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Waning Moon, Waxing Autumn Love

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“Life starts over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald

It’s finally fall! We’ve had a deliciously cool start to the season, and I’ve been spending much more time outdoors to enjoy all the colors, sounds, and scents of fall. It’s been nice to just sit on the deck and watch the golden cottonwood leaves glitter and dance in the wind.

There’s still a lot going on in the garden, and I’ve seen more birds around this week. A group of blue jays have been playing in the back yard each morning. I watched them bury peanuts from the neighbors feeders in our raised beds, and they’ve been chasing each other around the fenceposts. The warblers have returned to the yard as well, driving the cats wild as they set up camp on the deck furniture, yelling and digging through the remaining potted plants for treats.

In the fall, our bay window becomes a little jungle, with space for the cats to nap under the tropical leaves.

Out in the yard, I cleaned out most of the raised beds. The druzba tomatoes had caught blight, a fungus that attacks during very damp conditions and causes leaves to brown and then rot. We had a summer full of pouring rains and humidity, and the tomatoes just couldn’t cope with it. I know that next year, I’ll be excited to grow them again, but I am feeling a little salty about the tomatoes at the moment. Not that it’s their fault, but they are just so particular about their growing conditions… it’s hard to get the formula right with climate change making our weather more extreme every year. Too little, or uneven watering? They catch blossom end rot (which I dealt with last year). Too much water (which is so often out of our control), they catch blight. Ugh.

Blight is pretty easy to spot on tomato leaves, starting with dark brown spots that eventually take over the entire leaf, killing the plant.

So, the blighted plants have been removed, and I made sure not to add them to the compost pile with everything else, as blight can overwinter in the soil and attack again. For the bed that was hit this year, I’ve made a note in my planner to plant something else there next year (not tomatoes), which should help the problem to disappear. We’ll see. I planted out some hairy vetch seeds in the beds. I have no expectations for them what-so-ever, but hopefully, the vetch will grow because it helps replace nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil.

I have marigolds growing next to where the tomatoes lived, and I’m letting them stay put over winter to give the birds and insects some food and housing material. I may harvest some of their seeds to grow again next year. In the final raised beds, the asparagus stays put, but I removed the bush beans. The last bed still has pole beans in it, that I’m letting dry so I can harvest the seeds to use next year. There’s still parsley growing in that bed, which is pretty tolerant of cold weather. I plan to let it stay there until next season.

I brought in our loofah vine to overwinter and found a cute little loofah, starting to grow!

Out in the rest of the beds, I’m letting things stay as is for now. The only clean up I’ll do will be to remove the slimy hosta leaves after we get a few hard frosts. All the rest of the perennials I’ll let be until the spring, when they will be cut back to the ground to regrow. And, on the deck, I’ve brought in all the tender plants, like my pineapples. A few plants, like the dahlias and cannas, I cut back to the soil level, and brought the entire pot inside to live in the garage this winter. Plants like this will die off in the cold, but they will be protected in the garage, where it stays a bit warmer and dark. Why plants like this are fine with these conditions is something I don’t understand yet, but next spring, I’ll haul the pots back outside and watch them start growing like nothing happened.

After removing the flowers, gently dig up the geraniums, shake out the dirt from the roots, and store them in a cool, dark spot where they will have a bit of air to keep from rotting, like in an open box.

Another plant that I’m over-wintering are my geraniums. I used to bring the entire pot in each fall, but they take up a lot of room. The other night, I saw a video from gardening guru, Susan Mulvihill, of Susan’s in the Garden on a different way to overwinter the plants. She is a master gardener out in Washington, and one of my go to resources for gardening advice. Anyway, Susan explained that to save your geraniums, you can cut off all the flowers, gently remove the plants from the dirt (with leaves still on), shake as much dirt off the roots as possible, and then store them in a box with some airflow in a garage or basement. I’m putting mine in a paper bag in the basement. Check on them about once a month to make sure nothing is rotting. The plants will look like they die off, but in the spring, you’ll see leaves start growing again. Plant magic! I’m hoping this not only saves me some space in the house, but also helps these geraniums to be less leggy-looking when they grow again next spring. I’ve had them for years now and they are getting a wee bit scraggly.

That’s all I have for the week. I may do some clean up in the pond and unplug the fountain this week, but that’s really about the last of the clean up I have to do until the springtime. Now it’s just sitting back, watching the leaves change color and fall, and enjoying these sunny, cool days. Happy gardening!

This mantis was so big, I spotted her from my perch on the couch. She was making her way around the lemon tree, perhaps in search of a snack.

It’s Almost Fall

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Black eyed susans, mums, and new england aster: some of my favorite fall flowers

While this weekend was toasty and hot, and I spent most of it hiding indoors, fall will be here in two more days! The weather is supposed to cool off quite a bit this week, with high temps falling from the upper 80s to the 60s. I believe I’ve mentioned my obsession with autumn before, am I am over the moon with excitement for some cool days to get out in the garden. We’re still probably a few weeks away from our first frost, but the trees behind our house are definitely yellowing. The sycamores and cottonwoods are filling with golden leaves. Soon, the fiery oranges and reds of the oaks and maples will be here. I cannot wait!

The sun is rising later and later each morning. Here’s a recent view of the backyard.

Things are wrapping up in the raised beds. I harvested the last of the leeks this weekend (potato leek soup is on the menu!), and we’re nearing the end of the tomatoes. I’m planning to de-thaw all the tomatoes I already harvested/peeled/diced/froze this year to cook up some tomato paste for the salsa my family cans each October.

Also on the agenda this week will be to plant out the vetch seeds I bought as a cover crop in the raised beds. The hairy vetch (seriously, that plant needs a major rebranding) will keep the weeds out of the beds until it’s time to plant again, and the crop helps to add nitrogen back to the soil, as well as helping to keep the dirt from eroding (which is not a large concern in a raised bed, but a good thing to know for general planting). So, next spring, when it’s time to plant again, in addition to the compost I’ll add to the beds, the vetch will have been working on giving the soil a great boost. The next round of plants will have plenty to eat. Happy soil = happy plants!

