Flower Gardens Walkabout

55, brisk and cool this morning. The weather has been gorgeous all week, so we have been in the gardens every day. Still so much more to do!

Here's a quick look at what's happened  this week in the flower gardens. 

One if my favorite roses is this one that my mother called a Tudor rose because of the colors. I planted this three or four years ago but the deer ate it back so often that it seldom bloomed. So I moved it to the new rose garden, close to the house.

A new rose last year. This is a tea rose. It's pretty pale pink color doesn't show well in my photo.

A tiny red miniature rose, which is surprisingly hardy here. It is at least 3 years old.

A new phlox I planted two weeks ago. I love phlox but have only had luck with the old-fashioned variety.  Fingers crossed in this one.

This is the corner I revamped last year, pulling out huge overgrown evergreens. My goal for this corner is color that I can see from the porch.

Part of the same garden, where the annual pink primroses(?) have made themselves very much at home.

 

This was an expanded garden last year, and

still a work in progress.

The drift roses are coming into their glory now. I need more of them! Well, maybe not need, but sure would like.

As you can see the primrose are happy here too. And that make me happy too.

A hodgepodge of chives in bloom, tiny parsley that you probably cannot see, lettuce, and the new rhubarb plants.  

Yet another rode, this one a gift from a sweet friend several years ago. 

And a late blooming peony. I have added several peonies in the past year, only one of which bloomed this year. This one is 5 years old and doesn't bloom well because it is in a too shady location.

This is my favorite rose, new this year. The color is stunning, a variegated pink-orange-yellow mix. Has the sweetest fragrance too. It is a climber, so I had a bit of a think as to where to put it.

And my oldest rose, at least 40 years old. It blooms sparingly, but smells wonderful.

Works in progress: pulling weeds, cutting spent iris stems, pulling up daffodil leaves, etc, etc.

And a flowerbed revamp. I will dig out the iris in July or August as this location is too shady. I moved some hostas from the bed I abandoned this year due to the lily of the valley and weedy vines taking it over. I think the hostas will be happy here. I will move the peony later in the year too. Live and learn! At the top right you can see a shaggy climbing rose. It was once a tea rose but was killed back to its roots and this monster emerged. It has no blooms on it yet this year. It will be coming out of there, either this summer or next spring.

There is always something else to be done. Bushes need pruned, weeding, deadheading, on and on. And that doesn't even include the vegetable gardens. I will get photos of them tomorrow, I hope.

Chasing Butterflies on Lughnasadha

67 and cloudy this morning. Light showers, breezes interspersed with sunshine all morning and early afternoon.

Happy Lughnasadh! According to old Celtics tradition, this is the first day of fall, and usually it looks like it in our region, as we see tbe first tinged of yellow in trees and plants. Because of all the recent rain, everything is still verdant and green this year.

Still, we will see change begin. Days will cool more quickly in the evenings, and mornings will stay cool longer. The Joe Pye, Ironwood and goldenrod will soon be in bloom. And of course the days will be shorter. Paying attention to these changes makes me feel the rhythm of the year more keenly, and to appreciate the circle of life more deeply.

Perhaps the butterflies also feel change coming, for there have been many of them in the gardens, and a very busy. I spent some time while the sun was shining to try to catch photos of some of them. I missed the lone Monarch visitor but was thrilled to see it as these butterflies are a rare sight here.

Here are a few of the flutterers I saw:

I am not sure of the name of this one. Black, with blue and orange? I used to know it but now can't recall.

Where that elusive Monarch was, a split second before I snapped the picture. 

I believe this is a Summet Azure butterfly, very small and never stops moving long enough for a photo. 

One of the fritallaries, but I am not sure which one.

A tiger swallowtail. There was a similar black and white one too, that I missed.

It is surprising how much time disappeared as I wandered after the butterflies.  But what better way to lose an hour or so?

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

This and That

72 this morning. Hot. Humid. 

Just some random thoughts today, which I'll intersperse with a few photos from around the flower gardens.

I didn't like the way these black petunias looked, so added some pink and white to brighten them up.

The weather has continued on its July way, but honestly, it hasn't seemed as bad this year as usual. I've said before that July is my least favorite month, but this year it's been bearable. Perhaps because we've had more rain than usual, which gave us a some cooler days uand relief? Or because, since the garden is later coming in this year, I'm not in the hot kitchen, canning? The one thing I do love about July is all the birthdays in our family: 3 granddaughters, our youngest son, and Larry's older sister. So many good reasons to celebrate.

                                                    

You know, since being retired, I've noticed something that never occurred to me before, probably because I was at work during the day. But during the workday hours, there are so many senior citizens out and about--at the stores, the bank, roadside rest areas, library, etc. It's one of those obvious things that you just don't think about, but of course this is when we'd all be out, isn't it? Weekends, of course, all ages are out and busy, but during the weekdays it's us old folks doing business, traveling, and so on. 

It has made me realize the impact we have on the economy. In past times, there were housewives out during the day and that's still true but not nearly to the same extent. And there are shift workers, but again, the preponderance of people in stores and on the road in the daytime is seniors. Think of all the month we/they spend--I bet there are some places, like the popular Bob Evans restaurants, that would find it difficult to stay in business without the oldsters. Not that this is an important or original thought, for I am sure AARP plays on the importance of the senior dollar in their lobbying efforts. But now I'm noticing, and it's interesting.

