Interesting that "sunrise’ is part of their name - because my fav tomato the last two years has been Sunrise Bumblebee - and they have some similar traits!
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A cherry tomato, yes?
I often grow a cherry tomato variety called “Purple Bumblebee” (although not this year).
I would call it a large “cherry tomato” size.
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Gary the Gopher continues his mining expedition in my front yard and loves the taste of vetiver grass. He’s plowed through 4 plants in the front yard and I’d like to complain to the manager because I really do not appreciate it.
I hate gophers with a passion. We used to have a family of barred owls in the woods… the owls took care of any burrowing pests quickly. Then the stupid bald eagles moved in displacing the owls… gophers party time! Sometimes, I wish I had this…
Lovely!
This has been a really productive year for our garden. Cucumbers are finally nearing the end. Tomato plants have just peaked, I think…probably just two more weeks of harvest left. Eggplants are just starting to produce rapid fire. I just did some pruning on our butternut squash patch (which seems to expand by feet every day) and counted 11 large fruit in various stages of ripening, and about a zillion flowers. I’d better start looking for some new recipes for that one 
I did a spur of the moment toss of zinnia seeds in the bed when I harvested the last of the salad greens in early July. I’m shocked at how quickly they went from seed to a beautiful patch of flowers. Now that my hydrangea is done, it is nice to have something new to cut and have in the house.
My next task will be to pull out the cucumber plants (in another week or so), and get that area ready to seed salad greens as soon as the weather gets a bit cooler. H and I are planning to try cloche gardening this year and grow some kale over the winter.
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We are still getting lots and lots of cucumbers and tomatoes. Topped out at 1 eggplant and 1 green pepper. Huh? The chilli peppers never got going.
Have a slightly different question. I got a butterfly bush from Costco early in the season. Thanks to all the rain, the bush is thriving - has grown pretty tall and is sprawling across. What if anything should I do to keep the bush healthy during the winter? I am concerned that the spread of the bush means that the branches are fairly frail and could break with the snow…
Hmm… I always cut my butterfly bush down to the ground in the falll. Admittedly I call it butterfly bush because my mom did (and I followed her fall advise)…. can’t be sure that’s what it really is.
Looking online, some sites advise to NOT cut it back in the fall. But mine comes back nicely each year (CO, zone 5)
I’d give a call to a local nursery and ask to be sure - so you get the right answer for your climate. Would hate to tell you to cut it - and then ruin it!
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A PSA: please consider NOT adding butterfly bush to your garden. These are considered invasive species in some areas, like mine. I can’t tell you how many I’ve pulled out of the woods by our local trail, but I estimate a small haystack!! There are other, non-invasive plants that will provide food for the butterflies.
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Mine does grow like crazy. I’ve learned to thin it out in the spring, when the branches are smaller and easier to handle/dispose. It helps shade my reading area and is a family sentimental favorite, so I have not attempted to totally remove it.
Harvested about 1/3 of the prickly pear fruit in the front yard. Burned off most of the thorns on the stove. This is my first time doing this so I’m no expert. Apparently, you have to strain the thorns and seeds out! Can’t use cheese cloth because it won’t get the thorns out. So I’ll be saying bye bye to a pillow case!
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What do you do with them?
You can use the juice to make syrup, jelly/jam, prickly pear fruit candy, etc. Prickly pear margaritas are pretty awesome. The fruit is very high in vitamin C.
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