Hope Grows: June 2011
I've been away from my garden for almost two weeks. Upon returning from our travels I found that the weeds had grown at break neck speed and the rabbits have been eating from the backyard buffet. It really is a shame that the rabbits don't find the weeds in my garden as scrumptious as the plants. Since the gardens have been unattended it goes without saying that I have a lot of gardening chores to tackle. I have been doing a little each morning before it gets too hot. Afternoon temperatures have been crawling toward the 100's. Add to that the high humidity and it becomes unpleasant to garden.
Last month I was looking forward to seeing Guara, Buddleia,Yarrow, and Salvia blooming. They are just beginning to show their colors.
Last month I was looking forward to seeing Guara, Buddleia,Yarrow, and Salvia blooming. They are just beginning to show their colors.
During the next month I am hoping to harvest some sweet, juicy....
Plums
(two varieties...Burbank and Methley)
wild blackberries that grow in the empty lot next door
(some are starting to ripen already!)
Blueberries
(we have 4 varieties...Tifblue, Brightwell, Climax and Premier)
Persimmon
Pears
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(two varieties...Kieffer and Bartlett)
and raspberries!
But what I am most excited to watch grow are the swallowtail caterpillars.
They are in the first instar stage and very tiny. They are munching away at the parsley leaves. Hurray!
They are in the first instar stage and very tiny. They are munching away at the parsley leaves. Hurray!
To see what other gardeners are hoping for in their gardens this month pop on over to Sweet Bean Gardening.
MMMMMM! You have quite the fruit salad growing in your backyard. :)
ReplyDeleteThis weather makes doing even simple chores really miserable! I hope for some rain and a break in the temperatures. The good news is that if it gets hot and dry enough, even the weeds will die!
ReplyDeleteYour fruit seems to be handling the heat well. Your photos of all the berries are mouthwatering! I have failed miserably at blueberries, but I want to try again. The great thing about gardening is that there is always hope!
Lots to eat at your place.
ReplyDeleteThe amazing thing is when caterpillars eat the parsley all the way to the ground, it comes right back.
I would be a bit hard pressed to find hope after two week of rabbit feeding! But you garden is still filled with blooms and edible beauties. I feel for you in that heat. We have been very lucky in that regard, but have been getting thunderstorms one after the other; one (not predicted) now as I type.
ReplyDeleteJust getting my parsley out in hopes they will show up...look at all the fruit you have growing...yummy!!! We jsut found a woodchuck in the garden...the second in days and we will live trap and relocate this one too...boy could he run!! The critters seem to love what we love in our gardens...
ReplyDeleteYour post makes my mouth water. I love that photo of the pear - all of them, really. Summer gardening in the South is not that enjoyable, between the heat and mosquitoes ... But I like the result.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I would love to come munch on your backyard buffet too! Our raspberries won't bear fruit until at least August, the apples and quince, in September, and the lemon and figs, well hopefully, any time now for our first lemon of the season. Strawberries, another few days, and blueberries, a couple of weeks. We are much cooler than you temperature wise is my guess, as we can't grow persimmons here! Everything looks luscious!
ReplyDeleteI love your edible garden! I have some wild blackberries that I harvest as well. Right now, the berries are just beginning to form...but there are lots of them. You seem as if you will have a great harvest of lovely edibles...yummy!
ReplyDeleteThank Hanni, it is a shame they don't all ripen at the same time to actually have a fruit salad but we take what we can get :)
ReplyDeletedebsgarden, so true! I planted the blueberries directly in our clay with just a little amendment since they like acidic soil. They are thriving despite much neglect on my part. Did you ever have your soil tested? I hope you have better luck next try around!
NellJean, I plant parsley every spring for the caterpillars. They eat it to the ground and it grows back for the next round of eggs. Fabulous!
Donna/GWGT, the little Peters have eaten all the Echinacea, creeping raspberry and even the leaves from the low lying branches of the plum trees that were heavy with fruit. The good news is that it looks like it will all grow back since the roots weren't damaged. I hope your thunder storms aren't too harsh...can you put in a word to send some of the rain down this way?
Donna, I have seen woodchucks in my garden but they have never stayed(I think our dogs keep them away). They are cute but I have heard they can create a LOT of damage to gardens. I hope you find a good new "home" for them.
Sheila, yes the heat is so early this year. We don't have that many mosquitoes yet (thank goodness because they love me!) but the chiggers are horrible! Do you have chiggers? I am covered in red itchy welts!
Cathy & Steve, come on over! Sounds like you have a nice selection of fruit in your garden too! We have figs as well but they didn't really bear much fruit last year. I am hoping to get some this year, hopefully before the birds get to them!
The Sage Butterfly, We had good spring rains this year so our bushes are more full than in past years. The tricky part is harvesting them...watching out for the thorns and potential snakes! Enjoy yours when they ripen!
102 here in Kansas, and yes Dorothy it is Kansas and even more. Im afraid to leave the garden right now as everything new is fighting for its life and i would hate to blame someone for improper care. Hopefully it will cool off some. We are definetly above normal in temps. Your garden looks great, makes me hungry.
ReplyDeleteMmm - some of those shots make my mouth water ! I know what you mean about the chores when you get back from travels - you can hardly recognize the gardens anymore ! Good luck. Looks like you're about 5 weeks ahead of us, judging by the wild blackberries (we have them growing all over - my favourite thing to do is to go and pick them).
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, Karin !