Recent rains compate the heat

We have had horrible heat, but recent thunder storms (one really bad one last Thursday night) have made the garden grow.

I have found the perfect place for Elephant Ears! This one I planted last year, and it came back. I was very surprised, because in Zone 7b they are not suppose to be winter hardy, and this past winter was unusually cold. But, here it is.

We are leaving for Russia in four days. I plant to post garden pictures from there. I am particularly excited about seeing the gardens at Peterholf, outside of St. Petersburg.

Hot, dry and wild

We have had several weeks of extremely hot weather, with the last week hovering around 100. Too little rain as well. I've kept most things waters, but the heat is stressing everything too much. I may have nothing pretty left by August.

I have seen hawks in the area, but just this afternoon I saw an amazing sight. A hawk was sitting on a bench in our back yard, next to the pond, having his supper. There was a pile of gray feathers around him. Hawks are very territorial, so I imagine that I will see this bird much more often.

I am gardening

I have been much more active in the garden than I have been with this blog. Although it has been a very hot, dry summer so far. Sometimes it is awfully hard to get out in this heat.
I was given these cleomes this year. They are beautiful, with their purple, pink and white flowers. They are an annual, re-seeder, so I expect to have plenty to share next year. The knifofia or 'red hot pokers' were beautiful in June. They are finished for now, but might bloom later in the year.

Today we pruned our two gardenia bushes way back, and cut back some of the lugustrum bushes, which are huge. We have also added four more rain barrels, these on the south side of the house. That give me a total of 9, or about 450 gallons of rain water. With nearly an inch of rain this weekend, with thunder storms, all the barrels are nearly full!

I am growing basil for the first time this summer. Today I cut a bunch to dry. I've tied the bunch, and hung it upside down in the attic. This is a traditional drying method, so in a few weeks I should have a nice size container of dried basil. I'll report back on that. My cucumbers are nearly spent, but we are still getting squash.

Sometime wet is good

We have had over four inches of rain during the last week or so. Everything is growing like crazy, since there has been enough sun interspersed with the rain.

I've weeded and mulched most of my beds, so I am almost on top of the weeds. But a tour of the yard this morning let me know there is always plenty of weeding ahead.

I just put together my first vase of cut flowers. Yarrow, lavender, beebalm (purple and red) purple salvia, purple coneflower and black-eyed susans. I also cut four sprigs of rosemary. I like the added fragrance. The liatris are close, but not quite read for cutting. I also have daisies budding, but also not ready for cutting.

Several of my white crinum lilies are blooming now. I hope to mark all white and red ones this year.

The right place

The key to good gardening is putting plants in the right location. For me, this is sometimes a trial and error process. Fortunately, I've hit it right with some of my new things.

I planted a Tithonia (Mexican sunflower) in front of the house. It is growing well and seems to like this sunny spot. It is the large green plant. It is an annual, but I hope to collect the seeds for next year.

The smaller plants are cleome, or spider flower. This is also an annual, but a re-seeder. I got both of these in trade from another gardener. They look happy as well.

The pink knockout rose bush finally has some buds. It was stressed badly by the move. The red knockout is blooming beautifully.

Finally, this is Grendel. She took a bad fall a month ago, and had some nerve damage. But, she is much better and only has a slight limp. Back to full kitten speed.

Wet and green

Our spring had become very dry, until this week. We've had nearly 3 inches of rain. Fortunately, my five rain barrels are full. Unfortunately, we did not get the four new ones finished before the big rain. But soon, I will have 200 gallons of rain water for the front yard.

My big perennial bed in the front yard is beginning to look like I had envisioned it. Some of the plants have taken a few years to really establish. They are looking great now. Some, such as the obedient plant and beebalm have multiplied and filled in some empty spots. A few things are now blooming, such as the speedwell, rose campion, and butterfly weed. Others are beginning to bud.



My gardenia bushes are in bloom! I can't remember them ever being this early.

For some plants, it just takes time.

At least two years ago, maybe three, I received several amaryllis plants from another gardener. He said that his spread, and he had far too many. They were very small bulbs. I planted them together in a protected spot in the front yard. Today I have my first blooms. The stems are fairly short, not more than 8", but the flowers are lovely.

The yellow bush is butterfly weed (Asclepias tuburosa). I bought it in the fall of 08, and it has just now bloomed. I thought I had lost this plant; I never saw it last year.

The Knockout Rose was a freebee that we dug up in another gardener's yard. I traded her some crocosmia for it, and a pink Knockout. The pink hasn't done as well, as the move seemed to stress it badly. But, it is perking up.