Okra, squash, figs, passion flower frederick and incense, pomegranate, sweet potatoes, Rosa Bianca eggplant, tomatoes, Meyer lemon, Mexican cream guava and even yard long beans are doing great this year. Last year, everything was stressed. I couldn't get anything to grow and couldn't figure out why. I figured I was using compost that was too hot. I also added a thick mulch layer to the in ground plants. Now, it's aged a year and things are exploding.

Mangoes and black sapote are ripening. Curry seeds are almost mature. Pineapple are doing nicely. Barbados cherry are being eatin as we speak. Plumeria, champak, lavender, and madagascar rubber vine are blooming.

Beautiful view, Grant.

All the cacti and succulents are doing well. The heat loving veggies/herbs are looking great (basils and mint are all in shade), thyme and sage, Okra and eggplant, lime, Chilopsis, snail vine, Hong Kong Orchid looks gorgeous enrobed in green, Myoporum (I haven't planted it yet but it's doing great in its nursery pot).

My challenge is lots of reflected heat. We lost two trees in the last few years, and my walls are quite bare. I put a chilopsis in the hottest quadrant (NE corner of yard) and hope it will grow quickly to bring some relief.

China Doll is big and full, but it could use some food. I just hate to make it overgrow too much. Any suggestions to help green it up without stimulating too much growth? It's 4.5 feet tall now, much bigger than when the growing season started. Trying to keep the growing tips pinched off but it's a challenge to keep up! I've had it a number of years, just cut it back hard and trim the roots with repotting early spring. They get big so fast with lots of heat and plenty of water.

I love the green of that plant! So, what is a "China Doll"?

Grant, that is a beautiful bloom!

Fun updates all! Keep them coming. Toucan and phxplantaddict, it sounds like you're having all sorts of wonderful growth and developments. Now that it's so easy to post pics here, we'd love to seeeeeee! Great stuff! You both have wonderful, green thumbs.

Same for you, haname! All of your plants sound so wonderful, please don't be shy with the pics. Your China doll is just wonderful! I hope you're really proud of it. A light treatment with chelated iron like Ironite might help green it up without encouraging TOO much tender new growth. It sure looks great!

Thanks too to folks who commented on my little pics, I appreciate it! Here are a couple more from the garden today.

Hybrid Aloe 'Hercules' (Aloe bainsii x Aloe dichotoma) after four years in the garden. It was just under 3 feet tall when I planted it. Wilson the tennis ball being lovingly supported to show size, LOL. That's one of several different cultivars of no-spine prickly pears (Opuntia) in the foreground.

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Amorphophallus konjac thriving in a pot in SHADE, lol. I've been growing other species here for awhile and am always pleasantly surprised with how well their tropical thin foliage handles our hot dry air. I'm looking forward to the 3 foot tall, scab-colored, foul-smelling, heat-generating bloom (seriously, I am, I think stinky flowers are funny and fun!)

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Finally, a bad picture NOT showing something: my air conditioner, LOL, as I block the view from the back garden and covered patio with a trellis covered with Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) which makes a nice, well-behaved evergreen shield, which has two nice seasons of fragrant blooms in spring and again in autumn.

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Take care and let us know what's looking great, good, or awful!
Happy gardening

Ah, honeysuckle - one of the few things I will miss from TN. I was thinking that it would be a great cover-up for some rain barrels I'd like to install.... if necessary, lol...

Keep on putting those pics up, it's great to see what I can have (in about 10 years, lol!).

Hi tomatofreak, a China Doll plant is a Radermachera sinica, a fairly common houseplant. I grow it on my east facing patio so it does get a tiny bit of morning sun. The first year I had it, I brought it indoors when the nights were cold but from then on it has been kept outside.

Thanks for your kind words, Grant. I had some ironite so put a little in the pot.

Fun updates! Keep us posted on that beautiful China Doll, haname. So wonderful!

Here's a couple things in bloom in the garden this week. Some orange-flowered seed grown Matucana madisoniorum, a 'Kimo' plumeria (it's been in the ground, unprotected for almost five years and has done great--I just wish this variety was scented, grumble grumble), and a big Datura meteloides staying open late due to a rare cloudy drizzly morning here.

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Happy gardening and keep the updates coming!
Grant

Wow. Wow. Wow.

wow, neat pics guys

Here's a few from my "container garden"

Uncarina decaryi
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These Boswellia's start their growing when the monsoon season gets into the swing of things, these really started pushing new growth a few days ago, they especially start to grow when the baro drops, good indicator of possible rain which we finally got... still cant believe it...

