Heather's Garden

Happy New Year!

Will 2012 bring a renewed interest in posting for me?  Unknown, but I can share this year's calendar with you. As I began to review 2011's images an obvious theme emerged -- butterflies.  Well to be exact 10 butterflies, a moth, and a caterpillar.  The text from this year's message:

As I sat down to compile photos for this year’s calendar an obvious theme emerged.  Between the photos I took in early April on a spontaneous road-trip to Myrtle Beach (poor Lee stayed in the frozen north) and the photos I took in late July on a very much planned trip to Key West (Lee got to come along this time), and a few from my own garden, this year’s calendar just had to be butterflies.  Well, to be specific—one Luna moth, 10 butterflies, and a caterpillar that I very much hope made it to a new life as a swallowtail butterfly. 

The photos for January through June were snapped in the butterfly house at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC.  I spent a lovely day there with my friend Pat and her granddaughter.  It was a grand escape from the seemingly endless winter we experienced in CT this year.

The photos for July through October were captured at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory.  Lee and I traveled down to Key West in late July to help my mom celebrate her 70^th birthday.  Amazingly it was actually hotter at home in Branford than it was in south Florida when we landed—2011 was the year of weather extremes in CT!  Mom and I went to the butterfly house the day after her birthday (just the two of us) and it was a magical experience with a cool present/souvenir for mom.

And how could we have a calendar featuring Heather’s Garden without photos of Heather’s Garden?  November’s swallowtail butterfly perched right on our butterfly bush.  And December is a caterpillar on the dill in my herb garden that may have transformed into a swallowtail butterfly, but we’ll never know.

Cover:

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Back cover:

Happy New Year!

Not At The Fling, But We Are Hitting The Road

My mom is turning 70 on Tuesday -- 70!  She's going to be horrified that I announced that here, but I think that she should be proud.  A.) She looks fantastic for 70 (probably for 55-60 too) and B.) Turning 70 and being in good health like my mom is something to be happy about.  So Lee and I are heading down to FL to celebrate with her and some other mystery guests.  Ironically, south Florida will be cooler than home when we arrive this weekend (everyone enjoying this heatwave?).  We'll be spending a few days on Marco Island then driving down to Key West -- where neither of us has ever been!

On the agenda is a visit to The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory.  Could there really be a butterfly only calendar in the offing this year?  Remember the fabulous shots of butterflies I got down in SC in April (or in this case a luna moth):

  

We'll also swing by the Hemingway Home and whatever else strikes our fancy.  Lee's been researching places to eat, so I'm sure I'll come back home a few pounds heavier than I left!

We'll miss all our garden blogging friends in Seattle, but as one said, "There will be other Flings, but you only have one mom."  See you soon, mom!  And not to worry, SS2 will be home and watering the garden faithfully.

Breaking News From The Garden

We've had quite a bit of sun and very warm temps and finally some rain (I was getting tired of watering and frankly, not doing a very good job of it).  The garden is thriving!  I guess I was wrong about not getting beans while we still potatoes:

 

And that's an honest to goodness grown in my garden zucchini!  Long time readers will remember how much trouble I have growing zucchini which supposedly grows like crazy for everyone else in the world:

 

This may be the ugliest tomato plant ever, but it was only purchased for the early tomatoes and it looks like it's going to get the job done:

 

And the day-lilies have arrived:

 

They're so pretty:

 

Not all the breaking news is excellent.  The two rains we've had in the last 48 hours were strong storms and at least one appears to have been accompanied by strong winds:

 

But that was a blessing in disguise because the turned over leaves revealed cucumber beetle eggs on two different leaves (that I promptly removed):

 

And I was able to straighten up the plants (mostly):

 

The zucchini and at least one cucumber are sort of encroaching on the herb garden (note to self next year, plant the zucchini a little farther to the left).  We've been harvesting dill and cilantro and hoping they don't bolt in this heat (though I think I may have lost that battle already with at least some of the cilantro):

 

I think I successfully saved the kale in the raised veggie bed from the cabbage worms.  And the beets, onions, and Swiss chard are doing great.  Can you see the cucumbers starting to climb the trellis at the back:

 

One of the potato plants had what I have to imagine are Colorado potato beetle eggs on a leaf overturned by the storm.  I plucked it off, but not before capturing what may be one of my favorite photos so far this summer.  This is the best crop of the photo I could make, but it's still not quite perfect:

 

Another bright spot in the garden right now is the patch of flowers from the end of the veggie garden to the shed including the butterfly bush which is flowering like mad (note Lee's beautiful edging job): 

Nothing particularly special and some "native plants" mixed in, but pretty together:

 

And I don't know why this one dahlia is so far ahead of all the others, but it's really exciting to see it budding:

 

And I'll close with the biggest problem we've been experiencing this year.  Can you see it below?  I'll give you a hint, it's on the right-hand side about half way down the photo:

 

Yup, that's poison ivy in the middle of established plants in a container by the front door.  I don't know why, but it's been popping up all over the garden this year, damn birds is all I can think.  In containers (even containers of tomatoes in the veggie garden), in mulch all over the garden, the gravel driveway -- EVERYWHERE.  I've never had a reaction, in fact I didn't even know what it looked like until a few years after we started gardening, so I'm sure I waded through it often in the first 30 years of my life.  But not having had a previous reaction doesn't guarantee that I won't ever suffer the misery.  Lee can think of poison ivy and break out in a rash, so it's up to me to take care of it.  I have a two plastic bag system.  One on my hand like a glove, the other to hold the offending plants.  All is carefully disposed of in the trash and I wash my hands immediately with cold water and soap just in case.  Knock wood, it's worked so far, but I feel like I'm risking a rash every time.

What's the breaking news in your garden?

Brookgreen Gardens: The Butterfly House

I took hundreds of photos at Brookgreen Gardens on Saturday.  It took me a few days to go through all the shots, let alone draft a post.  We started the day at the butterfly house and I seriously considered paying a second $3 for another 30 minutes in there:

 

We entered to a traffic jam since this luna moth was on a weeping cherry right by the entrance:

 

I'm sharing these photos with you in the order I took them.  I literally had 8 other shots so similar to this one that it took me forever to choose just one: 

 

Whereas I took only one photo of this butterfly (on the same Japanese maple) before it flew away:

 

We had to be careful because the butterflies were everywhere and quite "frisky" as described by the staffers:

 

How many butterflies do you see in this photo?  I never thought about butterflies needing water:

 

So very nearly a perfect photo:

 

This is actually cropped quite a bit.  I'm still learning to use my new camera, but I'm pretty happy I got the butterfly in focus:

 

This is the only butterfly that landed on someone while we were in the butterfly house, but apparently it's not unusual.  Quite a few of the butterflies had some damage.  I know I nearly stepped on a few:

 

Definitely calendar worthy:

 

As is this:

 

I went back around and visited with the luna moth again:

 

I just love this photo:

 

It's going to be incredibly difficult to pick one photo for April in next year's calendar.  In fact, I could almost do a butterfly calendar.  Maybe if I get another 4 good ones in the garden this year...  More on Brookgreen Gardens and Myrtle Beach later in the week.

It's Seed Starting Time!

Let the record reflect that I started the herbs, marigolds, and coleus on March 22nd (the plant tags are the cut up mini-blinds):

I planted 6 each of Chinese garlic chives (Botanical Interests), slow bolting cilantro (Botanical Interests), tetra dill (Botanical Interests), purple dark opal basil, aton basil, sweet basil, genovese basil, lemon basil, lime basil, tarragon, true lavender, marigolds, and rainbow mix coleus:

I have a bunch of peat pots that still need to be filled with seed starter, moistened, and seeded.  Those will be 6 of red acre cabbage (Botanical Interests), 3 each of early pride hybrid cucumber, spacemaster bush cucumber, black beauty zucchini (Botanical Interests), a hybrid zucchini, and 2 each of beefsteak tomatoes (Botanical Interests) and better bush tomatoes (Botanical Interests).  UPDATE:  Got the rest of the seeds started on 3/26:

  

But I still have careful watering to do.  I was hoping soaking them in water would do the trick, but I'm sure you can tell which one pot I've actually watered:

 

And it's a good thing that I have all these seeds growing inside because it appears winter isn't done with us:

 

I finally gave in and admitted that my camera was done.  It kept switching itself to video.  I managed to swing an awesome deal and got this Canon Powershot for about $70.  Yes, I'd love a fancy SLR if someone with lots of money would like to buy me one.  It's going to take a little time and practice before I master it, but I think I like this first round of photos:

 

Calendar worthy?  Certainly one of the better photos I've taken in March, but that's not saying much:

 

I wish I had more interesting stuff in snow to photograph -- only crocuses and chives so far:

 

I really hope this is the last time I see the garden covered in snow.  Please, please, please let it be the last time:

 

And I feel totally justified posting this photo because there is plant material in it.  But really it's all about the awesome platter I painted.  Girls night out at the local pottery painting place brought out the anal planner in me.  I googled for a stock image of a bird on a branch (bonus points that it has two!), printed it out, cut it out, traced it on contact paper, cut out the contact paper, stuck it to the platter and painted around it like a reverse stencil.  And they even had a paint color to match the kitchen chairs!  Here it's on top of a bowl and shoved over towards the window because the table is covered in seed starting supplies:

I can so see it covered in tomatoes from the garden this summer!

