August Update

August is prime season for lots of good thing. Above is a zinnia from saved seed. Below is Blue Spice basil. I'm so happy I was able to find seeds at Bertie County Seeds. I recommend them and Pinetree Garden Seeds (no paid endorsements).

This mess below is a delphinium, which is doing well, a bunch of alyssum (grown from seed), and struggling plugs of native wildflowers. The bunnies have been so terrible this year. I suspect I will lose even more over the winter.

The Limelight hydrangeas (below) love their spots. 

It's been fun to watch this monarch caterpillar on the butterfly weed.

I bought the Supertunia Vista Cool Jazz (above) on clearance with an incorrect label, but it's bigger than the pot.

I'm happy that the bees are happy, such as on the coneflower above and the agastache below. 

Please note that I'm not showing the weeds that I've haven't taken care of because of the heat and humidity. My garden isn't perfect, but it's mine and I love it. 

Tomatoes!

I started Juliet (above) and Stupice (not shown) tomatoes indoors. The Juliet are resilient, and I'm harvesting every other day. The Stupice have struggled in the extreme heat and drought. But I'm making meals out of the Juliet grape tomatoes. I have grown a lot of paste tomatoes in the past, but they get ripe all at once. I like the cherry and grape tomatoes because I can collect some for a meal, and then wait a few days for the next meal. Less pressure to keep up!

Above is Chocolate Sprinkles, which was one friend's favorite. Below is Pink Gal, a pink tomato. How cool is that!

I wasn't sure if I was going to get any tomatoes after I dropped the seedlings this spring indoors, and then the cutworms ate some soon after planting, and one plant just completely disappeared (bird? squirrel? alien?). I'm glad I bought a few plants, which were big enough that the cutworms left them alone. Even though it's a little more prone to disease, the Golden Boy is a prolific slicer that is absolutely delicious on a sandwich.

Late lettuce planting

I'm behind on blogging, but I have photos from when I planted lettuce. The above picture is after I've planted tiny seedlings and covered them with wire to prevent bird and squirrel damage and cabbage butterfly damage on the kale.

Here's what happened when I planted seeds directly into the ground...nothing! I see lots of little ants nearby, and I suspect that they feasted for dinner. However, I planted seeds in little containers in the shade outside, and they sprouted and quickly filled the containers with their roots. I planted those in the garden, and I'll keep them evenly watered until they're a little more established. I also planted some pea seeds (no photo yet), also covered with wire to prevent damage. I'll keep you updated. 

Not Much Rain in July

My rain barrels are empty. I'm using water from the dehumidifier, and it's not enough. Whatever I want to survive, I use the hose to water.

The grass is dormant, hopefully not dead. Most of the neighborhood yards are filled with dry grass or sprinklers. (It feels like a waste to water grass when it naturally wants to go dormant to survive the heat.) The empty looking garden bed was filled with lettuce and greens, which haven't survived the heat and humidity. I'm regretting raised beds because I need to water the veggies every day if I want them to survive. And I do. Occasionally I'm watering flowers and more recently shrubs. They need a break from from the extreme heat. And so do the critters. And the humans. Including this human! Rain is forecasted for Thursday, and I'm hopeful. 

Nasturtium Sleight of Hand

Nasturtiums are a really cool plant. PubMed states that they are a sources of  "trace elements and bioactive compounds which can be easily absorbed by the human body." I planted "Moonlight," starting the seeds indoors until the plant was a couple of inches. I had problems with getting them started from seed in the past, perhaps because we have a lot of squirrels. 

I read online (not from a scientific source but I was getting desperate) that planting nasturtiums with squash confuses squash vine borers. I'm happy to report that I've been getting a steady supply of  zucchini. I have one pollinated pumpkin (so far). These photos are just before our extreme heat wave. But you can see how the flowers are similar in color. I don't know if the confusion works or if it's because I have a lot of plants. That was the extension educator's advice--plant more. Hope is an intravenous solution, flowing through me, keeping me motivated to garden another day. 

Goodbye, viburnum. Hello, dogwood!

Above is a photo of a nice, healthy dogwood shrub.

And this is a dying shrub. The cranberry bush viburnum have been spectacular bushes. And the wood boring beetle larva thought so, too. I snapped this branch off at the base. Below you might be able to see the sawdust they left behind.

