Cherimoya, my favorite fruit. Mine must be hand-pollinated, and the flowers are hermaphroditic. They start out female, and shortly after opening, they become male, at which time pollen must be collected and put onto flowers that are just starting to open. The pollen is not viable for very long, and so it works best when I can find both male and female flowers at the same time. I use a tiny paint brush to do the pollinating.

Planted butterfly weed and it's working! I have lots of monarch caterpillars now too.

I've had a few of these over the years but never has it grown like this!!

Fuchsia display, RHS Malvern show

Monarchs have been few and far between, but I have found a total of 4 cats so far on the milk weed. Last year at this time the count was in the mid twenties.

from my grape tomato plant wild growing morning glories that come up every year

I keep trimming the rose bush back, so the postman can deliver the mail @ my rental house. :0)

Berekley Tye-Dye.

Flowers surrounding the entry to a cafe. Inis Mór, Aran Islands, Ireland.

Lars - I've never heard of that fruit. What does it taste similar to?

First ripe melon from the garden. A little Blacktail Mountain melon.

@kathsgrdn, did you pick it at the right time?

This little sh*t comes every morning for a basil salad LOL Oh well, it provides entertainment for Elliott.

Jrb451, yes! Jasdip, I have a chipmunk in my backyard and I'm pretty sure he ate my one ripe strawberry. The first one in like 2 months! I finally picked another one yesterday. They're everbearing but quit producing in the heatwave we had.

Conifers in my front yard.

tj

This funny little coleus grew itself between the bricks on my patio. I have not planted coleus in quite awhile.

Native plants garden at the L.A. Museum of Natural History

Checked on the garden a little bit ago and found one of the little Lemon Drop melons with a completely dried tendril. I picked it. It's a lot sweeter than the Blacktail Mountain. There are two more getting close to being ripe. (I think)

It's been a good year for pears, making up for last year when a late freeze = 0 pears

Will need to wear my hardhat when picking them in a few days.

Lola Bojackie, cherimoya tastes like vanilla custard and is very sweet. I make ice cream with it by adding only cream, and then I freeze it. Frozen, it tastes like vanilla ice cream.

It is native to highlands of Peru and Ecuador but grows well in Southern California, but only if three to 20 miles from the ocean. It requires a very mild climate and will not grow well if temperatures are over 80°, and it can be damaged by frost. I frequently find it at the farmer's markets here, but it is never cheap.