« August 2007 | Main | October 2007 »
I've been loving the rose plant that my friend Ashley gave me. I swear the roses that are blooming now are different than the ones I saw early in the summer. I've read that this is possible (Google for an explanation), but no matter what, I'm enjoying seeing the beautiful white blossoms with pink and yellow undertones:
Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
I was home for lunch on Wednesday eating my egg and cheese sandwich (also cooked by me, I do rock the breakfast food) on the patio when I looked over at the pentas and saw a Monarch butterfly hanging out. I had my camera with me so I jumped up and starting creeping over to the planter. I spooked the butterfly several times, but it kept coming back if I stood really still. VPH laughed his butt off watching me chase the Monarch, but it was totally worth it. Click any photo to enlarge:
I got one more excellent shot that is definitely heading the pack in the competition for Christmas card duty, so I think I'll keep it a surprise for now.
Like the harvest from our garden, my inspiration for new posts is dwindling. We got one tomato yesterday and it's the first I can remember in at least 4 days.
There is some bright news on the horizon. Looks like we'll get some more red bell peppers:
There will be more beans:
But the snow peas haven't put out any blossoms yet and the tomatoes are definitely slowing down, though they still look pretty good (that one red tomato in the middle is the one that went into our tacos last night):
We're still having warm weather here -- supposed to be a high of 87 today -- so I guess the season isn't over yet.
I hope I'll still want to post at least a few times a week, but I'm not striving for daily anymore. My mood as the summer garden winds down could definitely be described as melancholy.
I don't think much narration is necessary here. Remember the fall container plantings:
Yesterday I found a bud on the mums showing color (purple thank goodness) and I had a ball photographing all the light, shadow, and colors in the box. I took special note of all the different greens. Click to enlarge the photos and I hope you enjoy!
You'll notice that I'm not really identifying the individual plants by name. I'm embarrassed to admit that I never read any of the plant tags (I just stuck them in a drawer) so I'm not 100% sure that I'm calling each plant by the correct name and I don't want to steer anyone wrong.
We're having a beautiful day here. Sunny and it is forecast to be 75 degrees, the only problem is that the fall sun moves across our yard too quickly and we only get about 4 hours of sun back there this time of year. It must be fun to watch us switch seats moving across our yard every half hour!
This is the last tomato blossom. I know that because I've pinched back the rest of the new growth on all the tomato plants. Photo taken September 16th (and no I don't think it will make it to harvest before the first frost):
Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
I mentioned a while ago that VPH had pulled a lot of junk from beneath the bastard garden. Now that the mosquitoes have died back a little, it was finally safe to go back behind the shed and document the horror.
We really have no idea what the items are other than rusty junk. VPH suspects there is an entire motor vehicle down there somewhere and he's pulling it out piece by piece.
Plenty of old fencing and a trap of some sort?
A tail pipe and 2 moving blankets? Not to mention the apparent grill rack:
Is that an old school TV antenna?
Now we just need to figure out what to do with all this crap. I told VPH he should call the landlord and say look what we found, use your truck to bring it to the dump. But for some reason, he's not jumping to do that. I don't want any of that crap in my car and some pieces are too big for our vehicles. I'm not sure why he started pulling stuff out either, but do you ever really know why men do anything?
Finally this spider is easily 2 inches tall and has spun and re-spun a web between the shed and the compost bin. It completely freaks me out!
And it's missing 1.5 of its legs, what is ballsy enough to take 1.5 leg off of a mammoth spider like this? VPH actually traps bugs elsewhere and transports them to this spider to feed it. Ugh, gross, kill it! But I'm trying to love spiders since they take care of problem insects for me.
I was in the kitchen this afternoon when I saw a huge dragonfly land on the fence. Seriously, it had to be 4 inches long. I grabbed the camera and ran outside. Of course, the moment I moved near it with the camera the dragonfly flew away. It buzzed me a few times, but flew up high into the trees and then disappeared completely. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy seeing it even if I can't share it with you.
While I was over on the sunny side of the house I realized that I haven't shared a photo of the beautiful calibrochoa post trim back and fertilization. So without further ado:
Don't these two look great?
