Garden Woes

We head into July with temps just over the 80 degree mark. No rain in sight.  We're not complaining, mind you. It actually feels like summer. But there are a few problems in the garden.

First up, the potatoes.

 

It starts with a leaf slowly turning yellow.

Then it spreads and several leaves are yellow.

Death eventually takes the whole plant.

I assumed it was blight. At least it's a disease of great historical importance. But Wing Nut said it wasn't. Someone at the nursery suggested a mineral deficiency of some sort. So we gave them some compost tea. Died quicker than you can say "Great Irish Potato Famine". When we yank out a dead plant we find some teeny-tiny potatoes but nothing else suspicious. But today Wing Nut yanked out a plant and there was a very nice sized potato, half of which was mushy. Hey I thought potatoes were supposed to be easy to grow? This is the second year we've tried to grow potatoes. Three years ago we weren't even trying and we got lovely purple potatoes.

Next up, the zinnias.

Pretty orange flower. Okay, pretty washed out orange flower. But do you see those brownish stringy things on the right? That's what's left of several leaves. On the left you can see a leaf with the damage in progress. And below are a couple more pics.

Kind of creepy, no? The zinnias are around the squash in an attempt to attract pollinators in the hopes of FINALLY getting some decent squash.  Should we be worried about the squash? Or should we leave the zinnias so that the leaf skeletonizers will eat the flowers instead of the squash?

And finally, the lawn.

I thought "knee high by the 4th of July" was an old adage about corn, not dandelions. I know, I know. I'm doing the bees a favor. But it's a wee bit scary when Diva Dog is almost lost amidst the sea of yellow.

There should be a country song about garden woes...