Summer so far

It's been a mild spring and summer, although there was a heat wave here last week that nearly melted my face.  On the other hand, tomatoes LOVE heat.  And I guess peppers do too.  The bugs have been really "good" this year.  The honey bees are back in great numbers.  The ants have been staved off, for now.  The big black bumble bees really love the salvia flowers and kind of fight for space with the hummingbirds, who also love the salvia flowers. 

Butterflies, moths and dragon flies are frequent visitors.  Have to keep an eye out for caterpillars.  They can take down plant in one night.  Julie found a big one yesterday, tucked away under my Husky cherry tomato (center of picture).  It was getting ready to do some damage.

This little guy really liked the catnip.  Now that our big yellow tom cat is no longer around, catnip plants actually get a chance to grow.  This plant would have been smashed to death long before getting to flower.




During the worst of the heat wave, I installed the "Sun Sail" to help decrease the harmful U/V in the late afternoon.  Peppers, tomatoes and squash all love the heat for help in getting production going, but the direct sunlight on the leaves when the temp is 105 or above really does some damage.  The sun sail lets light through but decreases the burn. 

Here are some more photos from the backyard this year: