August Garden Tour

August is prime time in the garden, overflowing with life. Yet the downturn is beginning, with plants setting seed or succumbing to disease or pests. However, I like to walk around and observe with so much to see. Above is another attempt to save seed of the bright pink zinnia that I love. 

In the front yard, the chokeberries are ripening. 

The bees are loving the anise hyssop. There has been some asters disease on the coneflowers, which I'm trying to control by removal of affected parts. 

The butterfly weed has blossomed and it going to seed, but the black-eyed Susans are thriving. And the coreopsis keeps blossoming, a hardworking plant!

This year's front shade pots are a combination of torenia, pink impatiens, purple impatiens, and pink begonias. 

In the back yard, the monarch butterfly like the Joe Pye weed. The viburnum are getting big enough to block the view of the neighbor's house and shed. 

These cosmos are near the deck.

The Bloomerang lilac lives up to its name. 

This watermelon is so close to ready!

The yellow pear tomatoes are good producers. This year, my tomatoes are dying from the bottom up, classic tomato diseases. I didn't buy disease resistant tomatoes, choosing instead plants from the local pop up. I had good luck with some plants, though not the peppers and tomatoes.

This is a lemon cucumber. I love that they're small, perfect for one person. They've been sweet and crispy. So delicious on hot days!

This is the first bloom of a Blueberries and Cream dahlia. 

The variegated thyme is crowding out the rosemary in this pot. 

And the lemon grass is crowding out the mint and purple basil. I kept the mint trimmed because I feared it would take over. I'm still learning, even after years of gardening.

This swallowtail caterpillar is why I let the dill grow wild! 

I broke down and bought a "brand name" hibiscus, Hot Shot in the Hollywood series. I'm loving it because it blooms constantly. It takes a lot of water. 

Here's a look at the back of the house, and you can see the Limelight hydrangea, the dying tomatoes, the dill everywhere, the rain barrel, the bubblegum petunias, and the desperate need for weeding in fenced garden. I'm okay with waiting for cooler temperatures, maybe September. 

Green beans...when to pick them?

The beans are ready to pick! I've found that my yellow beans matured more quickly than the green and purple (most likely due to the variety, not color).

The question is when do I pick my green beans? The photo above shows new beans needing some growth.

The purple beans above could be picked or I could wait. The photo below shows a better comparison. 

The green and purple are small but edible. I'll call them "baby beans," and they're tender, but then I'm not getting the bulk I might need for a meal. The tiny ones don't freeze well. I like to pick beans before the seeds inside start to develop. The one on the far right has the beginnings of seeds. Many people pick the beans when they're thick and fat, with clearly developed seeds inside. That's okay, too. When I lose track of beans and they get that big, I cook them a little differently, chopping them into bite-sized pieces and cooking them longer to tenderize them. When I pick them small, I'll eat them raw or lightly cook them, under a minute in the microwave. No matter when you pick them, they're delicious!

July Front Yard

Happy Fourth of July! Daisies are not officially a native plant, but they're in my native plant garden because the bees love them.

The butterfly weed and coreopsis are blooming. Below is a close up of the butterfly weed. The photo doesn't do justice to the color's bright cheeriness.

Here's an overview of the area. There's some creeping thyme in the lawn. Please ignore the weeds. Or embrace them. 

There is a begonia in each shady front pot, transplanted from my winter windowsill. They were nibbled by rabbits and recovered, though they're small right now. The impatiens were not doing so well, so I added torenia plants. Now they look fuller.  

Early July Garden Tour

Being honest here, I can't keep up with the weeds. We've had lots of rain in June, and today it's too hot  to work outside. For me. Many people can handle this heat, but I'm more comfortable at 50 degrees than 90. The early morning sunlight feels hot. Here's a look at what's growing.

Pea pods

Garlic, lettuce, and greens

Zucchini

Bubblegum petunias, two geraniums, and a hibiscus. I had to move the geraniums because the petunias were taking over.

Watermelon

Tomatoes, peppers, parsley, and basil. And some volunteer flowers and dill.

Peapods and beans. Some struggling carrots.

Flowers and my shadow

Rosemary and thyme

Strawberry mint, lemon grass, and hidden purple basil

The rain has made everything green and lush (including the weeds). Yet it's so lovely!

Strawberry Decisions

The title sounds like a poem, but I'm not feeling too poetic. The strawberries from the garden are really, really good. Absolutely delicious! However, they are a lot of work: Bending and reaching. Weeding. Covering for winter. Uncovering in spring. Rejuvenating plants by digging out old ones and planting runners. Trimming runners. Fortifying the soil (I use compost). Mulching.

I've told myself it's worth it. However, the only way to keep birds and squirrels away is to net the plants. Last year I netted early and removed the net when the main crop had been harvested. However, this year I've had to release two birds caught in the netting. Thankfully, I've been around so they aren't trapped long. 

Even with the net, I still get some damaged berries. Without the net, my work and resources are for the birds (literally). I removed the net after harvesting the bowl of berries (first photo) because I don't want any more birds getting caught. Do I continue the same way (probably not), create a new space for strawberries, or go an entirely new direction?

June's Rains

Maybe we've had too much rain? I'm thankful for our excellent soil drainage. The heat and humidity are on their way, but I've had pleasant working conditions with cooler temperatures and lower dewpoints. I feel like the garden is in better shape than usual this time of year. Right now plants are lush and vivid and thriving. 

The rose is blooming.

The new Mock orange is thriving (above). I'm glad I planted the two cherry trees, the small spruce, and this shrub this season because I haven't had to water as much with our frequent rains. 

Above is a small portion of the native garden I added last year, although the daisies (in bud form) aren't exactly native. Below is a coneflower, blooming early.

I love these blanket flowers, and the pollinators do, too.

Below is native phlox.

This is the last of the siberian irises to bloom.

The Itoh peonies, which I planted from bare roots from a warehouse store, are thriving. It's their third year. I bought more bareroot peonies this spring, but I'm not sure they're going to make it. But these are gorgeous!

Below are two photos from early June. The first is the from the front, with wild lupine, Siberian iris, and chives. This photo doesn't show the bare spots from winter damage. The second is native viburnum.