Beautiful Days

We've had a nice run of beautiful days, less humid, a bit less heat, and also a reminder that summer is winding down. 
Between making pesto, peeling tomatoes and picking beans, I have to make some perennial plant moves.  Some did not meet expectations-mostly too short for their location, and need to find a better place in the garden.  Hope to get a bit more rain to help make the digging easier, but most of the plants being moved are still small.
We had our first melon, maybe our only, of the season and shared it with some neighbors during Friday happy hour- it was very tasty, and sweet.  I was surprised at how good it was.  Unfortunately, the two remaining melons are pretty tiny.  We will have two good sized butternut squash, but overall the melon and squash growing experience was disappointing.  More compost for next year!
So, I'm hoping these unidentified plants are my jerusalem artichokes.  I'll have to look up the leaf shape online since they haven't bloomed.  Maybe I've just been growing a weed!
Here are some pics-

butternut squash 

 tasty melon

giant swallowtail

milkweed bug(just out of nymph phase)

jerusalem artichokes??

Greenie

Bunnies, Bees, and Butterflies, oh my

We are now at three bunnies of different sizes eating in our yard at the same time, rabbit stew anyone?  I think the smallest one knows his name "Bunny", and doesn't even run when I come outside.  Bunny decided to try the melon- hope it survives.  I finally have some butternut squash growing, and a couple of acorn squash.  The beans are blooming but slow to grow-only get a handful each time.  Fortunately, the tomatoes are pacing themselves.
The hyssops in the berm circle are huge and loaded with bees, of all sorts, but mostly bumbles, and a few butterflies too.  Double click on photos for bigger view.



spiderworts new home



bursting berm

purple prairie clover-love it

upside down pepper plant



trumpet vine triumph

 Moved the large spiderwort from the ponds edge, it was too tall for that space, and I was lucky to find some more St. John's wort for its replacement.  It is a great pond edging plant!

out with the spider, in with st. john's wort





where's waldo?  how many bees do you see?  Each plant had at least 20 bees that I could see, but I can only see a few in the photo

gotta go- next time melon and squash pics

Greenie

100 Plus!

That is the temperature and the weed count!  I'm picking beans like crazy, and a few summer and zucchini squash.  The basil is ready to cut again, and the trumpet vine is creeping to the top of the fence.  That is what a few days of 100 plus will do!  I even have some small melons appearing- I'm going to have to buy some more knee high nylons to keep them on the trellis- it's taking alot of time to tie them all up on the trellis, and when the melons and squash get bigger I'm going to have to make  hammocks for them- I don't even have a hammock!  Here are some new pics.

best view

this is for Karen- our weed filled lawn!

the trumpet vine creeping upward

tomatoes anyone?

the berm plants

squash, beans, basil, peppers...

first cherries-pie?

saw some melons today.

It looks like the potatoes have some sort of fungus- maybe from the high humidity?  Until cooler days- Greenie

The cirle grows

the circle and berm with summer squash, zucchini, basil, beans, and tomatoes

the tomatoes!

lambs ear

mallow

?

the berm

Everything in the circle and on the berm are doing well.  A few of the grasses planted last year are very slow, but the Karl Foresters are great, the hyssop are huge, and all the perennials planted in the circle this spring are growing.  I even picked alot of basil yesterday, and made pesto-yum!  I will be picking beans in a couple of days!  Weeds are also growing like crazy- as soon as we get a soaking rain I'll do some serious pulling.  I planted two scabiosa (pin cushion) flowers that are more of a wine color- remind me of clover.  As I was digging holes for them I was also reminded of how hard and dry this soil gets  - always amazed anything can grow in it. 

Forgot the Front

I forgot to add info on the front revival.  We had hostas that looked fabulous in the spring and by July were crispy critters.  Sun all day does not work for most hostas.  So we found good homes for them, and then proceeded to remove rock, and of course more rock, and eventually more rock.  I added a little soil amendment and planted False Spirea, caramel Huchera, and caradonna Salvia- might add a small pinky plant-see how big the Spirea gets.
I also have some other photos I forgot about!

This is st. john's wort flower ( the yellow blossom) by the pond

front walkway

better than it was!