This one, however, is not doing as well and I really don't know why -- it has been treated exactly the same way as the others:
It looks so bad, I had to shuffle things around out there:
That's the little petunia and creeping jenny replacing the light pink calibrochoa next to trellis. The dying calibrochoa is by the shed for the moment, but if it doesn't perk up, it will be tossed (not to the bastard garden or compost because it must be diseased to be failing so quickly out of no where). The reverse angle:
Standing next to the purple hyacinth bean I decided it was time to pull the dried pods off and harvest the seeds. I got a pretty good haul:
As I was picking the pods, I was ecstatic to see new growth and buds on the beans:
I was so sad to think that these plants were done for the year and had to come out. I'm so glad that they're not!
As I was walking back into the house this buzzing bumblebee caught my eye and I just had to snap a dozen or so photos of it, but I'll only post a few here (click to enlarge, some have awesome detail):
I just love his pollen covered butt! I hope that you enjoyed your time on the sunny side of the house as much as I did.
I was supposed to be working from home until Friday and I had all sorts of projects planned, but of course, my CEO decided to come down and work from our office this week and there went my schedule. Oh well, it is my job to be there so I really can't complain -- though I want to!
This has actually worked out well because given more time to ponder it, I've decided not to undertake one of the projects that I had on the list. I had planned to rip out the flowers growing over the top of the retaining wall (plus the dead heather, which I did finally pull out this afternoon) and replace them with the perennial herbs that I already have. I had envisioned the 3 varieties of thyme trailing over the retaining wall and the oregano, rosemary, and lavender in the ground on the corner. Then next spring I would complete the corner garden with annual herbs like basil, dill, and the like. From what I've read, the mint and chives should weather the winter in containers, and you know I'm not planting that mint in the ground!
As I pondered this project I dug up some old photos to compare to current ones of the plants and locations in question.
June 11th:
September 13th:
Here's the herb garden on July 1st:
And on September 16th:
The herb basket 1o minutes after planting on June 28th:
September 14th:
Quite a few things occurred to me as I examined these photos:
1. I've lost some plants -- the heather and chamomile -- but for the most part things are thriving.
2. I love my herb garden and basket and really don't want to tear them apart.
3. It would be a pain to dig up those calibrochoa and replant them and they look great where they are.
4. It will cost less than $25 to buy seedlings in the spring to replace the perennial herbs that may or may not die over the winter if they are not planted in the ground.
So I'm leaving things as they are. When we get our first frost warning I will probably break up the herb basket into individual containers and put them in the little greenhouse to try and lengthen the season, but I think I'll let the 1/2 barrel stay as is and see what happens. According to VPH the almanac is calling for a mild winter in our area, but already the days and nights are much cooler and I'm missing summer!
Remember the poor dill plant that fell over?
Well the bent stems didn't magically pop back up -- shocker I know -- so I trimmed off the broken parts yesterday morning. I had a bunch of fresh dill and it was time for Sunday brunch, which is known as Big Breakfast in our household -- I'm surrounded by tough men who would never dream of eating "brunch."
VPH threw the bacon in the oven and we were off. We highly recommend this method for crispy bacon and no grease all over your kitchen -- use cooling racks over baking sheets in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes. VPH and younger step-son like their eggs sunny-side up and I like scrambled bouncy. I'm very particular about my scrambled eggs and decided a long time ago that it was just easier for me to make them myself. Elder step-son usually eats scrambled eggs with me, but he's back at college, so I knew I could throw fresh dill into my eggs without complaint about green stuff in his food.
Eggs, fresh dill, and a dash of 2% milk into a small frying pan already holding melted butter:
VPH is left-handed and I'm right-handed so we can cook eggs at the same time:
They were awesome:
Yeah, I like my bacon just short of burnt. I followed this up with a toasted English muffin with butter and strawberry preserves. I wish I could eat breakfast like that every day!
At the very least I have eaten a meal containing fresh dill that I grew from seed once this year, so I'm a happy girl. And you now know that I can scramble eggs and toast an English muffin so you don't need to worry about me starving if VPH can't cook for me anymore.
