Garden in the First Half of August 2020

 Everything is taking off.  In July the tomatoes began.  In August, they are abundant.

The three that we are growing this year are San Marzano, our favorite paste plum tomato, and Cherokee Purple, a fairly new heirloom, and Azoychka, an orange tomato.  It is new to us and we find it to be a bit sweet, with great texture, and a fairly tough skin.

Our tomatoes are interplanted with marigolds, zinnias, basil and parsley.  Notice that the tomato plants are severely pruned.  Any branch that does not have flowers or tomatoes is removed.  The theory is that it forces the plant to put its energy into the tomato itself, and also that there is better air circulation to reduce disease.

The great crop is Mara des Bois Strawberries.  They are amazingly sweet and they taste like a strawberry should.  The color is red throughout (no huge white core), but they bruise easily and therefore are not sold commercially.

D has decided that 35 plants are not enough, so he has created three new beds.

. . . 

Check out that kneeler.  It has really saved his knees and makes it much easier to get up and down.  It's quite sturdy and has a side pouch to carry tools.  Another benefit is that the kneeler can be turned over to make a small bench when you're ready to sit and admire your work or when sitting would be easier on your back, for example while pruning tomatoes.

The joy of August, in addition to tomatoes and strawberries, is flowers!

Some of the new daylilies are blooming.  

Look at the size of this gladiolus:

This lily is at least eight inches across and has an amazing scent.   It perfumes the entire garden.

The aconite is almost as tall as he is.

It finally bloomed:

Another name for aconite is monkshood.

The flower does kind of look like a monks hood!

Remember the dahlia support cage?  The plants have gone through the knee-high wire lattice and are now going through the chest-high lattice.

This garden has also been planted with zinnias, so there are zinnias and dahlias.

The dahlia tuber for this dramatic creamy orange flower was a gift from a friend in Oxford.  

Isn't it wonderful?

Some delphiniums are getting dwarfed by the nearby plants.

We have so many different little gardens that it is fun to decide where to sit and enjoy!

To see other garden pics:

This page.

2nd half of July.

First half of July garden.

Garden at the End of June

And the first half of June is here.

You can see the end of May, 2020, here.

Here is the first week of May

Daffodils 2020

The middle of April is here.

First week of April.