Sunday, June 26, 2011

Garden news June 26,2011- News from the overgrown garden

Hello again. We went to Dubuque last weekend. So I took a week off from the blog. We were away from town for 48 hours, which absolutely took us away from the office.
This provided us with some needed rest. I have felt invigorated to go after the weeds. The color of high summer is just starting up in the garden. The first daylilies have appeared and the Asiatic lilies all around town seem better than I can ever remember them. I went out today and there were pictures to take lots of places. There was even the first water lily of the year.

So here are some pictures and then I will do some of that garden writing that I am never sure that anyone really is interested in.

For you voting pleasure this week I have selected these great pictures.

First there is this positively glowing Asiatic lily.

Second here is this good old fashion coneflower. I have one coneflower at the moment that must be five feet tall.

Third is this white Japanese iris. Yes the Japanese iris are still bringing up the rear. They are the last iris to bloom.

Finally here is this somewhat understated pink orchid cactus. The orchid cactus as a group just have not been blooming much this year. Then again it is still early and the hot days are not yet here. Well they were here but they did not stay around. Maybe the cactus will bloom in July.

In the bonus section this week there will be the many more pictures I have to share. I do not include the water lily in weekly voting because of its professional status.

In the last voting the winner was that great yellow trollius.
It received 24 votes
The maroon Louisiana Iris got 10
The lollypop lily 7
Amaryliis 7

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I thought I would start to write this week about garden simplification, a necessary consideration in light of some of the garden mess I described last week.

Here are some random thoughts, and I will try to put them in some sort of order.


You have to limit your garden to how much time you have. This seems so simple. If you need 20 hours a week to keep up with the garden and you do not have 20 hours a week, for whatever reason, you have to adjust.

There are several ways to adjust.
You can find a helper, whether that is a neighborhood teenage or an out of work friend.
You can cut back on garden projects. Maybe this year I will just not plant annuals.
You can reduce the amount of time it takes to maintain the garden.

Garden work can be divided into maintenance and projects. By maintenance I mean getting the weeds pulled, cutting the grass, deadheading where appropriate, and giving existing plants the care to see that they thrive. That would include fertilizing, thinning, dividing.
Maintenance is so important. A well-maintained garden is one that gives pleasure, and reinforcement to keep going.

Next week I will think about how to reduce maintenance.


Let me now share some of the other great pictures this week.








This is hosta winter snow. It is positively glowing.




This is one of the several blooming clivia. It has three bloom stalks at the moment. They are so happy to be outside in this humid weather. Now I have to figure out what to do with the 25 seedlings I have.




Have a good week.
Philip

1 comment:

Catherine Woods said...

Beautiful photos this week! I love the color of high summer too, especially on vivid blue sky days! Plus I agree, we all need breaks. It's lovely to hear you took one.

I know what you mean about simplification. That's actually one of my mantras, as in Keeping life simple. I draw on it in all aspects of my day-to-day life. This year, in keeping with my desire to supply more home grown veggies (reducing the distance I go for good produce and reducing cash outlays -- simplifying some of my processes although adding to others . . .), I planted a small in-ground vegetable garden. This new little plot augments the many veggies I continue to grow each year in pots.

I also undertook two new flower bed projects this year for aesthetic reasons. In a problemmatic part-sun corner bed, I planted perrenials and annuals. And near the small in-ground veggie plot, I planted a small wildflower bed. Extra weeding and soil maintenance, but well worth the result!

I share the garden space with neighbors, as I live in a multiple unit property on a lovely piece of land easy walking distance from town. We share the fruits from the apple, cherry, and peach trees, and the raspberry bushes. Fortunately, lawn care is done by the property's ground maintenance staff. Still, this year, I sense I've reached my "balance" point and will not do any further expansions.

Happy high summer to you!