The weather did not cooperate with my gardening plans yesterday. It was rainy and cold -- below 60 degrees in the shade mid-day and windy. Hopefully it will be nicer today and I'll actually get some stuff done.
Say goodbye to the zinnias. They're looking pretty crappy. The bottom leaves are dry and shriveling up and they've pretty much stopped putting out new blooms. I'm going to let VPH plant them in the bastard garden. Maybe they'll self-sow out there for next year. I'm rather sad about relocating my belated Mother's Day gift from my step-sons, but nothing lasts forever.
UPDATE: Here's a less flattering photo so you you can why the zinnias are going to the bastard garden:
Keep in mind how prominently these flowers were positioned on the edge of the patio. They were the first thing you saw when you came around the side of the house from the driveway. If they were in the ground the stripped stems wouldn't be such a big deal, but in the container -- ugh.
Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
Yesterday I took 15 good photos and today I give you a post containing all of them. I do so enjoy doing this.
I noticed something didn't quite look right on the snow peas in the center of the photo below (click to enlarge):
With the macro setting on my camera you can see what appear to be lots of little eggs. Anybody know what kind of insect might leave these behind?:
UPDATE: I found this this evening:
It was a lot more attractive before the worms hatched. I still don't know what they are -- some sort of inchworm?
I trimmed out the section with the rest of the eggs and threw it onto the grass just in case these little guys are something awesome, but I sure don't want them on my peas.
I love this photo of the vegetable jungle (what I'm calling this section of the garden these days). You can see habaneros on the bottom, tomatoes on the top, and bean blossoms just to the right of the tomatoes:
I realize after taking a closer look at this plant and it's companion on the other side of the tomato plants that I'm going to get another couple of strings of habaneros:
There were spiders all over the place. This one was particularly colorful:
Take note of these native plants growing behind the shed:
Because they are all over the wildflower patch as well:
I wondered if they came from the wildflower seed or if they snuck in on their own, so I did a little research and found out that these flowers are the Asiatic Dayflower. Incidentally, I love this great gallery of CT wildflowers from the Connecticut Botanical Society. You can sort by flower color -- so helpful! I still don't know if this particular flower came in the W-Mart can of wildflower seed that I used to fill in the blank spots in the wildflower patch, but it's pretty, so I don't care! The same goes for the flower below, the only one of its kind in the wildflower patch and so far unidentified -- a little help anyone?
The cosmos are so 3-D!
I don't think this sunflower bud is going to turn into a bloom, but I'll let you know if it proves me wrong:
Can anyone identify this plant -- I have two in the wildflower patch:
I had never seen a green florescent bee before, so I hastily took some photos -- this is the only one that wasn't completely blurred:
My plan is to transplant these flowers to the 1/2 herb barrel and then put herbs in here tomorrow:
Yesterday morning VPH called me outside with "We've got an emergency out here." I think I need to train him on what actually constitutes an emergency though. The dill did some how get knocked over and 2 stems were snapped and the rest bent, but hey, it's only dill and it will probably bounce back. I'm more impressed that the ceramic pot didn't shatter or even chip on the concrete patio:
Just to show that the original annual plantings aren't doing too bad:
There you go, 15 photos, one day, one post. Lots of gardening still to do. Wish me luck!
I've harvested about 12 beans to date, a few at a time. Yesterday, at last, I got a handful at the same time. Do you think I took the time to take a photo? Nope, I was running back to the office after lunch and just handed them off to VPH. By the time I arrived home that evening, they were already prepped for cooking. But oh, what a meal he presented:
Yup, that's a Tuscan lamb chop skillet: lamb chops with cannelini beans, stewed tomatoes and a side of our own green beans and a local farmer's zucchini in a balsamic vinaigrette reduction. OMG it's insanely good! One of my favorite meals and just smelling our rosemary makes me want it!
I'm working on a couple of things garden-related. One is a post about all the stuff that VPH has pulled out of the bastard garden this week -- I'll tease with a photo of trash can full of crap -- note the bicycle frame.
I'm pretty sure Friday is going to be the day that I pull apart the herb garden and start planting things in the ground to overwinter creating an herb garden between the shade garden and the wildflower patch. I will carefully blog that process for your reading pleasure.
