First an update on the Datura inoxia (white). I lost my first ones to frost. Well actually a few did survive, but were not growing well at all; very weak and sick looking seedlings so I pulled them and re-sowed the container around May 20th. I planted out just 2 seedlings on June 8th and here is what they looked like on June 29th...

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Just look at what 10 days will do!! Also notice the new seedling that came up next to it about 1.5 weeks after planting...YEAH! Today I'm going to get it out of there and give it a new home :)

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I'll be guarding these like a hawk once they begin to set buds! The first year I wintersowed these (2004) I caught earwigs eating the buds from the inside out! The results were unsightly shredded flowers once they opened and that's ONLY if they didn't eat up the entire bud beforehand! I found that the earwigs were hiding down inside the long buds during the day and than feeding on them during the night....this was the first year I started trapping. After about 1.5 weeks of that I re-gained control. For the next 4 years the earwig population went way down and was a heck of a lot more manageable. There was still some feeding on a few things (mostly any annual Salvia and Amaranthus), but this year it's almost double the problem as the first year. It's either that or they've just gotten a lot less picky about the seedlings/plants they choose to feast on this year. Just about everything has had a turn at least once. It would be easier to name the stuff not attacked then to name what has been...ARGH! Just wait till I show you a picture of my poor Okra, by far now the worst :(

On a brighter note! I can't get over the color of this particular self-sown Larkspur! It looks like tie-dye LOL! Too bad this seedling was stomped on too much in the beginning; it has made it a rather short little thing now...

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Here is a Tomato 'Black Plum'. Not seen in this picture, but it now has about 3 sets of babies to date as does the 2nd plant right next to it.

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Here are the first fruits coming in on the Purple Russian...another plum type Tomato. Not bad for getting such a late germination start. I didn't even get them planted out in the garden until around May 25th-27th...all were between the 1st and 2nd set of true leaves :)

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My volunteer strawberry patch (partial view) in it's 3rd year growing with Sedum album. Even though this patch was seed started (via birds I'm sure)it grows some very big and juicy berries. BTW it only took one year from seed for fruiting to begin and these ones happen to bare all season long!! So if you haven't already wintersown some...you ought to LOL!!

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Speaking of strawberries. Has anyone ever heard of or seen pink flowering strawberries before? There's a lady here in town (not far from me) who has a beautiful patch of these growing in a raised rock bed in the front corner of her property. My mouth just dropped when I first seen them...you can imagine! I haven't met her yet, but I plan to soon LOL!

One of the south facing beds. This is also one of 2 of my south facing dry beds that get watered the least...except for watering wintersown annuals to start of course. The 2nd dry bed is "mostly" drought tolerant plants in the front half with Hosta, Dicentra,Digitalis, Lemon Balm, Siberian Iris, Columbine, ect. in the back where it's shaded by the Cherry Tree. Not much flowering here now after deadheading the Coreopsis lanceolata, Nepeta, Blue Flax. The Maltese Cross comes down today too...most of these in other beds were cut back over the last 2 days and this morning I have lots more to get at. This bed also has: Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' and the common species (just now budding with a few about to open), Feverfew, Thyme 'German Winter', Salvia officinalis (both ends), Peony (both ends), Lavender (on both ends this side of border), Sedum album (next to the Nepeta this side of the border), Snapdragon, Shasta Daisy, Hollyhock (both ends), Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass, Lychnis coronaria (oh my heavens...don't ever let this one self-sow!!), Agastache foeniculum, Heliopsis helianthoides (butter yellow), Chinese Forget-me-Not, Chives, Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and Sempervirens growing in the railroad tie on top. On the extended backside of this bed is a veg patch. Not a great picture, but here you go :)

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Impatiens balsamina. I'm thrilled to finally get some healthy plants this year! My first year to wintersow them (last year) and I planted them at the back of my other south facing bed and they got absorbed by the jungle. I never seen a flower and basically forgot about them! This year they are planted on the east side and receive sun until about 2 pm

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3 volunteer Clarkia amoena (Godetia) came up right next to the frost steps and just started blooming the day before last. I took this pic just as the flowers were getting ready to close for the evening because taking pics when direct sun hits them washes them out. They stay closed until the sun hits them around noon. BTW this species of Clarkia has MUCH more heat tolerance than C. elegans!

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Last picture. Here are Brussels Sprouts 'Long Island Improved'...looks much smaller in the picture than they actually are. It's my first with these...

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Thank for reading/looking,

Vera