Part of the reason I’ve been so busy lately is because, in addition to a large workload, and and over-extended garden, I’ve been party planning.
You see… Dave’s been fast approaching a pretty big milestone. The big 5-0. It still feels very strange to me – we started dating when he was just a young, cocky 26-year-old. But it’s true!
Now Dave normally doesn’t like a big deal made about his birthday, but he does love a good party. And I figure 50 years of not dying is something to celebrate! So on Saturday, we had a pile of friend over for a BBQ. The hot disgusting weather meant we kept the festivities indoors (except for me outside at the grill), but thankfully we have a large house that’s laid out well for entertaining.
I let Dave kick back and enjoy his guests while I managed food, drinks, and making sure he and all the guests were attended to. As such, I didn’t get a chance to take many pictures.
I did get one of him blowing out his candles, so at least there’s that!
I was absoutely beat by the time everyone left. But the big smile on that guy’s face was worth it. 10/10 would celebrate him again!
And I’m happy to say it’s another decent harvest. At least for the regular garlic. I doesn’t look like any of the Elephant Garlic made it. It’s supposed to be MUCH bigger than the regular garlic
The biggest one I have is only slightly bigger than all the other bulbs, so I’m not 100% sure it’s Elephant garlic. Either way I got 15 bulbs (two were pulled earlier and taken to Mom’s) so it’s right on par with my usual harvest.
While I was out there, I also pulled the shallots.
They technally weren’t “done” (ie greens flopping) but some of the stems were starting to rot so I figured it was best to pull them before the rot spread and I lost too many.
Normally, shallots split into two or three separate bulbs, but this year I didn’t get any triplets, and only ended up with a handful of twins. Most of them stayed single, though they are a good size. I think the cooler spring, and up and down weather had something to do with it. This was the first year I’ve ever had to cut scapes off my shallots. In the end, I only got about 1/3 of what I got last year.
These (and the garlic) are now all laid out on the catio porch to cure for a few weeks. Along with these little guys
I bought a tray of pickling onions back when I bought the bird house gourds etc – I needed to buy 10 trays to get each for $1. Some of you may remember my pickled onion adventure from way back. We can actually by Dad’s pickled onions again, but I figured these would be fun to do up a home made jar for him. Like the shallots and garlic – these are on the porch curing. Because I’m pickling, them, they don’t really need it – but I don’t have the time to pickle them just yet – so it won’t hurt them to hang out for a bit.
And I was so excited about my tiny peppers…. only to discover this…
Three of them had these brown mushy spots. Google tells me it might be sunburn. There’s more flowers on the plants, so there’s still a chance for peppers… but I think I may need to rig up some sort of sun shade.
The hot weather has been hard on my peas too. They are still producing well, but the pods are a bit curly! They taste just fine though and I love my daily garden snack as I make my rounds.
The melons, at least, are enjoying the heat! We’ve already got blooms, so fruit shouldn’t be too far behind (though it takes almost all summer to ripen!)
And last…
It’s bean harvest time! This makes me so happy after the bean debacle of last year. And unlike previous years – I didn’t go crazy and plant up a whole 4×4 bed. These are in a large container and there’s probably five or six plants. If I’ve calculated correctly – it should be just enough to keep us in beans for fresh eating for most of the summer, without too much, if any, overflow!
While I haven’t won the war on the Japanese beetle… I am winning many small skirmishes. I try to get out there every day – ideally twice a day, morning and evening – picking beetles of my plants.
As a result, I am seeing a reduction. Where they normally demolish the raspberries and willows, I’m seeing fewer and fewer there. They are still being very hard on the roses, and the weeping pussywillow out front, but even there I feel like I’m seeing their numbers lower. The stupid, mind melting heat is making it hard to get out there though – but I’m doing my best.
I’ve managed to mostly keep them off the Hollyhocks and have been enjoying these beautiful blooms. The double blooms also seem to be a little harder for the beetles to as opposed to the single ones, which they could destroy in just a couple hours.
Most of the roses are pretty munched right now, but Chicago Peace managed to bloom. The heat is pretty hard on the roses too, so we wont’ really see them shine again until September.
I think I’m once again winning the lily beetle battle too. I pick them off and put them in the bucket right alongside the Japanese Beetles. These two are the most recent bloomers.
These two are both Stargazers. Most people are familiar with the Pink Stargazer, but don’t realize there’s a yellow one too. They are the most robust, and resistant to the lily beetle in my collection.
Happily, there are no pests that really seem to bother the daylilies. These three are Night Embers, Catherine Woodbury and Crimson Pirate.
On the left we have Frans Hals, middle is Children’s Festival, and right is Bonanza
But these two…
while pretty… are a bit of a disappointment. They were part of that “Purple and White” daylily mix I bought. Now, I’ve banged on before about how purple isn’t always purple in the horticultural world.. but this is how the grower advertised them…
Certainly more purple than what I got. And not even the same petal type – these are more “spider” like.
Onto better things…
My Native purple bee balm (which is ACTUALLY purple) is blooming! Normally, it is subject to powdery mildew. But despite the humidity, it’s been a pretty dry summer so far, so the leaves are green and happy.
My Grandma always called these Red Hot Pokers. I’ve since learned they are called Kniphofia, and they come in a range of colours. At the townhouse, I had one called Traffic light, that blended from yellow on the bottom to red on the top. They didn’t make the move, and I planted a mixed bag when we moved here. But I only got one colour – this cheery orange.
The first sunflower has bloomed
I honestly can’t tell you if this is a volunteer or one of the ones I started from seed. It’s over on the back fence, so my guess it that it’s a volunteer. They did much better than most of the ones I started. I am debating on even starting any next year, and just redistributing the volunteers as they pop up!
