Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

First Frost

Last night the temperature dipped to 28 degrees. Not surprisingly, many of the plants took their final bow with it.

Over the weekend I had managed to finish my cold frame project, which included digging roughly 6-7 inches of earth out and putting the cold frame inside. I then filled the cold frame with compost from the pile (soil that was three years in the making!) and topped it off with Coast of Maine compost. I then transplanted my lettuce seedlings and dandelions (grown in pots with eggplant this past summer) inside and closed the lid. With towels to help keep the heat in, the lowest temperature reading was 35 degrees this morning. Not bad. We'll see if this works throughout the winter. I may add a frost blanket inside if we truly are getting snow this Wednesday.

I did manage to get out of work early enough to plant the witch hazel and one of my hydrangeas, along with a handful of daffodils scattered throughout the yard. I also used crushed oyster shells with the new transplants to see if that helps ward off future vole attacks. I have plenty of more daffodils to still plant, with this year's bulbs coming from Colorblends. They look nice and hearty- I hope they do well.

I really hate this time of year when everything is dying, but there is some relief to knowing this not so great growing season is officially over. Just as long as it manages to stay warm enough for me to get the rest of the plants and bulbs in the ground.
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When did it become fall?

I was ushered inside by the impending rainstorm. After a summer without rain, we're getting plenty now in the fall.

I feel as if I lost the entire month of September, and now October is halfway gone. I've been working so much that the garden has been neglected, and it's been taking a lot of work to clean it up. The vole assault continues, but today I found the hole by the hydrangea (by the shed) that they were attacking so there days are numbered (hopefully).  I also learned that hellebores are poisonous to voles, so I ordered 14 plants from Sunshine Farm and Gardens down in West Virginia. I planted them around the plants I'd like to protect. I hope it works!

We had our first frost two days ago- a day into the frost warning period! Today the temperatures are back up in the 70s and I was able to plant 31 cloves of garlic and transplant my einset grape to the arbor along the driveway. I still have garlic cloves to plant, so I'm debating where they should go. As I clean up the garden beds for winter, I've put a layer of straw mulch on top to protect the soil.

In good news, a week ago I harvested my sweet potatoes out of the grow bags from Gardener's Supply. They grew well, and I'm currently curing them. While cleaning up the beds though, I had to pull out so many strawberries that had spread and multiplied all summer long. I felt so guilty ripping them out, but they were at the point of being invasive (they were the Seascape variety). I kept some in pots, gave two away to the neighbor, but the rest landed in the compost. (I wince now thinking of how many I threw away. I hope I don't regret this decision.

I've grown to appreciate marigolds again... for a while I disregarded them since they were so ordinary, but they have been growing so well amongst the vegetables that I think I will plant them all along the driveway next year for constant color.

So while I'm beginning to make notes of what I'd like for next year's garden, I looked up to see how I was doing on this past year's garden planning list.

To recap (Original text in black; today's comments in red):
1. Cut down on the tomatoes! There is way too much space devoted to growing them, and the yields have been hit and miss over the past two years.   Hmm...should have paid more attention to this!
2. Impatiens along the garage in pots worked really well. So did growing them by seed. It's really too bad that this year the impatiens were struck by the mildew and I may not be able to grow them next year. I've been pretty happy with the new guinea impatiens though.3. Sweet allysum works well grown from seed, and in pots. Try to incorporate more plants into the garden where the spring bulbs are blooming. Not a good year for this plant in pots. Forgot to plant in beds.
4. Get the proper equipment to grow pole beans. Maybe skip bush beans? Used an arbor this year instead, but will have to rotate crops next year so the pole beans will need their own structure. I did end up growing bush beans.5. Eggplant need more sun- perhaps grow them in a bed on the front lawn? Back on the list for next year.
6. Try to grow pumpkins along the border with my neighbor, in front of the lilacs. I tried watermelons but was not good about watering them, so they died.
7. A book I'm reading now, called "Slow Gardening," suggested (tongue in cheek) to grow a living fence of corn between neighbors. Hmmm.... Not were I intended to grow it then... maybe along driveway next year.
8. Try to grow more zinnias around the back patio. Zinnias from seed planted in the ground did not do well. I ended up having to buy plants from the nursery.9. Start cosmos seeds directly in ground. (They get too leggy when I start them inside and try to transfer out.) I did this, and they never grew! They look the same as they did in May. Lack of sun?
10. The lettuce bed with carrots worked really well! (And I'm still harvesting lettuce and parsley today, without the aid of a floating row cover or cold frame! Wow!) Did this again this year.
11. Get more hellebores. Just fulfilled that today.
12. Create pots out front like window boxes we photographed in Vermont. I did a version of it, but not exactly the same.

