Dwarf Sunflowers

I have these in my garden for a few reasons.

To make homemade (winter) bird feeders next year
For the birds later this fall
To save the seeds for future seed exchanges
Just because they really are vibrant and beautiful and they add a nice bright color balance in the herb garden

Scarlet Runner Beans

I received these seeds from @fernowl13 and her @sotall website's initiative

Scarlet Runner Beans (also known as fire beans), are sturdy climbing, annual vines that have been known to reach up to 20-ft in a season. The vine has large green leaves with an attractive cluster of red flowers from mid summer until early autumn. The bean pods can grow to 1-inch in diameter. The beans are a beautiful pink when young but then turn dark violet to black speckled as they get older.

What's nice about these beans are not only are they beautiful and decorative, but they are also edible! And I love when I can get multi-uses out of a plant, herb or vegetable. I plan on saving some seeds in my dry pantry. I can always toss some in to soups and even other recipes; which I am seeking out right now.

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I measured the stems, and including to the base of the cup, these beans stalks are already 11-inches in height. They may hit that 20-foot height by October. We'll see!

Luffa

These seeds came from my dear friend @beatitudes8 and our weekly seed exchange contests and giveaways.

I currently have four of these planted, and all took and are growing. I am thinking I will be adding another six of these luffa gourds to the sowing season next week. I want to not only use them for when making my homemade soap, but they are also edible if you harvest the gourd before it dries out and turns into the luffa we know so well for bathing with its fiber-like tissue. GREAT for exfoliating!