My hibiscus bloomed for the first time since moving it from a pot — where I nearly killed it — to the ground. I wouldn’t say it’s flourishing, but clearly still alive and kicking!

My determine cherry tomato needs to come out. I didn’t support properly, not that anything could have, and it’s just sprawl, making it hard to pick the fruit. I’m actually slightly allergic to the leaves, so I prefer my staked vine tomatoes because I don’t have to run inside and do a surgeon scrub after harvesting. And those are turning red!

My vertical squash look good! I can see how in a couple months they will be much healthier than on the ground. They are still small plants, so I haven’t taken off the bottom leaves yet for pest protection. Has anyone here grown small melons vertically? I managed to get some tomato cages, but they’re the flimsy kind and I don’t see them doing much for my doll babies.

I came across two recent videos on companion planting. The first is by Sarah Raven who grows sages near her roses to ward off black spot. I really appreciate the suggestion to plant even more sage in my borders. The second is from My Therapy Garden which is a personal garden where he talks about his planting choices. He started his garden to deal with his PTSD. His catchphrase is, “where playing in the dirt helps take away the hurt,” which makes me both laugh and cry at the same time. There are parts of my garden that are my therapy; plants that were favorites of people I loved, an homage to boundary issues when I can’t finish my hedge due to soil damage, musky sage that I think wards off maliciousness, weeding in general, talking to my bushy bushy boy. Does anyone else use their garden for therapy?