I'm late, I'm late...

for a very important date. (No! Not that!) I'm late setting the sundial.

Today is the Summer Solstice so it would make [some] sense if today were the day, but where I live the sundial should have been "set" last week on June 16.

Remember a day when the world did not operate on nanoseconds and digital technology? A day when the navy rang bells to mark the passing of the hours, monks burned calibrated candles, and folks used sundials - at least during the day. For most of us today a sundial in the garden is nothing more than a decorative object.

I'll spare you the boring details - most of which I have forgotten - but if you want to set your sundial exactly you need to know what day [closest to the Solstice] the sun crosses over "your" meridian at exactly noon. If you are in the exact middle of your time zone, then it would be today. If you are east or west of the middle then it happens early or late. How many days either way depends on how far east or west you are. It all has to do with the tilt of the earth, and its wobble on its axis, and a bunch of celestial navigation issues.

Since "close enough" is fine with sundials, then do it today at the Solstice. Or, tomorrow. All you have to do is set it at noon [sun time not Daylight Savings!] so that the shadow from the gnomen is exactly on 12 or XII. It will stay pretty accurate for the rest of the summer, but after the fall equinox it will begin to be noticeably "off".

Lest you think I am a total slacker, I did try to do it on the 16th. As luck would have it, tho, that was the only fully overcast [read cooler] day we have had in two weeks - not enough sun to cast a shadow! The next two days I had to work offsite - don't you hate it when work interferes with fun? And, then we had company all weekend and weren't around at noon. So, today was the first chance that I had to do it.

Now I'm good to go for a while.

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!