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High Temps and Low Productivity

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The monarch butterflies showed up a few weeks ago, and have been floating around the garden every afternoon.

August is almost over, and while we certainly have another month or two before the season ends, my gardening motivation is waning. The summer has been especially hot and wet, which has definitely caused some ups and downs for the production levels this year. That, combined with some visits from a particularly unruly masked bandit visitor has definitely impacted my oomph.

The season started out pretty well. We had a bountiful crop of asparagus, sugar snap peas, and then the garlic and onions were ready to be harvested. It was my first year growing peas and onions, and they each exceeded expectations. After that, we had a very nice crop of carrots and lettuce. The carrots thrived under the shade of some leeks and zinnias, which seemed to protect them from all the summer heat.

Slightly less happy were our potatoes, though we still managed a decent crop. And now, I’m harvesting green beans, peppers, and tomatoes. The tomatoes, especially, are having a tough year. They don’t love excessive rain showers, or temps in the 90s, both of which we’ve had in spades since May. They caught blight a few weeks ago, and are looking very scraggly and sad. Tomatoes tend to drive me a little crazy. Our weather isn’t really the best for growing them, but they are such a popular plant. Daydreaming Me would like a greenhouse someday, so I can truly control their water intake and keep them from catching blossom end rot, blight, or one of the billion other issues that impact them.

Another plant that didn’t grow as well as I’d hoped were our cucumbers. I did manage to harvest a few to enjoy in some G&T’s, but the plants caught bacterial wilt from an onslaught of cucumber beetles. It was my first time growing these, so next year, I’ll try some natural methods to contain the beetles before they do in the entire harvest.

We’ve had lots of insect visitors this year, like these carpenter bees, soldier beetles, american snout butterflies, hummingbird moths, ailanthus webworm moths, american bumblebees, and damselflies.

That wasn’t the end of the crop woes for the season. In addition to the cucumber beetles, we had a wily raccoon start throwing parties in the garden every evening. This little trash panda has really pushed all my buttons. He tips over pots on the deck, rearranges the rocks around the pond (???), broke into and ate all the black swallowtail caterpillars and chrysalises in the butterfly enclosure, and he ate all the watermelons and cantaloupes, in addition to biting the ends off a few peppers and munching on all the sugar pie pumpkin flowers. Everyone needs to eat, but he really took the wind out of my sails this summer. I’m still feeling salty about the butterflies (though I’ve spotted a bunch more caterpillars out in the parsley patch- which the raccoon has ignored, thus far), and I’m sad to not get to try any of our melons. I’ll have to step up my game next year, and try caging the plants they seem to enjoy.

So, crop-wise, it’s felt like a bit of a wash this year. As usual, though, our flowers are really crushing it. All the native plants have been thriving in the weather, and we’ve had a lovely display every day. Right now, the new england asters are starting to bloom, and their gorgeous purple flowers pop even more against the yellows of the goldenrod, which is also beginning to bloom. The pollinators are out in force all over those, as well as the joe pye weed, echinacea, black-eyed susan’s, blanket flowers, cappuccino rudbeckia, obedient plants, and sunflowers. And, while not native, the zinnias this year are also blowing me away. I grew a few rows of them in one of the raised beds, and they are covered in pollinators and birds every day. Every morning, a group of goldfinches swoops in and rips the petals off, revealing the seeds which they dine on. And, in the evenings, we see hummingbirds flocking to the zinnias, nasturtiums, and native coral honeysuckle vines.

There’s been plenty of other pleasant visitors to the yard this season. I’ve spotted hummingbird moths, lots of different bees, like the native (and endangered) american bumble bee, ladybugs, and other pollinators, like black swallowtail butterflies, monarch butterflies (now on the endangered species list), soldier beetles, american snout butterflies, and ailanthus webworm moths. The webworm moths don’t have the cutest name, but they are really pretty, with orange, white, and black markings. I’ve never seen them before, and it was exciting to spot them on the joe pye weed this year.

