Summer Solstice

Amazing Spring.  Hot days.  Plenty of rain.  Things grew so fast.  Welcome to the Summer.  Hope the plentiful moisture continues, with perhaps less wind.  And it would be nice if the rabbits would not be quite as successful.  They have been eating everything, or at least biting into it enough to kill it.  I guess the good weather is good for everyone. 

It has been nearly impossible to keep the grass cut to a reasonable length.  And everything is growing SO fast! 

A Season of Change for sure

It was only a week and a half ago that I thought (or behaved as though) summer might never end.  But it is amazing how fast things can change.  A couple of nights of frost and everything is different.  It is time to get the porch and deck plants ready to come in for the winter.  It was hard a couple of weeks ago to even think about the pruning back, cleaning up, digging out, and reluctant abandonment that is inevitable at this time of year. 

The frost on the first night last week was light, and since we covered most important things up we didn't lose much.  I was lulled into complacency, and even though we did cover most of the same things I didn't think we would lose the tomatoes, peppers, cannas, sweet potato vines etc.  But, the next morning had different tidings.  On the morning of Oct. 1st pretty much all of the tender plants in the back yard were frozen stiff, and as the day warmed up they drooped and wilted and blackened.  Ah, well.  It does have to happen. 

Once the shock of the death is over, we can move on to the beautiful season that is fall around here.  And, of course, to the preparation of the survivors to come in for the winter.  I moved the hanging begonia on the front porch into the garage, and am now trying to figure out where to put it for the winter. I took several cuttings, and if they root quickly I'll let the old plant go.  Before the first frost I dug up several geraniums, and will hang them in the coolest spot I can find inside.  (How I envy people who have a real root cellar!) 

I've been spraying hibiscus plants and bougainvilleas for a month or so, and hope to escape the whitefly infestation this year.  Brought in one bougainvillea today for the atrium, not sure where  to put the other.  Also brought in the red hibiscus, but not sure where the yellow one o n a standard is going to spend the winter.  It was way too intrusive last winter. 

At the upper level, on the front porch, I spent an hour or so yesterday digging and potting the Rex Begonia plants that were there.  I've had those for many years, and they would be way to expensive to replace.  But they do come up easily, and seem to welcome their winter comfort inside the light gardens in the basement.  They don't grow much there, but they almost all manage to come through the winter ready to welcome the spring.  I consider them an investment.  I fantasize that I could establish an ornamental plant business with the stock I have.  Probably won't happen.  But I've had the same Zebrina for more than 20 years, refreshed from cuttings each spring.  And many other long lived plants are in this house. 

Last weekend we also cut down the dogwood shrubs in the front of the house, and dug out all of the creeping juniper that was harboring hundreds of voles/moles/mice.  The entire neighborhood is complaining about the number of small rodents we have.  They are in every yard, and most of us are cleaning up the obvious places where they live.  I even found two mice in a birdhouse that was 7 feet above ground in a tree. 

There were a few late bloomers in the yard this weekend.  Some that have been blooming all along, and the the clematis on the east wall that bloomed early in the summer, seemed to nearly die with the draught, then came back and is blooming again with the new moisture we've had in the last month.

Well, that's enough for today.  Maybe it is better to write more often.

Summer Weekends Too Few

Ah, this is what it's all about. A beautiful weekend in mid summer, the yard looking wonderful, and needing just enough attention to let me have some hours of enjoyable gardening, without needing so much as to require our complete attention the whole weekend.

We started at the Downtown Appleton Farmer's Market on Saturday. Picked up some local strawberries and, of course, some spring rolls for breakfast. Then made our way to three sites on the annual Garden Walk (for the Emergency Shelter) by car. Got home by 11 or so, and took to our bikes for the last three gardens, finishing at the Fox Valley Technical College, which we ride around often, but haven't ever taken the time to really see the gardens close up. We were still going strong, so we took off to the Fox River Mall to pick up some niacin and stop for a quick Orange Julius.

When we got home, Bill decided that he should begin the installation of another stone wall, this one across the front of what had been the tricorn garden until the blue spruce tree grew so large as to engulf it and change its shape. So now, with the remains of the stones that we bought a year ago for the front garden, he is extending the linear theme of the front yard. He finished Sunday afternoon, and it looks great. We still have 20 stones left to find a home for.

The yard is just so nice right now. I think this is the perfect time.

I spent Sunday cutting the flowers that had been blown over, spraying weeds around the yard, and generally "puttering". I clipped the mallow from the back of the Asclepias - Butterfly Weed plant. It is in full bloom now, and I must admit it is my favorite plant. I wait so long and with so much hope to see the tiny sprouts in the spring. And just as I am about to give up hope, it springs back and then grows so strongly into such a robust plant that I can hardly believe I ever doubted.

