Agave lophantha 'quadricolor' recovering from springtime hail damage.

Love the variety of everything you have!

A couple of tomato plants are still producing, and the herbs in the garden are looking good. Picked these today for a pasta salad for the 4th (SunSugar and Black Cherry tomatoes, chives, sweet basil, opal basil, oregano).

This post was edited by PhxLynne on Fri, Jul 5, 13 at 2:24

The two plumeria planted in the backyard are showing some signs of heat stress, but the one under the ramada looks nice and healthy (dwarf Singapore Pink):

Grant, love the Neptune planter. Jon, that's a nice picture of your agave and Lynne, the salad basket looks yummy.

Here's The Pumpkin Patch, growing in the front yard for the neighbor kids to harvest and carve this fall:

Melons are growing behind the pumpkins:

And a grape vine that I grow for fall color (Roger's Red) and the grapes the birds can have.....

No pictures, here, this is more of a funeral and potos would just be tacky. After last week's cruel 115 plus temps, and one day we even hit 120, the hacienda creeper, which gets PM shade, burnt to a crisp. It looks like someone took a blow torch to it. It had been well watered...not it appears only to have a few Green leaves near the ground.

Next is the Sea Mahoe tres, their normally huge, Green leaves burned to an extent and are being replaced by unattractive, bleeched ones. Just when they were recovering from last winterôs freezes....

On to the Royal Poinciana, a heat lover. Well, too much of a good thing. It also got defoiliated last week, although the new leaves are the only surviving ones....

Ficus Rustica, burnt on the western side.

Things that are looking good: bucidas bucera (black olive), it seems to thrive the hotter it gets. My bougies also are doing well with extra watering. And of course the Oleander are just doing fine.

I have a Ficus benajamina in the shade that is also dropping itôs leaves....itôs not gonna make it through the summer from what it looks like.

I also have a semi-dead pygmy date palm...I donôt know how people get theirôs to look so good, mine gets PM shade and itôs still not happy. Sigh.

Oh, and of course, the Mesquite are also enjoying this weather and doing great.

my garden was a bit upset a couple of weeks ago, but the increased humidity is helping it a lot. it looks a lot greener now, can't wait for the rain.
Armenian cukes pumping out... umm cukes, melons thriving, tromboncino squash having a hard time but hangin in there. Grapes ripened awesome, enduring a second wave of skeletonizers and unfortunately whiteflies thriving (I hate those demons). Moringa trees are growing like crazy, tomato growth arrested, but hangin' in there. Eggplants still looking good, but production waiting for cooling trend, Okra took forever to get going, seems they're just now starting to take off. Figs ripening and producing very well. can't complain.

chinandega81, I appreciated your honesty in your post. I believe it takes a sense of humor to garden in this alkaline blast-furnace. I like laughing much more than crying about my failures.

Great new pics and posts everyone! I love seeing the pics, and hearing the updates, keep them coming! I too appreciate hearing what's doing well, and what's not, so keep the updates coming! Most things in my garden look pretty good, even my zonal geraniums are still hanging on! My Iresine, which looked fabulous all spring and summer suddenly looks blow-torched, but otherwise most things look pretty good, for summer, for here, LOL.

Keep the eye candy coming! The plumeria, agave, grapes, watermelon and pumpkins are awesome! (I have terrible luck with pumpkins and drying gourds here, I wish I knew the secret, LOL).

Here's a VERY simple plant, but one that looks good: an ornamental sweet potato in full, hot sun. I love how the new foliage emerges a sort of brick-maroon color and then fades to a caramel-green. I started it from a stem cutting rooted in water when I made a Christmas Day bouquet. Since it rooted I didn't have the heart to discard it, so I planted it in this pot and it's become a nice little plant. The mother plant is still in the garden too, looking good.

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Happy gardening!
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from my garden July 2013

Here's a couple of quickie pics from my Harrisia jusbertii in bloom. Neat hand-sized night-opening blooms that are produced all summer and autumn (tennis ball included to show relative size).

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This neat, rambling, almost-spineless cactus is in the southeast corner of my garden where it gets some afternoon shade from a lemon tree nearby. Sadly, the blooms do NOT smell great, they smell a bit musty-musky-mildewy, LOL, but only up close. I've really grown to like this plant a lot. A piece broke off this spring and I'm hoping it roots in its new location.

