Annually I give the doorway to the kitchen backyard a barely totally different look. Final 12 months I used pots of zinnias and marigolds on both facet of the arbor; the 12 months earlier than I had planters with massive coleus there. The tall black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia maxima) that I planted final fall has come into its personal this 12 months. In entrance of every towering plant I positioned pots of exotic-looking, purple, orange, and yellow annuals: canna, lantana, and gomphrena. My grandson, Jonathan, selected the new hues from the White Flower Farms catalog. A few stone bunnies had been my last contact — in spite of everything, I do not need rabbits INSIDE my backyard.
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| Clockwise from prime left: Left facet pot; Canna Toucan® Scarlet; proper facet pot; Lantana Bloomify Pink; Globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) |
Earlier than we enter the kitchen backyard, check out the rose on the skin fence. That is my (previously) stunning hybrid tea rose, Rosa ‘Peace’. It has rose rosette illness (RRD). One symptom is the purple elongated shoots and purple foliage that by no means flip inexperienced. The illness is unfold by mites from multiflora rose, an invasive that grows in our woodland areas and is tough to eradicate. I have to take away and burn the entire plant earlier than it spreads to my different roses. I wrote about RRD in a earlier posting once I was frightened that my ‘Lichfield Angel’ rose had contracted it. My angel was O.Ok. then — hope it continues to be secure from this terrible scourge.
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| Rosa ‘Peace’ with Rose Rosette Illness |
Additionally alongside the kitchen backyard’s fence line is the rain backyard. We’re glad that we prolonged it earlier this 12 months as we now have had some dreadful downpours. Final night time, three inches fell in a really quick time and created havoc in my backyard. The rain backyard collects a considerable amount of water from the home gutters and basement. It does are likely to overfill a bit, so I’ve to plot a method for it to overflow safely. That’s my subsequent rain-garden problem.
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| The Rain Backyard |
One of many casualties of the rain is my poor squash plant. I believed at first that it had bacterial wilt or squash vine borer, however I can discover no proof of the striped cucumber beetle and there are positively no borers within the stems. I consider it has root rot brought on by the extreme quantity of rain. I used a moisture meter that confirmed me the soil is saturated. I planted this zucchini in a raised mattress that’s not very deep, so drainage is sort of poor. I’m contemplating growing the depth of my raised beds subsequent season. I have to pull out the wilted zucchini. Bummer.
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| My poor, wilted zucchini |
Nicely, I believe that’s all of the unhealthy information, so let’s examine what’s working properly within the kitchen backyard right this moment. The next greens are trying wholesome:
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| Clockwise from prime left: Pole beans, kale, cherry tomatoes, parsnips, Swiss chard. |
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| The bush beans and cucumbers are thriving. You possibly can see three puny zucchini within the basket — I consider that is all we’ll get this 12 months. The beans are scrumptious and prolific; they’re a three-color mix from Burpee. The cucumber is Muncher from Annie’s Heirloom Seeds. |
I planted annual flowers amongst my greens and within the slicing backyard with blended outcomes this 12 months. The borage had root rot and there may be a substantial amount of powdery mildew (the rain once more).
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| Zinnia; Cleome hassleriana ‘Rose Queen’; bee balm past the cleome; the tiny white flower is Yarrow Achillea ‘The Pearl’ |
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| Cosmos Sea Shell Combination |
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| Zinnea elegans |
This put up reveals that my backyard will not be excellent, and neither am I. Because the English poet, Alfred Austin, wrote:
“There is no such thing as a gardening with out humility. Nature is consistently sending even its oldest students to the underside of the category for some egregious blunder.”
And my favourite quote of his:
“The glory of gardening: palms within the grime, head within the solar, coronary heart with nature. To nurture a backyard is to feed not simply on the physique however the soul.”
I’m linking with Sarah Down by the Sea in Dorset, England for her month-to-month meme. Thanks for internet hosting, Sarah.
Love,
Pamela x
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