My hibiscus is still producing blooms. Most are below the crown, hidden behind fading leaves, but we had one present front and center. I think it is interesting that it forms blooms from the top down over the season. The leaves are starting to get their fall wilt going; it is slightly cooler, but we are not at fall temperatures yet.

My melon vines are withering. There are still melons on the vine. They are not doing well.

I suddenly had melons turning yellow, but not a nice yellow. I rescued them from their fading lifelines, and gave them a good wash since they also had a gray-black color (possible culprit?).

The color on the flesh was OK, and the rind was thin, but the taste was watery, nothing like the loveliness of the last harvest. I scooped out the edible bits and threw it into fruit salad.

Two more went this way the next day. Maybe they have been too wet? We’ve had a few gushers making a valiant attempt to battle the drought.

I guess this melon couldn’t decide on which side of the fence it wanted to hang, so is now wedged in the middle. I had to bend the wire on both sides to free it. (I chose to have it outside the fence because it was less likely to become dog food there. Griffin likes ripe melon.)

There are currently about 10 melons developing on the vines I planted at the beginning of Spring. This is the second round of set melons for these vines. The pollinators have been busy!

On a lark, I planted some winter squash seeds in my stock tank garden bed. There should be enough time before our first freeze for the squash to develop (I hope), and the melons have been doing so well there, maybe squash will too.

It was very exciting when the seeds sprouted 5 days later! We had a whopper of a rain (for here, and especially with the drought) that brought 3.5 inches in a day, according to my glass rain gauge. It is damp all over, and my frog army has dispersed. I will have to get my sprays back out since my vines have lost their multitude of guardians.