Have You Seen Ed?

Sometimes it takes a bit of looking, but I knew he would be in the garden somewhere.



There he is between the poppies. He's working on his tomato plants, removing suckers and weeding.



After he adds a bit of straw mulch and replaces their cages, these tomato plants will be good to go the rest of the season with very little attention.

Who Stays And Who Goes?

These tulips have been in the garden for more than 15 years. I bought them in Buffalo when Amy was in college, and I'm a little sentimental about them. The leaves look good, but I think I see a little brown on the flower. I've already begun digging up fire infected tulips, and disposing of them in the trash. I wonder if these old friends will have to go?



Ed's garlic needs tending. Even though he planted buckwheat here last summer my pink poppies are coming up like crazy. Although we did not plant a poppy cover crop, this looks like one. Wind blown poppy seed overcame our defenses. Usually the garlic beds are nearly weedless. That is not the case this year.




Growing great garlic in upstate New York faces weather challenges. Early summer thunder storms bring heavy rain when the garlic should be drying down. Last summer brought rain nearly every day. Bulbs had visible water inside the wrappers at harvest. Despite our best efforts only one half of the planted bulbs have produced plants. None of our eighteen varieties failed completely but three have produced few plants. Harvest is nearly sixty days away. We hope for rain and warmth now and a mostly clear July.

I had a very fleeting sighting of a male Indigo bunting today. What an iridescent blue he is. His mate must be all a twitter. I know he does it for me!

Double Or Nothing

Today we have poppies in bloom.This is a beautiful poppy. The color is nice and I like the purple.Bees would love to roll in this blossom. It's for that reason that this plant has to be pulled. If I want my double poppies to survive, the singles must be removed as soon as possible. This one is already gone. I did bring the flower inside, singe the stem, and put it in water so I can enjoy it for awhile. The bees have to work a bit harder, but it's the pink double poppies that I really love.





Happiness is a garden with lots of double pink poppies. These two are just the beginning.

Finally we have had some sun. Last night we opened the windows and enjoyed the aroma of the evening scented stock planted just outside. A large 3 to 4 inch moth flew against the screen. I wonder what kind he was but the encounter was brief and identification impossible. We went to sleep looking at stars and fireflies.

Ed opened the windows again this morning while it was still cool. I heard the snort of an annoyed deer and watched a neighbor's cat retreat down the driveway. The doe and her fawn were just visible through the trees.

The shade garden was the perfect place for Ed to work on this summer day. Later when it cools off something different will be fun. I'll be looking for weeds to pull and yes, more single poppies.

Pulling Poppies

One of the really great benefits of Ed's beautifully prepared planting beds is that plants can easily self seed. My favorite double pink poppies are the champion when it comes to reseeding. We have been getting some rain and the poppies have been growing. Today I spent a lot of time in the garden pulling out poppies, buckets of poppies. Now is the time I wonder why I let so many plants self seed. I do it because I don't wish to lose these plants.Later when the flowers bloom, I will be glad I did. The Stone Wall Garden would not be the same without these pink poppies. Too many is better than too few. Of course there are still more poppies to pull!