Boswellia hybrid
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Boswellia nana
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Boswellia dioscoridis
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Interesting, I've never seen a Boswellia before. Do they bloom? Or, I should say, do they have a showy bloom? From the looks of your pics, you have quite a collection of plants!

They sure do bloom. They produce white, pink and or dark pink inflorescens. Mine have not bloomed yet though, i have hopes for the hybrid though as it is the only one in the ground. I plan to put my B. sacra in the ground this summer as well, should grow like a weed, give me flowers and down the road yummy smelling incense. These tree's and and every other tree in the burseraceae family are mostly known for their extremely fragrant resin and their beautiful exfoliating trunks as well.

Here is a Boswellia ameero in flower:
http://arkive.org/boswellia/boswellia-ameero/image-G82044.html

This week our house turned five which means my garden is officially not baby-sized anymore. Bye bye tree stakes, cables and plants I need to see with a magnifying glass.

The Bismarck palmetto almost seems as if it gets bigger every day. I can't believe how fast it grows when it's hot like this. Just about everything looks ok except for my baby succulent garden. It was doing great and one day the whole darn thing just sort of melted. It was fun while it lasted. I planted a few of the plumeria that were in pots and they are finally showing signs of life after the transplant.

This is the garden last year. The photo shows about half of it, the garden creeps around the other side and also behind where I took the pic. I'll get some updated pics over the weekend, everything is twice the size now but you get the general idea. This yard is a mountain of work but it's worth it when all the flowers come out.

Fun new updates and pics, everyone, thanks for sending them in so we can all enjoy them! I love your Uncarina's, azant, they're a long time favorite of mine, and I have no excuse for not growing them, LOL. Love all of your plants--do keep them coming. Sherizona, your garden looks GREAT! I love it. It looks like you've really been busy. That Bismarck palm is really pretty, even from a distance! Love the variety of textures you have going.

Thanks for sharing, everyone. This is a tough time of year in the garden, so it's especially fun to see how things are looking during this month and next (I always wish garden books posted the beautiful gardens at their peak also at their worst, just to compare).

Great stuff. Happy gardening all!
Grant (including a pic from this morning of a bistro table right outside my back door with an old rosemary topiary, a trailing vinca, and a scented "geranium"), plus a pic of an acanthus-leaf-themed terracotta pot (purchased at a re-sale place for just a couple of dollars) and an ornamental sweet potato--tennis ball included, temporarily, to show size.

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Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from my garden so far, July 2012

Chocolate flower (Berlandiera lyrata) self sown all over the garden is still looking (and smelling) great (tennis ball included temporarily to show size):

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Mile-a-minute vine (a.k.a. "Alamo vine") is green, lush, and covered with blooms:

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Four o'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) are perking up now that the humidity is going up. They look rough early in summer but then look wonderful in mid summer all the way through late autumn. Love the scented blooms on these.

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Take care and happy gardening!
Grant

Grant, I love four o'clocks, but mine are too tall and leggy and they're falling over. Can I cut them back and have them bloom again?

That alamo vine is looking really good - can it take full summer sun or do you have it in the shade? By the way Grant your nylon trick I do here as well to catch the seeds. I get them cheap at the dollar store and use pipe cleaners to keep them in place.

I tried to get a bit of gardening done today but even my work-in-yard for ten minutes then soak-in-pool for ten minutes trick isn't helping with this heat. Rain please!!

Tomato, you can cut your four o'clocks back if you absolutely need to and can't stake them upright. They have a very long bloom season in late summer and autumn so there's time for them to bounce back. Staking would be my first choice, but if you can't, hack away and you'll have time for autumn blooms. Sherizona, that Alamo vine is in full, hot sun in the middle of my back garden. FULL sun and a metal obelisk-shaped trellis so it's in a very hot spot. It does get a deep watering three times a week this time of year, but as far as sun goes, it's bulletproof. The biggest downside is finding something large enough for it to climb!

Take care all and happy gardening!
Grant

I second the compliments, Sherizona - very nice garden. Hopefully as it gets to where you want it, the work will decrease.

The only beat-the-heat idea I have is getting up waaaayyyy earlier than anyone wants to, lol. Keep up with your fluids!!!

