Even though I love to garden, I do value time way. Once again after having so many visitors, my husband and I have stepped away for a little R & R. Before heading out, I had a wander around the garden and was happy to see a number of plants with second blooms (in particular the phlox, Jacob’s Ladder and my double white rose). All putting on their last show before the fall season. It has helped of course having a change in the weather and some long overdue rainfall. The Hydrangea Paniculata just keeps growing. I will definitely have to give it a hard prune after the blooms have faded. (For further details, please refer to page entitled “Shrubs”).
The vegetable garden looks like a jungle. It has been overrun by kale and swiss chard. There is only so much you can eat. I finally pulled out all the lettuce that had gone to seed. We are now harvesting beet root, potatoes and many, many tomatoes. I have two types of tomato plants, the small cherry type and a more medium sized tomato (McKenzie Manitoba variety) which I have used both in salads and pasta dishes. It has certainly been beneficial to have all the fresh vegetables on hand. We particularly enjoyed the new potatoes, slightly boiled, with a touch of butter and sprigs of mint from the garden.
We will have a few days at home and then we are fortunate to be heading out on an Alaskan cruise along with an old friend of mine and her husband who are visiting Canada for the first time. I have known Glenda since I was 5 years old so there will be plenty of time to reminisce.
I will not be able to get back into full garden mode until early September. This is my favorite time of the year when it is more comfortable working out in the garden.
As I previewed my post before publication, I couldn’t help but add a few further photos of my large container. The container itself I purchased a number of years ago and have moved it several times with our various house moves. The advantage of having such a container is being able to plant a variety of annuals, perennials and bulbs all in the one pot and having continuous colour from early spring to late fall (it is like a miniature garden). At the moment it is full of a rustic red osteospermum, left over yellow pansies that have been blooming since spring and the African daisies. I really like this combination of colours. I have also added a photo of my potted gerbera. This plant is truly amazing. Even with a little neglect it just keeps blooming.