Which begins my 2013 Gardening List.
- Plant marigolds along the driveway.
- Skip tomatoes? They were such a disappointment except for one week when I had nice juicy ones.
- Plant corn along the driveway? Is this even feasible? :)
- Window boxes like the ones in Wilmington, Vt. (Repeat request from last year.)
- Move vegetable beds to the front lawn so they get more sun.
- Bring back wax begonias and more new guinea impatiens to replace impatiens next year.
- Move tall aster out front - it's too tall for it's spot.
- Provide proper V structure to support raspberries moved to bed along the driveway.

That's all I can think of now, but that's a pretty healthy list for now.
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A few hours outside

Sometimes I lose focus when it comes to gardening. I forget why I do it. So far, I've lost a winterberry bush and the dogwood tree that I tried to transplant last month. My cosmos never grew, and the zinnias from seed didn't do much at all. The impatiens that I grew from seed came down with powdery mildew, and the vegetable beds along the driveway are slowly being shaded by my neighbor's growing oak tree.

At the end of the season, gardening has become a chore. Weeds need to be pulled, the perennials are ready to throw in the towel (me too) and I start actually looking forward to the end of the growing season, so  I can concentrate on creating a better garden next year.

But a garden is always growing, always evolving. It's never really finished. Every year, some plant gives up the fight. Some pest (momentarily) takes control. It's really easy to lose focus and not enjoy what has been accomplished in the growing season.


These flowers did the trick tonight. It did take a minute to see what actually was left blooming outside, but the hydrangea, anemones, zinnias, lavender and blue delphiniums look pretty surrounded by the autumn fern fronds.


And earlier, this little guy was patrolling the patio garden that I was weeding (and killing slugs - of course I found him after I killed slugs). And the tops of the carrots that I never harvested are feeding four black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars since yesterday.

Even with the ups and downs, this year's garden is definitely a learning experience, and proof that just because it looks good on paper, doesn't mean it will work well in nature.

Maybe I just have to lower expectations, or stop being so hard on myself.
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Garden Critters

Praying mantis amongst the flower beds.

Monarch caterpillar on the new butterfly weed.

This little toad came out after Rob mowed the lawn.

I really need to start carrying my camera again and stop relying on the iPhone to take photos!
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Finally! Tomatoes!

I am FINALLY getting some tomatoes to ripen from the garden. This has been the longest I've ever waited for a tomato harvest. I'm pretty sure these are the determinate New Yorker tomatoes that I grew from seed... the only variety that pulled through for me despite vole and tomato horn worm attacks!

I've had one- they taste so good! I forgot that's why I grow them; after this year, I was ready to give up completely!


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Busy Butterflies

There are four of these cute little butterfly moths on the purple butterfly bush today. Wonder what they are called?
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Musical Plants

I'm pretty guilty of moving my plants multiple times in the garden before I finally find a spot that I'm happy with. I learned the hard way that baptista do not transplant well (after digging out a large one that I originally planted in front of an Endless Summer hydrangea, it turned black and died).

"Wolf Eyes" in its new spot.
After some lower dying branches were trimmed.


Here's a better view of the leaf damage.
I have higher hopes for my Wolf Eyes Kousa Dogwood. I bought it last year after reading about it in Fine Gardening magazine.