Grant, is your mile-a-minute on drip?

Been lurking for a while (moved to Phoenix from Boston four years ago), and this looks like a perfect topic for my first post since I FINALLY put in a vegetable garden this year. Herbs (sage, thyme, lavender,basil, chives, bay, oregano, and marjoram) look great, I have a couple of cantaloupes on the vines. Peppers are weak, but eggplants are doing well and still getting tomatoes. Picked these today:

Also looking good are my plumeria (Hope I'm doing this right? Doesn't seem to be a way to post more than one picture in a message). Singapore Pink with Fourth of July rain:

...and Playful (C-Stars Nursery in CA), which I bought at Lowe's a couple of months ago, along with a Divine and Premium Pink from Jungle Jacks.

We had a Meyer lemon tree we planted last year, and this year added a Valencia orange, Lisbon lemon, and Rio Red grapefruit. I also have a Ponderosa lemon and Nagami kumquat in pots.

We have six hibiscus plants in the front yard, pink and yellow, and this one is a topiary on our back patio:

PhxLynne,

Beautiful pics, please do show and tell more about your tomatoes. :)

If you would like to put more than one picture in a post you can use the HTML tags. Instructions at the link below. The problem with it is that your photos first must be on a hosted site like shutterfly, flickr, or photobucket.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Add Photos (the complicated way)

Fun updates everyone. I hope you're still able to enjoy your garden despite the heat. I know I'm up by 5:00 a.m. every day of the year so I get out there EARLY when the weather is still pleasant.

Beautiful pics, Lynne! Thanks so much for unlurking and sharing part of your garden's beauty and bounty with us! Everything looks great! Those tomatoes are beautiful and I LOVE the citrus and plumerias too. I've accidentally gotten addicted to plumeria and have an embarrassing number of them in my garden these days. I do love them though, and they're so easy here, why not, right? Your garden looks absolutely lovely and the pictures are amazing! Thanks for sharing them, and do keep them, and general gardening updates, coming! Fun!

Here are a couple of quick pics from my little garden this week:

Echinopsis 'Los Angeles' with three nice blooms this morning (tennis ball included for size comparison):

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A no-ID Echinopsis (purchased several years ago at a garage/yard sale) tossing up two blooms (both this, and 'Los Angeles', and nearly all of my other Echinopsis bloom off and on from late spring through late autumn, so I do grow a lot of them, oink oink oink!):

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Finally, a nice pink rain lily (Zephyranthes) blooming just a few days after last week's rainy Independence Day. They're called rain lilies for a reason, LOL:

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Pagan, yup, the Merremia vine gets 20 minutes of water three times a week this time of year, via automatic irrigation.

Take care and happy gardening everyone. Keep the updates coming, pics or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics, so far, from my garden July 2012

Thanks for the kind words Grant.

Haname, I grew two kinds of cherry tomatoes - Husky Red and Chocolate Cherry. The others in the picture on the table are some small Bloody Butcher (got these plants from a friend, Carl Seacat of Seacat Gardens), and the larger ones are Solar Fire. Purple Cherokee were delicious but I think I only had 6-7 between two plants, with the last one weeks ago. I planted them in a small raised bed along an east wall so they received afternoon shade. I didn't put any shade cloth up, but did have to put netting to ward off the birds. Next year I want to enlarge it, and need much taller cages/stakes. I also grew guajillo, Cajun Bell, red cherry peppers, serranos, and habaneros. None of them produced well, and squash and zucchini are even worse.

I took this today of the tomato plants.

Welcome Lynne! That tomato pic has got my mouth watering.... looks like you've done a *lot* of work in 4 years, I aspire to your productivity, lol!

Thanks for the info Grant, I'm going to keep an eye out for the alamo - looks like it would work well, I have lots of wall room and some unused trellis stuff in the garage.

I am in love with plumeria these days. Two in my yard are growing so fast now. I'm heading back to Hawaii in a few months and have a day dedicated to getting cuttings from a few of my sources. I'll see what I can bring back and share with my fellow plumie addicts. ;)

Fun new updates and pics! Keep them coming. It's a beautiful, pleasant (especially for mid-July!) morning outside, so I thought I'd share a couple more pics.

This 'Celandine' plumeria has been blooming non-stop for over three months now. I love the huge, fragrant, sun-resistant flowers (Wilson the tennis ball tucked in to show size):

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Here are a couple of pics of a nice 'Ellen Bosanquet' crinum lily blooming on the east side of the house. I've got several crinum lilies and they do really well as long as they get afternoon shade (or more). Great hand-sized fragrant flowers several times each summer.

