The purple spider wort is done blooming, and all of the yellows have arrived. The low walker mint and large pink blossomed geraniums and salvia are all still in bloom providing back drop to the yellows. Looking at my photos I realized I would like some white in there, maybe mellow the yellow a bit more.
The peas and green onions are doing great with lots of consistent watering, the keeper onions not so good. I think next year that area will be a raised garden bed, maybe for squash or potatoes. The green beans are doing o.k, I think the trick is not to over water the bags, especially now that they are double bagged they are retaining more moisture. Even my little tomato plants look o.k., one even has lots of cherries on it. Speaking of cherry, our poor old cherry tree just can't produce fruit. We've tried extensive watering and fertilizing. The only thing we can think of is, it is either the large spruce tree roots, or the cherry has some disease. I just hope our new little cherry doesn't succumb to the same problem, but it should be far enough away from the spruce trees. Our little Honey Sweet apple tree has lost a lot of small apples, but there is still quite a few on there, and so far I'm not seeing any disease, but I will probably spray neem on the tree when the wind has calmed and temperatures cooled.
The garden flowers are short and stocky this year again due to our lack of rain the last few weeks, fortunately even a tenth of an inch of rain fills the rain barrel halfway so I can put that on the beans. I did get all the soaker hoses set up but one, just need to decide who will get that. The soaker hoses are fairly inexpensive so I'll eventually put them everywhere! I've also used the pump in the rain barrel and that worked really well, now we just need rain! The upside to my dry straw lawn is that the rabbits have left for greener pastures!
This isn't a complaint just the facts, our state is heating up and getting a lot windier, which will also create drier soil. I have dry soil to start with so I need to think more about alternatives to my gardening. Mulch and straw and drip lines all help but maybe adding a compost layer would be helpful too. Something to explore.
Like last year I started putting in more drought tolerant perennials and shrubs. Some are doing well, others not so great, but they need to get established and hopefully I'll be able to reduce watering. The large Maple tree is also a thirsty tree so of course that area is always a challenge.
As a footnote, I have covid right now and feeling a bit miserable, hence the downer feel of this post.
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| yellow primrose, always shows up to the party! |
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| experimenting with freezing green onion stalks, works with chives! |
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| mellow yellow |
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| Good pea harvest! |
Greenie