This year it didn't have much new growth, and I found vole holes nearby. Yesterday I decided to move it to a shadier spot (after reading a bit more online that they prefer more shade than sun) and hopefully away from the voles. It didn't appear to have as many roots as a young tree should have and some of the leaves were brown, but I'm hoping it survives the transplant. I'd hate to lose it. (Hopefully the leaves are brown from the heat and the sun exposure, not the vole damage.)

Next on the musical plants list? The grape vine and the bee balm. Oh and definitely some irises.
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Halfway through August ...

Dear Nature,
This little plot of land has dealt with enough trouble this year.
Moles, voles and Japanese beetles,
And now three tomato hornworms on one of my only remaining tomato plants.
Stop the shit!
Thank you,
Jen
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Migration season has begun, still no ripe tomatoes but plenty of voles

What a crazy last couple of weeks. First, we had an issue with our MAC, where we thought we might have lost all of our files (including all my images- yikes!) since I've been really bad about backing things up. We were offline for a couple of days, but Rob figured out not only how to retrieve the files, but get our computer back up and running again. Whew! (And now there are two backups of everything at the moment!)

First eggplant of the season.
In the meantime, we've been battling voles outside. After researching a ton, the only solution I could come to was to trap them. (The repellents have so far not had any effect on getting them out of our yard.) Now it makes sense what happened to all the tomato plants in the ground: their roots were being nibbled from underneath. My little dogwood tree and one of the new blueberry bushes is starting to look a little off as well, but I'm hoping I can save them.

I've harvested my first eggplant- a nice Rosita - and a couple of cucumbers and green beans. Oh, and the onions! This was my first year growing them from seed and they came out so nice! I'm in the process of drying them now. The garlic should be officially cured by Aug. 17- huzzah! There is also plenty of basil for the rabbits, which keeps them happy. So there are little triumphs in the garden this year, but it seems a lot harder than usual to get a decent crop.

Onions grown from seed!
Basil, parsley, carrots and their tops and dandelion (even red clover) is
what keeps the rabbits happy around here!
I've cut back on filling the birdfeeders since the voles got out of hand, but on Sunday five grackles made a pit stop at the feeder. I still had some nuts and suet, so I went out and refilled them. HOLY GRACKLES! I'm not sure why I actually like these birds, since they swarm and chase other songbirds away, but I guess someone has to help them out, right? There's been at least 20-30 birds at the feeders since, including right now where I can hear their squawks occasionally reprimanded by a bluejay. This morning also brought a pair of red-wing blackbirds to the yard (perhaps the ones I spied earlier in the spring headed north?), which confirms my suspicions of summer actually ending with the waning daylight and cooler morning temperatures. (Even though we've had some wicked storms- including one that had measured wind gusts of 80-100 mph last week!)

I guess this season is a learning period, helping me to learn all about the other vegetables I could grow besides tomatoes. I'm even beginning to entertain the idea of corn for next year... hmmm...

And of course, some lovely photos of flowers from the last couple of weeks from the garden...


Hibiscus out front.

Black eye susans around back patio.

Back shade garden (impatiens from seed!)

I have to plant more lantana next year! They did SO well!
Tiger swallowtail enjoying the butterfly bush.




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Front door view

Phlox "David", Black Eyed Susans and Pink Anemone along the front walkway.

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Mole Attack!

Hey, are you down there? Hole in the first grow bed.
What started out innocently enough about a month ago has evolved to Caddyshack proportions. Moles have been carving their way around the back garden, taking out some plants in the process. Even though they don't eat the plants (I suspect they are more likely after my worms then the grubs even), the process of moving the plant out of the way of his tunnel has caused one of my winterberry bushes to (half) die, and might actually be responsible for the tomatoes dying off in the back yard (or, it could be our friend, the wilt).

Nevertheless, I truly regret not stabbing the earth when I saw it move that day a couple of weeks ago.

I got sick of trying to dodge the tunnels and went to my local Agway yesterday and bought the organic Holy Moley Mole Repellent (derived from castor oil) to hopefully drive the critters away from my yard and back under the fence into the overgrown woods behind the house. But what I wasn't expecting was for the moles to partially vacate the backyard, cross (tunnel underneath??) the patio and driveway, and start meandering through my veggie grow beds along the driveway. 

