August's Own Ideas

motivation

peppers

potatoes still healthy!

zucchini



inspiration



sweet surprise



perspiration



So far August is more like September, great for consuming mass quantities of fried food at the state fair, but not so great for the vegetables trying to win top prize at the state fair. Also, not so great for the vegetables that are supposed to land on my dinner plate. I did see a bit o' pink on my tomatoes yesterday, and I do have several zucchini and a bag of beans in my vegetable drawer, but I haven't had any excess to freeze. Another visit to the farmers market next week! I'm still working on the garden site behind the house, just finishing up the edging around the side of the house, plus removing the rock and plastic my neighborhood landscaper's minions left behind in their "hurry up job" of rock removal. My own misbehavior of peasant garden squatting while doing this job has left me with plantars fasciitis, so now I'm moving in slow mo, embracing the Slow Gardening movement. Yes there is such a thing! (side note: the blog page is not allowing me to do much in the way of formatting so that is why everything is the way it is.. ) Greenie



wild 4 o'clock flower bud



August Hope

Heading into August I'm wondering if I'll see a melon, taste my own tomatoes, or pluck a red pepper!  I am eating strawberries again, and they are big and juicy, a nice surprise.  We had about 4 cups of cherries turned into cherry/brandy sauce for icecream, yummy!  The perennials are doing great, the apples on the tree look good and I planted more green beans, hoping for a warm August.
More changes are coming to the back yard in the next few weeks.  We are finally removing the original landscaping rock and what remains of the plastic from the back of the house.  This means removing any plants I want to save, mainly milkweed and coneflower, and yes the monarchs arrived!  I've seen a monarch everyday this past week, hoping it is not the same one each time.  So, we have our work cut out for us, removing plants, then adding plants, and after that we'll have some large rock outcropping done on our small hill.  Out with old rocks, in with new rocks!


giant butterflyweed and bunny tails





mid july




bad bug




view from the patio




cherries




end of july



new perennial from seed
Wallflower



bunny tails




evening primrose




green pond- before oxygenator plants



CLEAR POND! after oxygenator plants!



the ponds

next time, the vegetable garden!
Greenie

A Summer of Change

After weeks of wet cool weather, summer is here.  It has been gorgeous, even with the humidity.  Everything is playing catchup and time will tell if it can.  Things to note on this first day of July;  I haven't seen many butterflies-one yellow swallow tail and a few small pale blue ones.  I have not seen one monarch in our yard.  We've had a few dragonflies, or the same ones returning.  Bees are rare, except for the very tiny ones which were all over the sedum flowers.  Only a couple of large bumble bee sightings, and very few other bees.  I'm hoping with more blooms the bees will increase.  We've only had infrequent visits by a hummingbird, probably the same one.  I have not heard our toad.  Our wrens are back, we have several goldfinches, and chickadees, and robins.  The nuthatch and woodpecker visit once in a while.  I have a bird I haven't been able to identify for sure, maybe a cat bird, and we've had a thrush visit, and the Cooper's Hawk!

lupine with tiger's eye sumac

bush clematis

trumpet vine on patio

cooper's hawk

Today is July 2, and I am starting to see more bees on the milkweed and pincushion flowers.  I'm still seeing hundreds of tiny bees but still no butterflies.  Here are more pictures of the garden!

bunny tails

delphinium

new plant with orange trumpet flowers in front of gallardia-no blooms yet.

red lilies just opening

pincushion bonanza

two new spurge plants and apricot coreopsis

small pond with new rocks- good spot for the fish!

snowsweet apple!

boom or bust again?

potatoes



rutabegas and beets




milkweed




a handful of strawberries a day-better next year?




large pond with water plants



start of new drawing using my cooper's hawk photos.

This gardening is great fun, but some days I feel like I have another full time job!  It is a great inspiration for my work, but I may be re-evaluating all of the vegetable gardening for next year.  I had quite a few perennials that didn't make it so I spent alot of time replacing plants.  Now the back of the house garden area needs to be redone, but the milkweed is staying in hopes of the Monarch's survival, and for the bees.

Greenie

It Popped and Fizzled

Up until today it's been a challenge to call this summer, and half of today was overcast, but we had a full half day of sun, the most we've seen in weeks!  Plus it actually got above 70 degrees, briefly, but a definite improvement.
It will be an interesting summer for the vegetable garden.  I'm going to keep close track of progress, or lack of progress since this summer may be a beginning to a continued climate change in this area.  I may have to rethink my plan of attack for seed starting and general planting for next year.  I'm definitely going to pick up a few garden center vegetables because mine look so sad I'm not sure they will ever recover. 
The peas, beans, and onions look good.  The rutabega and beets are just coming up and are now covered with lightweight fabric to keep out bugs and rabbits.  The tomatoes and peppers look very sad, just not enough warmth- they should perk up this week with warmer temps.
Some of the strawberries are looking good, but I think they need help to get big full berries, so have to look into that.
The cherry tree looks great, and we have quite a few apples on our new snowsweet dwarf apple tree, very excited about that.
I'm contemplating a retaining wall at the bottom of our small hill, and another new tree along the east fence.  I've thought about pear trees, but I'm not sure we have the space for two trees.

new robin fledgling-looking for mom?

I can always count on the columbine and the bachelors button.

bachelor's button

naughty squirrel- could be an issue.