That’s Why They Call it an Eggplant
There’s no mistaking why they’re called eggplants when you see the baby ‘Thai Yellow’ Eggplants. The name eggplant developed in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada because the fruits of some 18th century European cultivars were yellow or white and resembled goose or hen’s eggs.
I must admit, I’m not particularly fond of eggplant. I have tried eating it in so many different ways and the texture just isn’t quite something I like. But I still grow them and eat them (last year I grew the purple ones). I find that if I chop them up small and put them in lasagna I don’t notice them too much.
Are you an eggplant lover? Any great recommendations for eating eggplant for those of us non-eggplant lovers?
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Deadheading Perennials
This week I’ve been busy deadheading my perennials that bloomed early in the season. I don’t deadhead all of my plants, just specific ones that I know will bloom again, like catmint, ‘Stella de Oro’ lillies, sage and salvia. I also deadhead my daylillies as they’re blooming to keep them blooming longer.
Other plants I cut off the seed heads because they’re rather aggressive reseeders and I don’t want them taking over my flowerbeds. These include: chives, balloon flowers, wild geraniums and a few others.
I only deadhead plants until about the end of July, after that I leave them be (except for seed heads of invasives) so that they can store up energy for overwintering. Some plants get sheared off completely (catmint & lillies), others just get the dead flower heads cut off of them to tidy them up a big (sages, daylillies and balloon flowers).
I didn’t always deadhead, but I started to have trouble with some aggressive plants taking over and nudging out some of the plants that I wanted, so I started deadheading. I also like how it cleans up the garden and gets rid of the some of the brown, it just makes everything look a little nicer. Surprisingly it’s a garden chore that really doesn’t take that long, and it provides some compost fodder, so it does have it’s rewards.
Do you deadhead your plants or do you let nature run it’s course?
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Big Big Wolf Spider
While moving everything out of the basement for our big project, our friend Shaun was startled by a HUGE wolf spider on the wall of our bilco. It happened to be right by his face when we have making a trip back down into the basement. As you can see, she was a pretty big spider, she was carrying her egg sac with her (that’s how we know she’s a she).
They collected her in a pint jar and saved her for me to see when I got home. This is a big spider for here in NE Ohio, but since I grew up in South America with tarantulas she really doesn’t seem all that big. We let her go in the in the woods, where she’ll be right at home. I don’t mind seeing spiders around the gardens, I know they’re beneficial insects. If I see them in the house and they’re little jumping spiders they get to stay. If they’re big wolf spiders like her I usually catch them and put them outside.
What about you, do spiders freak you out or do you not mind them?
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Rain, Rain, Glorious Rain
We finally had some rain this weekend after a long dry spell. We’ve been really needing some around here because everything was getting kind of brown and crispy.
I love sitting on the porch during thunderstorms and feeling the cool breeze, watching the lightning and listening the thunder. While enjoying the rain I snapped a few photos of the rain on one of my hanging baskets.
My mom’s not the kind of person that likes to go outside during a thunderstorm. Unless it’s really bad, I’m usually on the front porch during the storms, I just love them!
What about you, do you like to get out and enjoy thunderstorms, or do you like to stay inside?
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Sleeping Bees
Yesterday afternoon we had a thunderstorm roll through. I was out on the porch watching the rain when I noticed this little guy (or gal) sleeping on my hanging basket. I suppose since he can’t be out flying around he figured a catnap would be nice.
He slept here through the entire rain storm and a few minutes after it ended he took off to go about his business gathering nectar & pollen.
Have you ever noticed sleeping bees in your gardens?