Below you can see how much dead wood there is. The plants are really struggling.

And no wonder! The bark is chewed all the way through, all the way around. 

After we cut out the dead stuff, the photo below shows what was left. Not much. And we were able to dig it out pretty easily. I was pretty sad because I loved these bushes--flowers in spring, red fall leaves, and red berries in winter. But I decided to think of this as an opportunity. Time for something new...

My choice is Neon Burst dogwood, a hybrid. The chartreuse leaves will be a nice background to my native plants, and the leaves' color is supposed to be red, purple, and orange in the fall. I will protect them this winter so rabbits don't get to them as they establish themselves. 

Fruit for Humans

I've planted fruit for humans: cherries, juneberries, and strawberries. But wildlife is eating quite a bit. The cherries are devoured the very moment they turn ripe (see below). The cherries have a smaller seed to fruit ratio compared to those from the store. I've picked a few underripe ones to try them. I didn't cover them with netting this year because there aren't that many. Also, the trees look like they're covered in jewels!

The serviceberries or juneberries (below) are also getting eaten quickly. I saw a bunny reaching up to eat berries from the lower branches. They're mild like blueberries with more seeds. I'm flirting with the idea of making muffins, but they get eaten by wildlife pretty quickly.

This has been a good year for strawberries...and pea pods. How do I get that many berries?

Netting! Even with netting, the clever animals will get some berries. I've seen birds land on top of it, which is why I use rounded bamboo stakes to keep the netting off the ground in the middle. Small critters find any tiny gap. Even ants have joined the berry party. I'm not too worried because I get the majority of them.  At the farmer's market yesterday, they were being sold for $8 a container. I understand why. There's nothing like fresh garden strawberries. 

With all this food for wildlife, the population is pretty healthy. I have mixed feelings because they eat so much of my garden. (bunny nest below) But, dang, are they cute!

Happy First Day of Summer!

Here are some garden pictures to celebrate the first day of summer. Above mock orange. Below peony

Strawberries are ripe!

The pea pods are ready, and the beans are growing well.

Rose dilemma

I'm not sure what to do with this rose. It's called a smooth rose (rosa blanda). The flowers are lightly fragrant, looking delicate but proving surprisingly sturdy.

Here's a close up. The bees like them. The plant is healthy and lush. Those are the pros. These are the cons. You can see from the photo below that the blooming is staggered, which is good for the bees, but no "wow" factor. And, depending on rain and heat, the flowers don't last too long, less than two weeks this year. True, it's a native plant, so the expectations should be different. However, little suckers are coming up through the lawn, especially next to the electric box. When I planted it, the information said it wouldn't spread like this. But maybe it likes its spot. Or the information was wrong. The rose is no longer "smooth," but painfully thorny, making it tough to weed and mow around. The shape is uneven with some tall parts and short parts but no pleasing shape. But I can't bring myself to dig it up! Thus my dilemma. I need some time to think...

Hummingbird Moth and bonus photos

Do you see the blurry russet and gold creature on the Siberian iris? That's a hummingbird moth, a fast flying moth easily mistaken for a hummingbird.

Here is it again on the iris. Yep, you gotta blow it up to see it. My phone takes good photos but not that good. 

Bonus: Bearded iris

Bonus: Peony. I'm so pleased. They took two years to bloom, even though I bought the two plants from a reputable garden center.

Bonus: The long view of the peonies with perennial geraniums

The juneberries are forming, and an early coreopsis is blooming. You're welcome to sit a while and watch the bees in the clover. 

End of May Update

Wow! A lot happens quickly when it warms up. We've been above average for too long. Lately, it seems to be too cold or too warm. That's Minnesota. Above is purple pak choi with Swiss chard seedlings. Below are the blooming strawberry plants. 

Everything is growing...including the weeds. My fenced in veggie garden is below. But I'm too busy getting seeds and plants in the ground and trying to keep up with the mowing.

The Bloomerang lilac smells divine!

The wild lupine blooms a little too close to the driveway.

The native columbine is spectacular this year.

This columbine is leftover from a previous owner, and this is the best it's looked.

The mountain ash tree is covered in flowers.

The chokeberry is blooming. There are shade plants in the pots in the background.

Wild violets are so pretty.

The wild geranium is lush this spring.

I've planted geraniums in the pots for our back deck.

Let's end with a bit of brightness!