This morning felt like fall. We had much needed rain yesterday and at 6 a.m. today the temperature was 65 degrees. I opened the windows in the house, donned my gardening clothes (including my preferred long sleeve turtleneck) and was in the yard by seven. I’m sure we will have more warm or hot days before fall temperatures really settle in, but working outside this morning was a treat after the soaring temps and humidity a week ago.
I’d been thinking about removing one or two of my four raised beds. They are ten years old and the pine boards we used are rotting out. Ten years ago the beds got more sun but our big old maples are now bigger and the beds more shaded. Those trees also send roots into the beds requiring hand digging each one in the spring. For the last two years I did not dig the beds and plants in the beds suffered so I finally decided to remove all four. I’ll keep my two productive beds at the St. Michaels Community Garden.
My husband helped with the first two on Thursday, but this morning headed off to Urgent Care with a swollen, extremely painful knuckle. He was out of commission.
Never underestimate a determined woman with a six foot metal pry bar. I scrapped my plan to divide some hostas and had the rest of those beds demolished before the husband got back with his diagnosis of an infected insect bite and two prescriptions. We will spread that soil and seed it with grass this fall. Some of the drip irrigation can be salvaged but alot of what had been in those beds is now in the trash.
2. In another part of the garden I found a few liriope spicata begining to bloom.
3. These hostas were in this location when we bought our house. I have transplanted them to many other places in the garden. The white flowers are beautifully fragrant. These two trees make a frame for the lovely cinnamon colored trunks of a crepe myrtle.
4. Spirea is sporting a second flush of blooms after being cut back in mid July. These plants were also here when we bought the house. I think they are Anthony Waterer.
5. After being totally non-productive all summer, an eggplant in a large container has produced four fruits. I can’t imagine they will all mature as they are so clustered.
6. The blue flower in this photo came from the garden of my friend Mary Jo K. It might be a lobelia. Mary Jo reads my blog, so she’ll let me know. The plant was originally in a bed thirty feet way. Not sure how it got across the garden but I thought it was gorgeous with the yellow rudbeckia.
That’s my Six on Satruday as we head toward fall. The meme was started by The Propogator, a UK gardener. I learn something every week from the participating gardeners. This is the link to the rules if you’d like to join in.
#lovemygarden
