Lessons learned

Lesson # 1: Some flowers don't like the heat!

My experimenting with growing flowers from seeds had some mixed results. I tried nasturtiums. I planted the seeds in a huge pot and kept the pot, in an area that is mostly shade, with some late afternoon sun. The plants grew fast and beautiful at first, but once the heat hit here, they scaled back quite a bit and I only ended up with 2 tiny bedraggled little flowers.

I planted green "Envy" Zinnias but the flowers so far don't resemble Zinnias much at all. What the heck happened to the petals? Maybe the heat again?

And "Four O'Clocks"- well here in Tucson they bloom at 6 AM! Talk about confused little guys- they put out little blooms that wither and wilt in the heat. I've never seen one open in the afternoon but this morning I went out just before 6 and there was one valiant little flower trying desperately to bloom before it got hot.

Here is what the rest look like- blooms that will never open.

Lesson # 2: If it is a succulent or a cactus, and you think you killed it- you probably didn't.

These guys fake death amazingly well, but stick them in the ground somewhere where they get mostly filtered sun/shade and they come back to life! This little sunrise plant looked awful last February, having gotten too much water in the pot in which it lived. I was going to throw them, but planted them in the corner of a bed, surrounded them with stones and they resurrected beautifully. The flowers are so tiny and delicate- one was in bloom early this morning. Ignore all the olive leaves- I can never keep up with the debris!

Lesson # 3: Birds like tomatoes!

ok so this one isn't really a lesson but since it is my blog....it counts for me!

I have really enjoyed a wonderful bounty of tomatoes from my two Early Girl plants. I am getting about 4 small tomatoes a day now, and they are so delicious. However almost every day there is one tomato riped on the vine, with about half already eaten. Nothing like fresh! I throw it in the bird area and the birds just go nuts for it. They eat the entire inside, leaving a thin papery shell. Here are a few that made it into the house- along with 2 peppers.

Happy Saturday!