The weather is heating up today, and if Indian Summer sets in there might still be hope for my tomato plants.  Let’s just say that “Early Girl” has NOT lived up to her name this year!  One measly ripe tomato to date, although three little green ones are now in the works and she’s recently surged with some new blossoms.

The apple crop was a bit disappointing.  The fruit kept falling off the tree, and much of it seemed to have a mild infestation of something that burrowed into the centers and left a residue I preferred to not examine too closely.  I’ll have to study up on this for next year.  The fruit was pretty and tasty, though — green with a splash of pink slowly ripening to red, with a sweet/tart flavor.  I chopped one of the last ones up the other morning and put it in my oatmeal along with some raisins and cinnamon, and it was divine.

After all the drama of the leaf curl, the peaches were a delight.  I wasn’t prepared for how large the crop was, and bushels of them ended up going into the green plant waste bin.  But I had a couple of weeks of eating tons of peaches and giving them away to everyone around.  Given how exquisite a perfect peach is at high summer, I wouldn’t give them an A+++ rating, but they were good.  Maybe an A-.  I love it.  This winter I plan to do what I can to blast out the leaf curl fungus so the tree will be able to put all its energy into the fruit next year.

Sunzilla, alas, failed to live up to its billing.  I had visions of a gigantic flowerhead up in the blue several yards out of reach, but it was not to be.  The tallest one peaked at about 4-1/2 to 5 feet.  They’re on the north side of the house and probably didn’t get enough steady sun, particularly as we’ve had a colder than usual summer.  Maybe next year.

Last but not least, I planted a gardenia bush that is happily settling into a spot on the western face of the house, right below the window of my study.  Aroma of the gods, truly!