The last of this years’ leek harvest

In addition to the raised beds, I have some clean up work to do with the deck pots. Quite a few will be coming back in doors for the winter, like our lemon tree, pineapples, and loofah vine. But some, like the marigolds, will be composted and I’ll clean up the pots to add back to the pile under the potting bench for next year. I had more potted plants on the deck this year than ever before, and was pretty pleased with the end result. A few did not perform as expected, like the cannas. I bought the cannas last year, and they grew a few feet tall and flowered. I overwintered the tubers in the garage, and planted them outside this spring once it warmed up again. They both grew, but are much shorter, and only one re-flowered. I may simply put the entire pot into the garage, and not take the plants down to the roots this year to see if that helps them grow better next year.

One of our canna plants finally flowered. I love these tropical flowers!

Out in the rest of the flower beds, fall is definitely on its way. The late summer/early fall plants are all looking quite snazzy, and I’m taking stock of which perennials I’d like to split next spring. As usual, the lamb’s ear are out of control, and could be divided multiple times. I mentioned last week about expanding the borders to make room for more plants… I think I may start working on that this fall. As long as the ground isn’t frozen, there’s really no reason to wait. Finally, I have a tree that I need to move. This spring, a maple tree started growing next to the compost pile, quite close to the house. It’s a terrible spot for a tree, and while it’s relatively small still, I’d like to move it to the front yard. That will be a great spot for the maple to grow up and I know there aren’t any gas or electric lines that I need to worry about having had 8-1-1 out to mark things last winter.

I’m growing four pineapples. The oldest (second from the right) was started in the winter, and the newest (farthest on the left) got going about a month ago. They look pretty scraggly at first, but quickly settle in and start growing. Next year, we should have pineapples to enjoy!

That will all pretty much wrap up my fall gardening chores. I used to do a lot more cleanup- cutting back most of the perennials to the ground, but now I’ve learned to let them be for the wildlife. It’s not too tough a sell: put off your work until the spring and relax! Also, the locals will truly be grateful. The debris from our perennials helps house and feed insects, birds, and other wildlife. Winters are tough on all these populations with resources scarce. So, leaving some flowers heads and plant stalks for the birds to enjoy really makes a huge difference. Plus, a lot of these plants are really pretty in winter. The soft browns of the grasses and plants look quite pretty against a backdrop of snow.

Stan Lee the Frog has been out every afternoon, enjoying the warm rocks around the pond.

Anyways, that’s my plan for the rest of the year here. The next few weeks should be pretty nice around the garden: cooler days, with lots of sunshine to sit out and watch the bees buzzing around the aster. I’m excited to start canning up all the veggies I grew this year, and to just enjoy all the sights and smells of fall as the weather turns. Hope things in your garden are slowing down so you can relax and enjoy all of your hard work. Happy gardening!

Our native plants and other perennials have been Grand Central Station for the pollinators lately: more bee species than I can count, wasps, moths, and butterflies. I feel like I see something new every time I’m outside!

Looking Back and Making Notes

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I’m loving all the color in the garden at this time of year from the sedum, false indigo, blanket flowers, and the aster.

We’re about a week out now from the official start of fall, but summer is still doing its thing. It’s back into the 90s, with higher humidity, and it’s been a minute since we’ve seen any rain. I ought to be out watering in the mornings, but at this point in the season, my motivation is seriously waning. Most of the crops I planted have either been harvested already, or they are having their last hurrah.

I’ll haul quite a few of the deck pots back into the house once it does finally start frosting at night again, but some of the annuals, like the german chamomile and the zinnias, just had this one season, and I’ll compost the plants once the cold air wipes them out. A few things, like the basil, I let flower, and once they throw out seeds, I’ll harvest those, dry them, and save them to plant next springtime.

The marigolds around the tomato beds are looking quite happy.

I’m trying to keep my Seed Starting Plant Spreadsheet up to date with notes about how everything did, and which varieties I’d like to try out next year. For the most part, I’m pleased with everything that I planted, but there were a few duds. The san marzano paste tomatoes have been growing like mad all season, and every day, dozens more seem to ripen for harvest. But the larger druzba tomatoes that I’d tried never really seemed happy. I did harvest a few, but most of the ripened tomatoes were split. We had an awfully hot summer, with temps about 10-15 degrees higher than they really like, and there was more rain than usual, with flooding rains happening often. Next year, I think I’ll try a different variety and see if they fare a little better.

Most of the native seeds I tried out using the winter sowing method (seeds planted in milk jugs and left outside all winter) did really well. The prairie blazing star, little blue stem, and swamp milkweed, especially took off and were able to join their brethren out in the flower beds. I plan to try this method out again for seeds that need a cold, stratification period. Mother Nature does all the work, and no grow lights or watering are required (unless it’s seriously dry where you live).

Our dahlias are finally starting to flower, and there’s been lots of activity around the garden, with sulfur butterflies dancing around the aster and bees galore buzzing around the sedum.

Another top performer were the herbs that I’d planted. For example, the borage, basil, thyme, and parsley, to paraphrase Tom Petty, “grew up tall, and they grew up right.” The parsley can withstand a bit of cold, so I’ll let that keep growing in the deck pots and the raised bed. The thyme should be a perennial in our area, so I’ll plant out what growing in pots now, so it can continue to grow. Some may end up in the kitchen for easy harvesting throughout the winter. I’m envisioning some delicious roasted chicken dishes on cool nights, starring fresh sprigs of thyme… mmmm…

In addition to the aforementioned plants, I’m really pleased with how well the flowers did that I’d started from seed, like the “Happy Days Marigolds,” and the “Berry Basket Zinnias.” They were easy to start growing, and took off quickly in the cold frame this spring. I plan to grow both again next year. The bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds have been enjoying the zinnias almost as much as I have, and any plant that gets that much attention from pollinators is a winner in my book.

Late summer and early fall is a great time to check out the local population of black walnut trees. Their gorgeous leaves start to lighten and then turn to gold.