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Take care, enjoy this weather, and keep the updates coming!
Grant

Wow! Amazing photos from everyone!

As some of you know, I made the mistake of accidentally turning off my drip system during what turned out to be an extremely hot week! So lots of misery and gnashing of teeth- but with all this rain (and a few replacement plants), I am hoping things will bounce back.

Of all my plants, perhaps it's my Madagascar Palm that is happiest. What a difference a year makes- last year the poor thing struggled greatly from hail damage, and then limped through a long, dry, dusty summer. The turning point came when I transplanted him from a ceramic pot into the ground. His leaves used to get these stressed-looking waves during the summer- but not anymore!

Beautiful!!

Gorgeous Pachypodium, xica! I love it and like you said, it sure looks happy this summer. Thanks for sharing it with us. I love it!

Take care everyone, happy gardening!

The Madagascar Palm looks really healthy. Nice job! I have one in my courtyard that's finally starting to develop some new branches. The poor thing turned black in the winter and now he's all back to showing off his long waxy leaves. I guess they won't bloom for quite some time but when they do I might need to take a day off just to stare at it ;)

This is my first year gardening, we picked up a good sized back yard so we put in some fruit trees and built a raised bed. So far we're doing ok, I learned a lot just doing it this first year that I think will go a long way in the future.

We have one 4x8 raised bed with some squash, bell peppers, and pumpkin plants in them. I had no idea the squash and pumpkin would get so big, and packed the bell peppers in way too tight to get big plants. Still seems to be growing well, and this is the first pumpkin. We've already pulled out about 20 pounds of squash and get another pound every other day or so.

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I have another smaller box made from recycled pallets that I put some jalapeno plants and soybeans in. The soybeans are tiny but the jalapeno plants seem to be doing ok.

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I put a fig tree in the ground back in October or so last year, it died down to the ground but came back from the roots. It's pretty tiny now but seems to be fairing well. The stump next to the fig is the former trunk, I cut it to get it mostly out of the way. I almost pulled it out but we'll see how the recovery goes.

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I put a Granny Smith apple tree in the ground back around April and got a few flowers. We get some pretty bad spring time winds though so most were blown off. One of them did start to develop and I figure I'll see if I can eat it this year. I have a couple of fuji trees in the ground that seem to be growing really well, but haven't gotten flowers yet on them.

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We have a few other things growing in pots, my wife put some basil in the same pot as a mint, strawberry, and some random flowers (I'm not a flower guy).

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We also have a meyer lemon tree that was totally neglected and left outside all winter. It looked like a twig but came back in the spring, so now I'm excited to see how it does next year.

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And I have a cayenne pepper plant that only produced 1 pepper then quit for a while. Once the monsoons hit it kind of exploded with peppers.

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Good learning experience this year, next year I think we'll expand it a lot if I don't get deployed again. I think it's going well though for being my first time gardening ever and doing it in Arizona :D

Devilpup, your garden looks great -- I only wish I'd had the same success you seem to be having with my own first Arizona garden. In a way, you are lucky to be gardening for the first time here. It means you don't have to unlearn all sorts of logic that applies to gardens in the rest of the world!

Devilpup, your garden is GREAT! Thanks very much for sharing it with us (awesome pics too, by the way, really clear!). It's great to see someone else who puts mulch on top of soil, especially those in pots. It has so many benefits, in addition to looking good. Everything in your garden looks great, and it sounds like the veggies are super productive. That's a LOT of squash!

Plstqd, you make a good point about the benefits of first time gardeners who start gardening in Arizona not having to un-learn gardening habits from other climates, LOL, funny and true!

Here are a couple of plants from my garden this week. Another Rudbeckia bloom ("black eyed Susan") which is a fun short-lived perennial here that self sows around the garden, some nice blue ageratum (I know, it has a reputation for not tolerating heat, but I think these old time heirloom types handle it just fine since they're not inbred to stay super short), plus good ol' Epiphyllum 'Curly' sitting out on the covered patio, growing away, a wall-mounted pot with a cascading form of vinca (I lined the coir liner with plastic shopping bags to reduce water loss), plus a couple of Echinopsis cacti too. Tennis ball included for size. Happy gardening all!

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