A small black cat has been flirting with me for the last few days. Just a week after we buried Smoke, this one is appearing from the woods much as he did 15 years ago. Tonight she even let me pick her up, though she would much preferred to keep eating the food I brought out for her. We will need to decide what to do about her.

This seems to be the year of the compass plant. Mine is larger and stronger than I have ever seen it, and there are at least two new plants that are looking pretty mature. I gave one away in the spring - I think to Patti. And I've heard that others who grow them have found them to be impressive this year. It's pretty, but a bit agressive, and if it continues to take space like this I may have to find other accommodations for it.

Summer is in full Swing

It was a beautiful morning today (writing on Sunday evening), despite the fact that I have come down with a cold and that Smoke is dying. He has stopped eating and drinking, and is just stopping everything. Doesn't seem to be in pain, but it is hard to watch him and be so helpless.

We expect some rain today or tonight or maybe tomorrow, and we really need it. Yesterday, driving down to Baraboo to meet friends Tom and Bea, we saw the damage done by flooding all over the middle of the state. There were empty lakes, overfilled rivers and streams, barren fields, piles of gravel and sand where they didn't belong, and long detours. But we need rain here - we are seeing almost the same dry July that we've had for several years. It would be nice to have a summer of adequate moisture.

The clematis on the gazebo is blooming beautifully right now. It makes a pretty view from the deck. And the Heuchera - Coral Bells - beneath the front yard birch tree is lovely. Much of the rest of the yard is coming into its full growth, though a little rain and some real heat would really push them into full growth.

Blooming this week for the first time: Shasta Daisies, one Purple Coneflower (despite the fact that they are in bloom profusely all over the city,) Gloriosa Daisies, butterfly weed (Aesclepsis), Coreopsis (maybe they were starting last week..),the new hydrangeas on the east side of the house, Monarda, hostas, Tiger Daylilies, ajuga, and more that I've probably forgotten. In full glory are the Stella d'Oro lilies, various clematis, most of the annuals, delphinium, heuchera (but not the red ones leading up to the front door), margaurite daisies, and, again, some I've likely forgotten.

The Spring Hunting and Buying Season Begins

The buds on the trees are starting to open, and this is the time when we see a million shades of green. Even now, at 7:40 PM as I write looking outside at the dying light, I can see so much life.

On the way home from the WAPL Conference in Stevens Point, I got a chance to stop at one of my favorite garden centers. I don't even know the name, but it is about a half mile west of the conference site. Some way, almost every spring, I find a way to drive through there and shop. They have so many unique specimens. Today I found a new Clematis that I've never seen before, called 'Blue Light'. It is supposedly hardy to zone 4, so I hope it will work on the east side of the house on the new arbor. Also found a 'Blue Bahama' Passiflora, sold as "Passion Flower". We had a very persistant passion flower vine on the south side of our house on Green Bay Road - one of Gaga's favorites. I'm not crazy about the Christian symbolism this plant is burdened with, but it is a beautiful, complex, unusual flower and I connect with it because of the part it played in my childhood.

Also found a new Thyme plant and a new Sage plant. For some reason that I don't really get yet, these two herbs that I've had forever didn't make it through this winter that should have been easy for them under all that snow. A new Rosemary rounds out todays perennial and herb purchases.

It seems too early to pick up the tender annuals, but I may not get back to that greenhouse again this season. They have the best selection of hybrid Sun Coleus around, so I picked up a few of those as well. And also a nice starter pot of just sprouted Basil. The Coleus and the Basil will remain in the house for awhile, but the rest went out to the temporary greenhouse.

Cannas Grow while Iris and Clematis Struggle

The cannas went back out to the deck today, and also a couple of pots of geraniums. I sheltered the geraniums under the patio table because the new shoots were very tender. The cannas hadn't gotten far yet, so they can take the direct light.

We're expecting rain again for the next several days, though it will be a warm rain. The creek is back down to reasonable levels so we can probably take a couple of inches without terrible flooding But I'll have to watch the trays of cannas, which don't have drainage holes. Cannas in the wild thrive in boggy conditions, so they will be ok, but I don't want them to float away.

I still can't see any sign of growth from any of the clematis vines, and it feels very late for that. Every time I walk around the yard I find one or two or more abandoned vole nests dug into clumps of plants. They completely chewed down last years growth on the siberian iris clumps. That is probably a good thing, those can get totally out of hand and impossible to deal with.



Nice to see a tiny pansy peeking out between the stepping stones near the pond. Always hope that one or two make it through the winter, and this year this one looks strong and is growing in a good place. I can leave it right where it is and it will probably be beautiful for the next couple of months.