Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Wednesday Wandering

Gardens are a lot of work. 

But sometimes I get to stop and smell the roses. 



Despite some early deer and rabbit damage I have to say the roses this year do not disappoint.  

I am so thankful the Japanese Beetles have not been around to eat them either. They have been a terrible pest the last couple of years. 

Each variety of rose in the garden has a different scent. 

I haven't seen this Winchester Cathedral rose in bloom for a long time. Several years ago it was severely damaged when a tree fell on it. Then I babied it and when it started to make a comeback the deer and rabbits ravaged it several years in a row. Then the last couple of years the Japanese beetles have visited in droves and devoured most of my rose buds. I'm an organic gardener so the cure for Japanese beetles is to pick them off by hand and throw them in a bucket of soapy water. 

Winchester Cathedral is supposed to be a shrub rose and this is about the shrubbiest it has been in years. I am so very thankful I have roses to enjoy this year. 









Martagon or Turk's Cap Lilies

I've planted mine in a shady area.

They have a slight fragrance. 



There are several clumps of a miniature Asiatic lily in bloom in the fairy garden. This one is in front of a miniature rose in bloom and next to Edelweiss.

This clump is blooming near the dianthus in bloom. 

How do I know this is a fairy garden? Well, do you see the fairy door and the little pathway leading up to it? 
The Foxglove are really quite nice this year. I started these from seed. The bees dart in and out of the gloves. This Foxglove variety is a biennial and this is their second year so I finally have some blooms to enjoy. I find these very difficult to start from seed that is like dust and have had several failures in the past. I am hoping the Foxglove like where they are and will reseed themselves. 


I love Delphiniums. I used to have a big patch of them mixed with poppies and daisies but they all disappeared after a tree fell on them one winter. Now I'm trying to get a new patch started. The pale yellow flowers are a perennial foxglove.



Blue Tradescantia or Spiderwort and ...

...white Tradescantia.  I recently found a red variety and planted that last week but it does not have blooms yet. 


Dutchman's Pipe in bloom. It is supposed to be a primary food source for the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.  Dutchman's Pipe vines are rather invasive so I have to work hard to control it as well as the Trumpet Vine on the same trellis. 

On a different trellis Jackmanii Clematis is blooming.

And underneath the Clematis the Yarrow is starting to bloom.

I've been harvesting a bowl of strawberries every day. And every day hubby and I eat a bowl of strawberries. I think now I will freeze the daily pickings. 

We've been eating a lot of radishes and green onions from the garden for lunch every day and in salads. But now that it is getting hot I pulled up the last of the radishes. Some smaller ones I left to go to seed and I will plant those seeds later this year for a fall crop of radishes. 

I have Buttercrunch lettuce I let grow into heads but the darned rabbits (or is it a groundhog) have been eating the leaves and I haven't. I put a little fence around them and now the heads are starting to grow again. Buttercrunch is slower to bold in warm weather, thank goodness. 

Meanwhile we've been eating leaf lettuce from this patch of greens as well as some mustard greens from a different patch. The salad is oh so yummy with a little oil and vinegar dressing mixed with herbs from the herb garden. 

And something has been eating my pea vines down to the ground over and over again so they are pretty short. However, I think I will have some Sugar Snap Peas ready for harvest soon.  I have some Snow Peas on a different fence that are in bloom. 

I am so thankful we finally had a good heavy rain yesterday. The garden is thankful too. 

 

10 comments:

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

Your roses are beautiful. We didn't have as many Japanese beetles the last couple years either. I think the winter with the polar vortex may have been the reason. Let's hope we don't have many of them again this year. I have always loved Foxglove but even buying a plant from the nursery I was only able to keep it alive for 2 years. I'll just enjoy yours.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Your flowers are just gorgeous!! The colors and the shades - oh my!!!
Fresh garden food is just so good!! we have had spinach and asparagus so far....

gayle said...

I'm swooning over all those flowers!

Libby in TN said...

Absolutely beautiful!

---"Love" said...

So glad you shared those pictures of your beautiful flowers. Unfortunately I don't have any this year! ---"Love"

Astrid said...

Thanks for sharing photos from your garden. All the flowers are so pretty, especially the roses. Fresh grown vegetables are the best.

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

Your flower and veggie gardens look fabulous. Love all of your pretty flowers. The Japanese Beetles have not made it here yet. I hope they do not visit this year. Lol. Have a great week.

MissPat said...

Nice to see so many flowers that I can't or don't have. I do have a few peonies left (root nematodes destroyed many of them). The color of that first peony is gorgeous. Japanese Beetles haven't appeared yet. And we got less than .1" of rain over the last 2 days when nearby communities had more than an inch. We've had barely an inch in over 5 weeks. I still haven't planted the dahlias. Too hot and dry. And this is after getting down to 39 degrees only 2 weeks ago. Ugh.
Pat

Laura said...

Beautiful gardens and bounty! :)

Sherri said...

Thanks so much for the pictures of your beautiful garden plants. I too spend lots of time in my gardens. I am in a warmer climate than you as I am harvesting onions and soon green beans. I know how important it is to enjoy each bloom because it seems they don't last near long enough. Your quilts are great also.. Life is good.