                                            

We are still getting out in the gardens early to get some of the work done before it gets hot. I do love these mornings. The air is so soft, even if I am still sweating at 70 degrees because of the humidity. But the light is just different, there is deep shade, and the scent of flowers and herbs lingers. We've been doing a little watering but nothing like in past Julys. The seeds I put out last week are all up, and I planted a few marigolds here and there in places that need color. We were dismayed to discover that the grass had grown so quickly from the rain that it was in the electric fence before we knew it, which grounded the current, so the deer got in and ate my lima beans. My lovely, lovely, lima beans. They were just doing so well and it looked like we would have a good crop. Now, we will be lucky to get a mess or two. 

                                                

But the beans Larry planted are up and thriving, and he picked some of the tiny first plantings and dug some new potatoes because he is craving one of his favorite dishes, beans and new potatoes cooked together. They're on the stove as I type. Poor man was so desperate he even snapped the beans. And look at size of this potato--they have done exceptionally well this year.

                                                

I harvested the beet seeds which had dried nicely outside, and I think I'll try planting some of them soon and see if I can get them to over-winter like they did last year. We had late beets in the fall, early beets and greens in the spring, and then I left the rest to go to seed. We shall see how they do.

                                            

I was disappointed that the seeds sold to me as rhubarb seeds are actually rhubarb CHARD, not rhubarb. I was so excited to actually grow my ow plants and just babied those things, but duh. Ah well, they'll be good greens.

Yesterday was a work day at the antique mall, filling in for the owner whose mother is very ill. It was a nice break and I got a lot done while I was there, but it sure tires me out to work a full day. I'm good for nothing by the time I get home. Usually we go in on Fridays to restock, but since I am working again Sunday we will stay home and work on furniture projects instead. We have several in the works, and need to get them out of the house.

And now that I mention it, I better get back to work. See you tomorrow, I hope.

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

In the Gardens

66 this morning, following a day of light rain. Red sky last night.

More errands yesterday, picking up hay for mulch from our son's barn, getting a new phone for Larry because his had something break where the charger attaches, picking up garden seed and flowers, etc. I think we're caught up. I hope.  I dislike being out two or three days in a row; it seems like it just wears me out. But sometimes that's what we must do. Today I'll be working at the antique mall, a bit of a break, unless it's a busy day. Still, another day away from home.

At least I made good use of the evening, getting the big flower bed cleaned up and the new plants put in. It was quite a job, taking me about 3 hours to get all the iris leaves cut back, spent plants either pulled or cut back, and weeds pulled. I have a mess to clean up this evening when I get home, but it feels good to get this done, and it looks so much better. I still have the other flower beds to do, maybe this evening or tomorrow.

Around the gardens: a bit messy still since I haven't been in them much for the past few weeks. That's changing now that I have no upcoming obligations that will keep me away.Can you hear my big sigh of relief?

Tiny cabbage seedlings. This tub has been very useful. First it had lettuce andradishes, then cucumber seedlings that we transplanted, and now cabbage. 

My new rose for this year. Can I remember its name? Of course not. I should do better at that. The pansies were in a planter but looked so poorly I pulled them and planted something else. But they seem to like this damp, shady corner with the rose.

I do love phlox, and have tried in vain to get other colors started. This is the old-fashioned pink. I do have one other one, a white, that needs to be moved as it's mixed in with the monkshood and is too shaded to spread.

The last of the native daylilies--well, I guess they're native, because they grow wild everywhere. Perhaps they were an import? 

Basil living happily in its planter. I will be cutting and drying some of it tomorrow.

Our new-to-us garden bench. We got it at an auction last year, painted it a bright turquoise and tried to sell it with no luck. So we sold our old beat-up red glider instead, and kept the bench, and I am so glad we did. We repainted to a color I liked better.

A happy planter. I used to ignore coleus for my gardens, but it has grown on me, and Larry loves it.

Annabelle hydrangea. This was a new start last year, given to me by a friend. It has grown amazingly well, and the best thing is that it blooms on new wood so no worries about it freezing off in the winters. The black tape is videotape, which we now have around all the flower beds to scare off the deer. I don't like the way it looks, but it's better than having everything eaten.

Can anyone tell me what this tall, ferny plant is? I don't know if it's something I planted or if it's a weed. It shows no sign of blooming yet.

Yesterday evening's slaughter, or a small part of it anyway. Lots of mulch for the garden.

After the cleanup, and with the new plants in place. This is one end of the bed.

And here's the other end. 

This little coreopsis has thrived in this location. I wanted more coreopsis this year, but they were hard to find locally. They seem to love our soil.

The lamb's ears self-seed, and move from one place to another in this garden.

Still have to put down new mulch, and I need a few more plants in here, but it's coming along.

The smaller vegetable garden, early morning light. It's done well so far, and has a lot more coming on.

Oh, here's our new truck, the one our son gave us. Isn't it pretty?

The upper end of the veggie garden. The far end has cucumbers, melons and pumpkins, with a row of kale, carrots, and basil on the right. In the foreground and hard to distinguish in this light are squash, cabbages, kale, and tomatoes on the right. Also in here are some flowers, lettuce, beets, a few green beans, leeks, and rhubarb. The tomatoes will be late tomatoes, as they were planted about a month after the others.

The grapes are loaded and so far no sign of blackrot. I have my fingers crossed, but it usually shows up in mid-July and ruins most of our grapes. The only cures seem to be strong poisons, which I hate to use.

The pretty drift roses, coming into bloom again.

This garden is my next project. There are things blooming but they can't be seen for the iris and other things that need trimming back.

And finally back to the house, where Daisy is waiting for us.

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