I DON'T Have Corn

So I got a bit excited when I discovered for the first time what looked like ears of corn growing on my one corn plant.  Turns out you need a LOT of plants in order to successfully pollinate to actually produce ears with real kernels. After reading a little more I learned that pollen from the top of the plants needs to fall onto the silk in the middle of the plants in order to get successful kernels.  Apparently one strand of silk will form one kernel if it is adequately pollinated.  Wind is what carries pollen to the silk and so you need tons of plants for enough pollen to land on each silk.  Sheesh, no wonder my one lonely plant didn't actually give me any kernels. What a tease!! Ears without kernels, booo..

I've read on other blogs that people have hand pollinated their plants by either shaking the plants or by running their hand along the tassel to collect pollen and then sprinkling it onto the silk.  This is worth a try next time I grow corn again, although I am feeling a little discouraged now..

Failed corn aside, I am growing lettuce and bok choy for the first time from seed. Not too shabby for my first try... (as you can see, as a beginner in gardening, I am attempting a LOT of things for the first time and I get lucky sometimes and things actually survive!!).  Along the bottom are varieties of different types of pepper and herbs.

I Have Corn

Well I proved him wrong!!  My husband has been a skeptic about me managing to keep anything green alive, and I even surprise myself sometimes..  Maybe I just got lucky this year but we actually have a decent corn plant with what appears to be two ears of corn growing!  After closer inspection today I couldn't help but grab my husband to show it off.  I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. So proud...

The big flower planter is also doing well.  Everything in here was grown from seeds except for the Snapdragons.  This planter sits in partial shade under our lemon tree and usually thrives best out of all the other planters in the hot desert weather.  We have Sweet Peas, Daffodils and Johnny Jump Ups.  Look at how much the Sweet Peas have grown!

On another note, recently I planted two root roses.  So far, so good.  This is my first time planting roses.



And while browsing at Home Depot I ran across Plumbago plants and really liked the blue flowers.  Now there are two alongside the lonely single Jasmine shrub that has not given up on me yet.  We'll see how these go.. Trial and error.  There's no telling how long anything will survive with my fantastic gardening skills.  Have I mentioned I have killed six orchids in the past six months inside the house??  Oops....

Not Enough Time

Aaaahhhh!!  I wish I had more time to take some pictures of what's going on in my garden.  We've had more irrigation put in in early December and have spruced up the landscaping.  My planter boxes are bursting with random things.  We've also picked our first batch of cherry tomatoes this year!  The one odd corn plant I have has made it further along than my first attempt last year.  We have so many lemons we are starting to freeze them.  Hopefully the weather will stay on the mild side because the garden is looking pretty good right now.. I wish there were more hours in the day!!

What's Growing

I am loving November!  It's satisfying seeing things green in the yard after months of ridiculous heat in the desert.  Even as I am talking though, it's 8pm and still 79 degrees outside but the mornings are cool and refreshing.  Allergies have also been kicking my butt since we had our grass scalped and reseeded.

This rainbow pepper plant that my mom had given me a few months ago is re-sprouting leaves and little peppers after my handy job of almost killing it.

And this is my first time attempting to grow sweet peas.  I need to do a better job at creating a trellis for these.  And I randomly scattered some wildflower seeds that are sprouting around the climbing sweet peas.

My next planter has basil, cilantro and baby rainbow pepper plants that I have thinned.  These pepper plants were a surprise after a fallen pepper burst and the seeds did their own thing.  Cute!! (Yep, I think they are cute indeed)!

 

And my dear husband came home with these beautiful tulips just because.  I love "just because" flowers!!

Landscape Fun

It's almost November!  How did that happen? So thankful for the cool down and excited that the backyard is green again!  Lately I've been playing around with a new app I downloaded.  iScape is so cool!  I have zero experience with landscaping so this has been fun to play with. I took an old picture and started drawing and adding pictures of plants. Cool!!

Here are a few things actually growing in my garden... (Yes, I have an obsession with tomatoes and cucumbers)

On another note, 4 days until vacation!!

Restart

Time to restart now that the summer heat is calming down.  I've started these seeds inside in my brightest room. A little bit of everything...

And another try at these guys, as my last attempt withered away in the heat...

Sure Is Hot Outside

Finally some time to pay attention to the yard!  My grass is turning yellow and there are weeds galore!!  It's been neglected because its been so hot to be outside for too long. I checked on some of my plants this morning before it got over 100 degrees outside. 

I had planted some yellow bell and jasmine shrubs a couple months ago and I wasn't sure they were going to make it in the beginning.  Looks like they're hanging in there pretty well despite the darn weeds overtaking the surrounding areas. 

A couple weeks ago I was also able to talk my more than reluctant husband to take a trip to the Home Depot for this orange tree.  I was surprised he offered to help me dig the hole to plant it after coming home with shirt soaked from the heat outside!  I bet he secretly enjoys the back yard garden even though he pretends to be disgruntled about it! 

Thanks hubby!!  Muahaha... :)