Back To The Land Of All Snow

Gosh, where to start?  We fled CT (otherwise known as the land of snow) on January 17th and in our two weeks in Florida we missed something like 30 inches of snow falling at home.  And there was already a good 24 inches of snow on the ground when we left.  Day two of the drive south was January 18th and Lee's birthday so when we figured out we'd be hitting Jacksonville around lunch time we decided that we'd stop for a nice lunch to celebrate the car thermometer passing 60 degrees!  Let me tell you what a difference a true smart phone makes on a long road-trip.  I can speak into the phone and see where what I'm looking for is in relation to my GPS location on a map!  We both thought of P.F. Changs at exactly the same moment and though it was a little off our planned route, we made an exception.  Snow boots off and flip-flops on for the ceremonial setting foot on Florida "soil" -- my feet, not Lee's:

 

He was so happy basking in the rays on his birthday.  But it was clearly only warm to us when the staff repeatedly asked if we were sure we wanted to eat outside.  At least we enjoyed a nice hour of sun before getting back in the car for the last 6 hours drive south (FL is sooooooo long):

We spent a few days on Marco Island relaxing from the drive and thawing out from the deep freeze that is CT this winter.  We hit the farmer's market on our first day and got lots of delicious food.  One item, a quiche, led us to Bistro Soleil for dinner, where we not only had a delicious supper, but I had the best dessert of the vacation -- beignets and chantilly cream (and this photo was taken after I already inhaled half of it!): 

 

The weather wasn't perfect, but 68 degrees and sunny felt awesome compared to the 20 and snowing we knew we were missing at home.  And the storm rolling in offered a dramatic photo op by the pool (this could be January's photo in the 2011 calendar):

 

At some point in the year since we last go down to the condo they did a good deal of cutting back and opened up our view from the living room through the lanai:

 

We met up with some friends from home who were spending a few months close to the island.  We may have been vacationing on the island for years, but they've spent far more time dining out in the relatively short period of time they've been visiting.  They recommended The Little Bar on Goodland and boy are we glad we listened:

 

We enjoyed a few more days of fantastic sunshine:

 

And wonderful meals by beautiful water (this view is from the parking lot of Lee's new favorite place the Snook Inn):

 

My mom introduced us to our favorite new place, the Silverspot Cinemas in Naples.  We had a very early dinner at the Snook Inn (above) and then slowly made our way up to the theater and had our dessert there.  Really, a pinot noir and lava cake are the most civilized way to hang out in a theater lobby that I have ever experienced: 

 

All too soon we were spending our last day in paradise.  We decided to go to the Marriott to have appetizers and watch the sunset from their beach:

 

So worth the $10 beer:

 

The two day journey home was without incident and timed perfectly to arrive home in advance of (hopefully the last) big storm.  The blizzard that hit most of the country gave us several hours of freezing rain.  It left us with a nice hard crunchy crust on top on what I can only describe as the most snow I have ever seen in the 12 years we've lived in this house.  Contemplating how I will get to the backyard to take photos: 

 

It left some really nasty bruises on my legs, but it was worth stomping through the icy crust to see just how much snow was back there.  Oh, and excuse the blue snow, but I didn't set the camera correctly for these photos: 

 

Some impressive icicles:

 

And the money shot...really look at all that snow!  I'm so glad SS1 knocked the snow off the top of the shed for me as requested while we were gone.  Not sure the roof could have taken it:

 

My footsteps in the crusty snow.  I still can't get over how much white frozen stuff there is over here:

 

More impressive icicles:

 

Do you see the planters on the upper left?  Those are the ones on the huge stump on the huge hill.  Yes, that's how high the shoveled/plowed snow berms are now:

 

This is a view that should be pretty familiar to you, if it weren't for the several feet of snow:

 

This is a view of the parking lot at my work (from my boss' office).  All parking lots have been reduced by at least a third.  I think we'll still have piles by May: 

 

I took all the snow photos 2 days after the snow/ice storm hit.  I couldn't believe how everything was still covered by ice the entire 45 miles from my house northwest to my office, but I couldn't quite capture it with the camera phone speeding along at 70 plus mph through my filthy windshield: 

Now, more than 10 days later, the melting is well underway.  I can actually see one of the planters flanking the front steps for the first time in at least 6 weeks!  It was 50 degrees today.  God I hope this lasts.  I can't take much more snow and ice.

The Calendar (For Those Still Seeking Christmas Gifts)

I think I've already mentioned that another benefit of staying home for Thanksgiving this year is that I got the calendars done really early.  It was a great year in the garden and we think this year’s calendar reflects that.  I tried to feature photos in the month they were taken, but couldn’t quite do it.  All photos were taken in 2010 and with the exception of March and July, all in our garden, or at least on our street.  Stick around to the end and there will be information on purchasing a calendar of your very own! 

The cover:

 

January -- It was a rather snowy January and this snow-covered hydrangea almost looks like a snow-covered mountain.  I learned a lot about how to photograph snow in 2010:

 

February -- Another snow shot and for a February morning in CT an unusually blue sky.  My mom and the judge of a photo contest (hon. mention) thought it looked like spring blossoms at 1^st glance:

 

March -- Another sunset viewed from the beach on Marco Island, this one in March during our last trip down in 2010.  I wonder if this will become a yearly entry to the calendar:

  

April -- Does anything say spring quite like forsythia in bloom?  This photos was taken on April 10^th, everything was about 2 weeks early in 2010:

May -- Managing to keep featuring photos in the month they were taken by giving you this shot of osteospermums.  Impulsively buying a $10 pot gave me one of my favorite photos of the year:

June -- This dragonfly came to visit on July 1^st, so close to June!  Early July brought a lot of dragonflies, but this was the best shot by far, though a pretty blue one was pretty unique:

  

July -- We heart Buffalo and our July visit to the Japanese Garden at Delaware Park was the highlight of our trip.  Is the road in the background a distraction or a reminder that you’re in an oasis:

  

August -- 2010 was the year of the tomato.  The weather was perfect and August brought a harvest like this one on a daily basis.  We literally had more than we could eat:

  

September -- Taken in early October when this praying mantis suddenly showed up in the garden – our first!  I wish I hadn’t cut off the tail in this shot, but it’s pretty darn good even without it:

  

October  -- An August spider featured for October, but it wouldn’t be a Heather’s garden calendar without a close-up of a spider to freak you out for Halloween:

  

November -- I should have a really great fall color shot for November, but instead you get this astilbe leaf from April.  I love the sun streaming from above and the stained-glass look of the leaf:

 

December -- Even though we added two butterfly bushes to the garden this year and saw swallowtails for the first time, this Monarch on one of the bushes was the best butterfly shot captured this year:

 

Now the pitch -- each year people tell me I should sell the calendars, so I figured, what the hell, why not actually put some products in the CafePress store I created years ago.  So if you'd like to purchase calendars (or note cards) head over to my store and buy away.  I can tell you from personal experience that the calendars make excellent Christmas presents!

Holiday Leftovers

It will come as no surprise to regular readers that I compile a calendar each year using photos I took in the previous year.  I'm holding off sharing this year's calendar until the recipients have had a chance to open their packages -- in the mail now folks, hold on!  But I did want to share two things.  First, Garden Rant has kindly compiled a list of garden-related crafts available for purchase (like calendars and note-cards) here.  When they asked for submissions a short while ago I decided that it was time to actually stock the CafePress shop I created years ago.  Be forewarned that if you click overto the CafePress shop you will see this year's calendar and ruin the surprise, mom and dad!  But there are some nice note-cards for sale there that would make good holiday cards.

The other thing I wanted to share with you is my current decorating project.  I still have to clean my bedroom and get all my clothes organized.  The only surefire way to get me back there is to start a project in the room so I'm in there during the day instead of late at night (when Lee really doesn't like me bombing around, he has this strange need for sleep).  Which brings me (slowly) to the titular leftovers.  We've been emptying the fridge bit by bit of leftovers.  The pork-loin yielded two meals, one of which was pork-fried rice -- yum!  But these leftovers are the portrait-oriented photos from the past few years that I love, but couldn't work into the landscape-oriented calendars.

Once I was able to crop and get a decent photo for inclusion:

But that's the only time that worked.  So I had a bunch of photos in a folder on my desktop awaiting inspiration.  It finally struck this evening as I browsed Ikea's website for new food canisters and came across these really inexpensive simple frames:

 

At $.99 for 4 frames I could go nuts!  They're 4x6, but I initially thought they were 5x6 and cropped 12 photos to fit.  I'll have to recrop to 4x6, but here's the old version in an arrangement I might like:

 

I haven't quite decided if I will hang all 12 or not.  I'll probably wait to see how they print on my new wireless printer (switch if you haven't already -- I feel so liberated!) before deciding if all will go up.  And they will be over the bed in place of a row of framed Dali postcards.  I love the postcards because I bought them, the frames, and the black construction paper they're mounted on with my sister years and years ago.  I remember that great day of shopping and crafting when I look at them, but I think it's time for a change.  I might find another spot for one or two of them, but I will definitely be keeping them all.  I will share more as this project progresses, including how I am going to manage hanging all those little frames in straight rows!

UPDATE: Now that I realize that the frames are 4x6 (and have a bunch of them), I went back and re-cropped the photos properly.  Some that I hadn't used because 5x6 didn't work, do now.  Still won't hang them all, but here's what I'm considereding now:

 

I think I see a few I'll eliminate right away!

A First For Me

Before last week I only had one memory of seeing a praying mantis in person.  I was a little girl, maybe 7, and we found one on the sidewalk in New Haven outside my babysitter's house.  But last week I went outside after a few days of rain to see how the garden was faring.  And there it was -- a praying mantis on the basil chowing down on a still wriggling bee:

 

None of these photos are perfect because it was silly windy:

 

So you can see just how big the mantis was:

 

This may be calendar-worthy:

 

And to show you how difficult it was to get a decent photo:

And then on Sunday I went outside to escape the never-ending football on my TV (love having SS1 come over and hang out, but I can only take a few hours of football before I get bored) and found the mantis over on the wire shelves along the fence.  I love this photo, I just wish I hadn't cut off the mantis' tail:

 

And predictably my camera battery died so I couldn't try for a better one.  I just hope the mantis gives me another chance if the rain ever stops.  I took this photo to show the one new, blue bloom on the hydrangea, but it's kind of tough to see with the yellow of the siding behind it, but at least the beans on the netting look awesome:

 

I don't know if you can see it, but there are nasturtiums growing int he raised bed again.  I don't know if they're self-sown or somehow remnants of the plants that I pulled (though I can't imagine how that would happen):

 

Another surprise, well actually two, the husky cherry tomato is getting huge all of a sudden for no apparent reason.  And that bush under birdfeeder was cut down to the ground early in the season, but it came back.  I can't decide if I want to keep it or will try cutting it down again:

 

And the wildflowers are finally looking half decent with all the asters in bloom:

 

Downright beautiful up close:

 

It's been quite chilly here, all our windows are closed, socks on, hoodies & sweaters worn all day (not just for the cool mornings), and the throws are out of the ottoman and covering us on the couch.  I refuse to turn on the heat this early in the season, but sitting around in a 64 degree room is a little bracing.  I imagine the poor tomatoes outside are even colder, especially at night.  I don't know how many more of them are going to ripen if October is going to be this cold!

