THE GARDEN IN MAY - JUNE

THE MOST AMAZING thing about the garden in early June is the fragrance. I won’t bore you with pictures of the honeysuckle, we have all seen more than our share of honeysuckle, I am sure. In the winter, on warmer days, I can spend hours pulling it out of the camellias, off of trees, out of the gardens. It truly grows like a weed here. But, depending on the severity of the winter (northern people – stop laughing, right now!) the world smells so wonderful starting usually the beginning of May with Honey Locust, the Fringe Trees, honeysuckle and magnolias. What a joy it is to step outside on a still cool morning and breathe in the sweetness of the southern air. I realize every morning of my life how blessed I am to not be in a city, not be caged in an apartment, to be free to walk on my small acreage, fill my eyes with the beauty planted there and to even enjoy the weeds – or at least the weeds we call honeysuckle. Better than that, I have the joy of growing my own food and each day I love to go out and see how much bigger this is or that… maybe pick some strawberries, blueberries, or later on, some beans, cukes or tomatoes. It doesn’t get better than that.

This year i decided to indulge myself with some plantings I normally don’t have the time to mess with… i doubt they will winter over in my little greenhouse, but who knows? Every year is a new experiment. Here are a few of my plants and a lot of my weeds.

 

This hosta is so big, a neighbor argued with me and insisted it is an elephant’s ear. That is a yard stick  standing in it… so it is nearly 4 feet tall. Behind it is a blue hosta which is almost as big, but not quite.

Right in front of that hosta are these plants and the new birdbath. i finally found a couple straggly strobilanthes… that’s it behind the pink Astilbe and Heuchera.

In the back yard, flowers grow in and around the veggies. On the left, just below the Adirondacks, are some potato bags. All the way on the right is a 4x4 space with cukes and tomatoes.

potatoes (in the pots) tomatoes, basil, peppers, and pansies. Qwan Yin and geraniums are tucked in the huge English Daisy plant. Who’d believe I cut that better than in half a2 years ago. On the right, potatoes (redskins), miniature roses, violets, iris, pansies and dianthus.

 

From the other side, this shows the clematis. Finished blooming under that is a deep red peony and not blooming yet, phlox. Out in the side yard, a rhododendron is in bloom.

Out front, the window boxes have impatiens that wintered over, geraniums (ditto), new coleus, and a couple new blue things – i can’t think of their names. And a close up of the mountain laurel.

I have a hanging petunia and a hummingbird feeder (being filled) in front of Rusty’s bedroom window to keep him occupied when he isn’t watching puffins or hummers on the computer. Pix of that on the next posting!

Hope you enjoyed my garden, disorganized as it is… but it is fun and something in bloom in every direction. Yes, it is a lot of work for me, but I can’t describe the joy I get from it. The lilies are just starting to bloom!

RAKING SHATTERS

SHATTERS are a valued commodity here on the Shore. To inform you folks from other places, shatters is the local name for long pine needles. Further down the county, they are sometimes called Shatts. They are used as a mulch or ground cover, for weed control and also as a ground conditioner for acid loving plants like camellias and azaleas, daffodils and even strawberries. In the Old Days, one could buy a shatters rake at the local hardware or farm supply place. They were hand forged and set in a special way on a long handle. Today they are a rare find. When our old place was sold, I grabbed our old shatters rake and brought it home. I wish I had grabbed the hand plow, too and the old wooden wheelbarrow. They were real treasures!

 

The tines on the shatters rake are longer, further apart, and angled. When I needed a new handle (the old one was older than I and actually in worse shape) I had to find someone who had an understanding of the value of the old tools. The first guy that looked at it told me they didn’t have those things in New Jersey, where he came from, they used “normal” rakes. Well, that told me not to let him get his hands on my rake! Phew! He said, along with putting a new handle on it, he would straighten it, “See how crooked its got?” (Yeah, it was made that way!) See the difference in a “normal” rake and a shatters rake? My shatters rake is close to 100 years old dating back to around the time the old house was built, 1914.

My Uncle has been talking lately about carving new tines for his hay rake. I have another friend who makes (carves and assembles) his own hay rakes, too. I am so impressed. I would love my Uncle to get a picture of his rake. I wonder how big it is. Another friend made one to go behind his garden tractor to rake shatters as well as hay. It is about 5 feet across. Impressive. That must be on my project list, but when would I have time? I guess that is one advantage of having long cold snowy winters… nothing else to do. That doesn’t ever seem to happen here.