Make sure you come back to visit!
It's raining! Not just a passing shower either. A long steady rain with sudden downpours (not so good), but at this point, I'll take any rain! I never imagined that I would miss rainy summer days...gardening sure does change your weather priorities.
I'll add to this post when I get home from work tonight -- I can't wait to check the rain gage!
Update: 1.5 inches of rain today. And it's still raining off and on. At least the grass will be loving it. With the veggies in containers we'll be out watering again before too long, but it's nice to have a few days off!
_______________________________________________________________
I don't have much to post on today, so I'll give you a few left over pics from the past week or so.
Here's a little garden mystery. Is that more sweet potato vine or some sort of mimic weed?
I can't see the roots under the watering can lip, so I'm not sure what's going on:
These habaneros have already been harvested, but boy were they pretty on the plant:
This is the biggest one we got -- about 2.5 inches long:
There's something new on the pot rack tonight:
I read on-line that all you have to do is string up the habaneros with decent airflow around them and they will dry successfully. I sure hope they do:
The cilantro's coming along, but I'm not sure we're going to be able to harvest any before the first frost -- mid- to late-October in this area.
I'm almost ready to put together the little greenhouse I bought and I hope it will extend the growing season for us. The cilantro, and many of the other annual herbs will be moving in and we hope to have fresh herbs through 2007. Now I just need to decide where to put it! VPH is going to make a batch of salsa to freeze tomorrow or Thursday, but I hope we get another 2 or 3 bunches of tomatoes to "put up" before the first frost.
Are you all as sad as I am thinking about how close the first frost could be?
I promised photos of the garden by tiki torch before we took them down. I had my friend's 6 almost 7 year old all day on Saturday and while we were waiting for his mom to arrive we lit a few of the torches around the patio. Of course he wanted to light them all, so I figured what the hey, I'll try and photograph them for you.
I apologize for the blurred photos, but really low light leads to extreme shutter length and I'm not a tripod!
The wildflower patch looks so exotic by firelight (and with the exception of the torch in the front right, these stay in year round and really light up the patio when reflecting off the siding):
The veggie garden sure looks different -- and dark:
Don't you just love the electric lights on the gazebo:
We put tiki torches and mini-sconces with citronella candles all the way around the yard:
I tried using the table by the Adirondack chairs as a tripod and had slightly better results:
I love the fairy garden and I hate to take the torches out, but it is a little much to expect VPH to mow around them.
Friday evening around 5:00pm I sat on the patio reading the latest issue of People Magazine (subscribing is my guilty pleasure) and I happened to look to my left at the herb garden in the 1/2 barrel. Wow -- have to photograph that:
Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
Just a reminder of where we left off yesterday:
We took a trip to our local garden center on Saturday with 5 specific goals:
1. Buy a fern to replace the bleeding heart that was decimated by some sort of animal (perennials were 25% off). Preferably a tall fern and not one that costs $20.
2. Get some annuals to fill the planter table because the current contents look like crap.
3. Do not come home with mums -- you don't like them -- even if there is nothing else at the garden center DO NOT COME HOME WITH MUMS.
4. Find some seedlings for the empty container in the veggie garden. Not the ornamental kale that is advertised as on sale, get something that is actually edible.
5. Do not buy any herbs. You don't need them, they're at the end of their season. There isn't a lot of selection. Just pass by without looking!
3 out of 5 isn't bad. We got a great plant called a Branford fern which was developed right here in Branford, CT and it was only $6.50. Then I left you hanging on which 2 of the other 4 goals we had accomplished.
Remember how awful the planter table was looking last week:
I had very lofty ambitions for this planter (which actually holds 4 smallish self-watering pots). I was going to find some beautiful fall plants and put together something with lots of color and varied heights, foliage, etc. and so on. Then we got to the garden center and found mums, mums, and more mums. There were a couple of ornamental kale plants and a few ornamental peppers. Yeah, this wasn't working out the way I thought it would.