It always feels like such a win to spot new (to me) insects and pollinators enjoying the native plants I’ve set up in the garden. I know, every time I step outside and take a tour, that I’ll see something interesting and beautiful. Hopefully, your own gardens are having an interesting and beautiful season as well. Happy gardening!

There’s a lot in bloom and looking snazzy this week: zinnias, black-eyes susan’s, pokeberries, marigolds, joe pye weed, lantanas, cappuccino rudbeckias, autumn joe sedum, and northern sea oats.


May June be Fruitful

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The snow peas have been enjoying all of our rain showers.

It feels like this gardening season just started, but somehow, we’re already a week into June. I’ve been harvesting strawberries each day (this years crop has been very delicious so far), and yesterday, I collected the garlic scapes. I’m excited to pull the bulbs in a couple weeks here, but the scapes have so much flavor. I don’t know where these awesome things were hiding my whole life, but since I started growing my own garlic, I’m hooked. I’ve also started harvesting the first of this years herb crop: some thyme, bay leaves, basil, chives, and chamomile. Hopefully the next few months bring just as much delicious food from the garden!

Out in the raised beds, the seedlings I started seem to (mostly) be doing well. The peas are flowering and I had to add on to the trellis I built for them, as they grew taller than expected. The peppers are looking good. We’re going to have a bumper crop of potatoes. The cut flower garden is coming in strong. However, the tomatoes are looking… really sad. We’ve had a lot more rain than they really enjoy, and it’s been very warm, very fast, since I planted them out. I’m hoping they bounce back here and we are able to harvest enough for my portion of the family salsa crop.

Up on the deck, the jungle is faring much better. Out lemon tree is flowering again. I have my fingers crossed that the local pollinator population works its magic and we end up with some fruit. Our cantaloupe are also flowering, and the burst of cucumber beetles I saw in the yard has already been taken care of by the birds, leaving the cantaloupe alone. I started the green beans and black-eyed peas in pots this past week, and in typical legume-fashion, they’ve already sprouted up.

This years strawberries have been very sweet!

Out in the rest of the yard, my beloved peonies and clematis are about finished flowering. The daisies, canadian anemones, blue flag irises, ohio spiderwort, coral honeysuckle, nepeta, lavender, roses, asiatic lilies, and day lilies are all flowering this week. Our milkweed should be starting here shortly, and I am really exited to see the swamp milkweed again! It’s name absolutely doesn’t do this amazing plant any favors, but it’s my favorite native plant. Not only does it support monarch caterpillars, but the plant blooms with gorgeous little pink and white flowers for a few weeks each year at the end of spring. The flowers are, hands down, my favorite smelling thing in the garden. They smell very sweet, without the perfume-scent of roses or lilacs. And in addition to supporting our endangered monarchs, bees and other pollinators flock to this beauty. I can’t recommend it enough for gardeners in the Midwest. In a container or out in a bed, swamp milkweed is a GEM.

Now that the bulk of the planting for the year is wrapped up, I still have to finish a few landscaping projects around the yard. The Great Pond Area Widening Project has been put on a slight hold, due to a lot of rainy days, followed by a string of days that have just been too blazing hot. I’m hoping to get the rest of the sod pulled out this week, so I can mulch the area and shift a bit of planting around to fill in the new space. I’ve been seeing a lot of bees on the spiderwort that lives there, as well as a few dragonflies and damselflies. It’s a pleasant way to spend some time, just pausing for a bit to watching all the pond residents buzz around the flowers.

Hope that you’ve had a chance to stop and enjoy all of the plants and flowers growing near you. Happy gardening!

The bees have really been enjoying the Ohio Spiderwort flowers this spring.

Small Fish in a Big Pond

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Hardening off the freshly-sprouted seedlings!

After waking up to thunderstorms in the wee small hours of the morning, I didn’t have tremendously high hopes for the day. But, in the afternoon, the sun came out, and it turned into a lovely time for gardening.

Today is the first of May, my favorite month in the garden. All the perennials are coming back up, there’s lots of trees and flowers in bloom, and it’s not yet so hot and humid that being outside for any length of time is miserable. We’re not quite past our last frost date here in Central Ohio, so I haven’t moved everything outside quite yet. But, I was able to start hardening off the tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, and flowers that I’ve been growing from seed indoors. The process takes about ten days/two weeks, so by the time they are ready to plant in the ground, it will be warm enough to plant them in the ground.

