What did you do in the garden today?

[Sammster]

So behind here...


Good luck! Glad to hear you were downgraded as I'll be right down the road from you this weekend! I'm hoping the local new is just being dramatic with their forecast.

Took a walk thru the garden before the heat wave hits:

YAY!!! They found the Butterfly Weed!
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The beans have just about reached the top of the trellis.
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The bush bean tower is totally out of control, lol. Edamame on top.
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The spiderwort exploded overnight.
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First time growing Eggplant, it's looking really good.
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I am just loving Nasturtiums, not sure why it took me so long to grow them.
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Everything looks amazing!

 

[Molpet]

White faced hornets...I recall the 1st time I ever saw them up close.
View attachment 3865077

I turned on the light over the sink to see, as I got a glass of water in the wee hours one night, I was about 14 yrs old. I was drinking the water & heard a little tap, tap, on the window right there. I thought it must be one of those fat June Bug Beetles flying into the window, attracted by the light. I looked & saw these small black & white things...I looked closer, wow, they were hornets, and they even had mean expressions on their little faces, like angry eyebrows! I drank my water & got another glass, while more ticked off hornets were hitting the window. There were so many of them now. They were so angry. Why? Because I turned on the light & woke them up? I shut it off & stood there as the tapping subsided. I turned it on again & yes, many hornets began hitting the window again! I saw their ticked off faces! They were giving me major stink eye! It kinda freaked me out & I quickly shut the light off. Next morning I told my dad about the hornets. We both went outside & checked out the garden right there, under the kitchen window. Behind the tall Gladiola & Larkspur flowers, there it was, a huge grey paper looking ball, fat at the top, their hive! Those little angry looking buggers were flying in & out of a hole in the bottom. They saw us & a few buzzed towards us, so we made a hasty retreat into the house. Dad called an exterminating buddy & came over within the hour & suited up while we watched through the window indoors. He stuck a wand up into the hole & pumped something in there, it was in smoke form but I know it was not just smoke. A zillion pissed off hornets were buzzing all around him, but the bee suit protected him. So many hornets came falling out of the hole, dead & dying. He said it was one of the largest hives he'd even seen. I don't like killing but they should've built elsewhere, right? It's a big world, numerous places to make a hive, so oh well, that was that. We later donated the empty hive to the nearby nature center where they had a display, the hornets had attached it to branches of a small tree so we just pruned the branches & the whole thing came off, perfectly undamaged. I'm just grateful we were never attacked by the hornets, because they obviously had a bad temper & they team up to attack in droves! Ooh, that would've hurt!

This is what the hive looked like
View attachment 3865069

https://www.natureblog.org/bald-faced-hornet/

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2022/0...to-sting-and-survive-in-defending-their-nest/

I had a baldface hornet nest about 10 feet above a chicken coop. They didn't bother me or the poultry. But they sure took care of the flys. That fall a woodpecker was taking something out of the nest and putting under bark on a nearby tree. Not sure if it was larvae or what but he tore up that nest.

Yellow jackets are what go after me. I have a bunch of stings on my shoulder last year and my arm swelled up like Popeye's . Couldn't bend it even my wrist. Benadryl helped

 

[Sueby]

White faced hornets...I recall the 1st time I ever saw them up close.
View attachment 3865077

I turned on the light over the sink to see, as I got a glass of water in the wee hours one night, I was about 14 yrs old. I was drinking the water & heard a little tap, tap, on the window right there. I thought it must be one of those fat June Bug Beetles flying into the window, attracted by the light. I looked & saw these small black & white things...I looked closer, wow, they were hornets, and they even had mean expressions on their little faces, like angry eyebrows! I drank my water & got another glass, while more ticked off hornets were hitting the window. There were so many of them now. They were so angry. Why? Because I turned on the light & woke them up? I shut it off & stood there as the tapping subsided. I turned it on again & yes, many hornets began hitting the window again! I saw their ticked off faces! They were giving me major stink eye! It kinda freaked me out & I quickly shut the light off. Next morning I told my dad about the hornets. We both went outside & checked out the garden right there, under the kitchen window. Behind the tall Gladiola & Larkspur flowers, there it was, a huge grey paper looking ball, fat at the top, their hive! Those little angry looking buggers were flying in & out of a hole in the bottom. They saw us & a few buzzed towards us, so we made a hasty retreat into the house. Dad called an exterminating buddy & came over within the hour & suited up while we watched through the window indoors. He stuck a wand up into the hole & pumped something in there, it was in smoke form but I know it was not just smoke. A zillion pissed off hornets were buzzing all around him, but the bee suit protected him. So many hornets came falling out of the hole, dead & dying. He said it was one of the largest hives he'd even seen. I don't like killing but they should've built elsewhere, right? It's a big world, numerous places to make a hive, so oh well, that was that. We later donated the empty hive to the nearby nature center where they had a display, the hornets had attached it to branches of a small tree so we just pruned the branches & the whole thing came off, perfectly undamaged. I'm just grateful we were never attacked by the hornets, because they obviously had a bad temper & they team up to attack in droves! Ooh, that would've hurt!

