Since it's a Monday, and we've all gone back to work, I thought I'd show you some of my favorite flowers blooming today. Maybe you'll get some ideas for your garden, or you can give me some ideas for mine. 'Grandpa Otts' morning glory climing into Whirlwind White fan flower (scaevola) with 'Blackie' sweet potato vine behind. A cold front is stalled over Oklahoma, but hasn't reached my part of the state yet. We have been very hot, and yet, some plants soldier on. We are not as hot as last year, and my heart goes out to Tennessee and other states further east who have bourn the weight of the heat dome poised over the U.S. Some of the containers on the back deck. I'm watering all of them with a drip system. Bill and I installed a drip irrigation system in our pots for my last Lowe's contribution....

The vegetable patch at the beginning of July, 2012 All looks well in my vegetable patch doesn't it? Well, looks can be a bit deceiving. As you may know, I have very few bumblebees this year. All pollinators are down in spite of my efforts to spray nothing harmful and to grow all their favorite foods. Summer squash and other cucurbits are not wind pollinated like corn. They need help to bear fruit so this year I'm playing Aphrodite. Just in case you're facing the same bee crisis and want some cucumbers, melons, squash, etc., I wanted to show you the difference between male and female flowers. Male flowers of summer squash, Gray zucchini The beautiful male flowers, which are also good for eating, appear first, about seven to ten days before the female ones. In Latin America, they are much sought after and are called flores de calabaza. The male blossoms are...

Nan Chase's house in Asheville, NC, where she grows vegetables and fruit in her front yard too. When we were in Asheville, we visited a lot of beautiful, creative and interesting gardens. The last one I saw was Nan Chase's front yard where she grows lots of food mixed in with her ornamental plants. She has fruit trees and artichokes--Bill now wants one, dang it! She also grows other edibles. As we strolled through the garden, Carolyn Choi of Sweet Home and Garden Carolina asked me if I had fruit trees in my front yard. One of our apple trees. Due to late freezes, we often don't see any fruit, but this year was different. Surprised, because I hadn't thought about it for awhile, I said, "Actually, yes, I do." I have three apple trees, a semi-dwarf 'Enterprise,' a dwarf 'Gala' and another dwarf one. I can't recall the name...