Garden Walk

62°f/about 17°C, mostly clear afterblight morning showers. High og 82°f.

Time to get out of the kitchen and take a garden stroll! Actually, we were out working on our booths today, then came home to weedeat and stringtrim.  I ran out of batteries before i finished all i wanted to do, so I took my phone out for a stroll to take photos. 

I had been wanting a white rose bush, and this spring I picked one up at Walmart, with very low expectations. Surprisingly,  it is doing well. I have it planted beside my only David Austin rose, and it makes that one look anemic. Now to see if it will survive our winter. I ljked the way the light shone through this single bloom i picked.

The surprise lilies are always a very welcome surprise. Unfortunately,  Larry weedeated down my biggest patch, thinking those fallen-over leaves were old daffodils, so that patch did not bloom. I will protect it better next year, if it comes back.

The veggie garden is a jungle; still producing well but getting out of hand. Every year, same thing: I have to put up the stuff it produces, and the weeds know I am not paying attention. I did a good bit of stringtrimming tonight and will so more tomorrow, which should tame it down again to a reasonable level.

My roses have suffered from my lack of attention too. These guys are usually gorgeous but not this year.

The big flower garden was also getting crazy. I went through it with my stringtrimmer last week, cutting back things that were done: the lambs ear, the Mexican primroses,  and irises. Not maybe the proper way to trim, but effective!

I am so happy to see the orange butterfly weed really taking hold. I have tried to grow it for years and it was frustrating to see it thriving in ditches and not grow in my gardens! But it seems to have found its happy place at last. You can see it here, mingled with the coneflowers.

These are miniature zinnias in the flowerpot. I was dubious about trying them, but they have bloomed beautifully all summer with very little care.

One of my favorite flowers is lantana. This hardy plant just does its thing with little help from me, and it's so colorful. The Shasta daisy has bloomed all summer as long as I keep it deadheaded.

Zinnias also like this large, somewhat dry, sunny bed.

The grapes are ready now, so I may be getting started on those tomorrow, or certainly on Wednesday. Juice ahead!

That white rose bush.

My little pink hydrangea never gets very big, but always produces a few beautiful blooms.

The shady gardens by the porch have been happy with all the rain this summer. Note to self: pull up all the four o'clocks that sprout! They are shading out my other plants, and this particular strain is much too tall and bushy, and has only smallish pink flowers. Not a fan. 

 

This garden, down along the walk, hasn't done as well as last year. Too much rain? Not enough fertilizer? I don't know. Sometimes I long to be rich enough to hire a gardener. What I could do then! But as my mother used to say, if wishes were horses, we'd all be riding.

And last, my sweet blue lace hydrangea, that has been putting out single blooms all summer long. 

I do love this bush.

It has not been my best garden year. But there's always next year!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.