Blight in the Limas, Squash in the Geraniums?

While doing a 'walkabout' in my garden the other day, which is actually one of my favorite things to do, actually, I noticed some 'spots' on some of my beans.  On closer inspection, I noticed it wasn't ALL the beans, just my Christmas Lima beans.

I knew it wasn't good, but luckily, I seemed to have caught it before it spread anywhere else.  By what I can tell, this is common bacterial blight. It is very common in times of excessive rain or moisture.  That was a big clue, because we have had thunderstorms and rain almost every day for the past several weeks.  The bacteria stays in debris or soil, and then splashes onto leaves.  The symptoms are large wet green spots on the leaves that later turn brown.  If you already have bean pods, the blight can damage the beans as well. 

This is the bean area after I ripped out the limas.  It is such a bummer that I had to destroy them, such a waste.  Unfortunately, you have to destroy all the plants so it doesn't spread further, plus I wouldn't get any good beans out of them anyways.

Also, i did not notice that the limas were pole beans, I thought all the beans I planted were bush beans, oops. So, I am going to stick some stakes in there tomorrow to give the beans something to grow up.  Also, I planted okra in the hole where the limas came out of...the beans can grow up the okra as well.

My back up plan is to buy some regular lima bean seeds and plant them in pots...so my son can have some.  He is a funny kid, lima beans are one of his favorite foods.

If you want to avoid bacterial blight, here are some tips:
-Don't grow beans in the same spot that beans have been for 3 years.
-Leave ample room in between bean rows to allow for good air circulation.
-Try not to work around the beans when they are wet, to avoid spreading the bacteria.
-Destroy infected plants immediately and do not save seeds from infected plants.
-Mulch with grass clippings or such underneath plants to keep bacteria from splashing up on plants.
 -Sometimes, you will do all these things and you will still get blight, especially in times of excessive rain and humidity, but you can lessen your chances by doing one or more of the above items.

I also ripped out a bunch of lettuce that was bolting.  I left one of each kind in my raised bed to go to seed.  I will save it for fall and next year's planting.  The red sails lettuce is holding on a little longer, so I let it stay.  In the lettuce's place, I put sunberry plants.  I started them from seed.  I have never done them before, but the seed packet said they are similar to blueberries, but you get fruit the first year, more like annuals.

I am not sure what this is...it looks like a cucumber or a squash of some kind.  It is growing in the side of my variegated geranium.  It looks like it is making little buds along the bottom stem, so I am going to leave it and see what it does.  I have no idea where the seed came from, but I like surprise plants, so its okay.

My whiskey barrel planter is coming along very nicely.  It will be perfect once the cannas get tall enough to get out of the way of the other plants.  I took this picture to show off my new 'flowers' that I bought.  I got a little too much setting sun in the pic, but you can see that they are made from copper piping and reused glass pieces.  They look so cool, and I love stuff made from recycled materials.

Are you battling any diseases on your plants this season?