You can grow: Viewers drop photos

today “You can grow” Garden Master Jim Duthie has collected some photos posted by several of our fellow Idaho gardeners in the “You Can Grow It” Facebook group. You might see a photo from someone you know, and you’re sure to find some inspiration for next year’s garden projects.

We’re only a week away from fall, and our gardens are experiencing an end-of-season burst of production before the growing season ends. For some of us, it has been a wonderful summer of beautiful fruits, vegetables and flowers. For others, the park may not have performed as well as we had hoped. Let’s take a look at some of the successes many of our fellow gardeners have enjoyed and start planning for next year.

Zinnias are very popular in late summer and early fall, and they are blooming now that the intense summer heat has subsided. Shari Kozman has a bed of beautiful ornamental plants, some of which reach nearly five feet tall.

Zinnias are prolific flowerers, and Ginger Smart has a colorful zinnia patch running the length of her garden.

Asters are in the same family as zinnias, and John Farnham shares this photo of colorful pink, yellow and white asters lighting up his flower garden.

Last week on You Can Grow It, we visited a dahlia garden, and today Tracy Thomason shares these beautiful dahlias from her yard. The shades of pink and yellow are amazing.

Angel trumpets are a bit more exotic, and Rod McKnight has these majestic yellow, pink and white trumpets grown in his garden.

Did you know that sunflowers come in colors other than bright yellow? Some varieties are cream, red and even chocolate brown. Lesley Ann took photos of these attractive sunflowers in her yard.

Coleus is a stunning plant with colorful leaves but can also produce beautiful flower spikes. Here is Donna Bruning’s beautiful display of coleus and other decorative foliage.

Look at Sheila Beasley Smith’s decorative sweet potatoes spread across her yard. They provide a great backdrop for any other flowers in container displays.

Caroline Smith Bryan says her garden has been amazing this year. Heirloom tomato plants with their hilly leaves produced huge golden orange slices and gorgeous steaks.

Look at this beast of a red beefsteak tomato created by Mike and Jan Young that weighs two pounds, three and a quarter ounces. This will make a lot of BLT.

Salvador Chip Madrid prepares a batch of salsa using this blend of peppers. He also harvested a pot of tomatoes, a staple in any salsa garden.

Cathy Sisman will also be busy canning and freezing her stash of fresh carrots, green beans, batches of tomatoes, and berries ready to be made into jam.

Joe Breen shows us a giant sweet pepper that is very appropriately named – Big Bertha. This is bigger than his hand.

Glass Gem is a variety of Native American sweet corn that disappeared for generations until an Oklahoma man began planting strains of it to reconnect with his Cherokee ancestors. Over the years, he has isolated some of the original strains of corn to produce a beautiful rainbow-colored result.

Thanks to Sarah Autenreuther for sharing these photos of the rare multi-colored glass corn she grew.

Many varieties of apples are grown in backyards across America, and Mackenzie Miller is preparing to harvest her delicious golden apples. They seem to be getting closer.

Watermelon is also a favorite among home gardeners, and Tristen Lee is eagerly awaiting this beauty to reach the perfect stage of maturity.

Meanwhile, Deena Bay found this fully mature beauty, weighing in at an incredible eight pounds and ten ounces.

Finally, I wanted to showcase some of my colorful “fall season” peppers. These small, two-inch-long peppers start out purple and then change different colors in late summer to red, orange and yellow. They look just like a string of Christmas lights. But it’s not only brightly coloured, it’s also very sexy.

If your garden was bountiful this year, enjoy the fruits of your efforts and start planning for another successful year in 2024. But if your garden is stingy and lackluster, don’t give up. Get some help and start planning a more productive garden next year. The rewards are great and unforgettable. You can grow it.

For more information on growing and sharing photos of your gardens, join the “You Can Grow It” Facebook group.

See them all in our catalog YouTube playlist here:

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