More About Iris & The Garden in the Heat

I got my order of iris from Schreiner's Gardens on Friday and because of the heat I did not want to wait too long in planting them, so on Saturday evening at 7:00pm after it cooled off to a little above 80 degrees, I dug the grass out of the bed along the east side of the garage and planted all thirteen. Here are pictures and descriptions of four of them. I'll put the others up later on.
BTW, Schreiner's sometimes puts an ad here on Glynn's Farm blog, so click on them here when you want to order iris.



This one is called "Amas." Type: Tall Bearded
Color: Blue-Violet
Style: Bitone
Originator: Foster
Year: 1885
Height: 25"

This one is called "Crowned Heads." Type: Tall Bearded
Color: Blue
Style: Amoena
Originator: Keppel
Year: 1997
Height: 38"
Bloom Season: Early
Mid
Awards: HM '99, AM
'01, Wister Medal '03,
Dykes Medal '04

This one is called "Celebration Song." Type: Tall Bearded
Color: Pink and
Lavender
Style: Amoena
Originator: Schreiner
Year: 1993
Height: 37"
Bloom Season: Early
Mid Late
Awards: HM '95, AM
'97, Wister Medal '00,
Dykes Medal '03

This one is called "Beverly Sills.: Type: Tall Bearded
Color: Pink
Style: Self
Originator: Hager
Year: 1979
Height: 35"
Bloom Season: Early
Mid
Awards: HM '81, AM
'83, Dykes Medal '85

Here are also a pictures of the poor wilted okra plants and sunflowers in 102 degree heat. I did gather a mess about 8 pods for supper last night. Good! and I also had a mess of yellow wax beans. I didn't care for the yellow wax beans all that much, so I doubt that I'll plant them again. I like green beans much better. I also gathered a few black-eyed peas and shelled them. I'll cook them tonight along with some green beans I picked yesterday.






But, the heat doesn't affect the zinnias at all. (See the picture below of the ones I planted about three weeks ago.) They were up to about a foot tall and had buds, but I pinched out the tops so they would bush more. They'll be pretty in another week.

Surviving the Heat

It would seem to me that if your major concern were the plants on your balconey, there's an easy solution--water them stupid!!! There seems to be a lot of profound ignorance residing in NYC.

‘A Drink,’ the Morning Glory Gasped/ By Michelle Slatalla, Published: August 10, 2006

My plants are suffering in this heat. On the balcony outside my bedroom, a potted banana plant presses its desperate wilting leaves against the window, trying to catch my eye. Next to it, a morning glory droops. The star jasmine is writing a will.

Glynn's Farm is Adding a New Garden Plot

I've ordered close to $100.00 in seeds and plants from Park's Seeds, who advertise on the Glynn's Farm blog site. I know it's way too many, but how do you know when to stop when you want it all. Since my present garden plot will still be bearing (it's still producing egg plants and peppers and starting to produce a few black-eyed peas and beans and I ought to gather my first mess of okra that week.) when it's time to plant for the fall, I've decided to dig up a new, larger plot.

I gathered a couple of bell peppers that had turned red and several other peppers that were supposed to be hot, but are not--"like letting the moon shine in your mouth" as my grandfatehr Harper used to say about my mother's coffee. I'm diappointed in the Bell peppers too; not much flavor and very thin-walled skins--also almost tasteless. There from plants I bought at WalMart, so I'm hoping to do better with seeds from Parks.

I got an email from them this morning that the seeds had been shipped, so I'll list what I plant when I plant them--when I get the new plot tilled up of course. I started by scraping the sod off with my tiller, and as soon as the sod is dead (it happens quickly in this heat) I'll till it up to a depth of about 6 to 8 inches, the deepest the tiller will reach. It's back-breaking, hot work, but it only has to be done once, so next year, all I'll have to do is till it when I get ready to plant and not scraping off sod, unless of course I decide in a moment of insanity that I need yet another plot. I'm already planning to enlarge the present plot when I plant in the spring. I think I'll need more space than I've got now for a potato patch.

Revealing the Secret Fantasy of the Proprietor of Glynn's Farm

This is one of my fanasies, except that I don't try to make my fantasies come true all the time; just two or three times a month.

Born 150 Years Too Late, by Joyce Wadler

Lots of Bush But Few Beans

I gathered two more eggplants this morning and plan to make lasagna with them for supper. I also gathered the beans off the three rows that have gorgeous plants that produce lots of blossoms but very, very few beans. I have two theories: one, the soil is too rich, or I planted them too late in the season and it's too hot for the beans to develop. (See picture.) Any help out there?

Also I here's a picture of the first sunflower blossom--aiming right at the morning sun as you would expect.