Meanwhile, Back On The Farm

Garden time these days is pretty much sitting in the garden and sunning.  Throw in a beer, a crossword, or a good book and I'm a happy camper.  75 degrees and sunny is my favorite weather:

 

My fall crops are enjoying the weather too -- kale, though this is an old photo and it's showing true leaves now:

 

The spinach also has true leaves developing:

The Chinese garlic chives are so cute:

 

Lots and lots of carrots:

I was pretty horrified when I found this potato beetle on the Yukon Gold potatoes and made Lee kill it as soon as I was satisfied with the photo I had (no gloves on or I'd have done it myself).  I'm glad I took the time to get a good one because after careful examination of the photo I figured out it was a false potato beetle and not really a concern:

 

Sadly this is the only photo I could get of the monarch butterfly that keeps visiting the garden:

 

This grasshopper hung around for a long time, but it was mid-day and so bright, it was difficult to get a decent photo:

I found this insanely large web next to the Black Russian tomatoes:

 

I'm having trouble deciding which of these is calendar worthy.  Weigh in with your favorite, please.  #1:

 

#2:

#3:

 

#4: 

#5:

 

I know some of you are squirming around and squealing (come on they're just photos), so I'll give you some cheerier subject matter.  The radishes are really coming along in the wooden box (must thin them soon since true leaves have appeared), but look at all those tomatoes:

 

And this beautiful little strawberry:

 

But increasingly I'm readying my mind for the end of the growing season.  Planning which pots will be moved to the basement for the winter or the kitchen to try and grow -- and I mean try with the dry heat of forced air and the too short winter days.  And the few weeks we're planning to spend in Florida at some point...going to have to keep it to a minimum so SS1 consents to water while we're gone.  So far, I've started rooting cuttings from the Basil Perpetuo and two of the coleus that I particularly like:

Don't forget to comment and tell me which spider photo you like best, and while you're leaving a comment, share how you are preparing for winter in your part of the country.

Now I Really Am Done

Starting on Wednesday I finally got around to planting up the rest of the garden.  There's still something going on with the nerves near the incisions, but the doctor says it's normal up to 6 weeks after surgery and I'm just over 4 weeks post op, so she's not worried.  It's not keeping me from doing anything and my energy is back where it should be (though my stamina's not 100% yet), so I'm no longer limiting my activities.  What's the first thing I did?  Have a friend over to see the garden.  She couldn't come until teatime, so I made some sun tea and hit my new favorite place Sugar for cupcakes and cookies:

 

We had a lovely time together on a perfect day.  After she headed home with a rosemary and a lemon grass (I had a million herbs afterall), I wandered around taking a few photos here and there.  Habanero peppers have set on a few plants:

 

And bell peppers on a few:

 

I think the Roma tomatoes will be the first to ripen:

 

Though there are plenty of contenders in the wall o' tomatoes:

 

And how awesome does the planter table of Royal Purple Bush beans look?  There are tons of little baby beans growing, but I'm also digging how decorative they are:

 

The rest of these photos are from a few different days, but you don't really care and I know what happened when.  WARNING: These next three pics are a little gross.  Poor little bird embryo.  I have no idea where it came from though, since there are no trees over the veggie garden at all:

 

VPH was called in for the dirty job of disposing of it:

 

Oh well, cycle of life and all that:

 

But these photos are so much more fun!  Once again a dragonfly sat and posed for me.  I had about 30 good ones that I narrowed down to these three.  Please comment and tell me which is your favorite and why.  #1:

 

#2:

 

#3:

My mom sent me a pretty card right after my surgery:

I like the painting on the card so much that it might end up in a frame.  Doesn't my mom have the most distinctive hand-writing?  Not to be morbid, but some day she will be gone and I'm pretty sure just seeing it will make me cry: 

Since only one moon-flower seed actually grew, I had plenty of space for a climber in this container.  I planted cinnamon, opal, and purple ruffles basil (grown from seed with varying degrees of success) along the front and sowed a row of malabar seeds along the back:

 

I planted up two containers of herbs for my friends Jessica & John.  John said he'd take as much basil as I'd like to give him, so I put the sweet basil I grew from seed in the square container and golden oregano, purple sage, rosemary, and some big-leaf Italian basil from Vaiuso in the round container.  A pretty nice present for friends (who are loaning us their Tom-Tom for the drive to Buffalo) for way under $10:

I next turned my attention to the raised veggie bed.  I cut back the nasturtiums, especially the one vining up the trellis.  I decided the cucumbers didn't need the competition.  From left to right I planted lemon basil (from seed), big-leaf Italian basil ($1 from Vaiuso), and lime basil (from seed):

Here's the after.  Much better I think:

The herb barrel is probably over-planted, but I had a lot of herbs.  It took me a good 5 minutes to dig out the roots from last year's lemon grass, so I decided that this year the lemon grass could go in the ground behind the barrel, I just hope it gets enough sun, but if grass grows there, I figured lemon grass would.  Starting with the chives moving clockwise: I divided the chives and will give half to a friend, left the creeping thyme as it was (though next year I may plant a seedling of something in the middle of it early in the spring), a tiny golden sage overwintered but hasn't grown much, English lavender which I hope will overwinter for me, golden oregano, silver thyme, sage, and lemon basil.  In the middle there's red rubin basil, stevia, and parsley:

 

I still had herbs left (I know crazy, right?), so I planted up one more basket with purple sage, silver thyme, big-leaf Italian basil, and golden oregano:

 

The patio tomato was disgusting (I don't know what it had, but it went into the trash not compost), so these herbs will live on the bar on the patio.  I can't get over how huge the bar looks without the trays of seedlings on the bottom shelf:

A rare photo of VPH sitting.  He helped me put up the netting and had carried the chair over to stand on.  He didn't feel like gardening, so I asked him to sit and keep me company while I weeded.  I was on my way to get the weeding stool and snapped this photo without his knowledge:

 

And here's the same spot after weeding and now with Kentucky Wonder beans planted beneath the string trellis and behind the green metal trellises alternating Maxibel and Royal Burgundy bush beans (thanks Jennah!).  The green metal trellises are at staggered heights because I couldn't push the second one any further into the ground -- stupid rocks.  Luckily I think I like them better in that pattern than I would all at the same height:

 

I finally planted some white impatiens in the little blue pot and tucked it into the roots of the huge maple stump on the shady side of the house:

And this is kind of a funny one, but the bleeding hearts die back to the ground every summer when it gets hot (and it's been hot) and the container they're in is pretty prominent along the walkway.  I had a bunch of shade plants and an empty container, so I figured I might as well plop it on top of the "empty" glazed pot.  I used the coleus I grew from seed, white impatiens, lamium and creeping jenny.  I don't think it looks that weird:

 

So I'm left with only one shelf of plants.  6 containers of petunias which will be used to replace husky cherry tomatoes in the not too distant future, one lamium which could go anywhere, the Japanese maple seedling (growing really well!), a huge pot of chives for my friend, a lemon grass which could go into the ground next to the one behind the herb barrel if I don't find a better spot, a lemon thyme, one single lemon grass that I grew from seed that I can't bear to let go, silver thyme, an unidentified basil, lavender that I grew from seed, golden oregano, and hot & spicy oregano:

 

You can sort of see here that the cilantro and dill have already bolted, so they'll need to be replaced once they finish flowering.  I plan to replace the cilantro with the hot & spicy oregano and the dill with the silver thyme:

 

But really, I am done.  My goal was to get all the herbs in and the beans planted by the 4th of July and I beat that by a few days.  I've so enjoyed this spring/early summer and now I look forward to the first real tomato.  But first we're off to Buffalo on Thursday for Garden Bloggers Buffa10 and I can't wait to see some of my garden blogger friends face to face!  Now we just have to talk SS2 into watering the garden while we're gone.

Slowly, But Surely, I'm Getting Back Out There

We've had some fantastic growing weather, lots of sun and warm temps.  Everything's growing like mad.  Since I'm on super light duty, I had to wait for VPH to hill the potatoes for me.  And boy did they need it (note the lovage in the ground behind the small pot of mint growing very nicely too):

I couldn't scoop compost, but I was able to bend over and hold the potato stalks while he poured compost into the containers:

The two big black trash cans of Yukon Gold potatoes will both need more hilling, but the big wooden box of Red potatoes has been topped off completely:

The fingerlings aren't doing quite as well.  Both pots seem to have only 50% growth in them.  But this  fingerling, phlox, and basil grouping is still one of my favorite things in the garden right now (chair included for scale):

The most highly anticipated crop in our garden is, of course, tomatoes.  These are teeny tiny little tomatoes on the Black Russian tomato plant and I'm ecstatic to seem them:

This is one of the Black tomato plants I grew from seed (thanks again, Jennah) and though it's a little tough to see in this photo, there are little flowers on it and the other one (impossible to see in this photo since it's not pictured):

You wouldn't believe that this handsome little Husky Cherry tomato:

 

Is on this sad little plant:

Not nearly as exciting or eagerly anticipated is Ichiban eggplant, but I was still happy to see the first flower on it a few days ago.  It was getting hit hard by what I presume to be birds digging in the soil daily so I stuck some of the clear forks in it.  One day later and no digging, let's hope it stays that way:

In the raised veggie bed, the nasturtium to the left of the trellis appears to be a climber (it wasn't supposed to be), so I wrapped it around the trellis.  A few of the nasturtiums are just about to flower and now that I can squat, I think I'll thin the carrots some.  I did thin the cukes to 3 plants at the base of the trellis.  The two outside ones look great, but the one in the center is lagging behind.  I will be transplanting some basil plants to the empty space left by the harvested radishes as soon as I have the stamina to do so:

All of the beans are doing well.  In fact, I need to tear out the peas so I can use the netting on the fence for the Kentucky Wonder beans.  There are a few containers where only 50% or 75% of the bush beans germinated, so I need to go around and fill those spots.  That is not a problem in the table planter.  Not every Royal Purple Bush bean germinated, but there are probably too many for the space (I won't be thinning them though):

And here's the entire gravel patio and wall o' tomatoes:

Remember I said the weather was beautiful and everything was growing like mad...take a look at the veggie garden today:

 

Apparently the way to grow good basil is to put the seedlings in the sun and forget to water them (lavender, coleus, and zinnia too):

 

The pots of herbs are doing really well:

The lemon thyme is blooming (calendar-worthy?):

 

But it doesn't really count because I bought the plant this spring.  I was elated to spot flowers in this pot:

Because that's an over-wintered thyme blooming (not calendar-worthy, but still pretty):

 

Only one lonely moonflower in this container that keeps getting attacked by digging birds.  My mom sent me malabar seeds (also known as basella or Japanese spinach) which I'll plant along the trellis and some of the basil seedlings will go in front.  Again, when I have the stamina: 

 

The Japanese maple has a new set of leaves:

 

When VPH weeded the wildflower hillside I asked him to leave a few just about to bloom plants so I could see what they were.  One turned out to be Bladder Campion:

 

Pretty:

 

There are a few lupine plants in the wildflower patch:

I can't believe how many flowers there are going to be on the Endless Summer hydrangea:

And this heuchera is blooming so much

 

I've only been waiting 2 years to see this astilbe bloom: 

 

Whereas all the ones in containers are blooming nicely for me after only a year.  Should be a spectacular show soon: 

   

I'm one week post-op today, but I'd say I'm only 65% at the moment.  I've asked my friends who've had this surgery (a surprisingly high number) and most say 2-3 weeks until they were 100%.  Having limits is absolutely driving me crazy!

