In the Gardens

We were up and out early this morning to re-plant some areas of our gardens.

This is the walled garden, and it's been kind of disappointing this year. I put my summer squash in here along with some early cucumbers. The cucumbers are finally coming along, but so far we've had only 3 or 4 squash. Still, I love this little space, and the early lettuce, onions and radishes did well. I'll be replanting them in the raised bed in September.

This is the garden we worked in this morning.

Otis had to get his tail into the photo. After all, he was up and out with us!

It was lovely and cool out, with low humidity and the sun just beginning to creep across the hill. Larry pulled out spent plants and tilled the ground up yesterday, so this morning's work was easy, just make the furrows and plant. We put in some late green beans, beets, carrots, radishes, lettuce, and kale this morning, and I have cabbage seed on the way--hoping to grow some plants for late cabbage. We shall see how that goes. Larry put in some squash and cucumbers last week and those are up and growing.

Our other helper, Miss Daisy Mae. They are so curious about anything we do outside, but they do NOT like the electric fence!

We don't have the best luck with late gardens--often the deer get in and decimate it, or the weeds take over. But I'm hopeful that this time it will thrive, as the soil is in good condition, the weeds are under control and the electric fence and Irish Spring soap seem to be doing their job as critter deterrents. I also bought some garden netting to put over the plants if we see any sign of deer damage. They ate one of my hydrangeas and some hostas and coneflowers last week. Grrrr.

The flowers are holding up pretty well so far. These are in a pot on the deck.

And these are out by the patio. I don't know what they are; I bought them at Walmart in the spring and all I remember is that they're tropical and don't like weather under 50 degrees. They bloom and bloom, and are so pretty. Oddly, the hummingbirds don't pay any attention to them.

Begonias are one of my favorites, right up there with geraniums for pot plants. They bloom constantly and need little care. I usually bring some inside for the winter.

This giant coleus seems to love the old cast iron pot it's planted in. The pot has no bottom, so talk about good drainage.

The fireweed is just beginning to bloom. I suppose it really is a weed as it grows along roadsides and that's where I got this plant. But it hasn't spread, and I like it for its habit of blooming later in the summer.

My favorite begonia. It's a deep pinkish red, just gorgeous and doesn't get unsightly when the blooms fade like the light pink ones do.

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