Summer 2013

What a bumper crop kind o' summer.  It is September 27th and my garden is full of crisp green beans, new summer squash coming on, ripe tomatoes, basil as tall as I am (5' 4). Never have I eaten this well this  late. I put in two plantings of bush beans. I probably picked from them 8 times this year. The zucchini was lavish and bore almost feverishly.  I had only one pest this summer and trapped the young ground hog.  I put the garden in mid May and am most surprised that it is still in full swing. I
 am a cancer survivor, therefore I don't put any fertilizers on my garden.

My flowers were a most amazing palette of color, when one bed faded another would come into full glory.  I did not get to photograph each bed but I was truly spell bound all summer by each bed.  I grow white and purple irises. They are abundant and showy in two beds.  The first of June my Sweet William's Variation were an eye catcher, they stayed around most of June.  I cleaned the bed up, breaking off the old stems and began to water this bed and amazingly they shot up new starts that will be my next generation Sweet William's treat.  The corner roadside hill is covered in Purple Yarrow Variation, Cinnimon Colored Day Lilies, Black Eyed Susan's, Cone Flowers.  The splash of color on this corner is amazing.  Each of these flowers bloom mid July through August.  To the left side of the house are my fragrant Hostas and Canon Flowers.  The hosta shoots are a fragrant white and tall, and the Canons are tall brilliant red, these become showy in late August.  Part way through the summer I plant mixed colors of Marigold and Zinnia's so that if any flower (Petunia's) die down in color or just get too leggy, I can pull them and another area of interest begins to take shape in the beautiful fall colors. We put in a new office and the entrance is in back, I noticed that the bed where the morning glories grow surrounded by dark blue spikes of Russian Mint  (which is in back) needs redefined, there is no dazzling color in that bed, only shades of lavender or purple. I am rethinking this area.  I enjoy my gardens so that when fall comes I am almost sad to put everything away.

This year I developed a new garden of Tiger Lilies, Day Lilies, Hostas and African Daisies.  I enjoy watching the new growth as I water this new area every day.

I had the same aggrivation with the garden as last summer.  Each time I planted new cabbage the ground hogs would break in and eat everything down to nothing.  My son and I had priced out traps, they always ran about $80 but at our local Quality Farm and Fleet there was a sale for two sizes of traps for $35.  Bing Botta Boom, it finally solved our problem.  We even caught two skunks the following two nights.  It was a great plan to get them out with out being sprayed. 

A January contemplation of a summer garden.

      I am sipping hot tea on a quiet evening in January. It is time to take the golden poinsettia flowers off the Christmas tree and add the flower packets, miniature bird houses and feathered birds. It seems I have more time to post in the winter about the garden than I do in the summer. 

     I love it when friends divide their plants and pass them on to me.  I spent much of the summer placing these plants and babying them through the dry months.  I finally purchased a miniature lilac
bush and planted it in front of my kitchen window. I was dreaming of the aromatic joy I would one day experience. I have difficulty knowing where to plant things. Will it block the sun from other plants will it grow massive and block my view of the rest of the garden. I will have to move the Lilac Bush....but our  dry summer makes it risky, I always have so much to water.

     I have enjoyed the Morning Glories that take over the unwanted stump (pictured above).  I found them coming into the garden and growing further down the garden fence, blocking the sun needed to grow the tomatoes.  I will continue to pull out unwanted plants.

     Life SHOULD be like a Respite Garden.  Each day I live I enjoy positive thought. I engage people who are of like mind and spend minimal time with those who spill forth negativity.  I enjoy ministering to people, but it is in preparation of meals, or reading to someone who can no longer read print.  From time to time I will put on a luncheon for the ladies at my church.  I came to the realization that I spend very little time sitting and enjoying my garden work(both floral and veggie garden).  I come in to make dinner and find that I am always looking out the windows to see all that I have worked on. I will sit in my kitchen and just gaze on the beauty.  This is where I find the RESPITE in my GARDEN.

Unseasonably Warm Weather/Dreamin' of a ....Quick Winter. ha ha

The warm weather continues to come our way.  Here in Ohio, we have the winter coats out, hats and mittens ready, and we experience 2 or 3 days of cold weather, then back to what seems like a lovely spring day, or an October Day without the gorgeous leaves.  It makes me dream of gardens.  I am envisioning some flowers that will be new to my garden.  I may mispell this, but I fell in love with it at my mother's home.....I think it is called Lantana.  I think they are unbelievably beautiful.

Leaves take flight in my December garden.

I had a productive year with my garden. Usually my green peppers dwindle, but this year I had a bumper crop. Today, I have a crock pot full of winter squash brewing. I will freeze this when they cool down. I changed the placing of my tomatoes and grew them against the back garden fence. I did not think they did as well there.  I do not add anything to grow produce....I try to keep it organic.  Something strange that has never happened to me before. I planted an entire package of organic zucchini seeds...I got alot of nice growth. A ground hog entered the garden and got into the plants. I stacked stones, etc around the garden fencing both inside and out.  I only got one zuchini. Yes, that sounds crazy.  I had enough to feed a small nation last year.....on one packet.  I live on the zuchini in the summer, I was disappointed.  The nearby morning glories grew up to my tomatoes and I believe shaded the tomatoes too much. I will have to stay on top of that next year. My garden layout for next year is plotted on paper and filed away.

Summer 2011 update.

O dear, it has been since the ice melt that I have been on here.  Without guessing much....you should know I have been in the garden.  I had a wonderful garden this year.  I grew tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, cilantro, dill, zuchini, and butternut squash.  My flowers did well.  I got alot of new plants from a friend of mine.   Figuring where to give them a home took most of June. We had a pallet full of bricks we had found on the property.  My son Christian and I, finally began to lay a side walkway and porch.  It adds an elegance to the property. Ariel chose the pathway design and I chose the porch design.  We still need to catch up two outdoor paint jobs before the snow flies.  I would love to chat with others with this theme.  We always try to find free plants.....properties that have an over abundance of something....asking if we can have a start.  I hope to post pictures soon.