What I Did On My Summer Vacation Part 2

More Montana! Here's a wildflower that I'm pretty certain to be 'Fire Weed'...

 

 

...lovely blooms!

 

Very low-growing wildflower, aster of some sort?

 

Love this orange!

 

Plenty of life-sized bonsai on the rocks here...

 

...and a western cousin of 'Goat's Beard' that we have in Wisconsin.

 

I like this twig fence at a local community garden...

 

....and the cool worm artwork on this branch.

 

This looks like 'Bearberry" to me, but I've not taken the time to look things up for a certain ID.

 

This is definately wild geranium, though.

 

Lovely yellow wildflower...

 

...and a wicked cool thistle! Many regard thistle as weeds, but if bees like it- I like it! Looks very pretty too, IMO.

 

The community garden in their neighborhood has some well-maintained plots for sure...

 

...with huge leeks! My only attempt to grow these yielded chive-size results, but this gardener has it down for sure.

 

Happy sunflower...

 

...likely due to this pollinator garden nearby. Good call!

They say "If you plant it, they will come" with regard to pollinators...

 

....from the look of this garden...

 

....that's the absolute truth!

 

Love this! I think it's tansy...

...and this is a lamb's ear of some sort (I think-please feel free to comment with solid info :)

 

Of course the bees don't need a guide book to spot the tasty pollen.

Beautiful blue wildflower, reminds me of forget-me-not, but I'm pretty sure it's not.

 

Now this I recognize! It's snowberry-I have it growing very well in my yard in Wisconsin, too.

 

Interesting take on a raised bed here...

 

...and what's this? Could it be a "scare-mingo"?

 

Montana bumper crop!

Great trip! Now I want to go and see it in the winter, though there won't be any garden-related images then. (I don't have to blog everything I guess :)

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Recently I flew to Montana to visit my son and his girlfriend. Even from the plane I could see the landscape changing...

...very arid on the ground, with plenty of wildflowers.

 

Wide open spaces for sure!

 

Spotted some wicked cool thistle...

 

...as well as the western version of 'Butter and Eggs'.

I love the pines, the hills, and mountains everywhere!

 

More toadflax ('Butter and Eggs'), the foliage is different from the Wisconsin version but the flower sure looks the same.

 

Gorgeous scenery!

 

Ominous clouds as we hiked one day, along with thunder rumbling (or "rolling"-it sounds very cool echoing among the mountains).

 

Then the hail dropped! Luckily the stones weren't as big as they often get in the area, and we had cover under the trees. We could actually hear it forming in the clouds, sounded like a distant hair dryer.

 

Drifts of hail as we drove out!

 

Pretty grasses...

 

...along with lots of sage. I tried growing 'Big Sage' in Wisconsin, but our soil/climate was just too moist and it rotted out. Looks mighty happy here!

More wildflowers....

....most sporting seed heads.

 

Hey! I recognize this 'Blazing Star'...

 

...but I have no idea what this berry is. (All the more reason not to taste it! :)

 

Wild mushrooms (same "no taste" rules apply).

 

Another pretty wildflower, looks like a western version of lupine...

 

...this wildflower is obviously popular with the local pollinators.

 

Cool mossy stuff was hanging from several trees...

 

...up close it's quite feathery.

 

Low-growing plant with red berries...

 

...and a similar version with white berries! Wonder what it is?

 

Awesome water fall at Hyalite Canyon, amazing how plants and trees can grow on rocks...

 

 ....any crevice with some organic matter will do...

 

...in the path of falling water even better! Wish I could have gotten a detailed closeup of the red stuff.

Way too much to put in one post! Part two to follow...

Gardening Lull

A cold, late spring + frequent travel + working 30 days in a row = gardening meh. Here's my outdoor progress thus far...

 

...not just weeds in my hanging baskets from last year though, there's a couple volunteer flowering tobacco that came up. Doubt they'll have time to flower, though.

 

This bag of peat moss was supposed to go into some trough planters and planted with various annual and veggie seeds....ah well. Maybe next year.

Indoors things are looking much better! My phal 'Happy Girl' is blooming very happily....

...the last indoor tomato is ripening, very late considering its neighbors ripened mid-May. Weird.

 

The plant looks kinda sad, I may give it a pruning and "summer camp" outdoors (after I eat the tomato, of course :)

 

My new mystery cutting that was a gift from a friend is growing pretty well. I'm glad since it had all of an inch of flimsy root with it.

 

This air plant is very happy-blooming almost constantly....

 

 ...and this one has sprouted a "pup"! There are some brown tips on the leaves (I think that I was over-watering at first), but overall it seems fine so I'm optimistic.

 

Tha cacti look decent overall, just a tad spindly from filtered light. They prefer direct sun, but you can't always get what you want.

Back to life then. Meh. I need to visit a botanical garden or something to try and get my garden mojo rejuvenated (or win the lottery and garden full time...either way  :)

 

Indoor Tomato Results

Well I picked one of the indoor tomatoes today...

 

 

...nice size, obviously a cherry tomato of some sort (this was a volunteer plant that came up in a houseplant pot, so I was never sure the exact variety).

 

The taste? Good! It was a tad on the firm side, so perhaps it could have had more ripening time-but good flavor (especially considering it had no direct sun!)

So the results are in: Can you grow a tomato in a south-facing window with white-sheet-filtered light? Yes! Will the tomato bear fruit if you hand-pollinate using a cosmetic brush? Yes! Will the tomato you get taste as good or better than anything you get in a grocery store? Absolutely yes!

Indoor Tomato News

We have ripening! Not quite ready to taste yet, but my indoor-filtered light-no grow lights tomato project is coming along nicely.

 

 

Of course the proof is in the tasting...