Summer...

Such long time between the posts! The summer has been very hot and my garden is not doing as well as I wish it would. I missed the peak of green bean harvest because I was on a trip for two weeks. Squirrels are picking my tomatoes. Beets did not grow much. Seedlings from the tomatoes that I started from seed grew very lush, but did not bear a single fruit. Even hot peppers are not producing as much as last year. I've done a lot of weeding, though. And a few other things have been doing well. Like my parsley... it's abundant.

There have been small harvests...

 and some native flowers are doing great even in this heat...

 as well as this surprise appearance... not sure what this flower is and when had I purchased it.

 I get a few cucumbers every week...

and three beans from a single pod that survived rabbit plague last year (and that were seeded in a special pot and kept in front of the house) produced 85 beans that I will plant next spring.

Paddle Cactus

The cactus we inherited with our house is blooming now.

Each bloom lasts only one day. What a show!

Violas

Our small mom & pop hardware store has various violas. First, I did not indulge myself and did not buy any, but when I was back in that neighborhood today, I stopped by to pick the lilac violas (center). And since I'm there, I took a four-pack of yellow ones, too, and some magenta pansies. They all were less than $5!
Now they are in little pots near the front door.