Garden Update and Plans for Next Year

I did it.  I wasnt supposed to, given that its August and all, but I did it anyways.  I cracked open that seed catalog.  I know, its premature and in January I am going to be twiddling my thumbs in boredom, but I flipped through that catalog and it was wonderful!

Overly shaded okra

Actually, the garden seems to be in full swing and the flowers I planted among my veggies seem to be a little large-and-in-charge if you know what I mean.  The salmon sunsets are angling themselves towards the rows between beds as planned, but the other flowers appear to be taking over.  If my "compact" miniature marigolds are actually miniature then I fear the girth of a regular marigold.  Lord help me! In light of the floral manifest destiny occurring in my garden, I was perusing the seed catalog for other flower options.

Unfortunately it does seem like most of the eye catching plants are rather tall.  I love bachelor buttons, and mine are in fact blooming, though, mainly horizontally.  Their wispy leaves attract every tendril of every melon/cucumber/pumpkin and the are drawn to the ground.  Next year I am thinking of button zinnias (but I dont want orange ones) since they supposedly get only a foot tall and english daisies that are only supposed to reach 6 inches in height.  The tall flowers are great, but they compete for sunlight with the veg and we want the veg to thrive.

Pushed out yellow summer squash

Already the veg are competeing with other veg for sunlight.  Okra is being literally overshadowed by my hulking amish paste plants.  The jalapeno, habaneros, pepperoncini, and maule's hot red are being eclipsed by the amish paste plants.  The yellow straight neck squash were pushed out of their rightful spots in the raised bed and now pour over into the isles because of, you guessed it, the amish paste plants.

Sprawling German Yellow Tomato

The amish paste are at least 8 feet tall had I erected some suitable support for them, but the german yellows are even taller than that.  So much taller that they broke, not one, but two bamboo supports I had for them.

At the moment, I have enough going on to not venture into the seed catalog for vegetable selection but I am taking photos of this garden jungle so I am sure to plan better for next year.  The tomatoes will need to be woven through a trellis of some sort.  I am thinking cattle panel.  The cucumber will need to be trellised separately from the beans since they are SO hard to spot among the foliage.  The okra will need FULL sun.  The pumpkin will get their own patch so they wont wander towards the street.  We are giving up on corn until we can dedicate more space to ensure a more successful harvest (we evidently dont grow enough to get fully pollinated cobs and they are sparse enough that they blow over). Hm....what to do with that space???

Sad Corn