Over in the catio, the Culver’s Root is in full bloom. It’s hard to get a a picture of just how magnificent they are. They reach the top of the catio fence which is almost 9 feet. And they branch out all over the place. They’ve gotten quite bushy so I might try to split them up in the fall. I think they’d look great along the fence. They are a native plant too (though this is a hybrid cultivar).
The whole catio is looking pretty darn amazing! Though I have to get out, stake some things up, and do some weeding. (Don’t I always?)
I’m trying to spend as much time as I can in the garden, but the heat (and now wildfire smoke) is making it hard. But I have to at least make sure this one gets some time on the garden swing with me each day.
I got myself some new pajamas the other day. They came in the mail, and I took them out of the bag, took the tag off, and laid them on the bed, to be put on later that night
Two minutes later, I came back to find them claimed.
I mean… I guess they do kind of have his name on them.
I FINALLY finished the broken seed stitch sock this week.
It should not have taken so long to finish such a small sock – even with the seed stitch and changing of colours. In truth, that doesn’t slow it down much at all because you get into a good rhythm with it.
No – it’s because the reality is – I just haven’t had time to pick it up and work on it. I normally knit in the evenings after dinner, but between work, garden obligations and just general tasks that have piled up, there just hasn’t been a chance to actually sit and knit.
I have an event this weekend (more on that later) and after that, I hope life calms down a little bit. I still have to knit the second sock!
I mentioned early this week that the Monarchs are once again regular visitors to the yard. So, it shouldn’t have totally surprised me to find this on my bed last week….
Now, regular readers will know that it’s not unusual for Lemmy to catch monarchs in the catio. He usually get’s five or six every summer. But bringing them in the house. That’s new.
And then it happened again a few days later. Once again in the bedroom, but this time on the floor. I tried to have a chat with the young offender
It’s the time of year where I try to take a little time each day to wander around the yard and check out who’s visiting my plants.
There’s the regulars
Monarchs – which aren’t here on mass yet, but I see one every other day at least.
Cabbage White Butterflies – which haven’t been as abundant this year as they normally are. It’s probably one of the reasons my cabbages are looking so good.
Comma – so named for the little white mark on it’s wing.
Common Skipper. We get lots of skippers in the garden, this one is probably the biggest.
And of course, the honey bees. They were much more prolific in the spring, but there are still lots of them buzzing about.
There are baby Praying Mantis absolutely EVERYWHERE! If you look closely, there are two in that bottom pic
There are so many different types of dragonflys! I didn’t get around to putting a pond in this year, but that hasn’t stopped these guys from visiting.
I especially love this pic of the dragonfly eyes peeping out either side of the thistle leaf!
Orchard Weavers are regular residents, and this one looks like a little jewel hovering in mid air. These guys like to build their webs suspended between the coneflowers and susans.
Now onto the new friends…
I caught sight of this guy from inside the house. He’s a Grapevine Beetle and he was just chilling on a sunflower leaf by the front steps. It’s North America’s largest scarab beetle. That’s my thumb beside it, so it gives you an idea of the size.
Speaking of grapes… this little goth looking moth is a Grapevine Skeletonizer Month. Apparently their caterpillars are quite destructive, as the name implies. I don’t have any grapes, but there are lots of wild grapes out in the country side around us.
We often find moths chilling on our kitchen door in the morning. This one is a Tulip Tree Beauty.
And this little guy is a Checkered Skipper. I’m not 100% he’s a completely new visitor… but he’s not a common sight, that’s for sure.
This neat fellow is a Goldenrod solidier beetle. The Goldenrod isn’t blooming yet, so I guess the false sunflowers are a good standin.
We have lots of different wasps, but there are dozens of these great golden digger wasps. They look scary but they are pretty gentle as wasps go.
And speaking of gentle.. how about a bumblebee fly? That’s right – it’s a fly, not a bee! No stinger, all fuzz!
Here we are, near mid-July. It’s hotter than Hades…. but the day lilies are thriving.
Long time readers will know I have many varieties (some not yet blooming) and I usually add more every year. In fact, this year, I’ve added five. It was a “purple” mix, so I’m not quite sure what I’ll get. I started them in pots. As soon as they bloom, and I figure out what colour mix they are, I’ll find permanent homes for them.
The “true lilies” aren’t doin quite as well.
I managed to stay on top of the Asian Lily Beetle early in the season, but as things got busy, my efforts fell off. They’ve come back with a vengence and have eaten quite a few buds. Even the ones that managed to bloom have a few holes in them.
Like the day lilies, I’ve started several new ones in pots. Six in fact. So far only one has bloomed.
It’s called Lady Alice. It’s a Turks Cap Lily (petals curl backwards). It only got one bloom, and sadly it was half eaten. But it’s still quite pretty.
There are still more lilies to come, depsite the beetles efforts.
My daisies are blooming and looking beautiful!
The other day, Araignee posted about some Susans she didn’t realize were Susans. There are many varieties out there and I have several in my garden.
But I still can’t get over the size of the blooms of the ones I have along the front walkway. They are easily as big as my hand.
I absolutely adore the multi-coloured ones I have!
One of the really stars of this summer is looking to be the coneflower.
They are all so robust and bright this year!
The Tickseed (AKA Coreopsis) are starting to shine too.
These are just two of the dozen or so varieties I have.
And I still can’t get over how amazing the annual poppies have done.
They are all just blooming their little hearts out!
The pansies in the front boxes are still thriving… and some little Johnny Jump Up have popped up in each box! No idea where tehy came from because they certainly weren’t there when I first planted them! I think it will be pansies in the front boxes from here on out – they’ve done so well!
The gardens are so amazing this year! I wish I could bring you all around for a personal, guided tour!
Wandering Cat Studio 