Argh!

So last night I applied the treatment to the front lawn that has no activity. The repellent says (in my shortened summary): "to apply it to the area not yet affected, then the second day apply to the affected area, and then on the third day, apply it everywhere!! Everywhere!!!"

I think they forgot to include the evil laughter.

Anyway, for good measure I tried my father-in-law's mousetrap trick again, only to be foiled by the ants. They carried all the bits of peanut butter away. Today I moved the trap next to one of the holes and placed a bucket (without air holes) on top with a brick. It's a weak attempt but it's worth a shot. Over on Facebook, I'm being advised to buy windmills, vibrating sticks, chew and deposit Juicy Fruit gum in the tunnels and to buy Grubout (it's not organic so I won't be purchasing it). A search on Amazon led me to a Victory trap that if I'm pushed a bit further, I might actually entertain the idea of buying and using.

I really could do without this drama!
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Garlic harvest!

At least I did something right. Here's my harvest of German Extra Hardy Garlic.

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I've got blight

Despite my best efforts to grow tomatoes (my previous troubles this spring are noted here), I've never had such a terrible time than while living in Connecticut. I removed three plants tonight from the back grow bed that are showing signs of blight- the leaves were continually wilting for the past week despite extra waterings (I thought it was the extreme heat we're having, even though other plants weren't having a problem) and straw bedding I put down as a mulch to help conserve moisture. After appealing on Facebook ("Is anyone else using an umbrella to shade their tomatoes from the 90 degree plus heat?"), friends advised me to pull the plants since it looked like blight.

See the droopy leaves?
So tonight, that's what I did. I hauled them off to the trash can since it's important not to compost plants with signs of blight. In this case, I noticed brown discoloration along the stem of one plant. (I found some useful information from UCONN about blight here. And I was directed to this site by a friend, since I do have black walnut trees behind my home.) Since all seemed to be showing symptoms, they all went, even though I didn't seen brown spots on the other two.

I'm hoping it does not spread to the remaining two tomatoes in that plot, or to the grow bags adjacent to the plot. (I moved one across the driveway because a few leaves looked suspicious, but I believe I'm just paranoid at this point.)

How depressing.

Oh, and in other news, I am battling Japanese beetles successfully- they seem to be lessening now; perhaps they have heard of the dreaded shake and drop into dish detergent trick I am fairly good at now.  And I have moles in the back yard - a first this year that I'm not too happy about. My father-in-law showed me how to set a mouse trap and cover it with a flower pot so the mole might get into it (yes, I'm not too happy about being driven to this extreme) but I had to abandon that idea when I saw one of the squirrels trying to anxiously find it's way under the pot to get to the peanut butter. Oye! Abandon that idea! (No one was maimed or injured in this event.)


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Japanese Beetles

I think the insect I hate the most in the garden is the Japanese beetle. A few days of not being able to shake them off my plants into soapy water has led them to swarming numbers this morning when I went outside. They have taken a special liking to the new plum trees, so when I shake one branch, the motion of the tree sends more down. Blech! I have managed to get rid of a good number, I'll just have to be extra viligant and will have to break down and buy the milky spore disease this year and hope an application of that helps.

That's the problem with Japanese beetles. There really isn't any effective sprays that kills them. I opt not to use insecticides in my garden and try to make everything as organic as possible. In the past I've tried the bags and lures but they didn't have much impact. Two falls ago I applied beneficial nematodes to the lawn, but it didn't make too much difference in the number of grubs out there (this can either be attributed to me not having proper equipment to apply the nematodes or just not enough applications). While more of the lawn disappears with each growing season, I still find them in my garden beds, where I promptly cut the grubs in half with whatever tool I have on hand.

The main problem is that my garden might be the number one flowery oasis for these little buggers. Where else can they visit a food court offering roses, plum trees and daisies, not to mention strawberries, blueberries, grapes and raspberries that they (luckily) have not come across yet?

I suppose it's officially summer now that they have arrived.
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Raccoon!

I was getting ready to leave for work early today with my husband (we are down to one car) when I peered out the back window and saw a raccoon under the bird feeder!


