Observations of, but not limited to, tomatoes

Just some quick observations made in the garden yesterday, starting with tomatoes.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the tomato harvest this year. We only eat them fresh, as there's never enough to freeze or can. I have to pick early, before critters get their teeth or beaks into the fruit.

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So what's going on with this one?

This is one of the green tomatoes I picked when I pulled everything out of the veggie beds. Strange division between ripening and staying green.

Strange, but not unique:

Hmmm.

One tomato plant I'm really pleased with this year is 'Megabite'. This "patio tomato" has produced pretty much all summer for me (except maybe when it was near 100ºF every day), growing in a pot near the deck:

The fruits are small -- golfball to racquetball-sized -- but compact plants that look pretty good (for a tomato) and can stay in a pot? That's a winner in my book!


Here's a caterpillar that's not a winner though:

This tobacco hornworm is just covered in parasitic wasp cocoons.

Even though I rarely (never?) remove even healthy hornworms from my tomato plants (I love the fairly large moths they turn into), I wouldn't remove this one -- I want the wasps to complete their life cycle and be around in the garden next year.


Moving on to less grisly subjects:

My venus flytrap is eating itself!

Not really of course, but it's weird to me that two traps would grow together like this.


It's not weird to me that the hyacinth bean vine would grow like this though:

So beautiful at this time of year! I've got four or five of these in the garden this year. None as large as they have been in past years, but still just as impressive and important I think. Can't imagine not having this in the garden!


I don't have to worry about not having Datura inoxia in the garden though:

It just doesn't seem fair that the seed pods burst while they're still green! That's cheating, isn't it?


Finally, of the six Clematis I purchased this year, 'Niobe' is doing the best:

I planted these for the future, but this one is already contributing. Very nice!


I hope you have interesting things going on in your late-season gardens too!

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