Gardening

 We are experiencing a heat wave here in New Hampshire. We have no AC in this old house so we have to be judicious in how we keep the heat out.  Windows are closed during the day and shades are drawn to keep the hot sunlight out.  We open up in the evening and pull the cooler air in with fans.

Gardening in the heat is no fun so this morning I woke after 5 am and was out in the garden by 6 am. I needed to do three things: weed, edge and mulch. Got all those done by 8 am. No photos taken but here is what's blooming now (photos taken yesterday).

I potted this fern which was growing next to the foundation and it's thriving.

This bed is one I weeded and mulched.  This is a before photo.

This bed was weeded, edged and mulched today.  I don't know what the leaf spikes are.  Must wait for blooms.

This flowering shrub or tree is in a mass of bushes that are awaiting the tree/landscape company.  Another contractor that we have a signed contract with but who refuses to respond to voicemail or email to let us know where we are in their queue.  They told us in April they would be here when the hemlocks budded out.  That has happened almost a month ago now.

Anyone recognize the bush?

Another unknown tree?

There is a rose bush among these two kinds of fern.  Not excited about having these here.

A view of the field behind us.  It was hayed last week and yesterday the hay was bailed and hauled out.

Blooms to look forward to

 I do have some buds and plants to look forward to enjoying.

This iris - color unknown for now.

My herbs from the bottom - up: sage, mint, rosemary, basil, and thyme.

I've planted two of these mixtures. The geraniums are a deep red shade that pops.

Tamed this garden bed and planted marigolds and cleome.  The bricks were buried under dirt and weeds. I dug them out and weeks later 

decided I needed a walkway of sorts to the hose bib.

This lupine will be pink.

Not sure about the other plant - a daisy?

Transplanted iris are having a rough time but one showed a bud today.

This iris transplant is liking its spot.

Other lupine transplants will produce some flowers.

Columbine volunteers from daughter's garden have set blossoms already.

I planted 4 colors of impatiens that should like this mostly shaded spot.

Finally this huge clump of Siberian iris should not disappoint me.

This and That

In July last year I visited some garden centers in Amish Country in Ohio. I was very inspired by a small garden scene in a metal washtub. I've managed to make my own such scene in a metal pail I got at a yard sale last Fall. Here is the inspiration:

Here is my rendering of this scene using only one purchased plant (the dianthus). The thyme, moss, cedar tree come from my yard. The hens and chicks were taken from another potted plant I purchased.


That project and the following were done with help from Emily who has been visiting this weekend.

We went shopping at a wonderful garden center and purchased a variety of succulents. Then Saturday visited Home Depot and found some cacti. My hope is these plants will better survive the heat and drying out and not need constant watering. I think we got some marvelous combinations of plants.




Finally some scenes from the garden.

Package in the Mail

My seeds have arrived! The package from Fedco Seeds came today. Everything came except the Kentucky Wonder pole beans which they are out of already. Now I need to set up my lights and seed starter, work out the schedule for planting and get started.

Here's what I got:

Dwarf Grey Sugar Snow Pea
Jackpot Zucchini
Early Wonder Tall Top Beet
Space Spinach
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Diamond Eggplant
Cubanelle Sweet Pepper
New Ace Sweet Pepper
Rutgers Tomato OG
Goldie Tomato OG
Amish Paste Tomato OG
Jewel Mix Nasturtium