The deck is already packed full of pots. I started a bunch of native grasses from seed to add to the borders along our fence: Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), Big Bluestem (Andropogon geradii), Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans), and Broom Sedge (Andropogon virginicus). There’s also pots full of strawberries, potatoes, thyme, chives, mint, and a bunch of native perennials, like Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). The cold frame filled up very quickly this year, but we’re about past the time where I need it. Looks like I skated by starting too many seeds for yet another year!

Out in the raised beds, things are also filling up. Our asparagus is in its fourth year, so it’s really coming in nicely. We’ve already been able to enjoy a few harvests on the grill. The garlic I planted last fall is also looking quite nice. It should be time to harvest those bulbs here in a few weeks. Also out in the beds are some carrots, leeks, onions, snow peas, and potatoes. We’re going to have potatoes coming out of our ears this year. I have four grow bags full of them on the deck, and two more rows of potatoes out in the raised beds. I’m just trying to represent my Irish heritage well!

As usual, the deck is filling up with potted plants.

Just off of the raised beds is the wildlife pond that went in last year. I’ve had a few people ask how the pond had its start in life, so I thought I’d share the tale again, and give an update.

I’d had a small water feature in mind for a few years, but I wasn’t sure about what to put in. Fountains are EXPENSIVE and I thought a pond would be too much upkeep. Two years ago, I added a few small, shallow pots to the landscape, filled with water for the birds and pollinators to enjoy. I highly recommend this. It’s a simple way to help lure more wildlife into the yard, and things are easy to clean and maintain. But, with every viewing of the BBC’s Gardeners World, I wanted more.

Our lot is just over 6,000 square feet, which is below average for the US (you people with acreage are really throwing off the curve). It’s more than big enough for two fairly lazy people who hate lawn maintenance, and as I searched online for examples of wildlife ponds, I knew the yard was large enough to fit what I had in mind as well. I wanted something about 3′ by 3′, in a circle-ish shape, and shallow enough that I wouldn’t have to do much digging to put the thing in. So, one day, I told the husband that we were putting a pond in, and we started to dig. Well, actually, back that up. First, I called 8-1-1 and had the utility companies come out to mark our electric and cable lines so we wouldn’t hit anything. If you’re ever doing any digging in your yard, for a tree, a pond, or any kind of larger hole, Call Before You Dig!

So, yard spray-painted with lines marking the important things, we mapped out the spot for the pond with an old hose. I’ve seen this done before, and it’s a great way to “see” what your new project is going to look like before you start digging around. Just use the hose like a border, and make the shape you want. Once we had things outlined, we started digging.

The pond is about 2′ deep in the center, with tapered edges, and a little beach on one end. I specifically wanted a wildlife-style pond in the yard, and for animals to be able to get in and use the thing, I knew a gradual entryway was required. Once the digging was complete, we added a lining, using plastic sheeting. The sheet is fairly thick, and I folded it in half to add even more oomph to the lining.

The perennials are coming back in nicely this year, framing in the pond and helping to provide food and shelter to any critters who may be in the area. Now that the rocks have settled in, I have a few more to add, but I’m happy with the progress so far!

Next, we added some river rock and pebbles to the bottom, and along the edges. Then, larger flat stones went in around the border of the pond and along the sides, to hide the plastic sheet. Once that was finished, we filled the pond with water, and I used some old branches and sticks to line one end of the pond and make it look more natural and wild. This makes a great space for wildlife to hide and nest. After a simple bubbler went in to circulate the water around, that was that for the pond.

The area where we put the pond is mostly in the shade. It was a damp area to begin with, that grew a lot of moss and henbit. So, I added in plants that liked the shade and wet conditions, and used mostly species native to our area to lure in even more o the things we wanted, like dragonflies and caterpillars. There’s a lot around the pond, all perennials: an eastern redbud tree, a buttonbush, maidenhair ferns, wild geraniums, creek sedge, blue flag irises, sweet flag irises, jack-in-the-pulpits, rue anemones, sea oats, spiderwort, a pitcher plant, and a little grouping of hostas and heucheras. The native plants and trees (all but the last two) support over 100 species of caterpillars!

