Name that weed.

My vegetable garden is looking great, but the rest of my yard? Most of it needs attention, including



these hostas planted along my front sidewalk. You’ve got to try hard to mess up a bed of hostas, but I’ve managed, thanks to this prolific mystery weed now showing off its lovely orange fruit.

If you can identify this weed, please do. I’ve found that I can postpone the hard garden work with less guilt when the weeds have names.

Who needs Dave Brown?

It finally rained a little this afternoon, and most people seemed surprised. Not me. I knew rain was coming because our cat, Sisame, threw up on the ironing board early this morning. She’s a dependable vomit machine about 12 hours before the rain blows in.

June has been very dry, so the weather has meant lots of watering. That's okay with me. Watering is my favorite job in the garden. It’s easy, you can get your feet wet, and I love the look of leaves covered in water droplets. I think my canteloup (top photo) looks particularly lovely.

Something to crow about.

I’m trying to contain my excitement, but what the hell. I HAVE A CUCUMBER! This adorable cuke is the first vegetable to appear in my garden, and I think it’s quite impressive.

Too bad I don’t have a fancy A-frame trellis, because the vines already are outgrowing their support. These cucumbers are Japanese soyu, a sweet Asian variety for eating or cooking. Every yellow flower turns into a cucumber, and once the veggies form, they double in size every two days.

Will she ever stop with the cute dog photos?

Griffin is a canine flexitarian. He will eat vegetables, as long as they’ve touched meat.

I like to think he’s holding this perfect sit in admiration of my lettuce (which I grew). Yeah, right. Grif is sitting at attention because there’s chicken underneath the greens.

Always listen to your daddy. Part 2.

On Sunday, the kinks in my new hose pushed me over the edge. So I gathered it up (all 100

feet) and drove to Lowe’s, where I patiently waited in line with the thing draped over my shoulder. I didn’t have my receipt or the hose packaging.

“What’s wrong with it?” the guy at the returns desk asked. “It kinks,” I answered. Without another word, he grabbed the hose and threw it in an empty grocery cart, where the water still in the hose immediately drained on the floor. It was one of my finer moments.

Next, I drove to Sears to buy a Craftsman rubber hose, on sale for $19.99. I bought two. Instead of ugly green vinyl, they are black, which goes with everything.

Victoria suggested the Sears connection (I‘m sure that‘s where my father bought his!) and she also found these adorable hoses online in a rainbow of colors. I covet the yellow one.

How can I not believe this guy?

Friend and co-worker Chris Davis is my go-to gardening guy. He grew up in the country, and his parents ran a nursery. Plus, he brings in an arm full of bay leaf branches every fall. I dry them, fill up two mason jars, and cook with them all year.

Chris also is an accomplished cook who lives with his family in Uptown. Lately, he’s been distracted from cooking by his house painting chores, but do his daughters care? Of course not. So when they complained, “I‘m hungry,” Chris whipped up lunch, thanks to his urban garden.

“Charlotte found eggs and frozen meatballs in the freezer,” Chris said. “That was it.”

But no. That wasn’t it. Chris has been growing raspberries, blackberries, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and basil that’s as big as his hand. Plus, he’s experimenting with a new variety of spinach that vines up his fence. He found the spinach from a vendor at the downtown Farmer’s Market.

With the first handfuls of spinach and other early summer veggies, Chris served a lovely frittata with a raspberry and strawberry garnish on the side. Makes you want to move right in, doesn’t it?

OMG: The veggies are growing.

Okay, the beans are giving me a fit. But the rest of my vegetable garden?

Let’s just say, it's a miracle.

I’m particularly taken with my tomatillo plant (that's the middle photo), which is thriving in the heat and humidity. Also, I'm fascinated with my cucumbers and the way a miniature cucumber emerges from every flower. Happily, the bugs aren't at all interested in cucumber salad.