What's looking good/great/awful in your garden? Happy gardening! Grant

I'd like to post an update on how my "Colorado plants" are doing. If you recall, I bought a 1 gallon red leaf barberry, a blue holly, and a juniper last month at Wal Mart when I was in Denver for my nephew's wedding.

Barberry was doing ok (partial shade), but lately it looks like it's declining. I haven't done anything special except keeping it watered every. bummer...%$#@

The juniper is showing some needle browning on its older needles. &*$%

The blue holly shows no change whatsoever (no growth or decline.)

So, all in all, I'm discouraged, especially if the barberry flounders. If only I could know if it's the heat or some nutritional imbalance....??

Sorry to hear your "Colorado plants" are struggling, Rich. Keep us posted. They're interesting experiments if nothing else. I tend to focus on plants that LOVE it here, but like you, I like to experiment with a small percentage of my garden too, we never know when we're going to find a new, fun, performer. Keep us posted for sure!

After last nights heavy, steady rain, I woke up to this fun plumeria in bloom, so I thought I'd share a pic. It was one of those packed-for-tourists ones at the Honolulu airport on my last visit, so it was small but already rooted (my pluermia rooting success rate is still a low 25% or so). Anyway, it survived the winter fine and is now blooming for the first time. It's a dwarf growing type, which will make it easier to manage. Nothing fancy, but a fun thing to greet me this morning. Happy gardening all! Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from my garden, July 2013

Wow, it's been raining heavily here this morning for almost two hours! No wind too, which is nice. My 75 gallon rain barrel is overflowing! It'll be nice to water the houseplants with actual fresh rain water today. Yay.

Before it got cloudy and rain, I took this quick and casual pic of a seed-grown mutt/mongrel aloe tossing up a fun off season bloom stalk. Most of my aloes (like most all over the valley) bloom autumn through late spring, so it's fun to see this off-seaon bloom today. Yup, those are the classic chocolate daisies (Berlandiera lyrata) in the background, and yes, they really DO smell like chocolate, especially on sunny warm mornings. Happy gardening all!

nice plumeria. It's funny I've never tried one. Any varieties you'd recommend for someone who's never grown one before? I realize they like heat, like to be dry in the winter and can't take much cold.. but that's about it.

Thanks, Rich. I think most types do just fine here. I've seen tons of nice potted smallish ones at Lowes recently, plus they and Home Depot, and local nurseries often carry them in summer. I'd say pic a color you like and go for it.

My very favorite variety is 'Celandine' as it blooms heavily in late summer and autumn, and the huge yellow blooms are impervious to sun fade (dark reds often get sun damage on their first day open, so I stick with yellows, whites, pinks, and combinations of these in general), and the scent of 'Celandine' is amazing. By far the best scented plumeria in my opinion. But if you're just looking to get started, just grab a smallish one and give it just a touch of afternoon sun and plenty of heat, water, and fertilizer until it drops its leaves in autumn. Great, fun plants for sure. I keep my huge 'Celandine' in a pot just in case we get a bad winter. Most winters I leave her outside all year, although this last winter she came in for two nights. Here is a pic of her foliage this weekend (with Wilson the tennis ball to show size), and then some of her last flush of blooms.

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Happy gardening all!
Grant

hey Grant, thanks. At first glance, I thought your plumeria was a schefflera plant because of the big leaves. haha.

It's good to know what are heat loving plants since we live in death valley :)

I bought two papaya (solo) in March at the rare fruit sale, one immediately was damaged by my new dog's enthusiastic tail, whipping off the top, the other is doing very very well. But the damaged one is coming back. Picture:
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Also, a rainy day is always good for water lily:

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Pipevine swallowtail caterpillar on native Watson's pipevine grown as butterfly host plant.

My area in Tempe finally got a little rain and my plants are starting to look better. Here are a few examples of things blooming again.

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first off I'm a little jealous of the pumpkin plants mine never get bigger than a football and it looks like you're going to have a pretty good crop this year, next grand I just saw your garden diaries from Miracle Gro and that was pretty cool.

As an amateur gardener, my home garden in Tempe is looking ok~

A handful of direct sown moringa seeds are growing pretty nicely. The little ones with rocks around them see no shade all day long. They are 2 weeks old, and the taller one is 6 weeks old.

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Fun new pics, all! Thanks for taking the time and effort to share them with everyone! So fun!

I love the water lilies and Salvia greggii. I had both in my last garden here and really should have them in my current place. I should remedy that situation, LOL.