It was Rob's idea for the typeface. :)

My guess is that it's a girl, due to her size. She was picking the black oil sunflower seeds out of the lawn. She looked a lot larger from the side, but that photo is even fuzzier. (Not too bad for shooting through a window with a screen at 5:26 a.m. though.)
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End of the Peas

Looks like this extreme 95-100 F degree heat is putting an end to the pea harvest. The stems began to yellow last week and are now rapidly declining. I already stuck two more tomatoes in the back bed. I think I'll plant bush beans in the spots where the peas were.  What are you rotating in for your crops?
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Summer Solstice

It's officially the beginning of summer, but I'm feeling a little melancholy. Instead of being able to enjoy the coming season, my mind immediately drifts to fall and winter, as if this growing season is already past. I think I spend so much time anticipating the coming growing season that when it does finally arrive, it doesn't live up to my expectations. The garden is never completed- it never reaches the point where I say, "Ah, that's it- that's exactly how I wanted it to look." Instead, I seem to forget that plants labeled 24 inches or higher are actually pretty damn tall, even though it doesn't sound like it would be when I plant them at the front of a border.

Tonight I put the last of my plants that I was growing under lights outside. Today was our first 95 degree day (another one is in store for tomorrow). Maybe that's why I'm in a funk. It's knowing that whatever I haven't planted yet won't happen- it's too late in the growing season, even though it's definitely time for the lights to be off.

It's a funny thing, this gardening bug. Are there any gardeners out there that are happy with what they have right now?
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Monday in the Garden

Veronica tucked away with Rosa, "The Fairy." (How funny, everything I read says
"The Fairy only grows two feet tall, but this rose acts more as a climber and some
parts are taller than me at the moment!)
One of the nice new Coneflowers I picked up last year.

These dayliles are tall and originate from my Grandfather's garden in Queens, NY. After he died and before his house
was sold, my Dad dug up some of the plants and brought them to his home. When Rob and I moved into our first
home three years ago, Dad gave me some of the dayliles for my own garden. I love them.
Two little Carolina wrens inspecting the birdhouse for future living headquarters. I'm guessing the female is the one on the house, since the males are known for building multiple nests and then house shopping with his lady love until they find the right one. When this picture was being taken, the bird on the arbor was singing his little head off.
I'm not sure it will make the cut though, since they seemed to be watching me and the squirrels pretty intently.
(Missing my long lens for this shot!)
This catbird made the funniest little noises that I impersonated right back. Finally, a bird with my sense of humor! (Missing my long lens again for this shot!)

The mandavilla vine is taking to the new trellis attached to the shed.
The license plate barn star is by my friend, Lauren. (Visit her Etsy shop here.)

And finally, my first attempt at a small Fairy Garden. These are all the rage right now at the local garden centers. I love the miniature hostas!




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Accidental pairing


When I planted the feverfew in the front garden bed, I totally forgot that the delphinium grew there, also. What a lovely, unexpected combination!
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Backyard Wildlife

One of the eight squirrels currently calling our garden their home.

I thought it might be appropriate to show off the visitors to the garden, as opposed to just the plants in every post. Today we had rain all day that cleared up in the early evening, providing a perfect soft sunlight that worked well for photographing out back.  Here is a glimpse of some of our visitors tonight.

A baby downy woodpecker scouts the scene before heading to the feeder.

Papa bird has been seen repeatedly with his child, shown below.

The baby cardinal.

I'm glad the tufted titmouse is back after a bit of a departure.

A (baby?) chickadee.

The hummingbird, who doesn't like to pose for the camera.

Another chickadee at the feeder.

I love this sequence of the parent bird (left) feeding her child (right).

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Keeping busy

The foxglove that I grew from seed last year is flowering now.
Every spare block of time I'm getting is going straight to gardening (even though I should be training for the 5k race in August!). I think I'm more on top of the garden this year than last (not having to work non-stop during two weeks in May like last year helps, too).

