Seen in my Garden

My goodness, it has been a while since I dedicated a post to my own garden. Let's see what has been going on there for the past couple of weeks or so.

 I started picking the "Sweet 100" cherry tomatoes a couple of weeks ago. This is a good thing because the basil that I planted to go with the tomatoes has been sending up flower heads for several weeks and I was beginning to fret it would be done before it could be enjoyed with the tomatoes. But all is well. Basil is absolutely the flavor of the month for our dinners just now.

 The coneflowers are now past their peak but this one was shyly posing for the camera on July 15.

 Petunias at the front door. They have not had an easy time this season because we had to clear off the front porch for a couple of weeks while outside painters were here.

 There is a large white crepe myrtle at the end of the deck. Things fall off it all the time. This particular piece of bark had a variety of textures that attracted the camera to it.

 And after the rain? A lot of things fall off the crepe myrtle tree.

 This was not exactly the combination I had in mind when I planted this area a few years back. The white coneflower I did plant and then their cousin, rudbeckia/black-eyed susan, arrived to share the space.

 Black eyed or brown eyed - the deer have decided this year that they are on the "eat me" list and there are only a few remaining that those deer have not found.

 This year I am trying two new tomatoes (well, new to me trying to grow them that is) in my garden. These are Roma's and they are taking a while to grow to full size fruit and then become ripe. This is what they looked like on August 2 and finally last night I noticed color beginning to change in them so hopefully we'll get to try some soon.

 The echinacea sisters.

 The butterfly bushes have been attracting a lot of visitors recently. Alas I have yet to see a monarch butterfly.

 There is somewhat of an issue in the tomato patch. They have now well outgrown the stakes and last night I had to haul out the six foot ladder to be able to pick them.

 It is just as well there is only one "sweet 100" because I am picking daily. I had put in some companion plantings of marigolds and basil but it is only at this end of the garden that they are doing any good because the tomato growth is shading out the sun.

And to close out I liked this view of the moon back on July 15.

Now, hopefully you feel refreshed by the walk around my garden.