Catching up...

It's been nearly a year since I added to the blog.  Time just flies by, trite as that saying may seem.  I've recently read and enjoyed a couple of blogs by family members that reminded me how much I enjoyed this brief writing and photo-posting last year.  I've also noticed the absence of recent postings in one of the gardening blogs I regularly follow, and find myself wondering what's happened to cause this usually prolific and very enjoyable blogger to cease her efforts for so long.

July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Such a wet and busy summer.  I've been too busy to write updates about the gardens and I will regret it next year when I'm trying to remember what happened when and how to plan for it in the gardens for next year.  The weeds got a healthy start with a wet and warm spring, and have continued their phenomenal unwelcome growth all summer.  I mulch heavily, and even so the weeds have been a constant challenge.  My neighbor does not mulch at all, left for two weeks and came home to a large garden so overrun with weeds that she could barely find her plants.  

I'm grateful for all the common but hardy plants in my garden that so bravely withstand the heat, the wet, and the weed competition to bless me with their rich colors, shapes, and fragrances.  I even love some of my flowering weeds, as long as they stay within the boundaries I set for them.  This is a sampling of those reliable plants that were in bloom in my garden yesterday, an overcast and rainy day.

Rain, more rain....and weeds galore

It has rained so heavily and so frequently that all the gardens and flower beds are soggy and weed-filled.  Pulling weeds in this heavy, wet soil is apt to do more damage than good, since every time I try I uproot the very plants I'm trying to protect.  Even the heavily mulched areas are sprouting weeds, but the advantage there is that I can pull those without worry of harm, and because of the mulch they come up easily.   The advantage?  I haven't had to water anything except the flowers in hanging pots on the front porch, since mother nature has done it so thoroughly.  The disadvantage?  Plants that are normally carefree are experiencing fungus and mold attacks, including a real heart-breaker - one of our huge Colorado Spruce appears to have been hit by a severe attack of Rhizosphaera needle cast, and while the potato plants so far look huge and beautiful, having their roots (tubers) so consistently moist cannot be doing this crop any favors.  Sun yesterday and today, with two more days of rain forecast beginning tomorrow.  I'm starting to feel rather soggy myself.

Catching up in the garden

Returning home after a 10-day vacation at this time of year is a mixed blessing.  The rain and the heat took good care of my flowers and vegetables and kept most pests at bay naturally. Mulched garden and beds did beautifully however I was quickly reminded why it's important to mulch heavily and early.

Unfortunately, the weeds also appreciated the water and heat - BOY did they appreciate it! I've spent several hours each day since my return bringing order to the chaos in the sections of flowerbeds and garden which I did not have time to mulch before leaving on vacation.  There's an herb or two in there somewhere, I just know it....now to find it...

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day June 2010

After a 10-day vacation absence I returned to find my gardens and flower beds full of healthy growth.  Lovely....except that the most prolific growth in my absence was the weeds, which will take days and days to get back under control.  It seems as though that's a relatively easy task when I'm cruising the yard daily and can catch things before they get out of control, but now I'm going to have to get out some of my more heavy-duty tools.  Still, it's satisfying to see the more-or-less weed-free flower beds emerge following my labors - seems I can almost hear the plants sigh in relief and wiggle their toes (roots) around in the now more spacious earth surrounding them.  I love to see how effectively the more established perennials have kept weeds at bay on their own.  Hopefully the other beds will soon catch up to that goal.   Here are some of the things blooming happily in my gardens today. 

THIS is why I do it!

People sometimes look around our property and comment on how much work it must take to maintain it, and give me a puzzled look when I tell them we really enjoy the work and the subsequent results.

I'm working from home this week, to maximize available time with my visiting son, so this morning I'm sitting on the front porch with my cup of coffee next to me, and my computer in my lap.  My background "muzak" is the sound of birdsong and hummingbird wings, and when I look up from my computer, this is the scene that welcomes me.   THIS is why i love the work involved in maintaining the yard and flowerbeds, and why I love the results.  These moments are what makes it all worthwhile.