Today, I added the bubbler back into the pond for the season. I started with a little, floating solar fountain. But, after a couple of months, it bit the dust. So, I added in a little aquarium pump, that plugs into an outlet on the deck. It helps keep water circulating and the sound attracts more birds to the pond for bath time.

Other than that, I don’t do a thing to the pond, except weed around it. (And, today, I pulled a few leaves out of the water so they wouldn’t clog up the bubbler). I don’t use any chemicals to clean the water- the bubbler takes care of that. And we’ve had the neatest wildlife show up in the short time the pond has been around: all kinds of birds, dragonflies (just one can eat up to 100 mosquitoes in a day, in case you’re worried about the water in the yard attracting too many of the bloodsuckers), beetles, spiders, other insects, and most excitingly, frogs! Two arrive last summer and I hope we see more this year.

Some of the shade-loving plants and trees in bloom right now: great white trillium, dutchman’s breeches, rue anemone, and flowering dogwood

So, that’s the wildlife pond. It’s doing exactly what I’d wanted: luring in wildlife. And, it’s been fuss-free. Is the water always 100% clear? Nope. Does it look like a well-manicured water feature? Absolutely not. But, those things weren’t my goal. I wanted the space to look natural and I think we succeeded. This spring has already been filled with joyful moments and I wander around the pond, looking at the different wildlife which lives there- the insects, the native wildflowers, and the occasional bird, stopping by to wade around the beach.

Hopefully, this helps get you started if you’re interested in adding your own pond to the yard. There’s lots of books and resources out there to inspire, including this one that I used from the Conservation Foundation. Happy gardening!

For The Love of Salsa

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The salsa assembly line

This past Saturday, the husband and I made our annual trek north to my parents place for Canning Day. Each summer, my grandpa, dad, brother, and I grow a variety of tomatoes and peppers for the family salsa. We peel, dice, and freeze the veggies as they are grown throughout the hot months of summer. I don’t know about your garden, but it seems like in mine, tomatoes seem to ripen in batches. During the end of summer, I’m in the kitchen every few nights, blanching tomatoes and generally making a mess trying to get as much water out of them as possible before tossing things into the freezer.

Anyway. It’s all worth it, because each fall, we get together and can everything. It’s always quite the production. The day starts in the morning, de-thawing all the frozen veggies, and dicing up the 45 pounds of onions we need for the batch. Eyes burning, the windows are opened as everyone found in the house is drafted for chopping duty. Once the onions are finished and we compose ourselves, the garlic is chopped, and all the veggies are added to a giant bucket. Everything gets mixed up with a boat oar that the husband and I found a few years ago, and branded as “The Big Salsa Stick.”

The Salsa-Making Crew

Once all the ingredients are mixed up, we usually break for lunch and to psych ourselves up for the adventure ahead. Canning almost 20 gallons of salsa takes a bit of time, and the day is usually a long one. This year, my brother had the genius idea to split up the operation. Inside, dad and I heated up the salsa, sanitized the jars and lids, and filled up the jars. The husband and my brother were outside with two canners over outdoor burners. I believe the burners intended purpose was to deep fry turkeys for Thanksgiving, but they worked perfectly for boiling water to seal our mason jars.

Having two canners going at once made the time fly. Mom helped wash all the jars, and line up lids for everything. Dad and I were in the kitchen racing around trying to heat up salsa on stove, and getting jars filled in time for the outdoor crew to finish up a batch in the canner (which takes 12 minutes), freeing up space for the next round. We ended up with 132 pint-sized jars, and we left 4 quarts of fresh stuff in the fridge, un-canned. We’ll definitely be keeping tortilla chip companies in business well into 2022.