This is what the hive looked like
View attachment 3865069

https://www.natureblog.org/bald-faced-hornet/

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2022/0...to-sting-and-survive-in-defending-their-nest/

Count yourself lucky, they say there is evidence they can remember the face of someone that pissed them off!!

Now thru Sat, mid-upper 90s. Not typical at all for this zone 6A, Ohio location. By 10am I was doused in sweat, while in/out of shade trying to get a few things done. It’s going to be a looong week. I’ll be indoors as much as possible from 10am-7pm to avoid the heat.

Same here. & I meant to tell you my melon starts have FINALLY started to grow a teensy bit. Hopefully we both get some.

I had a baldface hornet nest about 10 feet above a chicken coop. They didn't bother me or the poultry. But they sure took care of the flys. That fall a woodpecker was taking something out of the nest and putting under bark on a nearby tree. Not sure if it was larvae or what but he tore up that nest.

Yellow jackets are what go after me. I have a bunch of stings on my shoulder last year and my arm swelled up like Popeye's . Couldn't bend it even my wrist. Benadryl helped

Yellow jackets are nasty too! They like to torment me by dive bombing. Little jerks.

 

[jerryse]

Squash with variegation on 2 leaves. Hollyhock finally one not pink. More of a lavender. Photo import problem was because of a update.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning Gardeners light mist here 52 this morning.
I had a peep he said high then died in the shell.

 

[SarahLadd]

I woke up to the sound of hail at 4 am and died inside a little. It looks like everything is doing okay.

 

[fowltemptress]

White faced hornets...I recall the 1st time I ever saw them up close.
View attachment 3865077

I turned on the light over the sink to see, as I got a glass of water in the wee hours one night, I was about 14 yrs old. I was drinking the water & heard a little tap, tap, on the window right there. I thought it must be one of those fat June Bug Beetles flying into the window, attracted by the light. I looked & saw these small black & white things...I looked closer, wow, they were hornets, and they even had mean expressions on their little faces, like angry eyebrows! I drank my water & got another glass, while more ticked off hornets were hitting the window. There were so many of them now. They were so angry. Why? Because I turned on the light & woke them up? I shut it off & stood there as the tapping subsided. I turned it on again & yes, many hornets began hitting the window again! I saw their ticked off faces! They were giving me major stink eye! It kinda freaked me out & I quickly shut the light off. Next morning I told my dad about the hornets. We both went outside & checked out the garden right there, under the kitchen window. Behind the tall Gladiola & Larkspur flowers, there it was, a huge grey paper looking ball, fat at the top, their hive! Those little angry looking buggers were flying in & out of a hole in the bottom. They saw us & a few buzzed towards us, so we made a hasty retreat into the house. Dad called an exterminating buddy & came over within the hour & suited up while we watched through the window indoors. He stuck a wand up into the hole & pumped something in there, it was in smoke form but I know it was not just smoke. A zillion pissed off hornets were buzzing all around him, but the bee suit protected him. So many hornets came falling out of the hole, dead & dying. He said it was one of the largest hives he'd even seen. I don't like killing but they should've built elsewhere, right? It's a big world, numerous places to make a hive, so oh well, that was that. We later donated the empty hive to the nearby nature center where they had a display, the hornets had attached it to branches of a small tree so we just pruned the branches & the whole thing came off, perfectly undamaged. I'm just grateful we were never attacked by the hornets, because they obviously had a bad temper & they team up to attack in droves! Ooh, that would've hurt!

This is what the hive looked like
View attachment 3865069

https://www.natureblog.org/bald-faced-hornet/

https://www.cambridgeday.com/2022/0...to-sting-and-survive-in-defending-their-nest/

What a neat memory, though I would have hated to see them killed. You're right, though; the hive next to the house like that was probably not safe.
I'd never seen them before moving out of Texas, but I looked them up here using seek after seeing huge wasp thingies catching all the flies in my coops. Any creature helping put a dent in the fly population is welcome here. In the fall I enjoy trekking through the woods in search of their hives. They make fun toys for the geese and ducks, who like to carry them around and tear them apart.

 

[Smokerbill]

@SarahLadd , what variety are these tomatoes? They look kind of like Roma tomatoes, but more cylindrical.

 

[Eagle343]

Got 1/4" of rain while at work, I need to weed and put in stakes for tomatoes and climbing vegetables.

 

[chicken opey]

@SarahLadd , what variety are these tomatoes? They look kind of like Roma tomatoes, but more cylindrical.

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Icicle?
Beautiful btw