Garden 2020 - First Half of September

 The first half of September brings beautiful dry sunny days.  We can spend a lot of time enjoying sitting in the gardens.

In the front yard, the calendula is taking over!  The zinnias are putting forth a valiant effort, to the delight of the Monarch butterfly.

In the back yard, the zinnias dwarf the sundial.

The bumblebees enjoy the zinnias, too.

. .

We have flowers all over!  This bouquet is in the computer room.

This decorates the bathroom sink:

The tomatoes are seriously ramping up!

This one is trying to increase our harvest weight.

24.83 ounces!

Three have been productive this year.

The three tomatoes shown here are Azoychka, Cherokee Purple, and Bloody Butcher (we think).

We picked 135 pounds of tomatoes in August.  By the 15th of September, we have picked 57 pounds.

This year's experiment was brugmansia.

It was not expected to bloom this first year.  Here is a tiny bud.

A larger bud on the same plant.

And a lovely flower.  

This plant is often confused with Datura.

The Datura flowers point up, and the brugmansia point down.

We found this celosia at a farm stand on an end-of-seedlings sale.

It took a while to get moving, but it is lovely in the sun.

And the dahlias have been so delightful.

To see other garden pics:

This page.

Second Half of August

First half of August.

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.

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.

Garden in the second half of July

 The world is growing like mad.  

Front yard tomatoes are ripening nicely!

The orange ones are Azoychka.

By July 25, we are harvesting Cherokee Purple, Azoychka, and San Marzano tomatoes.  The green ones were not planned - either the branch broke or they dropped by mistake.  They will have to ripen indoors.

Is this the look of summer?   - barbeque chicken, tomatoes with oil and garlic, macaroni salad, cottage cheese,  It doesn't get much better than this!

Unless it's this.  A month early, on July 21, 2020.

The first fresh tomato pasta of the summer.

Chop tomatoes and add garlic, parsley, basil, and olive oil, and let it sit at room temperature.

Cook "Linguini Fini", a thin linguini, and toss with butter.  

Top with the tomatoes and add a good cheddar and good olives (These are Turkish, oil-cured.)

This daylily is new to us this year.  

Another daylily new this year.  The plant itself is tiny, but the flower is normal size!

A bumblebee enjoys the hosta flower.

We are seeing more bees and more variety of bees this year.

The butterflies particularly enjoy the zinnias:

The aconite (wolfsbane) is finally blooming on July 21.  The pink flowers are zinnias and the orange are calendula (self seeded from in front of the house!)  Notice how the plants are dwarfing the birdbath.

Can you see how tiny the daylily plant is.  I don't think it is 8 inches tall!   It's new this year and is striving to take its place in the world.

The delphinium is a powerful purple!

The structure on the right, with the Tibetan prayer flags, is a frame for dahlias.  Notice that some of the pink zinnias have gone through the second frame of wire.  Come back later to see the August pictures to see how high they really go!

The tall plant, above, left, looking a bit like Cousin Itt, is brugmansia.

The zinnia garden is filling in nicely.  This is the backyard, and this garden extends from near the green shed toward the back door.  The screen house was essential last year because there were so many biting bugs.  This year, so far, we have used it only once.  There are lots of beneficial bugs, like butterflies and bees, but, so far, no biting ones!

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.

Garden in the First Half of July

 Things are starting to grow.  The blossoms are scarce, with not enough for bouquets indoors.

The prayer flags provide a bright note on the frame that will support dahlias.  At this time, the dahlias are about 8 inches tall.  They have been interplanted with zinnias, also not blooming yet.

Tomatoes are getting bigger.  The corner plant is our favorite tomato, Cherokee Purple.

The tomatoes will end up softball sized, weighing as much as 20 ounces.

Interplanted with the tomatoes are basil, parsley, marigolds, and zinnias.

But by July 7, there are calendulas.

We planted these last year, and what you see are self-seeded.  They are really good seeders!

We have found the plants thriving in several places, including in the back yard tulip garden that did not exist as a garden a year ago!  The colors range from yellow to orange.  We will have to put up a fence to keep them from overtaking the front sidewalk!

By July 9, we are getting to see a variety of flowers  - daylilies, zinnias, marigolds, and some of the hosta have begun to flower.  The tall, straggly, weedy things in front of the shed are aconite - monkshood - they are taking forever to bloom.

It was fun to come across this bud stem of aconite one foggy, drizzly morning:

The water has weighted the branch to make it horizontal!

The birds enjoy this birdbath.  We have noticed them using it more this summer.  

Perhaps the plants growing around it make them feel safer.

The drumstick alliums are putting on quite a show.  These have begun to bloom - that's the lighter pink tops.  They really attract bees and other nectar sucking flying bugs.

We are delighted and amazed to see the San Marzano turning color on July 12.  San Marzano is a plum tomato that makes excellent sauce.  This is super early to be turning color!  In past years, the earliest we have picked a tomato is August 14.  Most often the first tomato is August 21.

The first asiatic lily bloomed in mid-July.  It is mildly fragrant and a delightful creamy color.  We have to cage them - the critters think they taste wonderful!  Last year, deer ate them all.

When you look at the dahlia frame in the above picture, it is hard to believe that they will need the stability of that tall frame.   Come back to see the pics in August and September!

And the mushrooms are always fun.

To see other garden pics:

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.