I wandered around and finally found a few plastic patio boxes that the garden center had planted up and advertised as fall color. No mums in sight. VPH and I liked one of them very much and despite feeling like we were cheating, we decided to buy it. It was a little bit smaller than the planter table, so I decided we would need a small plant on either side of the planter. Yup, you know what I bought -- mums. I couldn't help it, they were the only plant of that size and shape available. And they're purple, well they were marked as purple, they're not in bloom yet, so we'll see. Even with the mums, we are really happy with the way the table looks now:
The two end pots of the original plantings were still doing pretty well, so I snapped the bottoms back on them and, as you can see above, put them on either side of the table. Here's a close up of the planter table:
See, the mums aren't that bad. Unlike these sad, half-dead plants:
Which moved into the bastard garden:
So that's check on the fern, check on annuals for the planter table (though not exactly how I had envisioned it happening), and a big fat failure on not bringing home mums.
On top of that, the local garden center didn't have a single vegetable seedling, not one. So now the question is what to put in the empty large container. The only seed I have on hand is for lettuce (which we didn't eat in the spring -- it's off to the left out of frame of the photo above) and snow peas (which I have growing in two places already). Any recommendations? If not, the bell pepper in the smallest container is probably going to move in.
Our last goal was to come home without any herbs. Unfortunately this one was rather easy to accomplish. I guess it really is the end of the season, the selection was poor and what they did have looked awful.
Altogether accomplishing three out of the five goals isn't bad. One was beyond my control -- the garden center didn't have any vegetable seedlings, who'd have thunk it? And I only came home with 2 little mums and they're purple and green. You know how I am about purple and green in my garden!
I'm going to take a couple of days off from blogging to enjoy what may be my last chance to sun with my husband and hang out with girlfriends at restaurants by the beach without a jacket. Back on Green Thumb Sunday.
First, a quick update on items just hanging out there.
Today's harvest (4 tomatoes, 8 beans -- what do you do with 8 beans?, some purple basil, and our first vine-ripened habanero):
See honey, I told you that outdoor shower would come in handy!
I removed all the leaves from the sage plant that showed signs of powdery mildew. I find it extremely odd that the pile of diseased leaves was larger than I had expected and that the plant didn't end up looking completely bald:
VPH mixed up a solution that I found on-line, which of course, I can't find again, but it was hot water, baking powder, and dish detergent. I hope it works. I would love to use neem oil, but I can't find it in a local garden center and purchasing it on-line doubles the cost with shipping and I just can't justify the expense to myself. I'll keep looking for it and maybe I'll be able to pick some up during a fall sale on-line.
The ugly tomato moved to the bastard garden:
I guess I haven't explained in a while that it only exists because VPH hates to destroy living plants. So it's sort of a way station on the way to the composter. Any time I say "Honey, please pull that plant and put it in the compost," -- because I can't bear to do it myself, he says, "Can I put it in my bastard garden?" And since it's behind the shed and out of sight, I really don't care what he does back there.
We took a trip to our local garden center on Saturday with 5 specific goals:
1. Buy a fern to replace the bleeding heart that was decimated by some sort of animal (perennials were 25% off). Preferably a tall fern and not one that costs $20.
2. Get some annuals to fill the planter table because the current contents look like crap.
3. Do not come home with mums -- you don't like them -- even if there is nothing else at the garden center DO NOT COME HOME WITH MUMS.
4. Find some seedlings for the empty container in the veggie garden. Not the ornamental kale that is advertised as on sale, get something that is actually edible.
5. Do not buy any herbs. You don't need them, they're at the end of their season. There isn't a lot of selection. Just pass by without looking!
3 out of 5 isn't bad. We got a great plant called a Branford fern which was developed right here in Branford, CT and it was only $6.50:
This is the time of year where the western side of the house gets about 20 minutes of sunlight right around the time I'm home for lunch so I finally got a decent shot of the shade garden:
Can anyone explain why the slugs love this hosta (I think that's slug damage):
And they totally ignore this one just feet away:
While I'm on this side of the house, the impatiens are doing a lot better (and I just gave them a little fertilizer so I expect more blooms):
This one's a little blurry:
I have to say I'm really proud of how the shade garden turned out and I can't wait to see the plants start filling out next year. I think I may still add some astilbe for color in the spring in the shade portion of this garden, but I'm not doing anything more with it now and I kind of want to keep it a perennial garden, so I have more research to do over the winter. I also have to figure out what's going in the sunny portion at the end of the walk over the retaining wall, but I have all winter to decide between herbs, vegetables, or flowers. I'm not going to try heather again, I read that it's really finicky in my climate and I'm pretty sure my soil just isn't right for it. Oh well, I knew not everything was going to make it through the summer.
