Summer's Full Swing



true blue! my only pampered plant.

new grape vine!

Sometimes I wish I had a swing, an old fashioned rope swing with a wood seat.  In a couple of years the maple's tree branch may be strong enough!
I'm sitting outside writing this in what is an absolute perfect summer evening, a light breeze, perfect temperature, the ponds are bubbling and the garden is happy.  Our little expansion,( I call it phase 5 of the "plan"), with a small rock wall is ready for plantings.  I planted some green beans on the southern edge, and divided and transplanted all of the prairie smoke to the rock edge.  With the prairie smoke moved we can see the pond from the porch.

The hops have significantly expanded their territory. 
Already growing on the new arbor!

The peas did great and I will probably plant some more, never know, we could have an extended summer.  The beans are good and our small tomatoes are ripening, but the zucchini, rutabaga, and peppers seem to be very slow.  We just haven't had too much heat, but it has been a fabulous summer.  I'm glad for the farmer's market!

 I love how the lilies take turns blooming.  First the magenta, and now the large yellow lilies.

we've seen a lot of monarchs and yellow swallow tails this summer, love that! Gives me hope.

Time to dig.  Don't let that pretty dark earth fool you, underneath are rocks, rocks, and more rocks, oh and a few thousand ants! The only plants for sure going in here are the prairie smoke, a prairie clover and some crimson clover.  The south side will be used for vegetables, like beans.  You can never have too many beans, or peas, or tomatoes, or...

Echinops, I've grown attached to these fun flowers.

The beans were just planted, and they are already up a couple of inches as of today, I'll have to add another picture.

This picture doesn't really do justice to all the lovely flowers in the circle.  It really is a lovely mess.

The red Echinacea is new this year.

So, I will definitely add photos of vegetables in the next post, and hopefully phase 5 will be further along!

Greenie

No Complaints Allowed

Considering our past winter, no complaints allowed.  No complaints about humidity, strange temperature fluctuations, an over abundance of rain, etc., etc.  Today is perfection!  The monarchs are returning and that definitely puts a smile on my face.  We've had about 5-7 visits of monarchs this summer so far, granted it could be the same monarch, but it is an improvement from last summer.
From my last long ago post I was lamenting the sorry state of some trees in our yard.  Yes we did take out our Vanderwolfs in the front yard and replaced them with a sturdy Norway Spruce.  Our Redbud did survive but it has lost about 30% of it's branches.  We will take a wait and see approach, Wait to See what it looks like next Spring.  Our little pinnacle birch appears to have contracted some sort of wilting disease, trim the dead, and wait and see.
The perennials all returned with spectacular enthusiasm, even my little delphinium, that I almost dug up to replace.  It just made a very late appearance.  It may not even bloom this year.  Everything else really looks good.  Most bigger and better than ever!

overview of side yard.  everyone is healthy!

The tall knapweed, and Joan Elliot campanula doing really well.

patio side pincushions, butterfly weed, stella lilies, and strawberries.

We've had an abundance of robins.  Larry puts out mealworms.

The ponds are clear!

The prairie clover is thriving and was loaded with a variety of bees!

 

We are picking the cherries twice a day, instead of throwing the net over it.  The cherries are taking a long time to ripen but I've made a few jars of jam so far, might get a couple more jars.  It was loaded with flowers this Spring but we didn't have a lot of bees then, so maybe that is why it is such a small crop of cherries, but they are delicious!  I just recently discovered a garden center in Wisconsin that has a sweet cherry tree for zone 4, could it be true?  Very tempting, and if that Redbud doesn't rebound...

The vegetable garden is making a slow but consistent march towards harvest, the peapods are doing great, beans are starting to set, so the  next post will focus on produce, and maybe the new addition of large rocks?

I'm also looking at the perennial gardens with a more critical eye of composition and color while keeping in mind it's purpose of catering to bees, butterflies and birds.  A lot of my plantings have been experimental, to see who really thrives in this soil, to see who really attracts the bees, the butterflies and the birds.  Sometimes I wish I had a bit more space to play in but then my body reminds me it is a lot like work.

Until the next post.

Greenie