The Long Weekend

Heading into the long weekend I didn't have any plans other than to enjoy my garden since I was going under the knife early on Tuesday morning...that pesky gallbladder had to come out.  But then on Friday schedules gelled and all of a sudden I had something to do each day of the long weekend.  But Saturday morning was spent tidying up the garden in preparation for a small cook-out on Monday.  VPH gets the He-Man prize for weeding the hillside

While he got started, I made a quick trip to Walmart for Borax and spray bottles to make a solution to clean the chair cushions.  But I couldn't resist a hanging container of osteospermum at Walmart.  Remember that post in the driveway that was exposed when I cut down the large bush to get more sun on the plants in pots?  Not empty any longer:

I mean really, could you have passed these by?  I don't think so:

This may be calendar-worthy:

Then VPH and I both worked on cleaning up the cushions.  Here they are drying just a little bit more:

VPH also washed the patio really well:

It's officially summer now:

The lamium is blooming so prettily in this container:

 

I imagine that's how the cute little lamium plants popped up beneath it...seeds thrown from the flowers above last year:

 

I didn't notice them until VPH weeded though.  He also went to town on the huge maple stump.  Much better:

 

Carpenter bees are all over the garden, but I didn't see the damage from this one right away.  The sawdust on the cobweb drew my eye:

 

This was my view on Monday evening.  Our guests had left, I was happily full (and on my 2nd beer), the garden looked beautiful, and I had my feet up and a big book to read: 

 

I'm recovering pretty well from the surgery, but I'm tired and still a little sore.  The most frustrating thing is not even being able to water the garden.  But it's limited activity for only one week and most people feel better by then.  Everything else has gone exactly as predicted, so let's hope that does too!

Sunny And Warm, But I Can't Garden Because Of The Weather?!

It was gorgeous outside today, brilliant sunshine, warm temps (just over 60), and work was quiet.  So what kept me out of the garden?  The wind.  Everything I had to do was related to potting soil...the potting soil that I ended up covered in on a calm day.  I really hope this stops so I can get some stuff done tomorrow.  "How bad could the wind be?" you ask.  I used my nifty new tripod (thanks mom!) to shoot some video to show you.  It really starts howling around :30 and the camera and tripod nearly blow over just after the 1:00 mark:

Not visible in the video is the clematis which is growing like a weed.  In this photo of it you can't quite see that the two climbing nasturtiums I planted on each side of it are finally up!  The four I planted in front of the other trellis...not so much:

 

The azalea is blooming in the Mother's Day garden:

 

Potentially calendar-worthy:

 

I think we'll end up will some more scilla next spring if the number of seed pods on the ground are any indication:

 

I guess the next thing I'm looking forward to seeing bloom is the iris.  They didn't bloom last year (their first in our garden after my friend Mary passed them along), so I'm trying not to consider the four flower stalks among 20 or so plants a disappointment:

 

What are you looking forward to seeing in your garden?

A New Look

I don't even remember when I created my former header, but it was definitely time for a new look.  I snapped this shot of basil seedlings today and not only is it calendar-worthy, I decided to use part of it for my new header:

The whole tray: 

A few highlights...I really have to get the cilantro and dill out of the tray before they take over completely:

I'm so excited for the lovage:

 

And with 3 Black tomato seedlings I can't believe I actually have a chance of harvesting tomatoes from a plant I grew from seed:

In other seedling news -- the first radish has popped up in the raised bed (and by the end of the day almost 2 full rows of seedlings had joined it): 

Three of my favorite things in the garden right now: the hydrangea, peas, and patio garden together:

It looks like my crappy fall clean-up may have unexpected benefits.  These appear to be lots of petunia seedlings...I'll have to try and save some and see, they'll probably be nice for replenishing containers mid-season:

 

It's almost azalea time:

It's covered in buds, unlike the rhododendron (I still like the rhododendron though):

 

No blooms on the bush on the other side of the steps where it sees far less sun.  Note the dried up creeping jenny by the solar light in the foreground:

 

As I grabbed it to tidy up before taking the photo I realized that it had rooted in the driveway sometime since I dropped it there about a month ago.  And I found a piece on the other side (you can see it in the photo above of the flowering rhododendron bush in the shadow of the container).  So I potted them up:

I hope there's an orange photo contest theme sometime soon:

I'm not sure the tulips will last much longer, so I like to spend some time every day staring at them:

 

From all angles:

 

VPH is doing much better, so he's actually going to join me in the garden on Friday doing some light duty tasks like weed-whacking and leaf-blowing.  I've got a long list of items that need to be planted or transplanted and I've told my boss I'm essentially taking a vacation day other than one scheduled conference call.  I can't wait!

I MIGHT HAVE PULLED THE TRIGGER TOO SOON

The little rhododendron bush by the front steps is blooming.  There are fewer than 10 blooms, but they're such a cute light purple.  It's a Purple Gem rhododendron -- $3 each on clearance at Home Depot if I recall correctly -- planted in September 2008:

 

Chives grown from seed that my mom sent me a few years ago.  I'm supposed to gather some seed from these when they bloom and send it back down to my mom, but I think that they're just plain old regular chives not garlic chives as they were labeled, so I'm not sure it's worth gathering seed for you, mom: 

 

And more for you, mom, those pretty purplish hosta shoots have just plain old green leaves:

 

The Cinnamon fern fiddle-heads are so alien-like bunched up together like this:

 

I might have used this as my green world photo entry to GGW's Picture This contest if I hadn't already submitted my entry: the fiddle-head photo from last year.  The late afternoon sun on this astilbe leaf stopped me in my tracks:

But I can't decide if I like it better put through Picasa:

 

I just can't stop staring at this pot:

 

Another big box purchase, this time from Wal-mart, an Ichiban eggplant that has two plants in one container for $3, I couldn't pass that by without purchasing:

I'm not sure yet if I'll plant them together as is, or try and separate them and plant them a little bit apart in one large container, or 2 completely separate containers. 

Oh, and in case you couldn't figure it out, the title refers to the photo contest entry, it was a little random.  And do tell me which version of the photo you like better, it's definitely a candidate for next year's calendar.
  

WORKING AGAINST A DEADLINE

Remember the spot where we took down the old pop-up shed?  In August '06, when we had the concrete patio put in, the installer kindly used some decomposed granite to give us a fairly level 5' x 5' area to serve as the shed's base.  At least I'm pretty sure that it was decomposed granite.  So we had a basically level spot with several inches of material that wouldn't be conducive to growth next to the vegetable garden.  Have you guessed where we're heading yet?  A raised bed:

 

On Sunday I went to Home Depot and bought a 2x12x16 piece of pressure treated lumber.  First tip -- bring a friend with you to buy large pieces of lumber.  I left VPH at home prepping the site and regretted it almost immediately.  I found an employee to help me try to find a straight piece of lumber that wasn't too beat up and he quickly tired of my pickiness, or I just felt guilty making him help me lift down and examine piece after piece.  Then I had the nice man cut it into four 4' long pieces for me.  Some exterior screws and an impulse buy of 2 Husky Cherry tomato plants later (but look at the 2 plants/container -- I can divide them into 4, so it was like buying them half-priced) I headed home:

 

I'm not going to bore you with how to build the box, there's any number of videos out there instructing you in different methods, and I'm not going to debate pressure-treated lumber and what terrible chemicals might seep into your veggies and kill you.  I think the risk is pretty low, but I did line the box with landscape fabric to be on the safe side:

You can see above that I took the rubber edging that used to demarcate the end of the veggie garden and turned it to incorporate the new raised bed.  We had one bag of mulch (very wet mulch) on hand, which didn't quite reach all the way behind the raised bed, and the rubber edging didn't quite reach from the back of the bed to the fence, but I think that when I buy more mulch I'll be able to cover that up pretty well:

 

We spent the rest of our daylight hours moving soil from last year's tomato containers into the new bed (no tomatoes or potatoes will be planted here) and ran out of daylight with only about 1/4 - 1/3 of the bed filled.  VPH was on spring break this week so I had a list of chores a mile long for him and first up on Monday was to dig out soil from the large cedar tomato planters and other spots and finish filling the new bed.  I stepped outside that morning to show him exactly which containers needed to be emptied and that's where things went off schedule.  Long incredibly scary story short, he managed to partially tear his calf muscle and is completely out of commission for weeks...well when it comes to garden chores he's out of commission.  He can limp around and hopefully will be able to work when school starts back up on Monday. 

So now it was Tuesday and I had onion sets sitting on my kitchen table that really needed to get in the ground along with cooler season seeds that really needed to be planted.  But I also had an injured husband who was having trouble getting around the house, a job they kind of like me to show up to, and rain in the forecast for Friday.  Obviously I wasn't going to be able to spend as much time moving soil around the garden as VPH would have, so I was going to have to buy some potting soil.   I was finally able to take some time late on Wednesday afternoon to stop in at my favorite local nursery and charmed the proprietor into selling me three 3.8 cubic foot bags of soil-less mix at cost, which just fit into my trunk (and probably saved me about $50 versus buying 8 or 9 of the largest size bags of potting soil available at your various box stores, not to mention my back loading them into the car all alone):

At first I planned to break up the compressed soil -- I know it's not really soil, but I'm going to call it soil from this point forward -- onto the tarp, but then I thought, uh wouldn't it save time to do it right in the raised bed?  One package should yield about 8 cubic feet, so I hoped I would be able to get by with one and 2 partially used large bags of potting soil I had near the potting table.  This is when I had the block about 1/3 broken up:   

 

And this is as far as I got on Wednesday -- onions in and watered, but no seeds planted: 

 

And here it is late Thursday completely planted!  From right to left are one row each of Detroit Dark Red beets, Beauty Mix radishes, Salad Rose radishes, Early Scarlet Globe radishes, Burpee A#1 Hybrid carrots, one and half rows of Danvers Half Long carrots, and half a row of Tonda di Parisi carrots.  Along the base of the trellis I planted Spacemaster cucumbers and I plan to grow them up the trellis.  And I planted Jewel Mix nasturium around the perimeter of the bed (I removed the seed packets once I documented what I had planted where):

 

So I met my self-imposed deadline of beating the rain and getting the cooler weather crops in by April 15th.  I did get the peas in way back on March 18th and now they're big enough that I had to get the netting hung, so I went out in 45 degree weather on Friday to take care of it: 

This is the one other thing I wanted to get done before the rain arrived -- dividing the yellow hakone grass and using part of it in one of the new containers on the big stump.  After I stole some (maybe VPH will be able to sit here and weed soon):

 

I also put a hosta that I had hanging around into the other small container on the stump and could not for the life of me get the containers level again, so I gave up:

 

The wildflower seed that VPH scattered on April 1st is beginning to sprout:

 

And finally, the ferns in the containers are putting up fiddle-heads -- this one is potentially calendar-worthy:

 

A Japanese Painted fern (I think):

 

And the Cinnamon fern makes an appearance:

 

I can't wait to see how the raised bed does.  And I'm so pleased that I was to meet the deadline since about 30 minutes after I finished it started to pour and is forecast to continue to do so all weekend.