The canners, boiling and steaming up a storm

Once the jars come out of the canner, they were lined up inside to cool off and we all kept watch to make sure the lids all popped, showing the jars properly sealed. Once they are slightly cooler than lava, the tops are labeled with the year, and then the jars rest for a couple weeks before we dig in. The rest of the family popped in throughout the day to check on the progress and lay claim to their portion of salsa.

So, it’s quite the day, and we’re all pretty tired still, but it’s also a lot of fun. Our crew keeps in contact throughout the summer with updates on how many of each vegetable we’ve grown to make sure we end up with enough of everything, and there are frequent, desperate trips to every store in the state for canning supplies (which have become quite hard to find by the summer time these past few pandemic years). It’s worth it all for that perfect, fresh taste of the good stuff.

Our 2021 Salsa canned, freezers emptied (just in time to house turkeys next month), feet up, chips and fresh salsa in hand, my week ended on quite the high note. If anyone needs me, I’ll be stuffing my face and doing some research to plan out next years tomato crop. Happy gardening!

The sleepy Salsa Crew after a hard days battle

I Think It’s Fall?

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Fall sunrises seem extra special, with the light shining on all the colorful leaves.

Anyone else having some odd weather? It’s mid-October, and here in Central Ohio, we’re having near record-breaking temperatures… it’s been close to 90 degrees, which is not at all what I expected when we made it home from our vacation. The weekend started off foggy and humid, but the sun came out quickly, blazing hot, and it’s been warm ever since. The trees have started changing color. Our locust tree has dropped most of her leaves. But, the crisp cool autumn days I live for every year are, well, not here yet.

Before our trip, I cleaned out most of the raised beds, planted cover crops, emptied the deck pots, and moved plants indoors. The water pump in the pond was brought in and de-algae-ified (that’s the technical term). I thought there’d be a frost while we were away, or that it would at least be cool enough out that the fledgling pineapple plants would have some words for me. But, the changing climate is definitely making an impact. It seems like every year here, autumn starts a little bit later.

We went for a hike at the local metro park to catch the foggy morning air over the prairie.

Looking online, our first frost date doesn’t seem to be listed as having changed, but my own notes indicate that the frosts here are happening later each October (I’ve taken notes on the daily temps each day for a few years now, because I am a data-loving weirdo). We’ve been setting record highs quite often over the past few years, and the last frost date in the beginning of springtime, in May, seems to be moving as well (towards the middle of the month).

Notes like these are handy when it comes to planting out tender vegetables like tomatoes in the spring, because a frost will kill them off. I’ve also been taking some notes about rainfall, when it’s happening, and how much. This year, we had a LOT more rain than usual, at times when it normally doesn’t occur. The summer months are usually dryer, but we had quite a few days with flooding rains. My tomatoes caught blight, so next year, I’ll look for some varieties that are less likely to catch this disease. And, I’ll plant them even farther apart so their leaves have a better chance at drying as quickly as possible, keeping the blight spores away.

This is the latest I’ve ever harvested peppers. Our italian sweet peppers seem to have enjoyed the extra steamy days this month.

For now, there’s really not much to do around the yard but wait for the frosts to arrive. Once they do, I’ll cut the hostas back to the ground (their leaves get really slimy after the cold hits), but everything else will stay put until the springtime. I know I’ve written about the benefits of waiting to do the annual clean up until the spring before, but I’ll just quickly recap to say it’s best for the wildlife to leave as much as you can standing. The birds, pollinators, and other insects will thank you, and your yard will be healthier and happier.

Since many of the flowers have finished for the season, my attention has really turned to the trees, both in and around our yard, and out at the park. Autumn is such an art show for trees in my area. I’m so fascinated by their display each year, because things always seem to look a little different. Water and temperature impact the color of the leaves, and of course, there’s always new trees, trees that are no longer growing, and trees that have grown quite a lot to change the landscape. This time of year, I find myself wandering out of my garden quite a bit more than usual for a nice walk in the woods.

Hopefully you are having a wonderful start to October and the fall season (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere). Happy gardening!

We’ve been having some really gorgeous sun rises, which I’m finally catching since the days are getting shorter and the sun pops up later each day.

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.

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.

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!

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!