How green can your garden grow

Pretty green, and orange, and yellow, and lots of shades of purple!  The butterfly weed is doing great, and the one the bunny decimated is getting leaves!  It is fun to see all the perennials doing so well- a couple of things I'm still not sure if they are friend or foe- time will tell.  What I'm also starting to see along with all the colors, which I love, is a little too much chaos in my plantings.  I'm just not sure what is worth the effort to move, and  more importantly, where to move it.  I do know I'll eventually move the really tall spiderwort in front of the pond, and probably put in st. john's wort- since that is doing so well. It would also give a better sight line into the back of the garden.  I'm debating the tiger's eye sumac- I love it, but it is going to get alot bigger.  So, it could use a bit more space, or I could just keep it trimmed low.
After cleaning the pond filter a couple of times a week, I decided to clean out the big pond.  It had a lot of algae slime, but not as bad as I thought it would be.  The pond pump worked great emptying the pond, along with a little bucket, and big towel action, it is now cleaned and being refilled.  I'll probably tackle the small pond soon.
I've seen a couple of the hummingbird moths, big, but not as large as the one Larry and I saw in Colorado several years back.   They are pretty, and fun to observe.
The peas are going gangbusters, and much better than last year, but we are still getting tough ones.  The green beans and tomatoes are in development, and looking good, potatoes look good.  I don't think the squash and melon produce are going to break any records, I hope to get a few at least.  The peppers are the saddest group of all-just tiny.  We are finally getting a run of 80 plus temps so maybe they will be inspired.
I think it is time to add a couple of junipers on the west edge of the lawn, and a couple of honeysuckle vine to the fence, and find a spot for the other two hops vines.  The one I planted this spring is struggling, but growing.
I'll update at the end of the week.  Notice the dragon fly garden art(foreground)- picked that up at the clearwater flea market.

 butterfly weed

 hens and chicks flower!

Greenie

First Strawberries!

Well, ok I have been nibbling on one or two before I harvested this less than completely ripe bowl of strawberries.  It doesn't really matter that they are not completely ripe because they still taste so much better than store bought.  My strawberry plants look like they have a fungus or rust- lots of brown spots.  Maybe they are too crowded together in that small little patch.  I think I'll thin them out a bit after they've slowed with the production of strawberries.
I have another bunny and I think he's here to stay unless I can figure out a way to make the yard less appealing.  He is pretty small yet, and I think there is just one, but he has put a significant dent in some of my plants.  He totally decimated a butterfly weed, trimmed back the coreopsis, and nibbled on young lupine.  I'm using blood meal, and cayenne pepper, and vindaloo (I had a large bottle and I knew I'd never use half of it- spicy!).  It may have slowed him down, and I see him out in the lawn nibbling too, so maybe he'll just eat the lawn vegetation if my plants become more distasteful.  I don't want to use alot of chemicals because I have strawberries, peppers, and onions mixed in with the perennials.

yummy!

still intact butterfly weed.

bunny decimated butterfly weed ( this is a different plant from above).  Looks like he used a pruning shears.

Pictures soon of the yard- it is growing greener everyday!

Hoopsi is Here!

Good thing we got the hole dug early because the blue spruce Hoopsi was delivered early.     I think we hit a record number of rocks per square inch on this one.  I've decided to expand my cobblestone paths in the gardens!  It is a very pretty tree, a great addition to the yard.
Have a great Memorial Weekend!
Greenie

Don't worry, be happy.

I survived the rapture, I guess everyone did!  I worry about mother nature's wrath more than god's.  Maybe because mother is god, god is mother.  My sermon for the day is now over. 
I feel such sadness for those who have been caught up in this spring's frightful weather, we had our own twister in north Mpls, that really devastated a community.  Houses can be rebuilt, but all those beautiful old trees!  That will take time.  In Missouri, unimaginable, the horror those poor people are experiencing.  I am sure they are truly shell shocked.  We feel badly about our overly wet cool spring, ruining our best laid plans for field and yard, but we dare not complain...

 what a difference a few weeks can make

 A side note on the trumpet vine- finally seeing a tiny sprout- about a cm!

 Added a mugo pine to the berm!  Cherry tree looks great.

 The rocks never disappoint, they are always there.

 I'm afraid I foiled the bunny-good idea to bunk out in a strawberry patch.

 Absolutely love st. john's wort- full of buds this year, can't wait to see the flower.  Check out our fab melon trellis'  My design, with Larry's labor.  I'm optimistic on the melon front.

We are definitely green now, even with limited sun, the perennials look great!! The berm and circle are pretty much planted.  I will probably add a perennial here or there, and put in some basil, and onions.  Now we are focusing on the west border of the property, and adding trees, and shrubs.  So far we have decided on the hoopsi spruce(pics soon!) Until then some photo updates!
Greenie