Jasper cherry tomatoes

The sizzling temps are starting to reach the 90’s here in the Northeast. The garden is abuzz with hummingbirds, bumble bees and monarch butterflies. My basket it overflowing with an abundance of cherry tomatoes, peppers and fresh basil.

I was lucky enough to experience my corn being “knee high by the 4th of July” this year. That has been a goal of mine for years! The coneflowers, nasturtiums and zinnias are really filling the garden with so much color. Come with me, and enjoy this tour of my garden!

I love going outside every morning with my cup of coffee and taking a look at this bed. There’s always something new to see.  The main crops in this bed are Green Machine zucchini squash, Hopi Turquoise corn, Scarlet Runner beans and Carnival amaranth.

I also scattered zinnia and nasturtium seeds throughout the front of the bed. There is some creeping rosemary and Italian Large Leaf parsley growing in the corners. I see monarch and swallowtail butterflies visiting this bed almost everyday! 

An interesting looking three headed zinnia

Green Machine zucchini squash

The cucamelons I started from seed have finally started to take over the cucumber trellis! I’m starting to see tiny fruit forming. In the back is Chinese Pink celery and off to the side I have Kentucky Wonder beans growing up the Titan squash tunnel. 

Cucamelon foliage

I’m growing three varieties of beans this year. Kentucky Wonder pole beans, Scarlet Runner pole beans and Hestia Dwarf Runner beans. I also have a couple Sunset Runner volunteer beans from last season. I always make it a point to grow the runner beans for the hummingbirds. They absolutely love the flowers! 

Kentucky Wonder pole beans

I was getting a little frustrated that none of my broccoli had any heads. As soon as July hit, I noticed heads starting to form! I’m hoping to harvest both Romanesco and Belstar broccoli very soon. 

Romanesco broccoli

Below is a picture of my favorite garden bed glowing in the sun. The main crops are three different kinds of bell peppers, birdhouse gourds and lion’s ear. It shares space with Bouquet dill, Pineapple mint and Chocolate mint. I also scattered zinnia and nasturtium seeds. 

Cardinal Climber and Chenille

Chili Pie miniature bell peppers

Last year, I tried my hand at growing luffa gourds for the first time. It got me hooked on growing gourds! The vines are impressive and the different varieties you can grow are all so unique. The birdhouse gourds produce a gorgeous white blossom before they set fruit. They have begun to outgrow the trellis and are already 6 feet tall!

A young birdhouse gourd forming

My favorite flowers to grow around the vegetable garden are vines that add bright colors and perennials and annuals that the pollinators love. I have both a yellow and pink variety of Black-Eyed Susan vines growing this year. The yellow variety had a good amount of bug damage back in June. It seems to have outgrown that, and is doing great.

Black-Eyed Susan vine

Vermillionaire cuphea

Bee balm

The cuphea is another favorite of the hummingbirds in my yard. It’s both heat and drought tolerant. It’s been thriving during these 95 degree days. Last but not least is bee balm. I don’t think any garden should be without bee balm. I see all sorts of activity on my bee balm flowers daily. Butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and honey bees all frequent the pompom like blooms daily. 

A monarch visiting the butterfly weed

A robin has laid eggs in the hops plant over my garden arch

I’m very thankful that my garden is home to so many different bugs and critters this month! I’ll make sure I keep you all updated here. Do you remember what I introduced you to in my last blog post?  Let me share even more detail about it with you!

Thank With Google

I absolutely love being one of Google’s paid early testers for their Thank with Google pilot program! Thank with Google is an experimental feature that allows you (the reader) to purchase a virtual sticker to help show your appreciation for content on my website. If you are a reader, you can connect and engage with me by directly sharing a personal message. With the Thank with Google feature, you can select a variety of different stickers. These virtual stickers turn into direct revenue. Every time you decide to send a paid sticker, you can add a personal message. The personal message allows me to get to know you all better and on a more personal level. It also helps me find out which content you value most and why!

You can find the Thank with Google feature in multiple places on my site. If you decide to test it out, please let me know what you think in the comments section below. Thank you all so much for your support!

If you enjoyed reading this post, you might also like these:

• A Tour Through The May Garden
• 4 Natural Garden Sleep Remedies
• The Start of a New Gardening Season