ONLY 4 HOURS UNTIL CALENDAR GIVEAWAY ENDS

At this point if no one else enters I will still have more calendars than contestants to win them.  Click here to view the full calendar and leave a comment on that post to be entered.  Here's the cover of this year's calendar to give you a little taste in case you missed the other posts:

I still haven't done anything about finding bulbs to force...maybe tomorrow.  Today I was home with SS2 while VPH took my car to work (his is temporary off the road due to the muffler dragging on the ground beneath it), and work was very quiet.  The poor boy gets forced to help me with all sorts of things when that happens:

Just to clarify, I made the cookie dough last night, rolled the dough balls, rolled them in sugar, and baked them.  He unwrapped the kisses and pressed them into the cookies when they came out of the oven.  Lest you think I made him work too hard!

Now click over and leave a comment to win a calendar!!!  Giveaway ends at midnight EST tonight.
 

JUST OVER 24 HOURS LEFT TO WIN A CALENDAR

I'm starting to feel a little unloved here, folks.  Only 7 people have entered to win a calendar and there's just over 24 hours until the entry deadline at midnight EST on Wednesday.  Click here to view the full calendar and leave a comment on that post to be entered.  Here's the cover of this year's calendar to give you a little taste in case you missed the other post:

In the meanwhile, I really need to find some hyacinth bulbs to force.  I completely forgot to buy some in the fall and now I covet the ones my garden blogging friends keep writing about and photographing!  The amaryllis in the living room is going to burst into full bloom any day now:

I can't wait to see if they're really as red as I hope they will be.  Now click over and enter to win a calendar!!!
 

CALENDAR GIVEAWAY

I ordered the yearly calendar from Zazzle this year.  Overall a good experience, but the way they list their calendar sizes was confusing at best (and in my humble opinion misleading).  So I thought I ordered 7 x 11 inch calendars, but I received 7 x 5.5 inch calendars.  I was not pleased to say the least, especially because the box of calendars arrived on December 21st, but one angry call escalating up to their customer service manager resulted in the properly sized calendars arriving on Christmas Eve.  My own experience ended up being positive, but I did advise that they change their order screen (I am rather net-ordering savvy, so if I had this problem, I'm sure others have as well).

So then I got a horrible cold and basically lost the week between Christmas and New Year's.  But I finally got the packages off in today's mail to their intended recipients and I ended up with a bunch of leftover calendars.  So you, my loyal readers, have a chance to win 10 large calendars and 8 small ones.  Leave a comment if you want to be entered to win and I'll use a random number generator to pick the winners.  Since I've been so bad about posting regularly these past few months, I'll leave the contest open for a full week to make sure everyone has a chance to enter, so please leave your comment by January 14th at midnight EST.

Wondering what you're entering to win?  Here's this year's line up (and I'll include my little descriptive comments from the letter I distributed with the calendars):

Cover:

January (VPH planted the bulbs in the patio garden in the fall of 2008 and we watched with great joy as the first crocus poked its sunny little face up through the just thawed ground):

 

February (another early spring photo, this time it's the fiddle-head of the Cinnamon fern in the shade garden):

 

March (we love fresh herbs and though with the rainy weather the herb garden never really flourished this year, this shot of multiple herbs in their pots was one of my favorites):

April (marigolds were one of the few flowers to bloom reliably during the 60 days and nights of rain -- you think I'm exaggerating, but honestly I'm not):

 

May (not technically in our garden but photographed by me in our friend Dave's garden down the street, these clematis blooms gone to seed are almost Suessian):

 

June (our first foray into growing strawberries yielded about 3 berries for consumption, but numerous photos full of summer sun and warmth...even if we didn't feel much this year):

 

July (this seemingly tame dragonfly posed at length for me providing my first glimpse of why someone named them dragonflies):

 

August (this sad excuse for a garden bounty photo is the best harvest we had all summer -- just not much of a tomato year -- though we had the thickest, greenest grass ever!):

 

September (I like the sculptural feel of this photo of a dahlia bloom -- beaded water provided by the mist setting on the hose during one of the few beautiful afternoons we spent sunning ourselves in the garden):

October (I had about 5 great spider photos from which to choose this year, but hands down this was my favorite):

November (the sunset from the beach on Marco Island a few days before Thanksgiving -- after our awful lost summer can you blame us for escaping to Florida for 3 weeks?):

 

December (ending on a high note with a beautiful dahlia and cute bumblebee and hopes for a better growing season next year):

 

Back cover:

Oops, just noticed that this revealed VPH's identity.  I checked with him and he said, "I couldn't care less."

So leave those comments and enter to win!

MERRY CHRISTMAS (Hey, it's still December!)

We loved being in FL for three weeks, but coming home on December 14th really threw us off schedule for the holiday.  Luckily most gift shopping could be (and was) accomplished on-line -- and most things even arrived in time!  I have a post about my mom's garden percolating, but the cold that started with VPH, went to SS2, and finally landed on me is sapping my strength and creativity, so this won't be that post.

Though we barely got any of our decorations up, we did enjoy the lights around the pool before we left FL:

Now how inviting is that?  But it closes at nightfall -- why?!

Little gaudier around the entrance to the community center:

We did bring a little bit of FL home with us...and so far I've managed not to kill the rosemary plant:

 

Complete with awesome glass watering ball (running a close race for favorite Christmas present from VPH this year with Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS and the new Super Mario Bros for the Wii).

And my little gift to myself a week before Christmas.  How could I resist an amaryllis in this awesome glass vase with two buds on it:

I predict blooms by January 15th.  The yearly calendars are going out late this year (production snafu more than tardiness on my part), so hopefully I'll be able to share the photo selections by the 1st.  And this year I'll have a few to give away.  Any ideas for a fun contest?
 

THERE'S STILL SOME COLOR OUT THERE

Our windows have been closed for days, but I'm adamantly opposed to turning on the heat.  It was a gloriously sunny day here in CT today, but I was stuck in the office all day only sneaking peeks of the blue sky and puffy clouds through my boss' window.  I did get out to the garden 2 days ago and I was so excited to see a new dahlia blooming (I neglected to see if there was a tag though so I have no idea what kind it is):

 

At least one of the tomato plants is thriving:

 

And an actual habanero changing color:

 

Very calendar-worthy in my opinion:

 

What do you think?

WORKING ON THE PHOTO FOR OCTOBER

There's a frost advisory for the northern portion of CT tonight, but we're supposed to be safe here on the shore.  That's small comfort with the temps making it feel more like late October than mid-September.  I harvested the first two Brandywine tomatoes today just in case.  There's a little zucchini on the vine (also the first of the season), but we'll just hope it doesn't freeze.  But that's not the subject of this post.  And this isn't a post for the squeamish amongst you.  The one abundant crop in my garden lately is spider webs and the spiders that build them:

A little spritz with the mist setting on the hose and they're visible to the eye (most of the time we're narrowing missing sticking a hand or face into them):

Though I don't think the spiders appreciate the fake rain:

Because while at first they look like this:

They quickly dry themselves off: 

The zinnias are finally blooming, just in time to be replaced by mums:

There are still bees on the dahlias, but they're slow and sluggish:

 

But they're still finding a good amount of pollen:

I've got a flat of mums to plant, but the next two days are supposed to be sunny and mid-70s, SS2 is home for the day, and we're hoping to get the shed finished before the leaves start to fall.  Those spider photos above are the leading candidates for October.  Any favorites?

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

I'm just digging out from under a pile of work, but I'm trying to get outside for at least a few minutes a day.  And it's paying off...potentially October's calendar photo:

I sprayed the web with the mist setting on the hose...pretty:

And slowly but surely the veggie garden is starting to produce.  Sunday's harvest included lots of beans (Royal Purple Bush beans, Kentucky Wonder beans, and French Filet beans), a cucumber (likely the last since the plant appears to be dead now), and 5 Green Zebra tomatoes:

Today's harvest yielded the first eggplant, the first 2 Black Russian tomatoes (the ones at 10 and 11 o'clock), a Brandywine Pink tomato, and a bunch of Perfect Plum tomatoes:

Yes, it's been slow to get started, and no it may not last for much longer, but for today at least, I'm quite pleased with my garden!

NOT THE PRETTIEST GARDEN EVER

Let me start with the good stuff though:

Did you see that Brandywine Pink tomato on the back left?  First one of the summer and it was as great as I remember them being last year.  VPH made me up this little plate for lunch on Friday -- chicken salad, potato salad, and a little dressed, sliced cucumber.  He apologizes to you for the presentation...he said had he known I would be photographing he would have arranged the cucumber nicely (and those are our own green beans in the potato salad):

The nasturtium twining around the tomato cage is one of my favorite things about the garden this summer.  It it's just lucky that the yellow ones ended up by the Green Zebra tomatoes:

Also pretty is this dahlia (whose name I can't remember and I'm too comfortable to get up and go outside to check):

But I'm not sure that either photo is calendar-worthy.  I was rather surprised when these peppers started turning red:

But they're not the only peppers in my garden at long last:

It looks like I might actually get some blooming zinnias this year:

And the lawn looks great (one upshot of so much rain):

The veggie garden should be a lot lusher than this, but from a distance it's not too bad:

In fact, even up close, parts of it aren't too bad, like the Perfect Plum tomatoes:

But the Black Russians are downright scary looking tomato trees:

 

The zucchini have plenty of male blossoms hiding under all those leaves (shot from behind the table for scale), but no female blossoms, and therefore no zukes: 

And I just found that it's covered in the dreaded larvae of the cucumber beetle:

Am I the only gardener in the world who can't grow zucchini?

WOULD IT SURPRISE YOU TO LEARN...

That I've only had to water the garden twice since I planted in May?  And I grow vegetables in containers?  Just another example of the crazy summer we're having (or not having depending on your point of view).  But amazingly I have sunflowers blooming:

Granted not even half of them came up and the only ones that seem to have made it are the little short ones, but they're sunflowers:

The last day-lilys that I saw bloom (there was one more bud, but I didn't get to see it bloom, darn work and volunteer responsibilities):

Staying in the patio garden, but moving on to veggies...zucchini -- large on left, extra small on right (in front of the light next to the bird bowl -- seriously, it's there), and not a single zuke growing:

And the eggplants may not get much larger than this, but I'll give them a few more days before I harvest one and let VPH eat it:

The cheating garden center tomato plant has pretty much done its job by giving us 10 or so tomatoes and it looks just about finished:

Just in time for the heirloom tomatoes to be ripening, starting with the 'Perfect Plum' (we've picked one, but haven't tried eating it yet):

Switching gears entirely, I'm loving the deep purples in this gorgeous container, but I can't get them to reproduce correctly in a photo:

Can you spot the absolutely terrifying sight in this photo:

The dreaded tobacco budworm (I found 2 on this plant and crushed them both):

But I spotted a much more interested insect in the garden a few minutes later...is it calendar-worthy: 

And then I saw the weirdest looking thing...turns out it's a plume moth...who knew?  Would be calendar-worthy if I did a vertical calendar:

Then this dragonfly insisted on having a photo session:

Seriously, it kept flying away and coming back.  Wow that's a face only a mother could love:

VPH likes the detailed shot of the wings below.  I think it's cool, but I don't know if I like it as much as the photo above:

 

What do you think?