Awesome pipevine caterpillar pic too, I've heard of them but have never actually seen one (I grew lots of A. fimbriata in my last garden here but never got any caterpillars, grumble grumble, LOL). Neat stuff!

Love your veggie pic too, Devonfawn, looks nice!

Nice moringa (aka "drumstick") plants too. I just sowed seeds about three weeks ago and have some nice young plants too. Now to find a place for them in the garden!

My little garden has gotten FOUR very deep, heavy soakings in the last ten days. It's been amazing. My 75 gallon rain barrel is overlowing over and over and over. I wish I had two this monsoon season!

This morning my Echinopsis 'Los Angeles' made a bloom along with several buds (tennis ball to show size) and my stinky (truly vile smelling, makes me laugh) Hoodia gordonii has been blooming all week. Happy gardening all! Keep the pics and updates coming!

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Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from my garden July 2013

The first bloom from a plumeria I bought last year from the Valley of the Sun Plumeria Society. It's a San Diego Sunset (newly registered within the last year or two). Love the gardenia scent.

Love the 'San Diego Sunset' plumeria, Lynne (and the yellow spider hiding on the petals at bottom right). Thanks for posting it!

Let's not forget good ol' "rain lilies" too, Zephyranthes. Since the recent heavy rains, I have several clumps all over the garden in bloom. So nice. Over the years I've tried to trick them many times by letting them go dry and then watering them, but they are never fooled by my efforts, and only bloom after a REAL rain (it must be a combination of air pressure, humidity, and light?) either way, they're fun and bloom several times each year, especially during monsoon season. Fun updates all, happy gardening!

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My Echinopsis cacti are all in bloom too, but I'm going to start a separate thread for those, just for fun. Happy gardening and take care all! Grant

Very happy with my vegetable garden this year with two 4x4 planters.

In the foreground from the left, I have butternut squash and zucchini growing vertically. In the middle are leafy vegetable - amaranth, daikon, and mustard spinach and some cilantro. On the right side are cucumbers.

Planter in the back are mostly red potatoes; some garlic chives and more squash. Just planted a small tomato on the right far corner the other day hoping I'll still be able to harvest some tomatoes this year.

I can grow so much more in a small space when I go vertical. And, I don't have to worry about stepping on them.

Wow, Angel, you SHOULD be happy with your summer veggie garden, it looks GREAT. Thanks for posting it. Really fun to see!

Two things looking good in my little garden: the variegated "sea hibiscus" (Hibiscus tiliaceus) on the east side of the house. I've been growing it for years as it reminds me of trips to Hawaii where it's a very popular shrub/small tree. This spring I finally planted it in the ground and so far it seems thrilled.

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And, my little "drumstick", (Moringa) seedling. Not as big as yours jaqcdavis, but making good progress.

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Only 79 F in the garden yesterday morning and this morning. Enjoy it! Happy gardening all, Grant.

My final pic for the month, LOL, a Huernia procumbens from this morning. Great, easy succulents for afternoon shade or dappled light. Just water when very very dry and protect from the worst of summer's afternoon sun. Happy gardening!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from my garden July 2013

jacqdavis, that's a good use of burlap (as a ground shading.) Nice idea; I might try it. Anything to keep the soil cooler and moist.

Hello

First post, been reading for a while. Thought I'd start by posting to a July thread in August. Luckily, the picture was taken about a week ago. ;)

This is our first ever pumpkin 'patch', we're pretty proud and at the same time surprised by its size. Seems to grow about 1' every day in each direction, if not more. It's actually four pumpkin plants, three of the French (fairytale) pumpkin variety and one of the standard variety. Also, one okra, a couple bell pepper plants and a Moon & Stars melon. As you can see the pumpkins have taken over the area. There are raised beds in there somewhere...

Everything I've mentioned is producing consistently. We harvested one of each pumpkin type this week. Throughout the month we've harvested several okra, many small bell peppers, and one moon and stars melon about the size of a bowling ball earlier this week. The French (fairytale) pumpkins seem to be going crazy, close to 10 pumpkins that will likely make it and more new ones giving it a go daily.

Hiya CSloan and all, thanks for posting! Please keep it up! We love active members here on the AZ forum. :)

Congrats on your pumpkin patch. It really IS a big ol' patch isn't it! I love seeing such happy, vigorous plants. Definitely keep us posted as the fruit ripens and develops. Fun stuff!

We just started an August gardening thread, so please post lots of updates and pics there too. Happy gardening and post often. :) Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: August 2013 garden update discussion/thread