Plant Death... With Good News!

We have all experienced some sort of plant death in our gardening careers.  If you are just starting out, be prepared that sometimes-even with the best intentions-you will have some plant death.  Admittedly, I was a bit cocky this year because I had taken all of my Colorado Master Gardener classes which automatically creates the most beautiful container garden on the block!!  Right??

Reality has bitten me in the butt.  Now, my whole garden hasn't died, but I did take it all very personally when a plant decided to pass to the plant after life.

I feel an important factor in these deaths is the heat.  It is rare when we are experiencing 100 degree weather in June, but it happened 6 times in a row.  To add to the mix we had 17 days of 90+ heat in June.  My cool season veggies were #$#@&^.  However, I have friends with in ground gardens that are experiencing gardening abundance.  Is it my microclimate?  Or is it something I am doing?

May all my lovely plants RIP, I am sorry you died so soon....
Veggie Deaths:
My first death was my jalapeño pepper.  It hit maturity early and then petered out early.  Two fruit did appear right before it died, but they were so little I wouldn't have been able to do anything with them.

The kale went shortly after the aphid attack.  It is still attempting to be around, but it is a skeletal version of its original self.  I keep thinking that it MIGHT come back once it cools off.  I keep holding on because there is new growth!

Skeletal Kale

My carrots were sad.  I only got a few out of the row I planted in my window box.  When I pulled them a few weeks ago they didn't get very large.  I did plant a variety that is known to produce small fruit, but these were pathetic.

Arugula and spinach I feel saw their untimely death due to the weather.  They barely lasted a few weeks after they started producing.

Herb Death:
Cilantro barely made it 3 weeks.  Being that this herb likes cooler temps, I might do another planting in late August.

Flower Death:
I am also a marigold killer... how in the heck could that be possible?!?!  I thought they were like weeds.  Not in my house this year.  All that I have planted have died and it is very frustrating because they are MARIGOLDS!  I have no clue what happened.

The Baby's breath choked so quickly.  It is supposed to be super heat tolerant and I put it on the roof looking forward to how pretty it would be on the table.  Nope, it was not meant to be.

Fruit Death:
The strawberries...  I love them, but I have lost a few plants.  The rest of them don't look that great either.  Plus, the fruit is barely the size of a marble.  I look at them everyday scratching my head.

Strawberry - RIP

The Good news!!
It isn't all bad.  My okra is loving life!  It is doing so well that I expect to be getting fruit from it in the next few weeks!  I can't wait to pickle or fry some up!

Fabulous Okra container

If you have a need for a flower that will spread, is heat tolerant, and still looks fairly pretty the strawflower is your plant.  Holy Moly!!  This plant LOVES my roof!  Check it below and in the picture above with my okra.

Strawflower

I also learned this year that the flowers I plant with my veggies have good and bad points.  The bad is that I am starting to think they may be sucking the nutrients from my veggies.  This is a just a hunch I have floating in my head.

The good is that they protect the soil from drying out too quickly.  My cucumber is in a container that is not as overloaded with flowers and it dries out super fast.  Where as my okra container doesn't have this problem thanks to the strawflowers.

What plant death have you experienced this year?  What are you learning?