Are you dying to know which 2 of the other 4 goals we were able to accomplish? You'll have to wait until tomorrow.
I had to start with this photo:
It has nothing to do with this post, but 1.) I love it; and 2.) Some people won't read a post that looks like it may be all text and no photos. Stick with it folks, there will be more photos below.
__________________________________________________
Sometimes I call my collection of plants in the area around our house a garden and sometimes I call it a yard. What's the difference?
I love dictionary.com. Some of the many definitions that they list for yard:
1. The ground that immediately adjoins or surrounds a house, public building, or other structure.
2. An enclosed area outdoors, often paved and surrounded by or adjacent to a building; court.
3. An outdoor enclosure designed for the exercise of students, inmates, etc.: a prison yard.
4. An outdoor space surrounded by a group of buildings, as on a college campus.
9. A piece of ground set aside for cultivation; garden; field.
10. The winter pasture or browsing ground of moose and deer.
Okay, the moose and deer definition has nothing to do with the question at hand, but it made me laugh.
The first three definitions listed for garden:
1. A plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
2. A piece of ground or other space, commonly with ornamental plants, trees, etc., used as a park or other public recreation area: a public garden.
3. A fertile and delightful spot or region.
I often feel as though my humble attempt at growing things on purpose doesn't deserve the lofty title of garden. A garden requires planning, structure, and knowledge (all in short supply at my house). But if you go strictly by the first definition for a garden, my collection of plants most certainly qualifies as a garden. Notice they don't specify success in cultivation as a necessary component.
I've been experiencing some rather disheartening events in the garden (see how quickly I've adopted that term). My sage appears to have powdery mildew:
Does anyone have any good suggestions for how to get rid of it? Keep in mind this is an edible plant and I'd prefer not to ingest chemicals.
The cute little fern that I transplanted from the driveway has been eaten:
Heather's Garden is now without heather (the brown spot at the bottom center is all that remains of my beautiful plant):
The wildflower patch is sort of straggly at this point. I'm not sure if I can deal with this much disorder for another year (though it does look better since I cut down the really tall non-blooming cosmos):
The spiders are taking over the vegetable garden:
Most of the annuals in the planter (especially the pentas) are dead or dying:
But for all the failures there are at least two successes. Two of the cilantro seeds have sprouted:
And I'm amazed, but the basil that the june bugs were having so much fun eating is bouncing back:
Please do comment with suggestions for getting rid of the powdery mildew on the sage. Or let me know I'm wrong and it's not powdery mildew and I don't need to worry about it!
On Sunday I went outside for a moment just to see what the weather was like. The tomatoes were looking a little droopy, so I grabbed the hose and started watering the vegetable garden. I looked over at the pink pentas and OMG there was a monarch butterfly on one of the flowers. I dropped the hose (water still running) and tore inside. "Where's my camera?" I shouted to VPH and younger step-son as I ran around the kitchen in a circle.
Of course I found it on the table with the battery in the charger and then I remembered leaving the memory card in computer. I reassembled the camera and ran out the side door. Incredibly the monarch was still there. It flew away and came back twice and I was able to get a bunch of photos before it left for good.
I haven't done anything to the following photos except crop them:
I think the first photo is now the front runner for the Christmas card. I'm so happy.
We've been enjoying ridiculously good weather here for the long weekend -- 80 degrees and no humidity with a light breeze. I've read 4 books so far. I love sunny days with nothing to do. I'm just sad that there won't be too many more of them. Younger step-son has been sleeping over and he brought his XBOX 360 with him so we've all been playing Bioshock together. Not much time for blogging!
I still don't know when I should be picking the beans:
Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
