Garden Update 2017

Its been over three months since my last blog post, honestly its been a rough roller coaster ride this growing season, the garden was battered by harsh weather and to top it my health took a toll on me for the worse when i was diagnosed with Chikungunya,the bad unpredictable weather which never seemed to cease,though the garden is reeling back slowly, i have lost count of the numerous number of saplings that have died due various reasons since the beginning of June ,Its heart wrenching !!!Because before the growing season begun, I had a plan in mind as to how the garden should look, what all i plan to grow etc etc... but alas things did not go the way i wanted to and had planned :(( .... So far the only plants that gave me a decent harvest this season were the yard beans both red & green.

Flowers continue to rule the potted garden, beating all the odds,minimal care and zero pest issues they are a treat to watch and not to forget they make the garden look visually appealing and stunning, i just can't do without them, that's why i always prefer growing them over veggies or any other plants !! Here is a little glimpse for you :) 

Marigolds i grew them in so many different colors & varieties like Durango Bolero,Hero Flame,Orange Pot Marigold, Spanish Red Brocade,Harlequin just to name a few.So in short the garden was loaded with so many marigolds that we used our very own organic home grown marigolds for Dussera & Diwali ☺ its such an amazing feeling when you offer God something grown by yourself, a feeling that market bought flowers cant give you !!

The Sensation Mix Cosmos was grown from seeds that i purchased, initially when the plants began flowering it was just plain baby pink blooms, but then gradually i got magenta and white cosmos flowers too, and i am so thrilled to have gotten all the colors that were mentioned on the seed packet,feels like a mission accomplished :)) 

Mexican Sunflowers were so bright and pretty, and they grew to a height of almost 7 feet tall, i would cut the flowers and use them in flower arrangements for my home,unfortunately neither the bees nor the butterflies liked them so i doubt i would be growing them again... 

There is however one flower in the garden that the bees just cant get enough of , its the Indian blanket flower also know as Gaillardia , i grew an old heirloom type called yellow torch,the bees spend hours everyday on the blooms busy hovering around from flower to flower greedily collecting pollen ☺☺☺

Now coming to my most favorite thing to grow each season ....yes "Tomatoes " ♥♥♥ ,I guess i was too over ambitious with my tomato growing plans this season,i planted more than 26 varieties and all that i am left with are just a handful of plants  and even they seem to be struggling to set fruit,the Thai Pink Egg Tomatoes were the first to be sowed and not only did it make it through the rains, it even gave me the most darling looking pink tomatoes one has ever seen,however taste wise it was a tad bit dissapointing !!!

I am also growing Japanese white eggplants, they really look and are the size of eggs, the flowers are purple in color,they  are growing slowly & steadily, first the flowers would bloom but just drop down due to lack of pollination and the rains, but now that the weather has stabilized the plants have began to set eggplants ,and when i picked two of them that were ready, i noticed stem borers had made their way through the eggplants before me !! had to throw them into the compost with a heavy heart :(

Some of the tomato plants are still struggling to set fruits,truss after truss the flowers bloom and just drop ( blossom drop) and its not a good feeling as the weather has already stabilized now, so i think this year i will end up getting fewer tomatoes in comparison to last seasons harvest :(

Other things growing in the garden are rosa bianca eggplants & wing beans and red zinnias(picture below) whose seeds were given to me by my dear friend Mumbai Balcony Gardener, i have cabbages both green and purple, ginger, a papaya plant that i grew from seeds and two types of hot peppers, Sugar rush peach chili & Purple cayanne.

Above Sugar rush peach chili & below Purple Cayenne

Some other plants that are worth a mention are my grafted Champa or Michelia champaca plant that bloomed for the first time since i planted it last year,red zinnias, rust and orange marigolds these are an interesting  variety of marigolds the flowers open a bright red and fade to various shades ending with a rust orange at the end ,i also grew white cypress vine, and i had volunteer pear tomatoes that popped out from last years soil, and my favorite rose the double delight produces blooms on and off.

So this was my garden update friends, i hope your gardens are doing great, Happy Gardening To You All ☺Bye for now ♥