July Musings
By Zelpha A. Boyd
The middle of July and the weather has been really hot. I’m trying to look on the ‘let’s enjoy the garden’ side rather than seeing what needs doing. But all looks good, from my spot here on the back porch. There are butterflies and bees fliting around, doing their pollinating thing. Birds are visiting the feeder as well as taking advantage of the bird bath. Much to my surprise, I see a red-winged black bird—I thought they liked the swampy areas.
I’m having to water more, so up goes the water bill. The purple clematis is showing its color. The red one I transplanted to the font of the house—east— apparently doesn’t like it there—must be too hot. It’s not blooming at all!
The Gaillardia are already blooming—a little ahead of schedule. Other showy flowers right now are the Clarkia, Delphinium, and Sweet William. The Lincoln bright red tea rose had three radiant blooms—always a thrill.
The tiny Spruce Tree seedlings in their new location on the north side of the house are doing well. I give them extra shade during the hottest part of the day. (I’ll write about this project later.) The Money plant—Linaria—is producing its signature dollar shaped seed pods.
My long to-do list includes trimming and cutting back some of the more exuberant of plants, dead-heading, weeding, and maybe some transplanting. It really is a bad time of year to move plants, but there are three small variegated Hostas that need to be in better place. It’s a good time to divide Iris, and I spent one whole day doing that. Some of the extras went to the Senior Center for their plantings, some to a friend, and the rest to my daughter who will plant them along her creek bank.
The tomatoes in the greenhouse, in the Earth Boxes, are outdoing themselves and are humongous. There should be a good crop of fruit—and I’m surely looking forward to that! Those outside, some in an Earth Box and others in the garden aren’t as vigorous.
I’m paying more attention to the asparagus, watering more—I really want to have a good crop next year. The rhubarb is done for the year. After finding a recipe for rhubarb cake, the supply was depleted!
Since gardens are primarily for enjoying, I’m doing a lot more sitting and observing—and working less. Makes for a happier summer!