When a professional is called, it shows

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gardens, postaday2016

I had written about planning to prune my mother’s garden next spring. My mother couldn’t wait until next spring, she wanted it done yesterday, when my mother decides something, it needs to be done toute suite. She called the original landscaper, he called her back this time, he had left her hanging last year, he came to see what needed to be done and voila, a tidy and rejuvenated garden.

When I looked over his work, I was glad he came to do the hard pruning, I wouldn’t have had the courage to cut back the hydrangea tree as much as he did. I also would have been too timid pruning the miniature Japanese maple, I think I would have been okay with the box wood though, and probably with the smaller evergreens. It’s one thing to cut away at your own trees and shrubs, quite another when they belong to someone else and you make a mistake. When in doubt, let a professional take care of it, it’s a nice way to keep your hands clean lol.

My mother’s garden’s end of summer

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gardens, postaday2016, spring

All of the plants in my mother’s garden have exploded, at least doubled in size since last year. I don’t think we are going to even bother trimming anything now, it would probably be best to allow the plants to store as much energy as possible for the winter months. My plan is to do some hard pruning come next spring, no plant will be spared. It has become a veritable jungle out there, Jack would feel at home poking in and around the shrubs and miniature trees, lol. This is nothing a sharp pair of pruners, some muscle and a few hours next spring can’t remedy. 

The little pansy that could

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gardens, perennials, postaday2016

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me, last year I had planted pansies galore, knowing fully well that by virtue of being annuals they weren’t coming back, yet here is one in last year’s planter, defying the odds just like the pansies that are in the pond garden, they decided to prove me wrong as well, apparently pansies can come back when they feel like it.

Last year’s dianthus are surprising me every week as well, I find them peeking out from under the lilies and even from the stone urns I have surrounding the raised sand filter unit in front. Dianthus are perennials but sometimes even in the best of conditions they don’t come back, mine I guess were laying low and finally decided to bloom in mid June, I’m sure the almost constant shade from the neighboring lilies wasn’t helpful either, however I do love surprises so I’m not complaining.

June is the month of the lily or so I decided, I can’t believe we are already the 26th of June, time is flying by, I’m hanging on by the seat of my pants, at least that’s what it feels like and I’m not crazy about the feeling.

The purple sage and tick weed have come back, last year I made a point of adding more perennials to the front bed especially perennials that were mid to end of summer blooms in order to keep the front bed in color throughout the season. Professional landscapers make it look easy, but it’s not, not when you have an army of chipmunks living on your property and Northeast winters to deal with, what with their temperamental nature as such, for the five new perennials you buy, you are lucky if you get four to come back the following year. But no matter, I still try.

My mother’s garden

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gardens, postaday2016

My mother’s garden has certainly grown over the past, I think, three years, it could be two years old, I can’t keep track anymore, years have become indiscernible from each other, it gets frustrating at times. I get nervous about my memory lapses, I’m too young to forget and lose track, maybe I have too much stuff in my brain, I should call housekeeping, lol.

Regardless of when my mother’s garden came into being, it needs some discipline because when my mother decided to have it done, she didn’t envision the over the top growth from the Japanese Maple tree, the hostas, the upright phlox and even the hydrangea tree. On a side note, the bottom picture shows the lilies I had planted before the landscaper had uprooted the old garden, they survived and they are thriving, makes me happy every year since lol.

We need to get out the pruning shears and cut off the undergrowth of both trees, trim the hedges and the arborvitae while making a plan for next year, maybe divide the hostas and the upright phlox as well as the lilies, this year is too soon, next year would be a better time. Even when you call in professionals, you still have to work and maintain the end result if you want the vision to endure.

My poor Azaleas

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gardens, postaday2016, spring

I thought that with the mild winter, my plants, bushes and weeping flowering tree would have emerged unscathed, but I was wrong. My purple flowering azalea, which has been a stunning bloomer for over a decade, produced nothing, not a single blossom, I have new growth which I should be grateful for, but I miss seeing all of those purple flowers because it is truly a showstopper when it is completely covered in purple.

My two little azaleas that I had transplanted to a better location are barely alive, I don’t know what I’m going to do with them, I suppose I’ll leave them alone and hope that they recover during the summer, they really look so pitiful right now.

My poor weeping tree looks frail, it’s leaves aren’t full and there are no blossoms whatsoever, I’m really disappointed because ordinarily this tree would be covered completely in deep pink blossoms and it is magnificent. I don’t know what happened, maybe the weather completely confused it, we did have warm weather followed by frost and perhaps that killed the blossoming process, I can’t say, but it is distressing.

Out of all of my trees, I was surprised that the old honeysuckle did fine because it has still to recover from the ice storm of 2008, but my honeysuckle is a trooper, the scent will be amazing when the flowers open, they smell so sweet, just like candy. I love walking past the honeysuckle, stopping and burying my nose in its small yet powerfully fragrant flowers, it’s heaven.

