I'm back! gardening photos and funny cats.

If you visit my other blog, knits4uandme.wordpress.com, you'll know why it is that there's been an eon between this post and last's. But if you don't (then shame on you. Ha. Just kidding.) then I'll say it here.

107 degrees does not make for very plausible gardening. Even if you're a reptile and you happen to like gardening, the plants do not deal very well with the heat. Or lack of rain. Or both. Especially when you're on the east coast having the hottest July days on record.

Anyway, now that it is in the low 90s and upper 80s, I can begin to venture outdoors once again. Many of my plants have not dealt with the weather well, but some have benefited. Tomatoes and cantaloupes for instance. And particular flowers, like zinnias and bachelor's. But anyway, I will update you on my random gardeningness around the house.

So without further ado:


yellow pear and cherry tomatoes sitting together. I am reminded why it is you grow tomatoes yourself each year-these beat grocery store's bitter, sandy tomatoes by a bunch.

They are great for pizzas and salads, or just, by themselves. Or like my brother-in-law does, cut them and half and sprinkle them with a little salt.





Not that you can really see them, but the dill has come up in my previously empty (before empty, cilantro) pot, second from the right. My kitchen herbs have been serving me quite well, especially the sweet basil, which is surprisingly tolerant of low light conditions, and 'bounces' right back when I cut it down a lot.

My attempt at growing a cherry tomato plant in a hanging basket. It's working...sort of?

Below are experiments with lettuce in a tray.



















Also, I'm attempting late jalepeno and banana peppers this year, to try with cold frames. It works for the commercial growers right? We'll see what happens.

A couple of lavender cuttings that 'struck' that I should really plant.

A little cosmos sprout. That I'm trying to keep our nefarious little tabby, Frodo from sleeping on.
















Pretty flowering dill.


I didn't expect zinnias to be so easy to grow-or to keep going and going. This is a kind of flower that I'll keep growing every year.


Also, I had no idea that butterflies adore mint flowers. Especially these little guys. I'll be walking down the brick walk by the mint and there will be a million of these beautiful butterflies in the air around me. So odd. I think they're buckeyes?









Also, what kind of butterfly is this? I really love the lacy, delicate pattern on their wings. I don't see them as often, and they're smaller than the buckeyes. I will do some research.
















A small bell pepper. Lookin' good so far. I've been watering them like crazy.

I'm also attempting at growing pumpkins by the house to try to deter deer, squash bugs, and especially, my arch nemesis, the squash borer.

Evidence of battling with tobacco hornworms. My brother and I have been slowly picking them off one by one and squashing them. Not a pleasant experience. Well, for me anyway. Can't vouch for my brother.


My yellow canary zinnias:















some sprawling jack be little pumpkins...

A very large yellow pear tomato plant that I recently had to 'collect' and tie to a stake.

So now I must confess that I have at least this many more gardening photos to show you. If I included all of them here, that would make for a very long post. So I will do a second installment tomorrow.

Until then, I'll leave you to enjoy the various hamming-up positions of our nefarious but affectionate, cat chasing, charismatic, and sitting-in-plant-trays cat Frodo.