Early fruits of labor

The hanging planters filled with Lantana hung on the porch have not only attracted hummingbirds already but a small unplanted clay planter has become a nesting spot for a couple of very energetic chickadees.  I'm trying to keep my distance except for necessary watering of the plants so as not to frighten them away - it will be great fun to watch if they complete nesting and hatch babies in there.  As an interesting side-note, the spider plants that I hung as fillers until I could get something else in there seem to also be encouraging various birds to visit and the hanging spiderlets are intriguing to the hummingbirds - go figure.  In any case, this combo seems to be working, so I won't be changing it anytime soon.

Time flies....

The past month has been so hectic that I missed writing in the blog entirely, missed the May 15 posting of what's in bloom, and missed documenting a lot of what's gone on in the greenhouse and garden.  Suffice it to say for now, that the greenhouse and garden along with their associated tasks have provided both mental and emotional respite from work and from family health issues (my mom falling and needing to have daily care for a few weeks), as well as much-needed physical exercise.  

Major accomplishments since the last posting in April:
1) the evil vole has moved out of the greenhouse and ceased its damage, as far as I can determine NOT because of any deterrents I tried, but because enough tasty things are now growing outside that it no longer needed the greenhouse goodies. 
2) 2 of three types of tomato seedlings did GREAT and are ready to go into the garden tonight; Sun Gold did great, Better Boy did fine, and Roma never sprouted - who knows why.  Purchased a flat of Romas to plant - should feel frustrated, but figure I'm still in the learning phases of growing veggies from seed.
3) Found out that while seeds may sprout well in soil-less mix, they need to be moved immediately after sprouting into a mix with soil (and/or fed), or they will stay tiny, tiny, tiny.  Can I re-use this mix next year or is it contaminated with potential greenhouse "stuff" that shouldn't be in there?  We'll find out next year (or sooner if I find something written about this).
4) Lilac seedlings that have been coddled in the greenhouse and in pots in the yard the last two years were (apparently successfully) planted into a new wind-break row.  The wind from the north-west kind of battered the poor things initially, even though I had spent several weeks hardening them off, but so far all seem to be doing ok.  It will be interesting to see if they all make it through the coming winter.
4) Chrysanthemum cuttings are nearly all doing well and blooming.  I've had about 90% success rate with the cuttings, and that is fun to experience.
5) Goldfish didn't fare so well in the greenhouse this winter - lost some to illness, but will be ready to move them into the outdoor pond later this week I hope.  This is about a month later than I usually move them, and I think the heat in the greenhouse may have been the culprit in affecting their health this spring.
6) Other cuttings have done reasonably well - more about those in a subsequent blog.
7) Put in a new shade garden this past weekend.  This was my first chance in years to do that and do it correctly, right from the start; we'll see if it fares better than the ones I just kind of threw together in years past.
8) Cleaned out and renovated herb garden; redug, tilled, and replanted perennial herbs, added more this past weekend, and planted some annuals as well.   Still more room to plant, which is great!  Am looking to expand the edible flowers in this garden area.
9) Planted three varieties of potatoes, two varieties of beans in the main garden several weeks ago.  Added peas about a week ago, and re-tilled this morning to make room for all the things that need to go in next, now that we've passed the Michigan "last-frost" date (at least on paper).
10) Planted a new row of flowing shrubs to serve as both summer windbreak eventually and flowing back-bone of a new area of flower garden.  Finished planting yesterday - this morning already discovered deer browse damage on two of the shrubs, which means more deer-deterrent spraying, which I hate to do.

Whew, now that I've taken the time to write this stuff down, I realize it's actually been a productive month, since these are just the major accomplishments - there are other smaller tasks that have been productive but too much to record for now.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day April 2010

Returned from a 10-day vacation on Monday evening to find lots of new and beautiful blooms in the yard and gardens.  I LOVE spring!

Heat wave!

Unseasonably warm weather in Michigan all of a sudden.  Yesterday's temp was 80 degrees.  When I got home from work it was 120 degrees in the greenhouse even with the fan going and the screen door open!  Yikes!  I don't really know how, but none of the plants seemed the worse for wear, not even the seedlings.