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My garden life – July – flowerpower and blooms update

My garden life – July – flowerpower and blooms update Posted on July 12, 2020Leave a comment

Gardening is not something you can buy at the store, it is something you have to work at all the time. Slow and steady wins the race along with transplanting your bits and bobs and learning your little corner of the world and what works best.

A write these garden blogs as much for me as for others because it helps me document the garden so I know what will come up next spring. It all looks barren in March but the weeds are getting an early start and you have to know what not to pull. And what space you might have to plant or repair for the summer.

The pandemic has given us all a little extra time this year, and I used mine in the garden of course. I tend to spend a lot of time in the garden anyway, but the extra time this year has been wonderful for trying new things and giving extra attention to things that tend to get ignored.

Of course I do spend a little money on the garden, and most of that was at Halifax Seed this spring. It felt great to support a small business during these trying times. They have excellent safety protocols in place and are a pleasure to deal with in any times. Supporting local and being kind are what will get us through this crisis, a little goes a long way.

Although a few things did not make it, the garden has not disappointed this year.  Something different has been blooming every day since April and the Roses did not even make an appearance yet.

The 4 Tulip varieties I planted last November were a hit, so I will plant a few more of them this fall. I got these from a selection of bulbs at Halifax Seed that was organized according to bloom times. So they were staggered so I would have a different variety every 2 weeks.

first to bloom – Foxtrot
next up – Tom Pouce
3rd to bloom – White Triumphator
last but not least to pop – Holiday Mixture
3 Tulip varieties in this photo – going to plan a bigger mix for next spring

I keep talking about my lack of success in planting Rainbow Rock Cress, but some of it was totally my fault.  I realized I dug some up this spring that I planted last year as I mixed it up with other weedy things.  Luckily this patch survived

Rainbow Rock Cress – I find this difficult to sow from seed I think I would recommend starting it indoors for better success as I planted a lot of it and didn’t end up with much – although I do think I accidentally “weeded” it

Anyway, I do love my perennial groundcovers most.  Thank you so much to friends for donations to the cause.

Purple Lamium a well behaved spreader that tolerates shade – was a lovely gift from a friend’s garden
Sweet Woodruff is a beautiful and well behaved spreader that tolerates shade – a gift from a friend thank you I love it!
Snow in Summer with Creeping Phlox in the back also wonderful gifts from friends
Macy loves to nap in the Mother of Thyme – it smells wonderful and we cook with it too – I inherited a patch with he house, and planted more as we love it so much – have given some to friends too it’s very hardy

The bees and the birds love the garden.  We haven’t seen any Hummers yet, but a number of butterflies have dropped by and butterfly season is just ramping up so it can only get better.  Also, the two pollinator plants (Bee Balm and Butterfly Bush) I bought last year are not flowering yet but looking good and rooted well and survived the winter.

Hopefully they will be featured in the next installment of my garden diary.

I wait all year for the summer solstice. I think we all do as it marks the beginning of summer. For the past 13 years living here it has been the day the large perennials bloom. The only year it was late was 2019 and it was two weeks late! This year things were in full bloom starting on June 20th and the best show was on June 27th.

June 27th, 2020 – for about 2 days each year all 5 perennials are in full bloom – Rhododendron, Azalea, Poppy, Columbine, Wild Geranium – I don’t disturb that portion of the garden that I inherited with the house – and I’m still trying to learn how to prune the Rhododendron and Azaleas
Rhodendron in full bloom such a brief show from this lovely bush – also Creeping Thyme has flowered and the Yellow Loosestrife starting to bloom (excellent cut flowers for inside)

Things continue to bloom there is much more to come but that is the highlight each summer and a day I tend to spend at home each year to enjoy it.

Macy is just happy on the brief occasions I let her in my garden!

Princess Macy enjoying a little garden time.
Me, I think having a local brew with my flowers is somewhat like being Queen for the day.
As mentioned I don’t think shopping is the best path to a great garden, and I’m largely anti-consumerism, but I must admit I do enjoy these solar lights I bought on a whim this spring.
Goutweed covering – without a truckload of cash to throw away this is the best I could come up with for the time being to stop the spread on this side of the fence but I will work with the neighbors to find a solution that benefits us both and doesn’t cost anyone much money with any luck

The less glamorous part of this year’s gardening has been spent trying to block the super invasive Goutweed from coming in from the adjoining yard. As a temporary solution I covered what was coming in on my side of the fence with plastic (cardboard does not work) and then covered the plastic with cedar mulch. Hoping that in time I can reclaim that space and simply remove the plastic and the mulch can stay. It’s an ugly mess and I have to find a way to deal with it that involves the help of the neighbors I guess. No way around it as it’s spreading like wildfire all along the fence-lines on our street, and I’m sure other people on the street will also appreciate help with the spread of this invasive. It’s amazing to me that people still plant this stuff and it’s spreading all over my street…a nightmare…ugghhh! It’s not very ethical of a garden center to sell that stuff, that’s for sure.

hopefully next year there will be a pretty solution to the plastic and cedar – baby steps!
luckily the grapes filling in helps with the eyesore and was part of my plan – glad it’s working out pretty good but will definitely work on a better solution for all – it may inspire something great who knows
view from the back deck at night – we decided not to invest money in a larger deck we just BBQ on the deck and use the stairs to get down to the yard where we prefer to spend out time – but it does provide a great view night and day now that it lights up

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