So I've felt a little guilty that the backyard is thriving while the front yard is struggling. But my husband also pointed out that this is my first year to have several full blown, food producing GARDEN BEDS all of my own. So he said I should allow for some trial and error. I think in the fall I'm moving most of the delicate plants out of the front beds and into the back beds and just going to plant huge hardy flowering things in the front for passer-by-ers enjoyment! The fun things that need attention are going into my haven.
This year I've been coming across a lot of gourd art, so I decided to plant birdhouse gourds to see if I could join in that genre of art. All but two of the seedlings died from pests or heat, but the two that made it are doing quite well. This is the first seedling all grown up:
Yup. Thats my back door. And that large green thing slowly eating the house: that is ONE birdhouse gourd plant! The thing grows by the minute! I'm not kidding! I'll walk outside, help curl some of its tendrils in more or less the direction I want it to go, then go back inside, wash a load of dishes, and the tendrils I've curled have grown an inch!!! Its insane! The other plant is far less impressive and is growing along the fence. I didn't take pictures because you can't really see it under the beetle-nibbled green bean vine and the morning glory weed/vine that I haven't the heart to kill. Kyle asked with more than a little concern if this vine on the back porch was actually going to produce gourds or just take over the house. No its making flowers, so hopefully there will be gourds soon! Although we may have to climb onto the roof to get them! |