The rest of the garden seems to be doing pretty well still. Our aster and goldenrod are really the stars right now, flower-wise. I’m seeing lots of different moth, butterfly, and bee species on each daily. Next year, I’m thinking about widening the plant border a bit that wraps around the entire back yard. This way, I’ll be able to fit a few more plants in between the tall asters and goldenrods and the grass. I feel like some more perennials, like black-eyed susans, coneflowers, little blue stem, anise hyssop, and sedum would do well. I have all of these in the garden already, and the pollinators love these species. Also, they each provide some interest all year long, so even in the winter, they will offer something nice to look at, in addition to providing more food for the birds to enjoy.

Another expansion project that would actually be wise to start here shortly is the pollinator bed that I’d planned to add in this year on the side of the house. I have a wildflower seed mix that I want to plant, and prepping the bed now so I can drop those seeds this fall would be very well timed. With so much grass to remove, a nice way to tackle this space will be by covering the grass with some cardboard and dirt, through a method called Lasagna Layering. The carboard and dirt block out the light, killing the grass. And by keeping the area wet, the organisms that grow in the compost will help break down the cardboard, leaving me with soil for the plants. Plus, by not actually doing any digging, I won’t be disrupting the organisms and critters that currently live in the soil. I’ll go into more detail about the benefits of “no dig” planting in another post, but as someone with arthritis, I know I feel gleeful any time I am encouraged not to dig a hole in the ground.

Anyway, that’s all I have for today. Hope that your garden is thriving, and you enjoy the end of the season of summer. Happy gardening!

The cranesbill, maidenhair ferns, and pokeberries are all looking happy in the shade gardens this year.

Break Out the Binoculars: I Think I See Autumn!

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September is THE time for new england aster and goldenrod. Our yard is a blaze of yellows and purples.

We’re about a week into September, and it’s been deliciously nice out: sunny and in the 70s for almost a week now. Usually, our Septembers here in Central Ohio are pretty toasty still. We likely won’t have any frost for another month, but it does finally feel like autumn is in sight. The leaves on the cottonwoods are starting to turn a golden green, the hum of the cicadas is waning, and the days are starting later, with the sun setting earlier each night. They are little signs, but for a fall-lover like myself, the utopia of a Midwest Fall is almost here. I can feel it!

Out in the garden, our sedums are really starting to bloom. The salmon pinks of the autumn joy sedum, and the magentas of the autumn fire stonecrops are bursting, and absolutely covered in bees, stocking up on these last flowers of the season. The aster, goldenrods, blanket flowers, and black-eyed susan’s are still flowering away, and some of my favorite native grasses, like little blue stem and switchgrass, are starting to throw up seeds, the long green grasses lighting up with deep oranges and reds.

The tallgrass prairies at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park are a wash a brilliant colors, with pollinators dancing around every petal.

We took a trip out to the largest metro park in the state, Battelle Darby Creek, to check out all the gorgeous tall grass prairie plants in bloom. There were more bees and monarch butterflies than I could count, hopping all over the goldenrods, ironweed, prairie dock, tall coreopsis, and tickseed sunflowers. And the tall peaks of the big bluestem grasses were softly floating along in the breeze. It was a gorgeous afternoon. The park is a big spot for bird-watching, and we always see lots of interesting wildlife there. Though, the largest stars have to be their herd of bison, which we saw lounging around in a muddy watering hole. The herd had a few babies this summer, and they were keeping close to their mothers as they all bathed in the afternoon sunshine.

Another local park, Prairie Oaks, is a sea of gorgeous big blue stem, swaying in the late summer breeze.

Visiting that park is always an inspiration for the garden. I know I’ve spoken in the past about how 40% of the US was once covered in prairies, and now only about 1% of that remains. Since learning about the importance of prairies for the ecosystem, I’ve changed my whole thought process in my garden. I garden because enjoy the process of doing so, and the beauty of living amongst the plants, but my garden exists to help give a space to the creatures around me so desperately in need of a home, and food. It’s why I use no pesticides in my yard, and why we added a pond, don’t mow every week, and have removed quite a lot of our lawn to make more room for flower beds. Wildlife really matters to me.

And, since much of the area where I now live, in Central Ohio, was once a prairie, called Darby Plains, I have aimed to include many plants in my garden that would have once lived here before the area was filled with farms and housing developments. At some point, I need to sit down and make a list of everything that I have growing here, but it’s quite a mix of natives, perennials that I just really like (such as my beloved peonies), the vegetable and herb gardens, and pots of annuals. All of these plants play an important role in the garden. The non-natives, like the sunflowers, basil (which I let flower after I’d harvested my share), and the stonecrop all provide food for the local pollinators, squirrels, and birds. Variety isn’t just the spice of life for us humans- insects and animals like a range of food options as well.

Our autumn joy sedum is absolutely covered in bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators. It’s an amazing perennial garden, requiring very little maintenance or watering.

Aside from helping to provide habitat for the locals, and something nice to look at for myself, many of the plants I grow serve another purpose: I can harvest them for use in dyeing fabrics and fibers. So many common plants and trees in our yards can be used to make colorful dyes, like marigolds, dandelions, acorns and oak leaves, walnuts, and sunflowers. If you’re interested in learning more, I highly recommend the book Harvesting Color by Rebecca Burgess, or by simply picking my brain for a bit.

I added quite a few little blue stem plants to the gardens this year. It’s a native grass, and a perfect addition to the beds. It stays fairly small in height, about 2-3′, and in the late summer, the blades of grass throw up pretty seeds that sway in the wind, with green blades of grass that turn fiery red for the fall and winter seasons.

Currently in the yard, I have queen anne’s lace, madder root, goldenrod, pokeberries, marigolds, sunflowers, coreopsis, echinacea, tickseed, hardy hibiscus, walnuts, maple trees, and I’m sure I’m forgetting others… Anyway, I’ll harvest a few bits of each to ply with here as the weather continues to cool. Adding different metals and materials to the dye bath changes the pH of the water, which changes the colors of everything. It’s fun to play with- the colors you expect aren’t usually what you end up with on your fabrics. For example, queen anne’s lace, with its white flowers and green stems, gives off a lot of yellows, oranges, and browns, depending on the pH of the water. Things get rather “science-y” pretty quickly, (I think that’s the technical term), but it can be a lot of fun to experiment.

