F8, 1/320, ISO200, 135mm
The view
Cleome and Sunflowers
F11, 1/60. ISO200, 57mm
These are the two main flowers I am now growing. I introduced Cleome into the garden again this year and it is a prolific seeder. This sunflower was a volunteer from its ancestor’s seed sown last fall. Plants that reseed themselves and grow on their own next year is a goal of the Bucktown Garden.
A bumblebee
F11, 1/80, ISO200
A bumblebee stops by when I had the camera set to F11 so the shutter speed was slow and thus the blur. From now on I’ll put the shooting info in the caption.
Cleome on SE corner main roof
Cleome grows on the SE corner of the main roof. Cleome is an easy plant to grow because it can withstand harsh environments and reseeds itself like an invasive weed. Although I had to buy Cleome seedlings this year, next year I’ll probably get Cleome for free.
Record rain
This picture of my basement has nothing to do with my Bucktown Garden other than to illustrate how much rain we received Friday night. Reports are saying we got 7 inches — an all time record. The water in the basement was a few inches lower than the all time record flood for me living here. The last time the water got higher than this was in 1997. The furnace is tough (Weil Mclein) and can make it through. My new hot water heaters have new fangled safety electronic starters that are almost impossible to restart after a flood knocks them out. Looks like I’m in for a few days of cold showers and fun disassembling and reassembling hot water heaters.
There is no way to stop this kind of flooding since it comes from underneath the building. The water table has to go where the water table wants to go. Since the plants on the rooftops are in well drained potting mix, I might have to water tonight — ughhhh!
Baby’s breath in debris clump
This year I cheated and seeded some debris clumps with wildflower seeds. In past years I let even the most obnoxious weed grow in them to see what survives in that environment. I’m watering these more this year to see what effect that has on their diversity. Today a baby’s breath pops out of one of the debris clumps. Lost island is out of focus and in the background — as well as my neighbor’s third floor deck.
Tomato patch after a long hot day
Today was hot. This picture was taken in the evening after the sun went behind some trees. The tomatoes look OK. Notice how big that debris clump is getting. I’ll have to weigh it this week. I estimate less than 5lb/sqft dry and maybe 10lb/sqft wet. This kind of dead weight should be OK on the roof in the center without any structural reinforcements.
Veranda Cleome
Pink Cleome blooming amongst morning glories on NW corner veranda. Cleome is a big tough plant. We’ll see how this plant fares when the morning glories get big.
Sunflowers
This is the first sunflower to bloom on the veranda. Late in the afternoon this sunflower gets some shade.
Veranda during mid day sun