PLEASE SEND AN ARK

Tuesday brought us three inches of rain according to my cracked rain gage.  Thursday another 2.5...again cracked rain gage.  Think it might be leaking?  This trash receptacle is at the roof line (no gutters on our rental home):

 

As I write this brief post we are in the middle of yet another set of thunderstorms complete with downpours.  We really don't need any more rain.  But this afternoon the sun was out and we enjoyed sitting in the sun relaxing.  At one point VPH called me to the patio.  "Come here!" he shouted.  "This spider's been busy."  I'm kind of amazed that I managed to get this pic considering the wind and sun:

 

Is it calendar-worthy?  Tomorrow is predicted to be a sunny day, but I'll be volunteering for a fundraiser for my local library.  Seriously, this is the strangest summer since I've been gardening.  I've only had to water twice and remember I'm growing almost everything in containers!

WHY WOULD I GO ON VACATION WHEN I CAN STAY HERE?

It almost goes without saying that I mean stay here and do nothing!  Which is pretty much what I did all weekend.  I did manage to take a bunch of photos though.  My beautiful Endless Summer hydrangea:

 

I'm sure you've noticed something's missing here:

We love having a huge vase of hydrangea blooms on the kitchen table:

 

The veggies benefited from almost a week of sun.  You read that correctly...a week of sun!  Of course, as I write this post we're in hour 12 of absolute non-stop rain.  The Kentucky Wonder beans on the trellis are exactly what I pictured when I planted them, well they're a little sparser than I thought they'd be, but maybe I'll plant a few more for a late crop once the rain stops:

 

Same with the Scarlet Runner beans:

 

I still haven't thinned the carrots, but I did pull a pretty big one and eat it (and yes, it was delicious):

 

My cheating tomato plant has given us a few tomatoes, but uh-oh, that doesn't look good:

I don't think it's late blight, but whatever it is, it isn't good:

And my last veggie photo...eggplant!   The Japanese eggplants are doing quite well.  In fact they're already about 3x the size they were in this photo:

The patio garden is making me so happy:

Especially the big yellow daylilies:

And at least one of the zucchini plants is flourishing:

 

The bee balm isn't blooming yet and I have to imagine it's because it's not getting enough sun, so I switched it with the dahlia that was on the little table:

 

But I am loving how this container is filling out:

 

Since the dahlias here are so tall I hope that the coleus will fill in down there:

 

But overall, I'm quite pleased with this portion of the garden:

 

I love photographing this container:

 

But I realize I hardly ever show you the other side of it:

 

My Mother's Day garden is looking great:

On Sunday we drained the little pool and rinsed it out (how does it get dirty so fast?), so to cool down while sitting in the sun I used the mist nozzle on the hose.  It was a little windy that day and a lot of the mist landed on this row of dahlias:

Photo op!  I think a bunch of these are calendar worthy.  My mother wants me to request opinions from readers on which photos should go into the calendar.  I suspect it's because she has something to say about it, but I will be a dutiful daughter and request that you readers comment on which of these photos you'd like to see in this year's calendar.  Number 1:

 

Number 2:

 

Number 3:

Number 4:

 

Number 5:

 

Number 6:

 

Please do let me know what you think!

ONLY A MONTH OR SO LATE

The rainy month of June put us behind on a lot of our garden chores and many of the plants behind in growth.  All I can say is we'd better have a mild fall to make up for it!  It took a while, but we've finished nearly all the garden chores and the plants are behind the norm, but catching up.  The hosta/azalea bed is done:

The hosta/rhododendron bed looks great:

He not only mulched, he made us dinner!  VPH and the perennial shade garden:

  

Yummy mustard glazed pork, grilled zucchini (wish we had our own zukes to eat), and brown rice:

 

The veggie garden on May 16th:

 

On July 9th:

Let me take you for a little tour...always left to right.  Bush beans, carrots, habaneros and Brandywine tomatoes:

Habanero, dahlia, lilac bell pepper, dahlia, lilac bell pepper:

Same lilac bell pepper, scarlet runner beans, carrots, habanero, carrots, Kentucky Wonder beans, purple bell pepper:

Black Russian tomatoes, bush beans, peppermint, lilac bell pepper, Perfect plum tomatoes, habaneros, and another dahlia:

The Green Zebra tomatoes are one of my favorite things in the garden right now.  They're so beautiful in their blue pots.  The planter table looks great too with Royal Purple bush beans, nasturtiums, and the one cucumber that survived the rain:

A close-up of the gazillion blossoms on the Royal Purple bush beans:

We have teeny tiny eggplants growing:

 

This nasturtium is blooming despite it's 2 relocations (note to self--a little grass seed here wouldn't be a bad thing): 

 

The marigolds are doing their job and attracting pollinators to the tomatoes on the gravel patio (calendar-worthy, no?): 

 

I think we'll have a daylily bloom on the other plant tomorrow.  I have this sneaking suspicion that it's yellow:

 

These are our old trash containers.  I hate to replace them, but both have gaping holes in the bottom and no longer do much in the way of holding trash or keeping the raccoons away from it.  Rubbermaid apparently would replace them (they're less 3 years old), but only if I had the receipt.  You'd better believe that I kept the receipt for the new ones.  We will drill more holes in these and use them for composting:

 

We're enjoying the garden and being able to spend time on simple maintenance like weeding rather than looking around and seeing all the things still undone.  We still have the shed project and a couple of other little things to do, but really, we're done.

OKAY, DON'T LAUGH

This is what happens when you ask your husband to plant while you're at the office.  Once I got home and we stood together staring at the 12 coleus plants in the ground, he said, "Yeah, it might have made sense to put the tall ones in back along the rocks and the short ones in front."  I added, "And maybe mixed up the colors a little?"  Well he's sweet to plant them regardless and they'll fill in soon.  Plus he mulched the whole bed, so really I'm not complaining:

 

Remember how it rained for June?  At some point during those weeks of rain, I decided that the sun would return and we would need a way to cool off.  But this is the summer of cheap and as you know we don't own this property.  4 years ago, before we started gardening, we asked the landlords if they had any objection to us putting up one of those big blue inflatable pools...they did, turns out their insurance premiums would have gone up.  Which is retrospect really worked out for the best.  We never would have started gardening if the yard was dominated by a big blue pool.  Do you see where I'm going with this:

 

Hey, it was only $20.12!  Though it's on clearance now for even less.  This is the sunniest part of our garden with full sun from about 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.  We put down a tarp we had on hand (luckily it was about the right size and blue) to try and protect the bottom of the pool since once the grass dies (sigh), there won't be much between the pool and the glass and rocks that seem to be the main components of our soil:

 

This is also about the flattest section of our garden, but it's still not level.  There will be a deep end of this pool.  I should stop calling it a pool.  The package called it an aqua lounger, which amused VPH to no end:

 

We also picked up a solar cover at a local overstock store for $33.  But even the smallest one they had was more than twice as large as needed, so we cut it in half and stored the rest for future use, so I'm only going to include $16.50 in the aqua lounger expenses.  (The directions for the solar cover recommended letting the cover sit for a few days to straighten out before you did the final trim to size and shape, lest you think we're just dumb.)  Another $7 got us a skimmer.  So that's a total of $43.62 -- well we already got an afternoon's amusement out of setting it up, in my mind that's money well spent.  VPH included in photo for scale:

 

I am so excited to see what color the daylilies on those tall stalks will be and still taking endless pleasure in the patio garden:

  

The Green Zebra tomatoes are definitely going to have the first ripe fruit, I'm just not sure how I'm going to know when it's ripe.  Lots of squeezing tomatoes I guess:  

  

The first beans are Burpee's Stringless Green Pod, though the Royal Purple Bush beans (not pictured) are running a close second:

 

See how much better the weather is (knock wood) -- basil that's not rotting: 

 

The mystery bush in a long weedy hedgerow on our evening walk:

 

We walked down to Dave & Dottie's house, which we do several times a week.  Remember them?  They gave me my first dahlias last year and serve as inspiration for all who pass by their home.  Walking by their garden these days smells like walking into a florist shop.  They have easily a hundred lilies blooming right now.  Their dahlias are all in, growing like crazy, carefully staked and labeled:

 

I love all the different types of hosta under the tree:

 

Some of the scads of lilies:

 

I don't know what this was (can anyone identify it? I remember seeing it on someone's blog not too long ago), but it was sharing space on an obelisk with a clematis.  Each bloom? seedhead? was about the size of a silver dollar.  Definitely calendar-worthy:

 

Nor do I have any idea what these Dr. Seuss-like plants were:

 

But the bees were loving them:

 

I have to go into the office on Thursday, so no time in the aqua-lounger for me, but VPH is going to complete the mulching and mow the lawn, so he said he might relax in it once he finishes if he and the weather are warm enough.  Remember, don't laugh!

I JUST CAN'T RESIST A SALE

Before I get started...this is the bush that I'm trying to identify.  I posted a close-up of the bloom the other day.  They're used as hedges all over our neighborhood and the blooms smell rather honeysuckle-like.  A little help, please:

Back to "I Just Can't Resist a Sale"...

But if I told you could get everything on the table and both chairs for a total of $24.34, could you?