The tomato plants seem to have recovered, the peas are producing like crazy, and the lettuce hasn't bolted yet. The garlic scapes are ready for picking (now to just find a good recipe to go with them) and I'm getting eggplants in the ground. New this year are sweet potato slips I got through mail order, growing in grow bags along the driveway.

The broccoli is a loss though - looks like the real culprit was a chipmunk! (It's a good thing he's cute!) Since the wildlife has officially discovered the strawberry patch, I've given up on securing it as I had been. Now the old bunny house is protecting two butternut squash plants in the ground. 

I'm trying to keep in mind what can be rotated in to the garden as the spring crops start coming out. I've planted some cucumbers and bean seeds so far, but once the peas finish I'll have more room. When the garlic finishes in mid-July, I'll have to decide if I'm keeping that area open to grow a cover crop or some other vegetable (more beans?).
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Strawberry season

There's plenty of strawberries to go around, even with some being stolen by the chipmunks and birds. (I took one of the older rabbit pens and used that to cover the strawberry patch along with deer netting and chicken wire.)

This is the third bowlful of strawberries that came inside in the last week. We made a big batch of strawberry cake with the first bowlful (along with some left over for strawberry topping for ice cream!).


But I did lose another (more mature) broccoli plant today to what I believe is the groundhog (or woodchuck, or thief, by any other name). I'm a little scared to plant my cucumbers and butternut squash plants (purchased) and plant my watermelon seeds (is it too late?) in case those look tasty to him, too. Sometimes I get so discouraged I don't even know why I plant vegetables. Why can't I just be content with growing flowers? I had this idea that this growing season was going to be perfect, and I should know better. If anything, it's replicating the rainy season we had three years ago when we moved into this house. Ah- must stay positive!
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Sunday

Lots of things are happening in the garden. First off, the nest has an inhabitant! A robin!  I didn't go as close as I had wanted to (standing on the front steps was enough to make her fly away) but I did snag this photo with my long lens.


 The garlic is sending out scapes- now if only I could find a recipe to make those taste good! Last year, ours were kind of bland when we put them in a stir-fry with rice.


And the (late) bed of lettuce is coming along nicely. We've had some hot days so I'm hoping nothing bolts too soon.


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A Year Without Tomatoes?

I'm pretty sad - all the tomato seedlings I started in mid-March have taken a turn for the worse. The first batch ended up dropping most of it's leaves and looking sad, so they were moved out to the cold frame (they're not looking good). Then another batch, the Rosso Sicilians and the New Yorkers (both determinate) are now starting to get yellow leaves or curled leaves, and the newest addition to the party, the Isis Candy, is starting to drop lower leaves.

It seems that every year I am a gardener, the harder it is for me to grow tomatoes. What boggles my mind is that these were not even set out when they started having problems. I am (99%) sure I used new or disinfected seed trays when I initially sowed them.

I'm putting them outside tomorrow in the heat, on the off chance that the central air is affecting them (it's set to 71 in the house). My resident plant guru from the local nursery suggested I take a few of them, replant them in bigger pots, and then spray them with a copper sulphate fungicide and to cross my fingers. But I think I'm getting used to the idea of having to discard them and purchase seedlings from a greenhouse.

What a bummer. I feel like I failed Tomato 101. It's also times like these that I wonder why the hell I even bother with vegetables. Why can't I be content with just a pretty flower garden?

New Yorker tomatoes... see the beginning of yellow leaves?

This is the Rosso Sicilian that got my attention with the curling leaves.
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I spy

Tonight I was installing another trellis out front for the Sweet Autumn Clematis. Over a month ago (at least) I had purchased another trellis for the honeysuckle vine, also out front (see below).



Tonight, after installing the trellis, I was walking behind the honeysuckle vine and did a double take. There tucked among the vine was not one, but two, bird's nests!




There are not any eggs in either nest, but with the help of the Certified Wildlife Habitat Facebook page, I've narrowed it down to a yellow warbler (who I've never seen) or a cardinal. At first I thought it was a Carolina wren, since I've read that the male makes several nests and then shows these off and "shops" with his lady friend until they find the right nest. But based on photos I've found online, these look pretty big to be for the wrens. Any thoughts?
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