Also, I like the idea of using natural colors, from plants that I grew, to dye yarn that I’ve spun up myself, to then knit or weave into an item that I can wear. The whole process feels a bit magical to me, and is one I look forward to at the end of each summer, and throughout the fall.

These black hopi sunflowers are beloved by myself and the pollinators. Once they finish flowering, I’ll use some of them for dyeing, and leave the rest for the birds to snack on.

The cooler weather has also sparked some motivation for me to finally get out and do a bit of weeding and clean up. As I mentioned, we’re probably a ways off from our next frost, but a few of the annuals in the deck pots were looking quite shaggy. So, I went out and cleaned up the deck a bit. I took out the spent zinnias and added them to the compost pile, and I planted out the last of the little blue stem grasses I’d started growing from seed earlier this year. Late summer/fall is a great time to plant perennials and native plants and seeds. I wouldn’t start any bulbs quite yet, but I did add a few purple prairie clover plants to the newest front bed, and I plan to add in a few more grasses out back, like native switch grass, and more big blue stem along the fence.

I also cleaned up a few of the sunflowers, that were finished blooming, and had been knocked over by the high winds and 4″ of rain we had from Hurricane Ida at the start of last week. I removed the flower heads, and set them out for the birds to enjoy, and the plants were tossed under our deck for the critters around the pond. The stalks will hollow out as it cools, and solitary bees use them for their homes.

I was standing on the deck the other day, when I saw this morning glory vine in one of the shade beds. I have no idea how it got there, but I removed the thing to a pot on the deck. These vines take over FAST, and can be hard to get rid of, but the flowers are quite nice. So, if I can control it in a pot, that seems the best possible scenario.

Things are warming up just a bit this week, but it’s only going to be in the low 80s, so I plan to get out to move around a few perennials in the back yard, and continue The Great Tomato Harvest of 2021. The larger Druzba tomatoes I’d planted are not quite doing as well as I’d hoped, but the little San Marzano’s have exceeded expectations. I should have enough here soon to start canning tomato paste. I finally harvested the last of the potatoes and carrots, and the green beans are still prolific, to say the least. I’m looking into planting some cover crops in the beds this fall… maybe some hairy vetch (which totally does not sound like a thing someone would want to possess) to help add nutrients back into the soil and keep the weeds out this fall. I’ve never actually messed about with cover crops, since I use our compost for the veggie beds, but I may see try it out this year to see what all the fuss is about. I can nearly always be talked into planting something, after all.

Anyway, hope things in your garden are thriving and that you’re having nice weather to get out and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The next month or two (in my area) is the last burst of outdoor gardening for the year, and I’m excited to get out to play before the frosts hit. Happy gardening!

Tales From The Monarchs

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There’s quite a lot blooming in the garden, like these lettuce flowers, coral honeysuckle, goldenrod, new england aster, black-eyed susan’s, blanketflowers, cranesbill, autumn joy sedum, sea oats, and sunflowers

Lately, I feel like I’ve almost been more excited by the visitors we’ve had in the garden than the plants and trees that live there all the time. Maybe that’s because it’s been too hot to really enjoy the yard for more than the five minute bursts I’ve had, racing out to harvest tomatoes before retreating into the sweet sanctuary of the air conditioning. It feels like it’s been months since I’ve been able to sit outside, and properly experience everything that’s growing. I miss lizarding out on the deck.

The entire summer has felt blazing hot and miserable with very few breaks. I’m not handling the weather terribly well, though, a little warm air shouldn’t make me complain when so much of the country is battling devastating wildfires and hurricanes. Even the tornadoes that we usually see haven’t occurred here this year, which is odd, now that I think about it. And, while we’ve had some flooding and drought conditions, our crops and plants are mostly hanging in there.

Our loofah vines are starting to flower. I planted the seeds back in June, and the vines grew very quickly. The flowers, once pollinated, will start growing loofahs, that I’ll dry and be able to use in the shower. Score!

Anyway, enough wallowing. As I mentioned, we’ve had quite a lot of wildlife visiting and moving into the garden lately. All but one of the monarch butterflies, which I didn’t expect to see until just about now, have already hatched. We’ve had an even mix of males and females, and I was able to release them all, happy and healthy. They will likely go off to make the next generation of monarchs, and that group may be the one that starts the migration back south before fall temperatures drop off here in Ohio this fall.

It’s such a joy to meet them when they break free of their chrysalises. It usually takes a few hours for the butterflies wings to fully stretch out and dry, and then they will fly off to the woods. We have quite a few late summer flowers around for them to enjoy, natives like new england aster and goldenrod, and other perennials like autumn joy sedum. Most of the garden is still blooming away, but it’s important to have plants that bloom into fall for the monarchs and other pollinators.

Marcus the Monarch hatched last Friday, and spent some time on the sedum before flying off in pursuit of lady monarchs.

A visitor that I’ve enjoyed a little less have been the squash bugs on our pumpkin vines. The bugs look a little like stink bugs once they’ve grown up, and they will take out squash, pumpkins, and cucumber vines if left unchecked. The bugs usually arrive in June, and will spend the summer on the underside of squash plant leaves, where they will lay tiny little brown eggs, which hatch in around 10 days.

Once the bugs hatch, they start munching on the plant leaves, sucking out the sap, which causes the leaves to yellow, brown, and then die. While the babies, called nymphs, will die after a frost, the adult squash bugs are able to shelter and make it through the winter temperatures, to lay the next years generation of villains.

On the left are some squash bug eggs on the underside of a dead pumpkin leaf. The right picture shows a group of the little nymphs, munching on the pumpkins before I let forth a battle cry and started spraying them with soapy water.

So, they aren’t great guests to have around. Fortunately, they are very easy to spot, and take care of, without having to resort to pesticides which would also kill off the good bugs that eat them and, of course, would cover your yummy veggies in poison. If you do happen to spot some on your plants, remove any dead or dying leaves and other debris. And a simple spray bottle, filled with liquid dish soap and water will kill the bugs on contact. Now, your plants will be free of squash bugs and squeaky clean.