 

VPH made chicken salad on Wednesday with some leftover grilled chicken (which had been seasoned with herbes de provence).  It was delicious (like all his food), but we both wished we had fresh tarragon on hand.  I know that at some point in the spring I asked him if we should grow tarragon and he said no, but I should have known better.  I also never got around to dividing the 2 eggplants and using the funky new box/planter for one of them (now that they're flowering I'm loathe to mess with them), so I had the brilliant idea of buying one of those nursery tomato plants with fruit already growing on them that I've been seeing all over the place (including the grocery store) so we could get a ripe tomato before August (even if I do agree with Carol that it's cheating).  I had a $15 certificate for Van Wilgens so off we went.  I used the $15 certificate to get tarragon, fernleaf dill, silver thyme, and fernleaf cilantro and paid $1.02 out of pocket (I know, I wouldn't normally pay $3.99 an herb plant either): 

You're wondering where the petunias and ornamental edible peppers came from?  The tomato plants at Van Wilgens that had fruit already were $25 each.  Well I may be crazy, but I'm not nuts enough to pay $25 for a tomato plant, so I passed and decided to go to Vaiuso.  I'm telling you, I love that place.  Remember the $1 perennial herbs I picked up there a few weeks ago?  Just about everything's a $1 now.  I got tired of waiting for this:

To look like this:

 

That's marigolds, coleus, parsley, and basil all $1/each.  I'll transplant my grown from seed tiny little plants into larger pots and see if they'll do anything for me, but like I said, I am tired of waiting.  Speaking of being tired of waiting I picked up this tomato plant for $8.  Yup, $8.  I love Vaiuso so much!  More on this tomato when I get it into a container:

 

I took a brief walking tour of the garden and found tiny little flowers just forming on the scarlet runner beans:

Then I sat down for a well-deserved hour reading.  Every now and again I looked up from my chair to the freshly mowed lawn, my humongous hydrangea, and blooming/nearly blooming dahlias: 

 

Then I'd look a little to the left and think about all the work we still have to do putting up the new shed, taking down the 2 old ones, a new project I'll tell you about soon, reorganizing everything...oh well back to my book:

 

Before I headed inside I did a photo session with a spider on the eggplant cage.  I can't decide which of these photos is more calendar-worthy.  A good close-up:

 

Or a more interesting composition:

 

Do let me know what you think.

IT'S AMAZING WHAT A FEW DAYS OF SUN WILL DO

I had a completely different post drafted with photos that I've taken over the past couple of days, but I went outside this afternoon and found such a different garden after 4 days of sun in a row (shh, don't jinx us) that I just had to start a fresh post.  My very first blooming day-lily (unnamed passalong from my friend Mary) in the patio garden:

 

The hydrangea is insane!  It's waist high and the blooms are bigger than my hand:

The Bay State Angel dahlia is blooming away:

 

And the Parkland Glow is about to pop:

The moonflowers suddenly decided to send out a scouting party:

Overnight one of my peppers was attacked, but I think it will survive:

 

The first heirloom tomato has set (and frankly I'm amazed given the June we had).  The winner of the race to first tomato is the Green Zebra, now the question is will it be the first ripe tomato:

 

The Kentucky Wonder beans are climbing the trellis quite nicely:

 

I hope I get a better spider photo at some point this summer because I don't think this one is quite calendar-worthy:

 

Now if I did a vertical calendar, I would consider this photo:

 

And who knew creeping jenny blooms?  Not me:

 

I'm loving this container...the colors, the textures:

 

I can't wait to see what a few more days of sun will bring!

A MARAUDER!

I walked outside on Friday afternoon, looked up at my container on the stump and gasped:

  

It was even worse up close.  What interloper would have the gall to dig up my hosta:

 

I replanted the hosta and filled in the other small holes.  I had clear plastic forks on hand and really hope they 1.) prevent any further attacks, and 2.) don't hurt any animals in the process:

 

You can't even see them from below:

I never tire of the fiddle-heads on the ferns.  Should I ever do a vertical calendar (doubtful) this would be calendar-worthy, I may even print and frame this pic I like it that much:

 

I suddenly realized on Friday morning that the tomatoes in the pretty blue pots by the fence on the side of the house weren't getting enough sun.  The sun hits the top of the fence around 9:30am, but doesn't get down to the bottom until nearly 11am and then the shadow from the house covers the whole side of the house by 2:30pm, so they had to move to the gravel patio. 

Friday afternoon we went out to Old Saybrook to visit Carole at Maynard Greenhouse.  After a pleasant but short vist (Carole was working and I had VPH in tow and he's not endlessly patient), we headed towards home with 2 Cherokee Purple tomato seedlings (you didn't think I could visit a greenhouse without buying something did you?).  We passed two Ocean State Job Lots on the way home, so of course we had to pop in to see what containers they had left.  Success! 

 

The two blue square ceramic containers on the ends were only $37 each.  Look at the size of the those things!  They each took 2 cubic feet of potting soil and a Cherokee Purple tomato:

 

I really like the splash of color they give the patio.  I asked VPH if he thought we should get a blue umbrella now.  He laughed and said we could put a white tablecloth on the table and celebrate the 4th of July all summer.  Note that the containers of beans are now inside the trellises:

 

The patio garden is growing like mad.  See the lupine in front?  I think it may actually flower.  The herb pots are all planted up now:

I love this photo.  If I had planted the cilantro and dill and taken this photo on Friday, I would have entered it into the GGW photo contest:

I have a feeling that variations of this angle will be a frequent subject this summer as the herbs fill in.  But I include another here so you can see all the herbs growing on the corner.  Back row left to right -- spearmint, basil, rosemary, lavender (goodwin creek); middle row left to right -- lavender (I gave this some fertilizer today, it has growth, but it's taking its sweet time to come back), fernleaf dill, lemon thyme; and at the front right -- cilantro (I picked up this pot on Friday too...hey at only $8 how could I not?):

And while I'm in the patio garden...the moonflowers are growing nicely with a new set of leaves and I was shocked to see the clematis growing down at the bottom of this photo (sorry it's out of focus), I thought for sure it was dead.  Now if I can just get it to grow towards the trellis:

We're still trying to get the grass to fill in before we put the chairs back in their normal spot, so for now we'll relax here:

 

The greenhouse went back into the basement today and the containers and furniture are in their rightful spots:

 

I'm quite pleased:

 

All of the dahlias are really taking off this year.  Small cages will go on each of these containers as soon as I can find 4 more:

This is essentially my to do list now.  The hose has to go on the fence so I can get running water to the vegetable garden, fresh mulch needs to go onto all the mulched areas, and the plants all have to be potted up (though I'm still not sure what to do with all the impatiens):

 

The new shed needs to be assembled and then the rest of the mess will be stored away out of sight.  We're close now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hopefully everyone has opened their Christmas present by now, so I can share the calendar with you.

Cover:

 

January:

 

February:

 

March:

 

April:

 

May (taken in Layanee's garden):

 

June:

 

July:

 

August:

 

September:

 

October:

 

November:

 

December:

 

FAQs

Did you take all these photos?

Yes.

What kind of camera do you use?

Canon Powershot SD400 Digital ELPH (about 3.5 years old).

Do you Photoshop your photos?

No.  I used Picasa to punch up 1 or 2 of them using the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, but to be honest, I don't even remember which photos -- July for sure and I think maybe February, but I don't remember. 

Do you crop?

Not usually.  The dragonfly is cropped, as is the frog, and maybe the spider, but I think that's it.

How did you make the cover?

Picasa again.  It's really simple to create a collage and then insert text.  I can't express how easy it is to use.

These are all from your garden?

Yup, except for the frog which was in Layanee's pond.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

I hope you all enjoyed seeing this year's calendar, I sure had a lot of fun putting it together.  I'm going to enter 3 of the images in a photography competition.  Please let me know which you think I should use.  I'm pretty sure I know which 3 are my favorites, but if there's a groundswell of support for one that I haven't considered, I could enter 4!

Merry Christmas!

IS IT ANY LESS JOYFUL BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER?

Some years the Christmas card list is short, oh who am I kidding?  Some years I haven't sent any at all.  This was one of those years where I bought a package of 20 cards, wrote up my list, made out all the cards, and then figured out that I had left off 3 very important people.  Guess who's going to buy a cheap box of cards tomorrow?  Ugh!

Tonight I spent a few hours writing out the cards and wrapping the calendars that I'm giving out.  We started out the evening watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (because who doesn't feel better about their holiday plans after watching that movie?) and I just kept wrapping and wrapping.  After the movie younger step-son (who is now living with us when he's not at college, which is a joy) started playing Halo.  So this year Christmas presents and WARTHOG! will be inextricably linked in my mind.

2008 finds us still celebrating Christmas, but in a much more conservative manner than last year.  The economic downturn hasn't directly impacted us, but having 2 kids in college at the same time has.  I've said several times to VPH this fall, "Thank goodness we have no money or we would have lost a bunch of it."  Long story short, last year we spent almost $70 on a living tree, a bunch more on a rosemary tree and a lovely poinsettia from the good nursery, and I forced bulbs all over the house.  This year we have a $15 fake tree and 2 poinsettias that were a total of $6.66 and that is it.  There isn't another plant in the house (other than one really old houseplant that we inherited from my mother-in-law years ago).

The view from the couch after I finished wrapping:

There are several items of note above:

1. The $15 Christmas tree...better than you thought, isn't it?

2. Younger step-son's feet...anyone surprised he's over 6 feet tall?

3. The Wii Fit in the gaming section of the entertainment center...one of these days I will get around to trying it.

4. Halo on the TV...you know you're jealous!

The calendars will be in tomorrow's outgoing mail so I should be able to share the final photos with you on Christmas day.  Until then, best wishes for sanity in this, the most stressful time of the year!

WERE THEY WORTHY?

Strangely, I haven't started forcing any bulbs this year.  In fact, I haven't even purchased any bulbs to force.  I'll have to see if there are any at Van Wilgen's when I go to buy our poinsettia tomorrow.  We're half way through decorating the house for Christmas.  I'll post soon about that and how our decorations, purchasing, and entertaining will be quite modest this year. 

But after much debate I have decided that it would be a shame to kill the calendar idea just because we have two kids in college and the economy has tanked.  I don't want to spoil the surprise for the lucky recipients of this year's Heather's Garden calendar, so I won't show you the cover and 12 month photos yet, but here's a collage of the 2008 photo finalists complete with the graphics used on the real cover (though not to size):

 

I will, of course, share the final product with you in due course. 

I have to confess that going to Florida for 10 days in November made us miss the prime garden clean-up weather and the snowy, blistery 15-27 degrees of the past 48 hours is making me think my chair cushions may stay out there all winter.  Anyone else hopelessly behind in clearing their leaves this year?

ODDS & ENDS

It's been a busy week for me with not much time for gardening or photographing the garden.  However I do have a bunch of shots leftover from the weekend.  Wondering if I'll get sunflower seeds or not:

I love the pollen and raindrops on the dahlia petals: 

This might be a calendar shot, but is it too creepy with the bee all wrapped up in the foreground? 

Too bad this is a portrait-oriented photo or it would be calendar-worthy.  I may enter a photography competition this winter though and it might be a good shot to use: 

 

The ivy is nicely taking over this section of the fence: 

I took this photo to show how all the rain was splitting my tomatoes for the first time this summer, but now looking at it, I'm proud of my dirty thumbnail: 

 

Obviously I found this spider endlessly fascinating to photograph: 

 

I'm going to have to get back into the garden, not just to come up with new posts (and plant those darn mums), but also to recharge after this long week and get ready for another busy social weekend.

