Glories of an Early Summer Garden

Foxglove

Miss Kim

Lilies

There are so many photos I would love to share. The garden is exploding. It may be dry and windy and all the blooms are way early but they are here and I’m thankful.

The Miss Kim lilac is in full glory with the alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantel) yellow blooms creating a lovely duet. You should all have this combination. Its difficult to come inside, I just want to look at it endlessly. The Miss Kim is a smallish lilac making it suitable for a variety of sites and its fragrance is intense. Keep it in mind.

The thalictrum (meadow rue) is going to seed and I am determined to catch each and every one of the seed heads before they add to the masses that are already here. I have been weeding them out all season and have only made a dent. What happened is ~ the seed heads are gorgeous and I didn’t want to cut them. I thought ‘o, the warblers will eat the seeds’. Wrong. So very wrong. Won’t make that mistake again.

Something has devoured the leaves on the columbine of which there are multitudes around here and I was really looking forward to the low mound of green once the blooms were spent. No. But, fortunately, the blooms are hanging on longer than usual so their fairy-ness is still an influence. The plants in the West Garden are faring better than those in the south bed. Perhaps whatever is doing the eating hasn’t gone West.

What a lesson has been learned this season: I didn’t pack the perennial beds with annuals and more perennials. In the spring the temptation to fill in is strong but the reality is that what looks so skimpy will grow to enormous dimensions thanks to our almost endless daylight. There are a few cosmos and poppies here and there, and those same varieties that self sowed, but that’s it. I can actually see the salvia, which needs to be moved … 

It’s amazing but the staking is still underway. I have enough cuttings from the red twigged dogwoods to stake up the world but I haven’t been on top of this task. Now the ground (even with watering) is so hard that it’s a challenge to get the branches far enough into the ground to be effective. I still believe in using cuttings for staking, they are quite unobtrusive and get the job done. 

The Theresa Bugnet roses are blooming amid the common lilac, lovely sight, and if they keep it up they will also be intertwined with the mock orange. This is the best, when different blooms keep company. 

One digitalis (foxglove) is a giant which makes it seem odd. Its in full bloom and tall and all alone. The others are a fraction of the size and seem to be cowering in this giants shadow. Poor things. But its in bloom and gorgeous. 

The pot lilies on the greenhouse deck are in full bloom. This plant is a wonder. They live in the same pot year after year. I pull them into the greenhouse in the fall, leaving them to fend for themselves through the deep dark freeze, then I pull them out in the spring and, voila!, here they are! Blooming! I divided them once a few years ago and might give that another go in the future, not tonight. 

Another thought: I have been washing any tools that have a cutting edge i.e. grass trimmers, pruning shears, and just plain shears. I don’t need to keep sharpening them, just give them a good scrub at the kitchen sink. 

The cucumbers are coming on in masses, thankfully. I keep one on the kitchen counter with a knife so we can hack off what we want whenever we want. Excellent. 

This is the earliest that we have ever harvested peas. Granted, just a few at a time but still. Sugar Ann that isn’t growing seven feet. It is actually behaving itself AND producing delicious edible pod peas. Usually the peas are at the end of the season, which has always and forever baffled me. 

The spinach has been harvested and is now awaiting winter in the freezer. I managed to get to it before it bolted, a first. Before the big harvest it graced each and every salad that was consumed here. I have left a few plants for future salads, but there was a LOT of spinach out there. The roots are still in situ and I’ll see if they produce more or just go to seed. Need to try. 

We’re getting so many green beans out of the greenhouse I need to harvest with a basket and that’s just four plants which is two to many for the space. Nevertheless we’re eating fresh beans. These are a bush variety but still they are hefty plants. The ones planted outside haven’t fared as well. I have replanted at least a million times but apparently the last time worked because here they come, bless their hearts. Same thing with the potatoes that I didn’t think would show any signs of life at all and here they come with a very unplanned staggered appearance. 

This is the first time in my life that I have ever watered rhubarb. It took a beating when John reset the post that it grows next to and I felt a tad sorry for it, plus I’m not done making pies. It perked right up with a good dose of water. 

I ate the first strawberry. Now the point here is that I usually share it with John. No. I popped it right in my mouth without a second thought. Selfish yes, delicious indeed.