The monarchs chrysalis is actually clear, so when they are about ready to hatch, it’s really easy to tell!

Out in the rest of the garden, I managed to spot a little black swallowtail caterpillar on the carrot leaves. I moved it into the butterfly house with some fennel and the monarch chrysalises. I was so excited to spot this one- usually by this time of year, I don’t see many swallowtails floating around the yard, but they’ve been out and about more now than earlier this summer. The carrot crop I planted was the swallowtails favorite crop to lay eggs on this year. I’ll have to plant more again next year, for the butterflies, and for us. Those carrots were quite tasty!

Our newest black swallowtail caterpillar

Next to the raised beds, the wildlife pond is still doing its thing. I introduced you to Stanley the Frog in my last post, and now, we have a second frog, that we’re naming Stan Lee. (The names are a play on a 30 Rock reference that’s so obscure it’s hardly worth mentioning). Anyway, Stanley and Stan Lee hang out together on the rocks around the pond in the late afternoons, and are helping control the local mosquito population. I hear them singing ballads in the evenings. While they hop into the water, hiding under the plants and brush nearly every time I try to take a picture, I’m hoping to identify their species. They look an awful lot like northern green frogs, but they don’t sound like them. I’m stumped, but determined to figure out what they are!

We’re supposed to have some more rain in the coming week, with slightly cooler weather. I hope to get outside a bit to do a little work. A few beds could do with some weeding, and I’d like to pick up some stone to finish edging our newest bed in the front yard. I also have a few more seeds I’d like to start: some prairie dropseed grass for said front bed, as well as some purple prairie clover. Hopefully life cooperates!

Happy gardening!

The female monarchs, especially, are super vibrant and colorful. I feel lucky that we’ve been able to help this group of butterflies safely make it to adulthood.

Freezers: Not Just for Ice Cream

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Our calendula and marigolds, autumn joy sedum, lantanas, zinnias, coral honeysuckle, and nasturtiums continue to bring the color this year.

August carries on. The heat probably won’t really break until mid-October here, and the humidity makes just standing outside an unpleasant experience. Last week was filled with rain, sheets of it would come down every day. At least I didn’t have to water at all. And rain at this time of year usually makes for pretty autumn color from the trees come fall.

The cicadas are out in full force, screeching over the hum of the grasshoppers and crickets. This time of year is tough, for me. I really love autumn, and it feels so far away on these endless hot days. Summertime is probably my least favorite season, which is probably a weird thing for a gardener to say. I think I like fall and springtime best, though. I like the changing- the new life in spring after winters long, cold days where everything is finally wake up again. Then, in fall, where all the colors change and the air feels so crisp and cool. I like the feeling that a big shift is on the way.

The wildlife pond has been surprisingly easy to maintain. I haven’t had to add any water, and the bubbler is keeping it all moving around. I don’t touch the space at all, other than weeding as needed.

But, for now, it is definitely still summertime. Our monarch caterpillars have all finally made their lime-green and gold chrysalises. We could have our first hatching this upcoming weekend, though it will probably be next week before we see butterflies. The rest of the life on the deck seems to be thriving still. We have one last baby pumpkin ripening on the vine, and all the flowers are doing well. The other day, I saw a gorgeous tiger swallowtail hopping from zinnia to zinnia and enjoying the lantanas. It was looking a little beat up, but still flying fine. I checked the dill and fennel for eggs, but the butterfly was either a male, or it just didn’t have any eggs to lay. (Usually, you’re able to identify the gender of a swallowtail by their markings, but this one was missing pieces in the spots where I would normally do that).

I also saw a hummingbird on the deck yesterday. They’ve been all over our nasturtiums this year, as well as the zinnias. I’m definitely going to be growing zinnias from seed again next year- they’ve been a wildlife magnet this season.

This tiger swallowtail was a treat to watch!

Out in the yard, I’ve been continuing to harvest tomatoes, peppers, and green beans daily. The freezer is filling up with veggies, and the Family Canning Day for our salsa has been scheduled for the fall. It’s been a great year for tomatoes so far. I don’t want to jinx myself, but even with the extreme heat, I haven’t had any issues so far with blossom end rot like in years past. We seem to have had pretty steady rains, and when we haven’t, I’ve been keeping up with the watering and fertilizing. We’ll probably have at least another month/month and a half before there’s even a chance of frost, which is plenty of time for me to have to TETRIS the freezer contents to make everything fit.

The wildlife pond doesn’t have a lot blooming at the moment, but there’s lots of happy plants around the water. I see birds stop by every so often, and there’s usually a dragonfly or two hovering around the rocks. This past week, I had a huge surprise: a frog was sunning itself on the rock edge! When I put in the pond, my goal was to help attract wildlife to the area. I was so hoping for a frog, but the closest water to our house is a creek, some 100 yards away. I wasn’t sure any would find their way through the field, where the hawks and neighborhood cats hunt, to my little fenced-in water feature. But, this one made it. The husband named it Stanley, and Stanley likes to hide in the brush swimming all day. In the afternoon, Stanley sun bathes on the rocks, warming up and maybe grabbing a bite to eat. I hope Stanley tells its friends and they all have lots of lots of little froggo babies.

Stanley the Frog, soaking up some rays on the rocks around the pond.

Around the pond, I managed to do some weeding last week. Our original shade garden was looking extremely scruffy and there were SIX rogue tomato plants growing beside the compost bin. I removed them (seriously, I can barely keep up with all the tomatoes I planted on purpose) to inside the compost pile, and cleaned up the space.

The black-eyed susan’s in the front yard are looking extra gorgeous in their second year. Just beyond them is the new native plant bed.

In the rest of the beds, the mid-late summer plants are really starting to flower and come in, like the new england aster, black-eyed susan’s, and goldenrod. I do really enjoy these plants that stretch into autumn, giving the pollinators the extra boost they need for their flights south or to overwinter in the yard here. The swamp milkweed, which flowered earlier this year, is seeding already. The seed pods unfurl, revealing a bunch of dark brown seeds on tiny wisps of silky fluff that fly on the wind to carry the seeds to new homes. I collect most of mine to plant out the following year.

