Watered well and a plant from my past

 It has been hot, muggy and unpleasant outside. I was able to get the garden watered yesterday and also pruned the tomato back a little. Prune the tomato you say??

 

Before

After

Before and after, it's not necessary but when the plant has grown this much and is flowering you want it to focus on the flowers not leaves. You never take off any more than about 1/3 of the volume of anything you prune usually (there are exceptions). The leaves at the bottom were touching the ground (eew no touchy touchy!) and it helps keep the ground clear enough to water well at the roots. It also helps get the fertilizer where it needs to go. 

Prunings and one accident  

And look what I found!

So pruning and checking the plant regularly also helps you find evidence of invaders. I didn't find the culprit but remember what I said about what may have caused the holes? There's edge and center holes, some small some big, and believe me if there are snails here they are not happy! So the other culprit would be caterpillars (I don't like to use the term 'worm' for caterpillars). I'll be checking for more evidence of the invader. Some damage is tolerable but if it starts getting totally thrashed THEN it's chemical warfare.

I was trying to pull off some small leaf branches and it snapped one of the main uprrights, that's the 'accident' in the caption. Oh well, not the end of the world. Anxiosly waiting for the zucchini to start bolting out new leaves. Oh and the 'garden bed' next to the zucchini...totally overrun by purslane...sigh. Hope she intends to eat it because the tiny mint sprig is covered.

Dizygotheca elegantissima

False Aralia

When I was little, the house I grew up in had an L shaped small front porch with a stone faced planter. In it was this plant which I didn't learn the name of until I was an adult. Common name, False Aralia and it is a wonderful shade plant. Now the planter it was growing in was about four feet high and two feet wide. The plants never got taller than about four feet so that's what I always thought they were. Didn't know until I took plant ID and worked at the nursery that these things can get HUGE! That specimen is at the complex on the 'lush' side of the building I took the other pictures. It is about five or six feet tall and doing fantastic in the part shade. Makes a jungle out of any area but it is somewhat slow growing as evidenced by the plants from my childhood still not fully grown after ten years when we had to move.

 

Aucuba japonica

 

Another one that is fun for shady areas that doesn't take a lot of water is the Gold Dust Plant It comes in a male and female bush but the coloring is the same. Female bushes tend to have fruit that is messy. Another lush jungle type plant that adds color to a corner and gets relatively big. This one is about four feet and I believe about maxed out. Bright green with yellow spots all over it which tends to make people think it's sick.

On another topic is garden tool care and maintenance. Going to just gloss over this but I bring it up because there's only one hose to use where I am and it snakes along the sidewalk from the hose bib at the front of hte building. The other lady that uses it just lays the end in the aloe plant next to her bed and then shuts it off. Gee wonder how the lemon bush gets watered.... I, on the other hand, being properly trained in safety, coil it up at the corner of the building near my bed. Does she get a clue? Nope... one of those things is all. I also don't leave my good spray nozzle on there for anyone to use. I don't trust people any longer after losing so many things at work.

Make sure to clean off the threads of the hose before attaching anything, it will help keep the seal and not wear down the threads with dirt. The plants don't care where the water comes from just make sure it's not scalding hot or coming from a sump pump.

Of course if you use pruners clean them off best you can after using them and don't leave them in the weather. How many times have I seen some absolutely wrecked expensive pruners come in to be cleaned at the nursery? A lot. 

Oh and if you want a 'buy it once' pair of pruners spend the extra money and get Felco© brand. They are sturdy, all the parts are replaceable wherever those are sold and with just minimal care will last you decades. Honest. Only reason I had to replace mine was because I lost them. A standard pair of hand pruners will set you back about $50-60 but it is worth it! 

Sure you could spend about $20 for some Fiskars© or a little more for Coronas© but when the blade gets a ding in it or the spring goes missing, have to chuck them and buy a new pair. ::raises hand:: been there done that. As soon as I had the money after I started at the nursery I bought myself a pair and guess what? They come left handed too! I'm a leftie and am now conditioned to use pruners left handed and scissors right handed. Funny that.

 

Hope everyone has a safe and cool 4th. Have some lemonade in the shade, sparklers on the porch and hope for no fires from illegal fireworks.

 

Pennisetum rubrum 'Fireworks'