Baby, It's Hot out Here!

The July heat has come already. I am reading the calendar right, aren't I? It's only mid-June? Fortunately the full blast of humidity has not come yet, so we are still able to sit on the deck early in the morning and in the evenings to enjoy being outside. But mid-day? Don't be silly!

There are good things that come with the heat. Like daylilies. It took me years to warm up to daylilies. I was used to the orange ones that grow all over the south - along roads and ditches and fences, pretty much wherever one looks. Then I discovered that they came in yellow and other colors, too. I particularly like these that are a really clear yellow, without any orange.

Another special one I have is Hemerocallis 'Richmond Spider'. I bought two "pieces" nearly 10 years ago at a local garden show (at the daylily society's booth) where I was told that it was a locally developed plant. It qualifies as a red daylily, altho it is more coral than red. [In case you aren't up on your small southern college trivia, the University of Richmond is one of our local colleges. Their teams are the "spiders" and their colors are - wait for it - red and navy. Now you have all you need to understand this plant's name.] This is a big prolific plant. I have divided it almost annually and given sections to everyone I know, but it still grows in huge masses in my garden, with each clump having 20 - 30 new blooms a day. Whew! I highly recommend it and would be willing to share with good homes!

The monarda is going great guns, too, with bees - and the occasional humming bird - everywhere. It must make good honey! At least this little guy and a hundred of his best friends seem to think so! This is 'Raspberry Wine' and aptly named.




And, I can't leave you without sharing this first blossom of hybiscus. Mitchell adores hybiscus, so we have several. This one is 'Baltimore", I think. We have several others, but like so many things this one is blooming early.

So let's all move slowly, and enjoy the blooms! Happy weekend.

Wednesday Workday - the Pea Project

Somehow, without a "big" project this year, I've had trouble staying focused on changes and have kept busy with maintenance. I did set four goals this spring and have finished two of these mini-projects, with one part way done. The fourth... will have to wait for cooler weather. I'll tell you about them one Wednesday workday.

But I did have a fifth goal that I never wrote about. I wanted to grow English peas. They are one of my favorite veggies and how hard could it be?Easy as 1, 2, 3. 1) Plant a few seeds, 2) water a bit, then 3) pick and cook peas - right?

Well, sorta.

1) Plant a few seeds. First I needed a place, but I had that all scoped out. There is a nice chain link fence at the back property line that no one uses. It's a very open, sunny spot and the perfect way to support the peas. Right?

And it looked like this. All that brown, dead-looking grass is Bermuda. Aargh! Dead as a doornail in February, but stretching as far as the eye can see on both sides of the fence. No choice but to dig it out. So, I dug out an 18-inch wide strip that is about 20 feet long and got my peas planted by the weekend after George Washington's birthday. You do know that old wives' tale, don't you?

2) Add a little water. Well, wait a second. Peas are tall and they need support - got that with the fence - but how are they gonna get to the fence. Need some other support and guidance. This isn't on my list of steps. And, we have rabbits. It's a corn summer, so we will have more than last year, when it was a soybean summer. [Rabbits eat free at the farm down the road in soybean summers!] Definitely need a rabbit discourager! Another step.

Here's my design. I drove long nails into the ground - just at the base of the green fence - and ran heavy twine up and down from the nail heads to the top of the chain link fence. Twice around each nail head and then up to the fence. When I had it tied all the way, I drove the nails down hard into the ground to pull the string tighter and to bury the nail heads. Then I put up the "soft" green fence. It is removable and will come down first chance I get now that the season is done. And do you see the peas? They were about a foot tall at this point.

Then I carried water to them every couple of days. When planning my bed I neglected to note that there was not a nearby source of water.

3) Pick and eat. Finally, tho, on May 24 I picked and cooked. Did you ever see such a nice bowl of peas? And not edible!

Remember that I planted near GW's birthday (February 22) and I picked June 24 - 90 days, right? Well, peas mature in 60 days! I had let them dry on the plant. I cooked them another 2 hours and then they were delicious! Looked and tasted like LeSeure little peas, but we ate every one. If I do it again, I will keep track of growing time on a calendar!

Was it fun? yes! Was it worth the work? yes! Would I do it again? maybe. We'll see what comes along next year.

A Perfect Saturday

Tennis with friends - whom we can occasionally beat (like today)!

An afternoon nap.

A storm that blew thru and cooled us off.

Sangria and Flower Jane's "Easy Peesy Shrimp Boil" on the deck*.

What more could a girl want on a nearly perfect Saturday in June?


*And it was great!

Hydrangea Heaven!

Apparently while I was swearing at the rain and snow this past fall and winter, the hydrangeas were saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you!" In the ten years since they were planted we have never had more than a handful of blooms on any of these plants. But this year is a very different story.


Mitchell gave me these shrubs for my birthday the first summer we lived in this house. He chose them all by himself and brought home six pots.

Hydrangea 'Nigra' - a mophead with cream to pink blooms and wonderful black stems.









Hydrangea macrophylla 'Glowing Embers' - another mophead with crimson red blooms and wonderful dark green foliage.








Hydrangeo macrophylla 'Taube' - a "unique" deep rose flower in a lace cap.








More recent additions to our hydrangea family were a gift from mother for Christmas three or four years ago. (How is that for a wonderful gift?) These are both smaller sized, so fit in the main garden.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bailmer' is an "endless summer" hydrangea that continues to bloom until fall. This one opens white and purple, but turns a gorgeous pale blue when in full bloom, and the mopheads are huge.







Hydrangea macrophylla 'Lady in Red' is the most unusual one I have. It is a lace cap that is supposed to open pink and turn to red as it matures. So far the latter has not happened, but this is the first year that the blooms have been pink at all. I think it looks like it has a rash! It is perfectly gorgeous in the fall, tho, because all of its foliage turns to burgundy, so you get three season color from it.




Do not adjust your screen colors! Pink, crimson red, deep rose? Does this give you some idea how very acidic our soil is? In the early years I added lime and tried to get the pinks to hold, but it is not going to happen. As much as I love blue flowers I decided to just relax and enjoy the purples and blues. Add a few yellow daylilies here and there and what more could a girl wish for?