It’s easy to remove the seeds, and to get them to grow. The seeds just require the winter cold to break their dormancy and to open up their tough outer shells. You can either do this by placing them in the fridge, or simply planting them in the ground in late fall, the winter, or early spring. Last winter, I grew a bunch in milk jugs on the porch, using a process called winter sowing. It works shockingly well, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to grow native seeds in their spaces (if you have winter temperatures where you garden).

The milkweed starts looking pretty scruffy by this time of year. You can see the columns of brown seeds in the newly-opened pods, and a gaggle of tiny, yellow aphids, which usually haunt the milkweed in July and August. A few visits from a ladybug or a praying mantis will clear them right up!

Well, that’s all the news I have this week. Hopefully, Stanley will have a buddy soon, and we’ll see some more rain so I don’t have to get back to my watering schedule. I imagine I’ll see some more wildlife around the yard this week while harvesting herbs and veggies, and I might try making up a little flower arrangement. I don’t pick our flowers too often, but I always enjoy seeing them on the table when I do manage to put together a bouquet. I also have some dark purple pokeberries to harvest for use in dye projects later this year. Our poor freezer is going to be stuffed to the gills…

Happy gardening!

And suddenly, rain!

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The reds and oranges of these coral honeysuckle, nasturtiums, marigolds, and zinnia just scream summertime, to me.

It’s a rainy morning today. Actually, it’s looking like the whole week may be pretty rainy. After the extreme heat and thunderstorms we had last week, things are pretty water-logged, but at least I don’t have to go out to water, or weed. By this time of year, my motivation to do much of anything in the garden has waned. In my defense, most of my energy outdoors is spent picking veggies and herbs now-a-days, and by the time I have everything washed, blanched, peeled, diced, dried, and into the freezer or pantry, I’m pretty spent. The green beans and paste tomatoes, especially, are really demanding this month. Whose idea was it to plant so many this year anyway?!?

Our hungry little monarch caterpillars are going to town on the milkweed as they finish growing.

Up on the deck, our monarch caterpillars are starting to move into the next phase of their little lives. Yesterday, two of them formed their chrysalises, and the remaining cats are very close to leveling up as well. They really mowed down the milkweed plant I had in the butterfly house with them (as expected), but it’s always such a wonder to watch them grow up as quickly as they do.

Some of the lettuce in the garden bolted in the heat, but I let it keep going so it would flower for the pollinators. Aren’t the dainty little flowers pretty?!

The plants on the deck seem to be enjoying the heat and humidity this year. We have a third pumpkin growing beneath a lounge chair, and the rest of the flowers and herbs are still looking happy. Our ‘ever-bearing’ strawberries have started producing fruit for the second time this year, and they are even tastier than the first batch back in June. The three pineapple plants I started this year are also looking well. It’s still wild to me that you can bring a pineapple home from the grocery store, pop off the top, peel back a few leaves, and then plant the thing to grow a new pineapple. The process takes a bit of time, but still, I’m growing pineapples in Ohio. That’s pretty awesome.

The wee, baby pumpkin, hiding under my lounge chair on the deck.

Out in the rest of the garden, the summer season is definitely not nearing its end, but things are starting to shift. The cottonwood trees won’t start turning gold for another month, but the late summer flowers are starting to take over. Our goldenrods, joe pye weed, and new england aster have finally reached their full height (which is taller than I am), and the aster is starting to flower. The blanketflowers and some of the smaller grasses, like little blue stem provide a gorgeous fiery red and orange contrast to the tall, green plants behind them. I love the effect of having these prairie plant gems around the garden, and each provide important resources to the pollinators which are out and about in the late summer season.

Carnivorous plants seem like something that belongs in the jungle someplace, but these pitcher plants are actually native to our area. I started growing this one in our pond and it’s been happily munching away on mosquitoes as it grows in the water.

In garden-adjacent news this week, I am finally applying to become a Master Gardener. This program is something I’ve been interested in since I first heard about it, but the timing never worked out quite right. This year, I’m going to go for it. The program starts over the winter, with 50 hours of coursework covering a variety of horticultural topics, like botany and plant pathology. I’m really excited to learn more about the science of plants, soil, and the critters around the garden. After the classes are finished, the real work begins, with 50 hours of service at different community garden locations around the county. Once I have my certificate and become official, there will be more volunteer opportunities and I’ll be able to inflict (or share, depending on the audience) my new-found knowledge with others.

A few days ago, one of the cooper’s hawks that lives in the woods behind our house stopped by onto the deck for a visit and dinner. The whole yard went eerily still as this big lady sent all the other birds into hiding.

I’m really looking forward to process, and to learning how to better serve the life growing in my own yard, as well as being able to help out in the gardens around the city. Gardening has become my favorite past time (when the heat index isn’t over 100 degrees), and I’m itching to learn more. Also, maybe if I’m distracted by the coursework this winter, I’ll have less downtime to plant too many seedlings. Anything could happen, right?

Hope that, if it’s summertime in your area right now, things are growing well. Happy gardening!

The Rise of the Monarchs

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Some of the pretty summertime native plants and wildflowers are in bloom this week: swamp milkweed, anise hyssop, queen anne’s lace, new england aster, coreopsis, black-eyed susans, joe pye weed, and cranesbill

Happy August, everyone! August is usually our hottest month here in Central Ohio, but it’s hard to imagine it getting much warmer and humid than it was in July. We finally had some rain the other day, and the thunderstorms cooled things off a bit. I sprang into action to weed, tie up veggies, and deadhead a few of the annuals. I know these nicer temps won’t last long.

The daily green bean haul is getting out of control!

We had some exciting news last week in the garden. A friend who also helps to raise monarch butterflies had a bumper crop this year, and needed some assistance. She gave us ten little eggs, which have now all hatched. They start life as the most wee little creatures, but seem to double in size just about every day.

