Thanks @TooCheep
The "interesting" thing is we haven't had much rain at all until Isaias went through yesterday. That is quite evident as the pond behind the barn gets lower and lower. Though I've not had to water the garden much the last couple of weeks, we've gotten enough occasional rain every few days.
sounds like it might be one of the Cherokee purples, i had the same problem with them, only planted the one year, you could go on one of the seed catalogs and see if you can find what kind it is, but that won't help with the cracking
 
My hibiscus flowers are in bloom. This variety is not the bush type. . Stalks die at end of season, and new grow in spring. The roots do develop each year, and produce larger plants successively. These are 6+ inches in diameter. I have another plant in different area that should produce red flowers. It is a younger plant, and still has not bloomed.

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This is California Poppy. I have tried in the past years to grow from seed. Directions stated to just direct seed and that this plant would do well even in poor soil. NEVER SUCCEEDED,,,,:hit
This year. I planted in large pot, in potting soil. Watered well. Used whole envelope on this one pot.
First success,:thumbsupand I hope it comes up next year, since supposed to be perennial.
The pink, violet flowers on bottom are from adjacent pot
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This is a semi-ripe surprise sunflower. Planted by squirrels, and unfortunately , but well expected,,,, taken down and eaten by them today. I have seen my neighbors bees collecting nectar from these a few days prior.
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My zinnias are starting to bloom now.
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How do the stupid squirrels think they will get sunflowers next year if they cut down the flower before the seeds are ready this year?
That is why I and many here think that education is soooo very important. :thumbsup
With this current covid situation I doubt squirrels have the necessary Ipads, and WiFi connections available.:old
 
I am an old gardener , I guess.
for the 2017 thru 2019 years, I did no gardening.
Bad hips ..
In 2020 I decided to plant 8 tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets.. Daughter had hundreds of tomatoes started so she gave me some more.
And then some more. I have 60 tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets and 4 green bell peppers..
I had one grape tomato plant that produced over 150 tiny tomatoes.
it was in a 3 gallon bucket.
I am experimenting with self watering buckets. .
for me , bucket farming is the way to go.
I have pictures if anybody is interested.
.........jiminwisc.......
 
I didn't catch the self-watering buckets info before. Can you expand on that for me?
The concept is pretty simple. You have a water reservoir at the bottom of the bucket, a separator that allows water to seep through and soil above. You refill the water via a tube and any excess water comes out hole(s) in the side of the bucket to let you know when the reservoir is full.

This setup allows for a constant low-level of moisture in the soil, encourages the plants to grow deeper roots, reduces the total amount of water needed, reduces nutrients being leached out of the soil and allows for less frequent watering.

It takes some extra effort up front to build the self-watering system but is well worth it. If you can use a drill, then you have all of the mechanical skills needed. 5 gallon buckets are common, but it can be done with all kinds of containers.

Here are two very good videos on the subject:
Video #1
Video #2
 
so far , my favorite bucket is the one bucket method. It's concept is the same as what was described above. except you don't need two buckets..
Yesterday, I dumped out the spent cherry tomato plant. It had a huge root system, but it appeared to stop when it got deep enouth to contact the real wet bottom soil.. Not a problem, though. because this plant produced like crazy..
I found that the buckets went dry pretty fast. but we had endless days of high 80F temperatures and lots of sun.. one thing I did not do was put a layer of mulch on top of the buckets. that would have cut down on evaporation a lot.
Wyo, I have pictures of the assembly of the one bucket method. I also saw youtube videos of how to make a tote into a worm bed to harvest castings. I want to try that .
I can PM this to you or anybody else who is interested.
Today I noticed a few green bell peppers have gone to red. .Time for a salad.
......jiminwisc.......
 

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