Splendor In The Grass And The Weeds

This year with all the rain, the weeds and particularly the meadow grasses  have outdone themselves in our garden.  We have managed to get some areas under control, but in others the plants have to duke it out with the invaders waiting for us to come to the rescue.  Here the anise hyssop and black-eyed Susans are looking terrific!  Either could be considered a weed but we consider them cultivated plants.

Earlier in the summer this bed was well weeded and Ed planted asters. They are starting to look good, but are surrounded by invaders including the Chinese forget-me-nots that came up from self planted seed.   These lovely blue flowers are unforgettable indeed. The way they make sticky seeds that catch on your clothes or anything passing by guarantees that should you forget about the beautiful blue flowers, new plants will spring up to remind you!

 Gloriosa daisies that have self seeded can be found in many places in the garden.  The color variations in the flowers are amazing.  Ideally we should allow our favorites to form seed and pull the rest.  Perhaps we will get to that.  In the meantime they all add a little more splendid color to the garden.

My scarlet runner beans are blooming to delight me and the hummingbirds.  I'm thrilled to see the beans develop.  I love to save the shiny pink and black seeds to replant next year and to share with friends.

I have had evening scented white Nicotiana come up from seed here ever since we first started this garden.  Here for the first time just one red plant has appeared in the garden.  It was a splendid surprise.  We are wondering out loud what we can do to increase the chances that this color sport will return next year.

This striking pink catchfly is really surrounded by grass, but it is still beautiful and attractive to the hummingbird moth.  This is another weed that we moved into the garden.  The brown sticky sections on the stems and the color of the flowers combined to make these a must have plant.  Many are weeded out each spring but many are allowed to flower.  It's the gardener who decided which plants get to stay and which have to go.  We are working on it!

Not A Relaxing Day In The Garden

 It is hot and dry in the garden.  Our garden plants are struggling while the weeds seem to be in their glory.  Until we get some real rain, it's weed and water over and over.  My carefully thinned scarlet runner beans are planted in front of the house.  That is a hot spot and the beans nearly got singed to a crisp.  Ed watered them just in time.  We will have to make sure they stay on the plant watering list.

In the meantime the several year old scarlet runner bean seeds that I had thrown on the rough compost pile already have their beautiful red flowers.  This is the place where we pile the very worst of our weeds.  Sheep sorrel, quack grass, burdock, ragweed, French weed, purslane, dock... all get dumped here.  These beans are doing fine.  They are well ahead of my cultivated ones.  I guess they will just climb up the weeds.  I'm sure the hummingbirds will be happy to sip their nectar no matter where they are growing.  Perhaps there is something to be said for letting the plants decide who lives or dies.  But that's not what gardeners do.  We chose the plants we want to grow and which ones to weed out.

Tonight I had (yuck) yet another tick for Ed to remove.  This one was one of those ticks with one white spot. Thank goodness it came off easily!  It's my own fault.  I've been good about wearing white and tucking my pants in my socks, but I had become lax about using the insect repellent.  I find the stuff extremely repellent myself!  It is my habit to put it on my clothing and hat instead of my skin.  I'm sure after a big laundry frenzy and a few days  of the creepy crawlies, I'll be back out there again.  I'll be easy to find me just follow your nose to where the garden smells a bit "Off ".          

Snow in March

Usually snow in March here is anything but news. It is the norm. This year a snowy garden scene has been a bit hard to come by. It was easy to see the visiting early morning deer against the snow and for once it left without anyone having to go outside.

The sunflower seeds in the bird feeder are rapidly disappearing. A large flock of what looks to me like goldfinches are hanging about to enjoy the free lunch. The black capped chickadees that are faithful all winter customers seem a bit miffed at the crowds.

It's a good day to do some  indoor garden stuff. Because of our horribly wet fall, we didn't have any scarlet runner bean seed from last year. I must  plant scarlet runner beans. Whether grown on a trellis or  an arch, the red flowers are delightful. Not only do they attract hummingbirds, they are edible as well. The beans are edible too both in the green pods when young and as a shelled bean. The shiny black and pink seeds are  so beautiful that they are nice enough to display in a jar.  I did a germination check on the seeds I had saved from 2010. I chose large smooth beans and they germinated 100%.  I was pleased. I haven't actually shelled out for new scarlet runner bean seed for years.  Most years I give these gorgeous pink and black seeds to friends as a gift.

I think I'll get another plastic bag and another wet paper towel to do some more tests on my old seeds. It's a good deal more fun, faster and a lot less work than planting them in soil and waiting. Ed's basement lettuce is up. Our garden fun has begun!