i made it to my garden early enough this morning that i actually got to see some morning glory flowers still opened (it didn't hurt that the weather was also slightly overcasted). i was surprised to discover that the flowers were actually blue in color instead of the magenta color when they close up later in the day. if i was to name this flower, i'd call it "magical morning opening flower that changes color depending on what time of day it is."

i'm still not quite sure how these morning glory flowers found their way into my garden. i don't remember planting these, maybe they were included in the wildflower mix i sowed last summer. these are definitely not domesticated cultivars. for one thing, the flowers are sort of small compared to the ones you'd buy commercially. secondly, the typical blue flowering morning glories have heart-shaped leaves, not three-lobed leaves. they're pretty enough that i'm going to try and collect some seeds at the end of the season so i can grow them again next year.

dead zinnias found in garden trash bin

my dozen or so sunflowers are doing well. no flowers yet, still trying to get taller. the thickest stalk is about the diameter of a dime. the ones i'm growing are of a mixed variety, and one in particular has a stalk that's reddish-brown with green mottled spots. i'm curious to see what kind of flower that one's going to produce. i see other gardeners with their sunflowers already in bloom, but they're all small flowers. i once grew a sunflower that had a blossom about the size of a dinner plate.

i wish my tomatoes would hurry up and ripen! i know i've already collected a few red ones, but there are so many more plump green tomatoes on the vines, it's almost like the tomato plants are teasing me. while doing some online research on tomatoes, i discovered a few interesting things. first of all, tomatoes shouldn't be watered from above but instead should be watered low near the roots. the reason isn't to prevent heat scalding, but rather it's to prevent fungus from growing on wet leaves. i wish i knew that earlier, but i've been watering from above all this time and my tomatoes seem fine. i did notice a few yellow leaves down below but they were probably old leaves. i'll keep my eyes open for any signs of late season blight.

another thing i learned (or re-learned, i just forgot about it) is tomatoes come in two variety: a bushy kind that stops growing after a certain size and produces one single batch of fruits (determinate), and a sprawling kind that keeps on growing and only stops making tomatoes when the winter frost kills it (indeterminate). like i didn't already know, but the "fantastic" cultivar i'm growing is the kind that doesn't stop producing. which is good news, because i want to keep on having fresh homegrown tomatoes until it starts snowing.

tonight's the last sunday dinner i'll have with my grandmother before she returns to california next saturday. we had some duck but i was really hoping for a full-blown thanksgiving-style turkey dinner. after helping my father with some printing problems and pointing out to him that wmv files aren't compatible with his dvd player, i went back home and watched the second to last episode of kill point.

it started this weekend but i'm only starting to realize it today: i think i'm suffering from seasonal allergy. i've never been one to believe in allergies and always thought they were psychosomatic symptoms that you could cure through shear will power alone. but i've been showing classic symptoms the past few days, things like sneezing, itchy throat and watery eyes. also the waste basket of used kleenex from my runny nose is another dead giveaway. turns out starting in mid-august is the beginning of the ragweed season. i remember 2 years ago suffering from something similar. the fact that i've done a bunch of motorcycle riding recently in dry dusty weather probably exacerbated my situation even more. it's not so bad, maybe i finally have a legitimate reason to try some of that claritin i hear so much about.