Monarchs life cycles kind of happen like clockwork. The heat and humidity will slightly impact the speed at which they grow, but for the most part, it’s pretty easy to track how long each will take to move from an egg, to a butterfly. Once the eggs hatch, the monarch caterpillars start munching on milkweed leaves. Milkweed contains a toxin that is poisonous for most animals (and humans) to eat, but monarchs contain a special protein in their bodies that keeps them safe. The caterpillars only eat milkweed plants, and this is why it’s vitally important to provide them access to native milkweed species in your garden (if you live in an area where you have monarchs!).

A few of the newly-hatched monarch caterpillars. They are hard to spot when they are this small!

As the caterpillars dine on the milkweed leaves, they grow, and quickly! As they bulk up, they shed their outer layer every few days, by molting. They will do this five times, growing larger and larger. Their antennae become longer, and their white, black, and yellow stripes really come in brightly. They have pretty cute little black feet, too, all the way down their bodies. Once they’ve made it to their fifth instar, (their fifth molt) the caterpillars are ready to form a chrysalis.

The caterpillars can crawl quite a ways to find the spot they’d like to utilize for this next step. Since we keep ours in a mesh butterfly house, they typically crawl up to the top of the enclosure, and then they form a little silk net to hang from. They shed a final time, and then form their chrysalis, which looks lime green with gold rings. While in this stage, which usually takes a few weeks, the caterpillars actually liquify inside of the chrysalis and then transform into butterflies. The shell of the chrysalis is clear, so as the butterflies form, you can actually see them inside. When they are close to emerging, you’ll be able to see the pretty black, white, and orange colors, and you’ll know it’s just about time!

This past week finally saw some much-needed rain. The pokeberries, pumpkins, bay laurel, cornflowers, hardy hibiscus, and lettuce were definitely pleased!

Once the butterflies bust out of their shells, they hang from their feet and pump hemolymph (a substance like blood) into their wings to stretch them out and once their wings dry off, which takes a few hours, they are ready to fly away for a snack and to make more butterflies. It’s a fascinating process to watch and one that I feel lucky to enjoy every summer.

In addition to our pollinating friends, we’ve recently received quite a few visits from a far more wily critter: a racoon. Based on the number of vegetables and fruit this little trash panda has been consuming, I’m shocked that he’s even able to scale our 6′ privacy fence. Every few days, he waddles up onto the porch for a night of wild partying and debauchery. He seems to have developed a taste for our peppers, ginger, and strawberries, and he’s not at all impressed by my arrangement of the deck pots. After each of his visits, I have to right the deck pots, and move them back into position.

The poor pumpkin carnage

I’d taken all of this pretty well, up to this point. I like that my garden doesn’t just belong to me, and I enjoy sharing it will the local wildlife. However, last week, the little bandit took things a step too far! We have a few pumpkins growing in the little patch on the deck, and our little friend decided to partake of the smallest one. On the plus side, at least we know they must be tasty little pumpkins! I hope to get a picture of the raccoon at some point. He must have quite the bowling ball belly going on with all the treats he’s been enjoying this summer.

Our freshly-ripening pumpkin- keep off, little friend!

As summertime charges on up in our hemisphere, I hope your garden is looking well, and that you have some time this week to sit back and enjoy it all! Happy Gardening!

Could It *Be* Any Hotter?

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The garden is full of color, from goldenrod, to madder root, pokeberries, prairie blazing star, joe pye weed, and heuchera

Does anyone else feel like summer is completely flying by?! I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around the idea that it’s going to be August in just a few days. It certainly doesn’t feel like fall is anywhere on the horizon, though. It’s been very hot and humid out, and we haven’t had any real rain in the garden in quite a few days. While I water the veggies and some of the other annuals, it’s hot summer days like these that make me grateful for all of our native plants. They are designed to withstand all the temperatures that Ohio has to offer, as well as a lack of rainfall. Most native plants have extremely deep root systems, so they can weather just about anything Mother Nature throws their way.

Spotted this katydid while watering… they have some seriously good camouflage going on!

Some of my favorite native plants are in bloom right now: the tall, willowy joe pye weed, the deep purple stalks of prairie blazing star, with flowers like fireworks, fiery pink echinacea (coneflowers), and the sunny, bright yellow rudbeckia (black-eyed susan’s). We have quite a few of each of these plants peppered all over the yard, and I love the bursts of color they provide. These flowers draw in plenty of pollinators, too, and it’s a joy to watch all of the bees and insects humming around the garden all day.

There’s lots of cheery golden color in the yard this summer: black-eyed susan’s, nasturtiums, sunflowers, tickseed, and blanketflowers

And, luckily for me, all of these gorgeous pollinators are benefitting the rest of the garden in a huge way, by pollinating the rest of our flowers and vegetables. The veggie garden is blowing me away this year. I’ve grown veggies for a few years now, but feel like, finally, I’m starting to understand what I’m doing. Our tomatoes and peppers have never looked happier, and I’ve been harvesting oodles of each a few times a week. The red skin potatoes have also continued producing plenty of goodies.

The potato and green bean plants are sending us a bountiful harvest this year!

Our two bunches of green beans, the marrowfat bush beans, and green pole beans are also going wild. I check the plants every morning while watering, and have been filling my pockets with piles of each for the past few days. The other night, we grilled up some steaks, and enjoyed the first of the green beans (cooked up with the shallots I harvested a few weeks ago, and some bacon), as well as the first of the potatoes. Being able to pop out into the garden to grab the veggies I’ll be cooking for dinner is such a treat. I love that I’ve watched their entire growth, from seed, to mealtime, and it’s important to me that no pesticides were used on our food.

The other day, while stuffing my pockets full of beans, as one does, I discovered something a little… odd. At the bottom of our steps leading off the deck, there were two plants growing that I had not planted. After a little inspection, I discovered that they were tomato plants. I have no clue how these two plants got there- it must have been from seeds that made it into the compost we used in the springtime? That or the birds have grown must more aggressive in their gardening techniques…

Two of the Rogue Tomatoes

Then, while watering the compost bin, I noticed another tomato plant growing beside it as well. That plant is most assuredly from some seeds that made it into the compost pile. I could pull the plants out, but anything that is fighting that hard to grow where it will deserves to keep at it, in my opinion. I’m curious to see what varieties these tomatoes will be, something that I grew this year, or in year’s past?

