I gots more zucchini!

 It's starting to put out more as I figured it would, just like the tomato. Lots of growth, infertile flowers first then gets going and starts producing more fertile flowers. I found more tomatoes too!

 

Itty bitty baby!

First fruit on the right

And another one!

Yay! Zucchini coming soon! If you notice on the right photo some blank stems, I actually pulled about four male flowers off but there are still plenty of 'blank' stems from the male ones. Not crucial to cut them off but I did to hopefully convince the plant to start chugging out more fruit.

The tomatoes are continuing and hoping the flowers at the top are going to start producing fruit.

On the other side of the bush

Original tomato looking good

 

I am very excited about all this. First time I've been able to have a garden AND chronicle it on a daily basis. On my way back from checking everything yesterday I went to check on the cilantro stems that were dying and discovered someone had pulled the poor dead plant out of the planter and just threw it on the grass. Not sure what was up with that but I harvested a couple dozen seeds from it and sprinkled them behind the tomato and zucchini where it was shadiest. When I watered thoroughly I made sure to water behind as well.

The two marigold seeds are actually doing pretty good as well.

They don't look like much but with all  the other weeds coming up I had to wait for the secondary leaves to come out to positively identify them.

Growing from seed is difficult and chancy as many know and I'm just tickled that these are coming up. May even have flowers by October or November which is just fine. If not, it was a fun experiment.

On another topic of planning for the correct tree or bush and understanding the impact years down the road: Sycamores and Liquidambars.

Sycamore roots

These are California Sycamore and typically grow where there is water. Especially canyons where there is a seasonal or permanent water source. The picture above shows what happens when you put a sycamore as well as liquidambars, in a lawn. The frequent watering keeps the roots close to the surface and as a result you end up with a trip and mower hazard. There is obvious shaving marks on the root in the back showing the landscapers just run the mower over it. The root in the front has run up against the small patio table pad and is running around it. These trees can cause thousands of dollars of damage to foundations and sidewalks when planted in the wrong place. All the lawn areas in my complex have both trees and as much as they create a nice leafy shade in the summer and open canopy in the winter they are not good. 

My ex sister in law had a liquidambar in the small front lawn of her house. It was planted there before they bought it. Decade or two later she wants to know how to stop the roots from getting to the foundation as it already was encroaching on the sidewalk. I told her no way to do that, have to cut the tree down. She did. There's now an old ground level stump there now, sigh.

Watering deeply and long then letting it go for a while lets the roots go deeper for water and fewer surface roots but even the trees in the canyons have surface roots like this, it's the nature of the beast. But good watering practices in the beginning can help avoid problems later on.

 

Epiphyllum cutting

 

Coming home from shopping or work or somewhere a few weeks ago I found this cutting in the parking lot. It didn't have any growth on it and looked like it had been purchased from someone due to the clean cut on the bottom end. Well me not wanting to pass up a free plant took it inside making a note to myself to plant it. that was three weeks ago.  I uncovered it from old fast food flyers and discovered it started to grow a stem! It was half that size when I found it and pale. I remembered I had some small bark on the front porch and this pot had been sitting doing nothing since we moved in. A little soil from my sample jar and the bark and voila! Planted cutting.That is the top half of an African violet pot and a planter pot from something long abandoned.It is definitely leaning to the light in that spot but it's the only place I can put it. Luckily the local fur beast in the house had not decided to try and eat it. If it lasts long enough to produce a flower it will be a surprise. Nothing was written on it as some nurseries do so have no clue what color or type it is.

They like shady spots and, due to being a succulent, don't need much water. I took pictures of the one in our complex patio area a few months ago when it was blooming and the smaller one in a pot in one of the planter areas. Spectacular colors and sizes abound in the family and looking forward to keeping this one healthy and happy for a long time.