When I have tried to grow broccoli in the summer, it has tasted bad. Try growing it in late fall or early spring instead when it is cooler. Soy beans should be fine this time of year. No experience growing eggplant - yuck! I recall mom growing them in the summer, and a few bites was enough to cure me of the curiosity of the beautiful purple fruit.

The plant with the large multi-colored leaves looks like a Croton and the one with spiky long leaves looks like a bicolored Madagascar Dragon Tree (Dracaena Marginata).

Hi Veronica, I don't know what it's called, but the second one is definitely a weed! Many years ago, 15+, I found one growing in my yard at the time and decided to let it grow to see what it was. When it finally "bloomed" it had what's called "insignificant flowers." As a matter of fact, they were so "insignificant" there was nothing I could really even call flowers! It is definitely not an "ornamental!" I recommend losing it before it has a chance to produce seeds! And I hope somebody around here does know what it is, 'cause I've always wondered! I was surprised how hard it was to find a pic of the seed pods for P. strictus, but I found the site linked below. Check it out--top right pic. The "red pods" in that pic will eventually turn brown and dry, the top of each pod will open, and small, flattish, brown seeds will easily fall out. I can't tell you exactly when! You'd just kind of need to keep an eye on their "progress." When they're brown and dry you can cut off some of the seed pod stems and stick them in a PAPER bag and let them sit a week or two to be sure they're all the way dry and then shake the bag and most of the seed should fall out. Or if the seeds are already easily falling out when you get there, just take a bag along and bend the stems over and shake them into the bag--paper is still best for a while until you can be sure they completely dry, and then you can put them in a small zipper plastic bag. If you cut/get them before the pods are mostly brown/dry, they may not have developed completely enough to germinate, so best to wait till at least some of them are starting to fall out easily. With the pictures, I used to have a really good answer, but I can't help you anymore! I use Picasa (for editing) and Picasa WebAlbums (for posting), and since I've had it for a long time I can still use it the way it was originally developed. BUT, the WebAlbums part, the part you use to get the links for posting, is now connected to google+, it's VERY different from the original, and as near as I can tell it's not very useful anymore! (If you have an OLD gmail account that is NOT associated with google+, I think you may still be able to use the old version of WebAlbums, but not positive about that. If you have ever created a google+ account, I don't believe you can use the old version!) What you need to get links to post pics here (unless you know how to create the "code" yourself!) is a "photo hosting site." Two of those, besides Picasa, are PhotoBucket and Flickr, but I happen to think both of those are awful--just my opinion, lots of people use them. Since GW has quite recently made it possible to post a pic thru the site, that may be the easiest way for you to do it for now at least! And, yes, apparently you can only post one pic at a time, but you can just do as many posts as you need to to get all the pics in! We're all glad to have Newbies around here, and we're glad you found us! Don't be afraid to ask any and all questions! There's a reason why this is The Friendliest Little Gardening Forum in The West! The only dumb question, if you don't already know the answer, is the one you don't ask! Seeds are fun! Hope you manage to get some from the Penstemon! Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Penstemon strictus seed pods

#1 is Actaea simplex (formerly Cimicifuga), bugbane and one of the dark leaved forms. #2 looks like Ligularia dentata #3 looks like a clump of violets, Viola spp. not at all sure about the last.....my weed ID skills are seriously lacking compared to my plant ID skills :-)