What's working, what isnt'

Some of my plants are flourishing; others are dead.

What's working:

• Sunflowers! My multiple species of sunflowers (planted over several weeks for a long period of blooming) are growing tall and beautiful, and I love them.
• Cosmos! It is growing tall too, out in the front. I love it too. I am looking forward to seeing it bloom.
  
• Zinnias. They are coming up strong.
  
• My bean plants are mostly doing okay. They seem to need a lot of water to keep from looking wilty in the hot sun.
  
• My ornamental gourds are doing well too.
  
• My winter squash plant looks fine. Another one I planted died.
• Blueberry bushes are growing in great. I bought one small one in a container and 3 bareroot.
• Nearly all my houseplants are doing great, both the 3 I bought at the store, and the ones I am growing from seed (pink polka dot plant, coleus).
  
• My sage and peppermint plant that I intend to live on the front porch are growing nicely in the kitchen windowsill for now.
  

What's not:

• I got my strawberry crowns and planted them the day before we had a heat wave, and it got up suddenly to 100 degrees. I decided I didn't want to grow them anyway. Too much trouble with the runners and the maintenance, and it's not that hard to get good stawberries.
• My tomatoes died. I just think I started them too late in the season. Will try again next year.
• Couldn't get my ponytail palm seeds to germinate. I'm going to try again using the wet paper towel method.
  

As yet to be determined:

• Bell pepper plants
• Raspberries
• Pumpkins
  

What I've Learned:

• I need to start earlier, which I knew to begin with, but we moved into this place around the beginning of April, and I wasn't able to start gardening right away.
  
• Starting tiny seeds takes special care.
• I love easy care, large plants.
• Houseplants are easier for me that outdoor plants. (But I already had experience in them.)
• Sow seeds very heavily. Thinning is easy.
• Seed catalogs may not always be accurate.

bean plant murdered

I think some birds killed the single green bean plant that I put out in our new raised beds. All its leaves are gone.

I am thinking of using both raised beds for the 25 strawberry plants I have coming. I will grow the rest in containers, and the squash and pumpkins in mounds on the lawn, and the gourds on the fence. I might grow beans on the fence opposite from my flower garden side. I am a bit sad about the dead one.

My blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are scheduled to arrive on Friday. What a delicious harvest I will have... Next year... If the birds don't eat them all...

My flowers seem to be growing well. I still have more to plant. I am so interested to see what it all looks like in bloom. I am considering snapdragons for late fall/early winter.

I have put my 2 little pink polka dot plant sprouts in large coffee mugs. I put aquarium gravel in the bottom of the mugs for drainage. I duct taped the mugs to the windowsill so that our insane mug spiller cat cannot kill the pink polka dots. The sage sprout is growing well.

I have planted my 2 sprouted "container choice" tomatoes in pots as well.