Saturday, July 12, 2014

Midsummer Garden Realities



It’s a dark, wet day.  The Chicago area has had more than an inch of rain since midnight.  It’s not yet noon and there is more to come.

Rain, of course, is good for plants.  The grass will grow and require mowing.  Weeds will grow and require pulling.  But my flowers and vegetables will also grow and give me pleasure in many ways: color, delicious food, pride in how the yard looks.

Lots has happened since I reported my new spring bulb blooms.   My best friends housewarming gift of her prettiest iris gave me gorgeous color as soon as the dutch bulb stuff started to fade.  Look how beautiful!




That new back-of-the-house bed I dug is full.  The south third of it holds herbs, and the rest is flowers – some of them herbal (lavender) or edible (nasturtiums).  Zinnias and Cosmos promise lots of bloom starting soon, and the hollyhocks are growing, though of course I won’t see bloom from those until next year.  The annual herbs have gone bananas.  I’ve already harvested quite a bit of basil; I have regular and lemon.  Parsley is also available for salads and stir-fries.  And there’s a huge supply of cilantro, because apparently some of last year’s went to seed.  Good thing I love cilantro.  The other herbs are growing more normally but all are doing well.

This photo is a couple weeks old.  There's more stuff and more color now!


The new, enlarged vegetable bed is also doing well.  I still don’t think it gets enough sun.  I have an idea on what to do about that, involving removal of the south end of the garage’s “patio overhang”.   But that will cost $$ I don’t want to spend this year.  I’ll target doing it when the roof is redone, which is probably within the next 5 years.  Anyway.   There are a few tomato fruits and quite a few flowers.  I think they’re getting pollinated, maybe even by bees.  I’ve harvested a couple of hot peppers already.  I’ve also been harvesting spinach, chard, and kale – mostly thinnings so far but that’s about to change.  The zucchini are starting to produce, and the beans have many flowers so I’ll have lovely violet haricots shortly.    



The lilies have bloomed, and now it’s time for daylilies and pink coneflowers.   I also have lots of annuals in bloom, both in pots on the patio and in the various gardens.  There are portulaca in the front of the new flower bed, dahlias in the north fence bed in front of the coneflowers, and begonias in front(rex) and in the north patio bed (tuberous). 
This photo is a week old.  As soon as it stops raining I'll take another picture!



For such a tiny yard, I have a lot going on.  It’s delightful.  I go out there most mornings, while Coco does her thing, and look at what has changed since yesterday.  A few weeds get pulled, and spent blooms removed.  Pots get watered.  Colors are enjoyed.  And now, vegetables will be harvested.  So much pleasure. 

No comments:

Post a Comment