out anything else. They did end up anesthetizing him, flushing his nose (from the back- how would that work? No, I don't want to know.), seeing some discharge they tested (bacteria in it). No foreign object. But, then, at 2:45am, when they were bringing him up front for us, he sneezed, expelling something. He's been sneezing a lot today, but no blood or discharge, so it's probably from the irritation of having his nose probed! We try to rid the far back yard of foxtails, but it's not easy. Boo had one in his foot before. Coincidentally, the ER vet was evacuated due to the fire I mentioned above! Boo needs to stay in too, he's suppose to keep "calm and quiet" for a while so his heart rate doesn't increase, that can cause more bleeding! You cannot keep Boo "calm and quiet!" He is "quiet," but never "calm." He's a constant nervous wreck. At least it's too hot for Boo Ball® play!
Something really pretty, morning glories! I don't recall planting morning glories, and it looks like just one plant. I thought it was a four o'clock when it came up, but it climbed a trellis. I was up early yesterday (before 7:00am) and was pleasantly surprised by the blue blooms!
The flowers were so incredible, the white in the middle was as bright as in the photo. It was as though they were lit from inside with a bright white light bulb!
Then, of course, there's how they look the next day, just a striking, but in a different way. They curl in on themselves, forming stripes of white on lilac. I suppose a bird might have dropped a seed.
I did plant four o'clocks, and was able to enjoy their beauty early as well. My mother considered them weeds, but I always loved them.
So, here's hoping for the fire to be out, cooler weather, and healthy dogs!
The heat makes us all crabby!
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