Here's that Jujube tree today (in the left of the luffa photo). It's grown expodentally and hopefully we'll get more than the two fruit that we had last year! We laughed about at least getting one each!!

We had to cut the rose hedge back drastically in late winter to get the new fence in and painted, so they aren't as lush as last year...but you can see the veggie garden is ringed by flowers and roses. Not as many flowers in the beds right now, not until I reconfigure the beds at some point...

This is a bit better photo of the veggie garden. I have only my phone to use right now - the new camera is having lens operating problems (grrrr). It took lovely pictures for the first week!!

This is the circle garden potager. It is growing very well - loads of flowers and tons of herbs with tomatoes and peppers dotted all around in the circle. On the outter most ring, near the fence there are more tomatoes, sweet potatoes and okra. Still small but growing. They were all planted very late to prolong our harvest in the fall. I find that staggering my harvest times helps me with preserving schedules.

I can't wait to see this area in a few years. There are several more fruit bushes along the fence that will grow large and create so much more privacy and give a sense of enclosure. The roses on arches (hard to see in these photos) will also grow and create a tunnel over the walkway.

It all looks amazing!

I'm curious about your luffa. I grew them a couple years long time ago, but not in a controlled way. They climbed up and through the nearby ligustrums. Never harvested the fruit when it was young and never noticed a scent from the flowers. Are you growing a specific variety?

Just looked again and saw chard in one of your beds. Mine succumbed to the heat more than a month ago. Does yours grow all summer?

the luffa is an angled gourd, the variety sold by Baker Creek seeds, it does well and I must cut it back and keep it on the arch. It produced about 150 or so gourds last year (easily, maybe more). We eat them at 6" long after scraping off the angles. The scent is heavenly, but only in the evenings. Daytime the flowers close.
It's not really been super hot here yet, natal. I am suspecting chard may begin to shut down soon, we'll see (90's next 10 days or so). I have small clay flowerpots sunk in the soil, the bottom hole sealed with a dollop of mortar and a glass 1/2 marble, and the lid on top to close..filled with water at all times. Mulched heavily - hopfully that may work. Many of my clients have chard all summer with just a few hours of AM sun and the fake olla watering system...(and they keep other greens all summer this way too).

Love the wine bottle tree!! Are the bottles permanently glued or placed over the top of dowels? Do you have veggies or flowers that grow up it?

I'd love to try it here but I'm not sure if would hold up in our winds. Have you had any problems with this?

Really beautiful! Love the purple fence (my favorite color :)

Please tell me more about your jujube tree. I am very interested in planting one, as we have hot, rather dry summers here in central Oklahoma. What variety do you have? What did the fruit taste like? Its a very pretty tree. How long ago did you plant it?

Canokie, thank-you.
The Jujube is a Sherwood, said to prefer a dry summer. It is fast growing and mine has not spread much but is growing taller than stated. It's got beautiful weeping, curving leaves and since it was grafted, only half of it bears fruit. I am assuming the other half is male. In these photos it is in my garden 3 years, the plant was two years old when I bought it.
The fruit is 2" long and 1" around ovals, green they taste a bit like an apple, and have a pit like an olive. Brown they are very sweet, far too sweet. The ants LOVE them at this stage. I have not found a bird or another animal interested in the fruit which is a plus.
The only negative I see to this tree is that it suckers. So for home garden purposes it would make an excellent lawn tree for a yard that has mowing. I simply have to cut back suckers several times in the growing season.

Thank you very much for the response. You mentioned that the brown fruit is very sweet - would you say that it resembles dates? I know a lot of people don't like dates but I love them and was wondering if jujubes could really be preserved this way and if they would make a fair substitute.

Thanks again!

I've never eaten a fresh date before, and I didn't dry my jujube's so I really can't say if they taste like a fresh date. Frankly, they tasted kind of like things do when they are over-ripe sweet/rotting....