Saving the Lamb's Ears

Yesterday I found out what was causing the Lamb's Ears plant to wilt so much. As I gently pulled, I saw that one part was loose, so it was the gopher helping herself again. This time I decided to fight while I could. I dug up the root divisions that were left and potted them, watered them good, and put them in the shade to revive. Today they were looking almost normal. Unfortunately, the gophers got their revenge by eating the roots of my two remaining nasturtiums. I must have caught them early, since they were still fresh. So I considered them a harvest, put them in the frig, and had part of the young leaves in our salad at noon. That way losing the plants wasn't a total waste. I stomped down on the ground to cave in the gopher hole to get my revenge, but I imagine something else will be gone tomorrow. I guess when I replant in the fall I'd better put the perennials in cages. Perhaps I'll plant daffodils, since they are supposed to be poisonous to gophers.

The cucumbers are doing very well. I seem to find another one ready every day. The zucchini is slower, but it's in containers instead of the ground -- to protect it from gophers. My container cucumber isn't near as healthy and is starting to yellow. I'm not sure if it's getting too much or too little water. It was also planted a couple of weeks after the others in the ground, so that could also explain why it's not producing more than blossoms yet. I hope the gophers leave my beautiful cucumbers in the ground alone.

I'm getting a few ripe tomatoes now, and I'm hoping the raccoons don't discover them before I get my share. They are planted where the gophers shouldn't be able to get at them. The days are cooler now -- in the high eighties, so garden work is more pleasant that it was last week when it was so hot. The plants are also enjoying the cooler temperatures.