Cucumbers, tomatoes & figs

More typical late-August weather has returned to our area -- hot and humid with rain promised this afternoon. (Cross my fingers...)

I spent the morning sweating out in the garden, continuing my cleanup, getting ready for the transition to fall. I trimmed back some roses, weeded, mulched some beds. My glads are finally starting to bloom. I've been patient with the snapdragons that I planted back in December. They bloomed wonderfully all spring. Usually I pull them out and replace them with something that can take the heat and wet conditions. Since I was gone for so much of the summer, though, I decided to see whether they would make it through the summer. They did, it seems, but it wasn't pretty. They never quite stopped blooming all summer, but the display was weak. I hope they put on a display again this fall, and maybe even again in the spring.

I transplanted some cucumbers ('Bush Crop' (55 days) and 'Miniature White' (49 days), both from Pinetree) and some tomatoes ('Black Plum' and 'Jetsetter'). I continue to play around with my micro-sprinkler system. By next spring, I hope to have the whole garden under this highly-efficient, low-tech system.

My old neighbor, who has a huge fig tree planted between her sidewalk and the street, let me pick a bag of figs this afternoon. My wife makes a fabulous fig tart... My own fig has put on a burst of growth this month, and has set a bunch of figs which may or may not ripen in time to pick before the end of summer...

An update: It poured the day after I planted the tomatoes. More than an inch. Washed the little seedlings away. Oh, well, that's why you always plant more than you need.