Amidst the glories of an early summer garden don’t forget to take a good look around you at the natural environment. Our son Darren has been sending photos of alpine wildflowers from Atigun Pass. They are so amazingly spectacular. His daughter Cecilia has sent photos from Grace Ridge. Really people ~ get out there.
Here on this one third of an acre there is much going on, much in bloom. Not as much bird activity as there has been in past years but enough to keep us guessing what they are. The Miss Kim lilac has been hosting a hummingbird and they are always and forever a delight to watch. Now that she is fading we’ll see which bloom the hummingbird will choose, there are many. Although we have been told and read that these birds are drawn to bright colors ours seem to be indiscriminate, even frequenting the very white mock orange. We have a pair of red crossbills which had us baffled until I sent a photo to a friend in the know. We didn’t really see the crossed bill and this seems an odd time of year to have them here but they are welcome. Never have we seen so many robins in the summer. We get them in the winter when they feed on the mountain ash berries and there is usually a nest here and there but the numbers this summer are astonishing. They truly love the bird bath. Once they are finished with their very lovely spring love song, they just become noisy. Disappointing.
Our five giant spruce on the north side of the house have little tiny white dots on them. I took a photo and sent it off to Casey Matney our Extension Agent in Soldotna (camatney@alaska.edu) and he identified them as wooly aphids and they should do no harm to the spruce, but really there are a zillion of them. Keep Casey in mind when you have tough questions and don’t know where to turn. With our climate obviously making a shift I presume there will be more and more pests and diseases appearing that we are not familiar with. Brace yourself.
With that in mind I have been told that domestic blueberries are starting to thrive here in Homer. Last year the wild blueberries were prolific on this side of the Bay, contrary to the very many years that I have made the trip across to pick. We still have berries in the freezer. Keep in mind that John is a maniacal berry picker and I am grateful. But knowing that the domestic varieties are making a strong showing I went ahead and planted two Polaris in the bed adjacent to the greenhouse. Time will tell.
The mock orange are the show to see at the moment. They are gorgeous. Along with the lilacs they have dramatically exceeded their intended size. These beauties are enormous. Every time I drive past the Legislative Information Office on Pioneer and see them pruned down to nothing my heart aches. What a shame to position a plant where it can’t reach its potential. Think about this when you introduce shrubs and trees to your own landscape.
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| One of three Mock Orange |
Cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, basil are all rolling in from the greenhouse. Bounty! The salad bowl is in steady use. Peas are keeping ‘grands’ happy as are the strawberries. Bliss.
The photos included this evening are of the one and only window box. Its here to greet us as we walk up to the house, like a good dog. I love this box. Every year its the same, it works, tuber begonias that I hold over year after year sometimes making divisions; pansies, lobelia and bacopa filling in the around them. The bleeding heart will soon reach up and blend in, lovely.
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| Flower Box |
The verbascum ‘Bold Queen’ didn’t get the attention it deserved early in the season. As a result it is cramped but the overall effect is actually quite lovely. I’ll need to keep this in mind and be less aggressive when thinning next year. And yes, they do come back every year.
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| Verbascum 'Bold Queen' |
The dwarf delphiniums are, of course, not so dwarf but they still don’t need staking and the contrast of the deep purple with the pink peonies is exactly what I was looking for. If they make it through another winter I’ll be able to divide them and spread the glory.
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| Delphiniums |
The Homer Garden Club had a Garden Share Tour again this year. What an excellent idea. We went to two gardens that were connected so we had to park once and stroll through each of these beauties. That’s all ~ just two, just HGC members in attendance which makes becoming a member for a mere $10/year quite appealing. Think about this ~ homergardenclub.org. This site will direct to the Gardener’s Weekend that will be this weekend July 17.
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