What's Blooming in My Garden-- August 31, 2008

It's been awhile since I've posted what's blooming in my garden. It's not that nothing new has been blooming, it's just that I've been... off. Today, though, I'm catching up!


The surprisingly lovely violet blossoms of black turtle beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). The pods are purple too! Love it.


My current favorite plant, marshmallow (Althaea officinalis). Marshmallow is mostly considered a biennial, but this blossom appears on a first-year plant. I'll leave some of these "early" bloomers and see if they come back next year, but I'm digging up the roots of some this year for various sorts of medicine.


Another squash blossom, this time Early Prolific Yellow Straightneck (Cucurbita pepo). Not so prolific in my garden. This blossom, captured in the camera a couple of weeks ago, is long since gone. Its parent plant has fallen almost completely to powdery mildew (my fault, I know).


Store-bought potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) setting flowers. These have since been followed by fruit typical of all the Nightshade family plants.


Tasty and cheerful nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus). Last year, plants from this same seed were enormous! This year, they're limping along. Of course, it could be my insistence on not watering this year... or the fact that they weren't planted until, like, June... or the fact that they're being shaded by the corn, buckwheat, and asparagus ferns... or...


The marigolds (Tagetes spp.) are doing their very best to keep non-existant pests from the non-existant peppers. *sigh*



Helping along those workhorse marigolds is a lonely little sweet basil plant (Ocimum basilicum). I think my seed was old. Then again, they are in the failure of a pepper bed. Hmmmm... I think a little more water would have been appreciated. Since this basil was hardy enough to make it, despite the odds against it, I'm letting it go to seed. A plant that tenacious should have its lineage continued, right?

There are more flower pictures to come, but I think this is enough for this week. Hope all your gardens are blooming prolifically!