  

Anyway, I found someone who was as impressed as I at the age of the rake… it took him about a week to put a new handle on it. He was so careful to not damage any more than he had to since the old rake had a metal piece go right thru the old wooden handle and was welded in place. No wonder it never came off! So, the other day,  I happily got it out of the barn and raked up a few loads of shatters and bedded down the newly transplanted camellias and azaleas. I discovered the late December camellias were starting to open. Well, it was 70 degrees. The bees were happily buzzing along in the open camellias, it really looked and sounded like springtime. I also noticed the new miniature holly bush is in bloom! Go figure that! Someone suggested I decorate this camellia (with the first white bloom) for Christmas since it is shaped so perfectly.

Then, this morning… well, you know, every once in a while the light is just perfect, there is that special glow things get first thing in the morning… I am so glad I am not one of those folks that lay in bed half the day – mornings are so magical! Anyway, the little maple out front was just glowing… I guess it was showing me that we really could have red maple trees here! That is Yule Tide next to it on the left. Those green spiky things on the right are yucca.

As I walked back to the house, I noticed some bright yellow out at the edge of my woods… I am not sure what these trees are. They get pink flowers in the spring, but I never see any nuts or fruit. Any idea what they might be? Tomorrow it might be even prettier! Stay tuned!

GARDEN DIARY END OF MAY 2013

This is mostly a private notation for future reference. This week the peas started to bloom. The first blueberry bush has green berries, the birds are thoroughly enjoying the strawberries, and the onions are well over a foot tall.  The yellow wax beans have their second set of leaves, and the Italian flats are just pushing some green thru the dirt. The Lima beans are thru the potting soil reminding me of my first biology class where we all had to plant one and learn such fun terms as cotyledon, and watch for the first sign of a real identifiable leaf. Remember?

I planted a circle of Blue Lake pole beans and put my big aluminum pole and hoops in the fenced in garden. A few beans have their leaves. I think I might have to replant in the empty places.

The potatoes are well over a foot tall and need more dirt in their bags. The last time I added dirt, the coons dug most of it out. That explains the ugly fencing. They also demolished my bag of carrots that had just been planted the day before. However, I do have a few carrots showing tiny green shoots this morning. I have had to put pieces of fencing over the growing bags anyway because Punk and Spook seemed to love to nap in these bags.

   This was my second planting – or replanting – of potatoes last year – the little ones that were too small to eat… I just stuck them back in the bags and got a couple more pounds of potatoes! Maybe the cats helped hatch them? This is Punk hatching the carrots last year. I sure do miss my little garden shadow!

Yesterday I managed to get the tomatoes and bush basil in… the zucchini and eggplant (Ikiban) are in the old tomato raised bed… I still have cucumbers to plant and some dill. We don’t use the dill anymore, but the black swallowtail butterflies caterpillars LOVE it. So I grow it for them.

The sage is in flower and the rosemary looks like bushes.

Thanks for all the interest so many of you have had in using these growing bags. Let me know if you try them and how it works out for you.

BUILDING PROJECT

OR MORE OF WHAT KEEPS ME SO BUSY… Sadly I have slowed down to a crawl lately. The Lyme's has been in its mean, bad , and nasty cycle… which means not just a lot of pain, but it means my muscles have been locking up when I try to do certain things – like bend over… reach over my head… sigh. So, it has really slowed me down. Somehow I thought I would have a lot of time to get things done before it got too cold to work outside – but today is the last of the warmer days, and so much has not gotten done. Cold is an enemy of Lyme's.  I did get my addition to my greenhouse finished… got the heat lamps installed yesterday. It is also painted since it is not made with pressure treated (called salt treated around here) wood and there is an added roof of 2 rug samples and a half inch piece of plywood that goes on it when the sun is not shining to keep it a bit warmer – and to keep the cats from scratching the quarter inch Plexiglas. That sheet of Plexiglas for the roof cost a small fortune… double what I paid the last time I had any 1/4th inch cut for me. The rest of the Plexiglas is only 1/8th inch – some of it scrap, most of the wood is scrap, too. It seems I just get more and more plants somehow… and then, I take cuttings of Strobilanthus and coleus – some of them make it, some do not. I am trying to winter over some begonias this year. The Mini-greenhouse will come apart come spring as it is held together with only 4 screws and several corner braces. The floor is brick, for retaining heat. It is amazing how many plants one can cram in a space 4 feet long and 2 feet wide. 

The heated cat box is on top of the larger greenhouse… and is already well occupied on chilly days and nights.

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS

SUB TITLE: SPOILED ROTTEN CATS LIVE HERE.