I did get a cool surprise, the purple grape hyacinth came from nowhere, I certainly didn’t plant it. I wonder who dropped it off, it could have been a bird, a chipmunk or a squirrel, whoever did it thank you, I really appreciate the added splash of color in my garden.

My gardens are filling up with color even with the hiccups of nature. I need to be grateful for what has survived and what is thriving, no complaining, it doesn’t do anything productive.

Summer is zipping by too quickly!

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gardens, plants, postaday2015

   
   
The lilies have all but faded, the ones up top are the last ones standing, sniff, sniff. Thank goodness for the upright phlox and the coneflowers; they have pretty awesome staying power, their colors keep me smiling. I am still waiting for my hydrangea and my clematis to bloom, they don’t need to rush, I want August to squeak by as slowly as possible.

My vegetable garden has gotten so wild and riotous, it’s hard to tell where one plant starts and another finishes, it’s a big happy mess of flowers and vegetables. I have learned quite a bit for next year.

All in all I would say my vegetable garden experiment was a success and very worth while, having your own tomatoes and your cucumbers, your own salad makes such a difference, not just in the quality of what you put in your body, but also in your mindset. You see first hand how difficult it can be to grow your own food, while in some ways, how easy it is to provide healthy produce right in your backyard. It awakens an appreciation for the complex relationship between us, our environment, our climate and our committment to working and nurturing the garden beyond sowing seeds or transplanting seedlings. I think it’s a relationship that needs to be broadened to all aspects of society, get many back in touch with our roots, our land and our ecosystem.

I’m lucky, I have an innate love for all things dirt, plant life, growing and nurturing, my love affair with gardening is a no brainer, it comes naturally to me. I just didn’t know I had it in me for a long time, I am grateful I found it.

   
    
 

My first harvest

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gardens, postaday2015, vegetables

This experience growing my own vegetables is so very different from the last time; last time I hadn’t a clue as to what I was doing, I especially didn’t appreciate the importance of location or sun exposure, morning versus afternoon, full shade versus dappled shade, it is so much more rewarding this time around.

Our first head of green leaf lettuce grown by yours truly, tonight’s salad will be interesting, it will remind me of eating salad at my uncle’s house, my aunt right before lunchtime would go outside in the back with her sharp knife, cut a lettuce head from the base and leave it to soak in cold water for a bit, spin it around and dress it up with her own vinaigrette.

I wasn’t expecting this many squash to be ready for harvest, I knew there were two big enough to be picked, but as I went through the larger squash plants, each one held at least two primed for the picking. I have so many squash plants, most are still small, so this is just the beginning of a long growing season, if the weather holds up like this until mid fall, I could be picking vegetables for a while.

It’s fun when your plants cooperate. lol

Progress in the vegetable patch!

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flowers, gardens, postaday2015, vegetables

   
    
 I have cute little cucumbers growing! They are a first for me, as is the very pretty aubergine blossom, I’m not sure how long it will take for that blossom to develop into an eggplant, but let’s just say I’m excited. The yellow squash are growing and mulitplying by leaps and bounds, I may be forced to start baking squash breads, squash cupcakes, squash brownies, basically find a creative flair to deal with endless squash later this summer. lol

My orginal balloon plant bloomed yesterday:

   
 
It got so big and tall as opposed to last year, not that it was small by any means, but I didn’t expect it to get as tall as my large hosta to the left of it. I’m so happy with it, there are so many buds, it’s going to be gorgeous for quite a while, it’s a present that keeps on giving.

Birds are so generous

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birds, gardens, lilies, postaday2015

   
 
There is something so miraculous and cool when nature rewards you with a present. These gorgeous day lilies are a new addition to my garden and I didn’t buy or plant them. They just appeared this year, thanks to the birds I think, could it be something else, wind, chipmunk, squirrel, butterfly or bee? I don’t know and who am I to look a gifthorse in the mouth, mine is not to question but to be thankful, at least in this instance. They are so sleek and elegant, a nice change from the more traditional tiger lilies I have everywhere.

   

  I have more zucchini blossoms. I also bought more vegetable plants, now I have Kohl Rabi, brussel sprouts, celery plus more peppers and tomatoes. My small patch of blackberries are starting to ripen along with my wild strawberries near the pool. Things are happening in the Nichols garden, very exciting. 

Some progress in the vegetable garden

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blossoms, gardens, postaday2015, vegetables

   
    
   
My first yellow squash blossom! If I had been here during the week, I might have done somethig with the one blossom, but now thinking about it, I seriously doubt it. Blossoms mean vegetables and right now, I have a lot of blossoms, so theoretically, it means a bumper crop for me. I am hoping for many, many eggplants; my mother will be very happy, eggplant is her favorite.

The peppers are looking quite healthy and happy; the cucumber plants  are getting bigger and the lettuce seems well established where they are; all in all this patch of soil is doing wonders to what I planted, much better than the area I had tilled almost twenty years ago. I am so excited.

   

  

  

  

I have new roses to photograph, my daisies are coming up and the lilies are out in force everywhere. It smells very nice outside in my garden. I am blessed.