gardening and Modern Photos gardening, roses 21:26
Prior to this heatwave, it had bloomed very nicely. I hope it manages a re-bloom in the fall, it may. I deadheaded it to encourage that, even though it tends towards big, red hips. Nicely fragrant as well. Whether it behaves as a true climber or not remains to be seen, but it is certainly a nice addition to the pergola. Now if I could only figure out why one of the clematis (the biggest, most vigorous one) suddenly went belly up….
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gardening vegetable gardening 21:47
I can actually see the advantages of gardens, especially commercial, in regions with dry, warm, not humid climates. The garden is doing very well at the moment, though the soil is fine dust. Why? Well, essentially no rain and no humidity (this is subjective: no humidity for this region in this season, quite a bit of humidity I am sure for the desert) These conditions tend to equal no mold, mildew, or bugs. And that leads to healthy plants, at least, as long as it is coupled with a good well and a drip irrigation system: the roots are wet and the leaves are dry and clean. The bean, chard, and brassica families love that. The peas don’t seem to mind either.
Now, of course, areas without that drip irrigation system….well. It is interesting to observe what works in gardening and just how far we have pushed the plants out of their comfort zone and into one requiring artificial conditions for maximum production.
This all rather ignores that one nasty issue: water and the availability thereof. And that is a challenge….but it gets one thinking about some of the trade-offs. How much fungicide and insecticide would be required to grow the same crops here, in a wet year, as are grown in a drier climate? Could one even?
I think about water an awful lot these days it seems!
gardening vegetable gardening 21:19
a study thereof. Now if only I could recall which garlic did so well and which failed so completely….if the bulbs match the stems of these though, I think I will likely reserve most of them for replanting and build a bit of stock up. They are a solid half inch plus in diameter, without coddling or irrigation. My suspicion is that they are from the set that I got from a friend and they are not the expensive commercial bulbs.
gardening 20:17
the vegetable garden, drip irrigation is a wonderful creation. We actually might get something from it this year, which I didn’t really expect. I’ve already thinned the beets and chard, along with a few early peas and some garlic scapes. The parsley is coming along nicely, as are the beans and the onions. The squash is a bit slow, but hopefully it can catch up. We would starve if we were relying on it, but it isn’t a bad addition.
And chasing off some exuberant young things coming across from the neighboring vineyard. A wedding I think. I always feel oddly guilty about doing the ‘Get off my lawn’ thing. It isn’t that they mean harm, usually, and they deflate so. I don’t like deflating people. But, ‘Get off my lawn’ nonetheless. Ah well.
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The rain and the wind didn’t do them any favors, but they remain lovely. They are one of those flowers that don’t really fit into our neat modern world: large, unruly, long lived but slow to get there, full of ants, shedding petals, and wildly fragrant.
And there is nothing more glorious than a huge bouquet of them or seeing them scattered through the garden. I’d like to figure out where to put a few more of them, since there are some that are definitely in too much dry shade these days. There is one place that would work well, but it would be a daunting bit of work….
gardening and Modern Photos photography, roses 10:15
Since I really haven’t managed a better picture of the old roses in the four! years since I posted this one….better quality perhaps, but not the feeling of the rose, if that makes sense. They are doing pretty well this year, though all flopped over since I never staked them and the rain of course has pulled them over. Very like peonies that way. They never grow sturdy stems and with so many flowers they really can’t stand up, especially when wet. Not at all like our modern roses that way, which have been bred for the cut flower/exhibition trade. But they have a lovely light floral scent, they are not bothered by disease, and the color ranges from deep pink to white, often with multiple shades on the same bush. What’s not to like?
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Despite some set backs (last winter nearly killed the white grapes and the Clematis montana ‘Mayleen’ and did kill the fall clematis) and some slightly out of control vines: the Clematis texensis is occupied by a Chipping Sparrow nest so I can’t tie it up…. the pergola is coming along nicely. Currently the native honeysuckle (Major Wheeler) is occupying pride of place at the south end. Clematis ‘Killian Donohue’ is blooming in the middle opposite some Blue Flag that ought not to be there….but, ‘Mayleen’ ought to be light pink at the far end…but.
The bush is the C. texensis ‘Duchess of Albany’…..very pretty but in need of training…except for said sparrow. The enthusiastic grape down towards the end is a seedless Concord grape, and very good it is. The vine in the foreground is the variegated kiwi (note the pink leaves…..? ah well) maybe this year we will get the kiwis, the chipmunk got them last year.
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gardening native plants, photography 16:03
or Fringe Tree. Right on schedule, as always, it looks like the removal of that big old limb has not bothered it in the slightest. A completely underused shrub, incredibly fragrant, disease resistant, native, reliable bloomer, long lived, good form. And so on! The only thing I can figure is that it must be a nightmare to propagate. Indeed, I believe you do need male and female plants, which doesn’t help, and fruit set is erratic. Still!
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gardening and Landscapes and Modern Photos photography 21:18
Looking up is always a good idea!
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It is remarkable how something as simple as lifting and resetting a brick edge improves the whole look of a garden. The vegetable garden beds are edged with brick and it has been several years since anything was done. I have gotten almost halfway through the process of a simple lift/re-set. And the garden looks ever so much nicer with those clear edges. Which means I should keep going…..
There is a lot of brick out there…..
Still, it is an important consideration in garden design: wild can be lovely, but it works best when it is balanced by that touch of formality. Or vice versa. Order and chaos working together in balance (or eternal tension), I seem to recall some interesting classical Greek commentary on that….
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Acair Fearann 