The stargazer lilies are blooming in the garden! It looks like the first bloom opened a few days ago. I can't believe I missed it. I had been waiting for it for a couple of weeks. I guess I was too wrapped up in garden work over the weekend and forgot to smell the flowers. ;)
These are our hybrid sweet corns. The variety is Peaches & Cream. We planted our corns late this year. The tassels just started to appear.
We are also growing some old-fashoned non-hybrid sweet corns for the first time. They are said to be not as sweet as the sugar-enhanced hybrid types but have a "true corn flavor". I don't know what that means, so I'm anxious to find out. This variety is Whipples Yellow. We sowed them about 4 weeks after Peaches & Cream to ensure the two varieties will not cross. You don't have to space the sowing dates so far apart (I believe 2 - 3 weeks is sufficient). We just didn't get to it sooner.
This is one of our edamame beds. We already pulled a couple of plants from this bed. The beans were sweet, nutty, and delicious. The edamame plants in the other bed didn't do so well. We pulled most of them on Sunday. They were much shorter, the leaves were full of bug bites and not as green, and there were very few beans on each plant. In one word, pathetic. It's probably because the other bed doesn't get as much sun. So note to self, plant edamame in beds that get most sunlight.
I started these echinaceas from seeds last year and planted them at the part of the garden where I completely ignored them. They still came back for me this year.
Growing on the southeast corner of our finely-built arbor/trellis with duct tapes (yes, we have no experience in carpentry and we are working on it) are the edible luffa gourds (Chinese okra). They had a pretty slow start this year. Now that the weather has warmed up, they are loving the heat. And finally, I spotted our first fruit of the season.
This carpenter bee was following me around the garden when I was taking pictures. He finally stopped on the luffa gourd flower and posed for me.
The Fuyu persimmons are getting bigger. They will be the perfect fall color for the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Saving the best for last. A garden tour is not complete without something to nibble on.
Happy gardening!
9 comments:
You have some quite unusual veg/ fruit growing in your garden. I don't expect many people grow persimmons. What are they like to eat?
Ditto, Mark. I was thinking the same thing,but I,too, love experimenting with with a new and different plant every year. Everything looks great.We will be harvesting one type of our corn,Bodacious, for the freezer today.
Your garden is absolutely beautiful! Love the close up shot of your corn!!! I am highly envious of your echinacea! I have tried to grow it for a couple of years now with zero success!
Haha, duct tape! Whatever works, right? I want to try edamame next year...looks like you were able to get a good harvest from yours. :)
Hi, Mark~ Some people do have persimmon trees in my area, but most of them grow a variety called Hachiya (the fruit is heart-shaped with pointy end). You cannot eat the fruits until they are fully ripe otherwise they taste astringent and bitter. Fully ripe fruits are super soft and kind of mushy (some people say jelly-like). A lot of people don't even harvest the fruits. They just grow them for the fall colors.
The variety we grow (Fuyu) can be eaten when the fruits turn orange and still firm. They are crispy and really sweet.
Hi, Sue~ It's exciting for me to find new varieties to grow every season. I like to try out varieties that you can't find in stores.
I'm jealous that you are harvesting corns already. I googled Bodacious. It sounds like an interesting variety. I hadn't thought about freezing corns.
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Hi Bee Girl~ Thank you! It took a couple of years and 2 seed packets for me to get those echinaceas, too.
Some people say the seeds need stratification (chilling) to break dormancy. The last time I tried both - sowing without stratification and chilling the seeds in the fridge (I covered seeds in moist paper towels and put them in a zip lock bag). I think both sprouted for me that time.
Keep trying! They are beautiful.
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Hanni~ Yes, whatever works! I would highly recommend growing edamame if you like eating them. They are so much better than the frozen ones from the grocery stores.
I never heard of peaches and cream sweet corn. Looking forward on how the ears look like later. I wish we can grow persimmons here. Juicy nibbles!
Hi Diana~ This is our first time growing this variety, too. I can't wait to have some corns!
Hope the sweet corn will grow very fast for you.
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