Spotted this gorgeous dragonfly yesterday. It was very tough to photograph, but I *think* it’s an eastern pondhawk dragonfly, a native in our region.

It looks like this week will continue our hot, summer weather. I imagine I’ll be outside harvesting lots more veggies and herbs, stalking the local bug population for pictures, and making sure my collection of odd (for Ohio) plants like our banana and lemon trees have plenty of food and water. I’m hoping the skies open up at some point so the neighbors aren’t subjected to my alarming attempts at rain dancing. I have some weeding to do, but have been trying to put it off for a cooler day… at this point, I may be waiting until winter if I keep stalling for reasonable weather.

Hope it’s nice out where your garden lives, and that you are able to get outside to enjoy it this week! Happy gardening!

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Summertime

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The swamp milkweed is in bloom: my absolute favorite smelling flower. It’s light and sweet and an absolute pollinator magnet.

We’ve officially made it to summertime here in the Northern Hemisphere. While I love and adore all of the flowers this time of year, and watching the bees and other pollinators buzzing around the yard, summer is not my most favorite season. The heat and humidity make me cranky, and the planting is about wrapped up for the season, so my excuses to buy more flowers are harder to come by.

Luckily, I managed to squeak in a pit stop by the garden center last week to grab a few stray goodies for the new hellstrip bed out in the front yard, and for a corner out back that needed a little something. I grabbed a hollyhock for some height, and a few more verbena, anise hyssop, nepeta, and thyme for the pollinators to enjoy. The bees found the hyssop and thyme before the plants even made it into the ground, so I would say my selections were a success!

Some of my recent acquisitions: nepeta, growflow lemonade thyme, verbena, and anise hyssop

Out front, digging continues on the new hellstrip bed. I think the project is going to be a little smaller than I’d originally intended, at least, for now. A combination of rain showers, hot days, and arthritis joined forces to keep me from getting out there to dig things out last month like I’d planned. The husband helped me rip out most of the sod last week, and tomorrow, once the heat breaks, we plan to finish the bed. I have lots of plants waiting to go in: the little bluestem, prairie dropseed, prairie blazing star, and some thyme that I grew from seed, as well as the aforementioned plants I nabbed last week, and some creeping thyme and prairie smoke that I picked up awhile ago. Those poor plants need to get into the ground already!

The rest of the garden seems to be thriving. We’ve had a lot more in bloom since my last post. The hostas opened up, the borage and milkweed are all blooming (and smelling heavenly, I might add), the nasturtiums, bee balm, anise hyssop, verbena, and echinacea (coneflowers) are all blooming like wild, and the lanceleaf coreopsis, tickseed, cranesbill, marigolds, blanketflowers, and creek sedge continue to flower away. That’s not nearly everything in bloom at the moment, but it’s a nice highlight of what’s going on today.

I harvested our shallots last week! They are inside now, drying, but I’m dreaming of enjoying them in some beef burgundy. Mmm…

The bachelors button flowers that I grew from seed look to be about ready to start flowering this week, as do the zinnias. It’s amazing how much they’ve taken off in the past week or so. I feel like they all put on about a foot of growth. Out in the raised beds, the bush beans and climbing beans are all Hulking Out. The climbers have runners taking over their trellis. I would say we may see some beans growing here before too long. The tomatoes are still recovering from the over-watering they received the other week when it stormed, but most of the plants have fruit growing already. And, our pepper plants are stuffed full of flowers and peppers already. I’m so excited to see what they taste like- I’ve never grown Sweet Italian Peppers before.

Baby peppers!

Since I can’t seem to help myself, I started some hopi sunflower and loofah seeds the other week. The loofah seed hulls are notoriously tough, so I soaked them for about a week and clipped the outsides of the seeds with nail trimmers. Once they started to sprout, I planted them in a pot on the deck. They seem extremely happy in the heat and sunshine, and are growing quickly. I’ll have to get a support in the pot for them here to make sure they have something to climb, and to eventually, hold up the loofahs that will grow. I am probably more excited than any one person ought to be to ditch the plastic mesh poufs I use in the shower for some homegrown loofah sponges.

Everything else on the deck has been flowering and growing away happily. I’ve been harvesting basil weekly, and am enjoying the weird (for Ohio) plants that I started this year, the pineapple, ginger, banana tree, and lemon tree that I nabbed last season. The deck crops are also thriving, and we’ll be harvesting potatoes here in a month (ish). The sugar pie pumpkin seeds I planted took off immediately, and I’m slowly winding the vines up the railing along the deck. We had planned to do some work on the deck this summer, but with wood prices being so high (when you can find the materials at all), I think that project will be one to deal with next year. So, the pumpkins, madder root, and pokeberries can hide the wonky deck railing for another season. If you can’t fix it, hide it. That’s the expression, right?

Butterfly weed, coreopsis, swamp milkweed, verbena, cranesbill, and hostas

Before I sign off for the week, I wanted to put a PSA out there for everyone with bird feeders and bird baths. An illness has hit our local bird populations in Ohio, and, I’d assume, surrounding states. It’s seriously harming the birds, damaging their eyesight and ability to fly. The US Geological Survey reports that blue jays, starlings, robins, and grackles seem to be the most impacted, but the disease may be harming other birds, as well. Scientists aren’t yet sure what this disease is, but we’re all being advised to take down our bird feeders to keep the disease from spreading. Additionally, make sure to clean our your bird baths with a solution of 10% bleach to 9 parts water, while wearing gloves. If you happen to see any sick birds, contact your nearest wildlife rehab center. In Central Ohio, that would be the Ohio Wildlife Center at 614-793-9453. Hopefully we can all help keep this awful disease from spreading and it goes away soon.

Have a nice week! I give you permission to sit back and enjoy these first few days of summer, instead of crawling around your beds, weeding. Happy gardening!