CALENDAR-WORTHY?

Sunday was a beautiful day in the garden.  The bees were loving the sunflowers and so was I:

Now I need your help.  Which of the following photos is calendar-worthy?  Make sure to click on them to view full-size so you can make an informed decision.  Number 1:

Number 2:

Or Number 3:

  

I really need your opinions, readers!  Whereas I'm pretty sure this photo is calendar-worthy (I particularly like how the near petals are out of focus):

The rest of these photos have not been deemed calendar-worthy, but I thought you'd still enjoy seeing them.  I can't seem to stop shooting this dahlia (Hootenanny):

And these small eggs on the underside of a morning glory leaf begged to be photographed:

I thought you'd get a giggle out of how heavy the Brandywine Pink tomatoes are and how lazy a gardener I am for just letting the bent branches stay that way:

And lastly my Big Early Bell peppers are finally showing some color. Big, yes; Early, not so much:

Seriously, please tell me which of the sunflower shots is calendar-worthy.  I'm totally stuck.

BEE-TI-FUL DAY

I haven't figured out where to plant the bee balm that Layanee gave me yet, but I think something's wrong with it.  I'm thinking it shouldn't be covered in white spots.  I swear I didn't do anything to it.  I only cut off the spent blooms and put it on this table until I could decide where to plant it:

The rest of the bee theme is far better news:

It's just so much fun to take close-ups of bees on flowers:  

Now a few without bees.  The morning glories are both purple/blue and pink/dark pink: 

The pink flowers look so delicate:

Next year these towers will be planted with Kentucky Wonder beans and a second variety still to be chosen.  The morning glories will move to the trellis where the purple hyacinth beans currently reside -- more sun over there and beans can apparently take some shade: 

Which is not to say that I won't still find a spot for the purple hyacinth beans because they're too pretty not to grow:

   

Because I would really miss these flowers:

The red dahlia just keeps on pumping out the flowers:

And it looks like I may finally have a flower on this one in a few days:

Now, for the reason this post is titled Bee-ti-ful Day:

They're all over this dahlia plant: 

All kinds of bees:

Calendar worthy:

I was petrified I was going to get stung sticking the camera in that close, but definitely worth the fright.  Have you done anything dangerous to get a good photo in your garden lately? 

CALENDAR WORTHY

Slow weekend in the garden, which was exactly what VPH and I needed.  No real gardening being done, just harvesting and tidying up. 

First, as promised, a picture of the morning glory in bloom:

Which is difficult because all the blooms are above my head:

 Another climber that's making me happy these days is the purple hyacinth beans:

The dead cucumber was ripped out today and the other cucumber is not looking too good (after I took the photo I removed the bad leaves):

The zucchini still has beautiful male flowers, but no female flowers:

The volunteer tomato plant is blossoming:

The wildflower patch was so over-shadowing the dahlias in pots on the lily pad stepping stones that I decided to pull them out of there.  When VPH saw this micro-mini dahlia in the pretty pot sitting on the bar he said it was like we went out and bought a whole new plant.  I said just wait until it blooms:

Speaking of blooming...some of these guys are lagging behind:

Bet you're wondering where the calendar worthy shots are.  Wonder no more.  This one's good: 

This one's better: 

I think this one's the best: 

I was checking on the cherry tomato plants this morning when I spotted a really big bug on the sweet potato vine (aren't I nice to give you a box so you can see it?):

Is it a katydid?  It's really pretty: 

And this one is definitely calendar worthy:

Isn't it funny that I just said I haven't seen many butterflies and then poof there's a monarch on the zinnias.  I just love that last photo of the mystery bug.  I think I'll go make it my wallpaper now.

NORTHEASTERN SPRING FLING (and it only took us 4 months to pull it off)

Layanee and I have been trying to get together for months and months and more months.  We were going to meet up at Logee's twice, but I had to cancel both times.  The last scheduled trip was in early April and in my post about it I coined the term Northeastern Spring Fling.  (Layanee's plans to attend Spring Fling were foiled by the airlines and mine by the dire state of my finances.)  Ironically in that same post I announced my grand intention to attend Gardenwalk Buffalo which also didn't happen this year due to both step-sons in college and the high price of gas.  Well at least I finally got to see the ledge of Ledge and Gardens today! 

Layanee's not kidding when she says that she lives out in the country, but she gives excellent directions.  I was a little nervous going down the dirt road (not many of those in my usual haunts), but I turned into her driveway and there was the unique home and beautiful gardens that I've come to know from her blog.  I wasn't, however, prepared for how large it is.  Photos just don't do her garden justice.  Layanee's actually in this photo:

Turning in any direction brings more astonishing beauty: 

Tucker is an exceptionally well-behaved dog.  Usually dogs instantly pick up on the fact that I'm not so fond of them and want to be my best friend.  Tucker said hi and then wandered off.  I used to think that Layanee had him well trained to sit so still for all those photos, but he's just that kind of dog:

Equally patient and well-behaved was VPH.  He and I were only about 30 minutes from Layanee's house on other business today, so he got dragged along for our visit.  He even joined us on part of the garden tour and rescued a frog from the pool (well 2 actually, but I only saw one, I was busy coveting Layanee's tomato cages when he scooped out the other):

You know how I have a good number of frog statues in my garden?  Today I saw a real live frog for every statue I have:

That one's a pretty decent candidate for the calendar, but so is this one:

Right after I took this photo the frog croaked at me and I think I actually caught air when I jumped.   

Northeastern Spring Fling must be commemorated by a group photo (Heather on the left, Layanee on the right):

And the exchanging of gifts (bee balm from Layanee on the left, woolly thyme from Heather on the right):

Another shot of the beautiful bee balm:

This was about the time that a frog jumped over Layanee's foot and she mentioned snakes.  I have to admit that I started to watch where I was stepping a little more carefully.  She sent VPH and I out the door with some other gifts (really she's too nice), and directions to cut a few highway exits off the trip home. 

As we drove away VPH said, "It's strange to meet someone for the first time and have them know so much about me already."  I explained that it was only because Layanee and I have talked on the phone, the whole internet doesn't know that much about him.  The other amusing exclamation was, "That's a garden?  10 acres -- That's a f---ing estate!"  I guess I could have prepped him better.  Thanks again, Layanee, that was the perfect relaxing cap to a crazy busy week and I can't wait to come visit again!

SO CLOSE I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT

It's getting to be that time of year again.  Pillows are being dusted off, reviews written, nervous gardeners are watching birds, weather reports, and pacing back in forth in anticipation.  It's tomato time!  It looks like Early Girl is going to win in our garden:

I've already had a taste of summer with the 2 cherry tomato plants we're growing.  I am plucking about 5-6 tomatoes a day off of the Sweet 100 (and inserting them directly into my mouth), but this Husky cherry tomato is promising a nice little harvest tomorrow:

I've seen some amusing stories about first tomatoes, but this is the first time I've seen a First Tomato Road Trip (I may have suggested that Virescent bring that almost ripe tomato on vacation with her and let it sun ripen a bit, but she's the creative one who came up with the road trip slideshow). 

In other veggie news, we have the first Red Peter pepper growing (you think the eggplants have been phallic -- wait for these!):

I'm still trying to figure out how I will be able to tell that the purple bell peppers are ripe: 

The zinnias are helping to bring pollinators to the garden -- and they're pretty: 

I love how they're all slightly different: 

I caught this tiny little bee in action: 

I had about 50 of these shots and narrowed it down to 2 photos.  I think one or the other is a strong calendar candidate: 

I finally figured out what this is:

I wandered out to the patio last night around 8:00pm and saw the plants in full bloom.  One quick Google for night blooming yellow flower and I came up with Evening primrose: 

It's hard to capture these flowers at this time of night without the flash, but this is as close as I can get to true color (and not a blurry mess):

It's been insanely hot non-stop and we haven't had more than a sprinkle of rain in weeks.  Thank goodness VPH doesn't mind watering.  Any bets on when that Early Girl tomato will be ready to eat?  I'm taking the 25th.

AND THE WINNER IS...

Do you think maybe I should end this contest while the winner can still use the first page of the calendar?  Sorry for not posting much these past few weeks -- life, work, and volunteering have really cut into my blogging time.

So I'm a complete idiot.  I should have looked back at my archives before giving the clue because I was completely wrong.  I didn't post the two photos on the same day, not even in the same week!  But strictly speaking, Layanee used the horrible clue I gave to come up with the only possible answer that that clue would supply. 

Did that make any sense?  The answer was May and July.  Layanee, even though you said March and May -- YOU WIN!  I'll send you an email so you can give me your mailing address and I promise I'll put your prize in the mail ASAP.

Thanks everyone who posted a guess, if I had more calendars I would send one to you all.

Incidentially, our hotel this weekend was walking distance to the Chicago Botanic Garden, but I think even the geekiest gardener would agree that 0 to 20 degrees before the windshield is just a little too chilly for a visit.  Hopefully one of these days we'll decide to visit Chicago (and my sister) during a month that is not January.

UPDATED: HAPPY NEW YEAR

Since no one has guessed correctly, though one person got very close, I'll give you a hint.  The photos in question were taken in August and I'll bet with a little combing through the archives you could figure out which they are.  Another hint -- the rose is not one of them.  I guess we'll see who really wants this calendar! 

Pardon my lack of posts, but I've been spending my evenings making calls for Hillary to Nevada.  So if you live in Nevada and get a call from a woman who says, "Hi, this is Heather from Hillary Clinton's campaign, how are you this evening?" give me a special garden hello.

_______________________________

In this post on September 28th I said I was holding back one photo from the incredible Monarch visit because it was the leading candidate for our Christmas card.  Predictably I changed my mind.  I started thinking about what I wanted to give all my friends and family for Christmas this year and I had a sudden epiphany...a calendar -- a calendar full of photos of my garden.

So I started combing through my photos and took a wonderful trip down memory lane.  VPH and I had much more fun with our first garden than we ever could have imagined.  Actually, VPH had a lot more fun than he thought he would, I made him do a lot of the hard work (heavy lifting, digging, watering, etc.) so I was pretty sure I'd have a good time!

This Happy New Year post is so late because I've been waiting until all my friends and family to open their gifts, lest their surprise be ruined by checking in here.  The photo that I held back in September became the cover of the calendar (printed by cafepress.com -- I was quite pleased with the quality of the calendars and the price).  You'll remember seeing many of the photos before.

Cover:

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Now for something fun -- a contest!  I have one calendar left and want to give it away to a reader.  There are two instances of photos taken on the same day.  The cover and December photos were both taken on September 26th.  Two of the other photos were taken on the same day earlier in the summer.  The first person to correctly identify both of the other photos wins the calendar.  Just leave your response in the comments and then I'll email the winner directly.

Good luck!