the JULY GARDEN

The GARDEN

A quick update on the garden, ignoring the weeds which will have to just stay there until the weather cools.
The brick garden No, All the Bricks Are NOT in MY Head! from June 8th has disappeared under the squash plants. The leaves are huge and the blossoms are plentiful. So far I have picked 2 squash, one a regular yellow squash, one a Delicata. The seeds came from a Delicata. If it were not for the stakes I would not be able to find the tomato plant or my expensive red raspberry plant. I wonder if I will ever get any raspberries from it. This picture was taken over a week ago. Anyway, the bricks have disappeared. A few zinnias have survived the upheaval and are blooming. They will be nice in September. I am amazed they managed to get enough sunlight to grow considering the size of the leaves on the squash. Next year I will spread the squash plants out or just pull some of them out of the ground.

The hydrangea has been especially pretty this year. I love these colors. The lilies are growing and multiplying. I like some of them, others not as much, but they are a bit of color. The orange ones Elizabeth pulled up years ago and gave to me to throw away now take up as much as 3 dining room tables. Originally I threw them into the jungle at the edge of the woods. Now they are out on the bank and look like part of somebody’s garden!
The phlox has survived. I don’t know why I love phlox so much, but I do. They are bright patches of color around the yard. Last year the phlox out front lasted even after the first frost. With the temperatures pushing 90 everyday, that seems so far away.
The honeysuckle continues to bloom here and there. It makes the butterflies happy. That makes me happy. Spook chases them but hasn’t caught one yet.

The bean plants are up to 3 feet tall. The seeds were planted 3 weeks ago. I bought them up in Pennsylvania. Yellow wax beans are real hard to find around here.

The tomato plants are think and heavy laden. Only a few of the bigger tomatoes have turned red but I pick dozens of the cherry tomatoes each day. How different they taste from the cardboard ones that cost a fortune in the store! So sweet!

I am hoping I made the right choices when I bought the blueberry bushes. I have one early bush and one late one and one in-between. The late one still has a few greenish berries while the other ones are bare now. They are still tiny, under a foot tall, but it has been fun picking a few berries every other day or so. During the cooler hours of the day, Spook can be seen standing (?) guard over the blueberry patch.