As the song on the radio right this minute is saying, the weather outside is frightful… But then, it is not as bad as it was yesterday. We made it up to 47 today! That is still lower than it should be for this time of year. And next week, they say we will be in the teens at night. TEENS! WOW! We have had years when it barely went down into the 20s and then that happened only 4 or 5 times all winter. Anyway, all this is leading up to Spook and Punkin, my outside kitties. They HATE it in the house – believe me, we have tried it and there was no peace until they got back out, even in temps in the single digits. So… I do the next best thing. I make sure they have plenty of warm places to sleep, even a warm spot to eat.

Their warm nest last year worked out so well, I bought another one, since often Spook sleeps inside the nest and Punkin stands guard on the green house. They can and DO sleep in there together, but, for some reason, Punk often likes to be on the greenhouse.

While I was at it, I did the cats AND myself a favor, I bought a heated water dish. Now you might ask yourself how is that a favor to me? It means I don’t have to go out and break the ice in the morning. That has become a major job these days as I am having a little trouble getting in and out of the house in the morning. I can get their food to them, sometimes just placing it on the greenhouse, but cracking the water out of the dish and refilling it in the bitter cold when I can barely walk, well, it is a bit hard. And last year, it often froze back solid in a few hours. Now before you call me a wimp, let me say, people with Lymes have a lot of trouble with cold temperatures. It quadruples the pain, and the morning pain is the worst, as many of you sadly know.

Also, I have been severely criticized by a neighbor or 2 for “not taking care of my cats” because they are outside in all that bad weather. Heated kitty beds are not cheap, but they are wonderful. See the grey double plug in the big yellow extension cord box? That is a thermostat that controls the bed in the area under it. If the temp drops below 40, the bed turns on. Also, note the wires wrapped around the cords. That is so an animal cannot bite thru or even into the wire. They think of everything, don’t they?

On the right, you can see half of a timer (dark green, semicircle), dusk/dawn or totally on or off, or by the number of hours – that controls the light in the greenhouse that keeps it at 45 or above.

The new kitty bed is in a clear plastic box so they can see everything at least until they get used to it. I guess it is their sunroom for now! The bed is currently on as I need to waterproof the area where the thermostat will plug in. The bungee cords will keep it from blowing in the winds we are supposed to get on Sunday (rain turning to snow.) I will level it out later. It just got too cold putting it all together today.   

Even the possum has a warm room. The back wall of her nest has a vented opening to the furnace room. The furnace is about 2 feet from where she sleeps. They did not have a sign that said Spoiled Rotten Possum Sleeps Here. Guess that is a good thing.

Next project, a heated birdbath. Next year.

THE PUTTER BENCH, a Work in Progress

OK, MOST PEOPLE WOULD CALL this a potting bench, I suppose... but the potting is all done for this year... and mostly what I am doing now is puttering... whatever that actually means. The seeds are all sewn, some are up, some are not, and the lima beans were transplanted earlier this week and looking good! The strawberries are almost finished for now. Sometimes I get a second harvest. We shall see what happens this year. The garden has taken off on its own with a wild riot of color... I never know just what I am going to get out around St Francis, but it is usually beautiful any time of the year. Sooo, now that I have 5 minutes to putter between potting/planting and harvesting, I decided to build myself a potting bench, except, of course, the potting is done for this year. But I end up with all kinds of miscellaneous chores and the old back just needed a place out in the yard where I can DO STUFF without bending down or making a mess in the house, carport, or in a hot stuffy barn. Important stuff like bird feeder cleaning and repair, a place to throw the garden gloves and tools when I have to answer the phone, a place to store the pots, trays, and some of the mixed potting soil till next year, being always mindful to keep that little square spot open next to the Scoop Away bucket (now containing potting soil) - that is the shed where Spook goes when the weather is terribly wet or windy. I decided to give the flat surfaces a coat (or 2) of paint since it is sitting outside. And yes, the bench is tilted. My good friend, Pat, came by and lifted one end so I could tilt it more for rain run off. Another note - I did buy new 4x4s and 2x4s for the legs... 4x4s so it will withstand the hurricane force winds and not blow out in the yard - unless we get a Cat 3 or more. The wood is treated to have contact with the elements. The shelf and work top and all other pieces are scraps I saved for the moment when I might need them. Some of my scrap wood came from the lumber yard's scrap pile. If you go to buy lumber and have them cut it for you, you might notice they have a big scrap pile. Ask and they will usually let you dig thru the pile and take home left over pieces that might come in handy when you make your next project. Got grandkids? A friend's grandson and neighbor kid built a tree house completely out of scrap lumber from the lumber yard. All they bought were nails! It also seemed like a good place to display my very old shore bird decoys... By the way, did you notice the clematis in the St Francis garden??? It is amazing this year. This is not a good shot, but I was in a rush. Forgive me!