Saturday 8 August 2015

This and That

These roses came from my DIL's rose garden. She and the littlest grands are off to Alberta on holiday and while she's gone I get to cut and bring in her lovelies. Well, I didn't actually bring them in because it's cooler on the porch and I want them to last as long as possible.


Last Fall I bought an assortment of small gourds for display. I kept seed from the three that I liked the most and sowed them in Spring. This is one that came up and it is NOT what I planted. In fact I'm not sure if this is a gourd or a squash. Does anyone know how I can be sure which it is?  And, if it is a gourd, is it edible? 


This is a volunteer that came up in the flower bed. Looks like a Spaghetti squash, perhaps? Again, will we have tummy upsets if it is a gourd?


Now this one looks like the one I kept the seed from.  Nice and warty.


This is my teeny tiny salad box.  Third 'crop',  with Romaine in front and leaf lettuce being the sparsely growing row in back.  I've always heard that lettuce won't germinate in the heat of summer but this sure did ( maybe that's why it came up sparse though).


                                                Love this Dahlia with the huge blooms
                                            and this pink spiky one growing in a pot.

                                               I hope you are having a great weekend!

                                                            Granny Marigold

7 comments:

  1. I love all your flower photos. So pretty! I love the idea of a salad box. I imagine in B.C you can get three crops. Not here in Ontario! Hope you are having a nice weekend.
    Robin

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    1. If I was really diligent I could probably get a fourth crop by using a plastic cover in April. The reason I have my lettuce in a box is because most of our back yard is in shade so if I want anything in sunshine it has to be close to the house, hence the boxed 'garden'. You have a good weekend too.

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  2. Love your DIL's roses. How lucky you are that she is sharing them with you. I've never tried saving seeds, it's interesting that you were "surprised" by what grew from them!

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    1. You'd think that what you saved seed from would grow to be like the 'parent' plant, wouldn't you.

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  3. Beautiful roses! I cannot help you with determining what the gourd/squash is. Hope someone else can help you out. Your other flowers are pretty too! Nancy

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  4. Well I googled it, and one site said that gourds are very bitter. I think that is probably a gourd you have, just not a very fancy one, although the colour is nice and bright.. When I saved gourd seeds a few years ago, I did get a mixture, although not exactly the same as the gourds the seeds came from. Probably because the flowers were fertilized by another shape of gourd?
    I saved seeds from some of the squash we ate over the winter. I have a few that definitely look nothing like they are supposed to. It dawned on me after that maybe the squash was a F1 hybrid, so then the seeds from it wouldn't grow true. That squash of yours looks like a cross between a spaghetti and a butternut squash:) We enjoyed a lot of curried squash soup over the winter, so I'm hoping some of my squash plants pan out.

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    1. Thanks, Karen. I guess I'll take my chances with the one that actually looks like it might be edible and if it tastes okay I'll assume we'll be okay eating it.

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