A Well-Watered Garden

There was a square of earth which used to be a garden behind the shed. When we moved in a year ago, it had one massive Oregano bush in it, and what seemed like a licorice type herb - maybe anise. The Oregano had been there at least two years - it was so large, and smaller Oregano plants had even seeded from it in other beds 5-10 feet away. We left the oregano there through the winter, and in Springtime: - pulled the Oregano and everything else out - Added numerous bags of fresh soil and mushroom compost - Added a beautiful stone border around the whole thing. That was a surprise - I came home one day and he had done it. Here's how it looked after the above: We bought: - 6 tomato plants - 1 cherry, 1 grape, 2 plums, 2 big round. - 3 peppers - 1 red, 2 green - 2 cucumber plants - bibb lettuce - arugula - green beans - corn Picture right after I planted them: Pictures now: The bounty is rolling in. Most profusive are the cucumbers - at least 10 massive ones so ...

Looking at the different types of composters. I will be buying one for next summer - maybe they will go on sale in the fall. It is amazing what you can put into it - matches, kleenex, dryer lint! Here are some good lists of items that can be composted: http://www.plantea.com/compost-materials.htm http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/surprising-compost-items.html http://vegweb.com/composting/what.shtml

Several beautiful stalks emerged right at the corner of the flower bed at the front of the house. Soft sentinels.

The sweet peas were in the category of "climbing flowers I didn't know were climbing until they started blooming on the ground", and then quickly staked them up. My mother had a sense of these better than I did. I could see the sweet peas were wanting to climb, and then staked them up, but thought they were a kind of mini-orchid. Mom identified them as sweet peas. They are, just as their name implies, sweet. They just quietly and beautifully and keep blooming as the summer goes on. We've got white and pink, and next year I'll know to stake them up better. They seem to love all the rain. More blooming after each deluge. I am not noticing a "sweet" scent, however. Is it just very subtle?

They've arrived! More beautiful and spectacular than I remembered. The other day, it was very hot and humid, and their sweet vanilla scent permeated the entire backyard. So beautiful. I've just repainted my bathroom - a very pale green - "white willow" Behr paint - and I'm going to print out a few of these and frame them for the bathroom. Enjoy! Wish I could post the scent. 5-25-11 When we arrived for the final walkthrough before the closing last August, I noticed them in the rock garden in the back. It is so hard to choose, but I think that Casa Blanca lilies could be the prettiest flower there is. Their perfume, shape, everything, is absolutely spell-binding. I am so happy they are here. I've put my iron butterflies around them to protect, and will use them to stake up if needed. They are growing stems and leaves now, and I anticipate their pure white, magical summer arrival.

Most of July was spent keeping up with the profuse foliage and blooming. I watered almost every day, weeded, and pruned. I took lots of photos, but with guests here at various points, as well as an unplanned digestive illness (!!), and some violent storms involving power outages and broken tree limbs, I didn't upload during July. I'm uploading most of the July photos as part of August. I experienced, and continue to experience deep joy and peace, the moment I step out to tend the gardens. They are so strong and fragile at the same time. I identify.

Daylilies - mostly Stella D'Oro, and a few other varieties, revealed their cheery faces in July. There are a lot of the Stellas in the front, and I was deadheading the spent blooms daily.