Garden Talk

 Spring always arrives with the hope that this year the plants will thrive and that we'll get plenty of free rain to keep them watered. It was exactly that this time around. Having topped off the beds with a wonderful new mountain of compost, purchased and delivered, made me even more confident. Everything was grand until July heat arrived. While sun is great for growth and color, a little too many days of 90+ temps made withering inevitable. Regular prayers for rain is a must. There is a 35% chance today, so let hope flow.

I watch a lot of British garden shows on Youtube and get ideas which I try to bring home to the patch I have. This season I added four new Japanese Maples and a Pink Dogwood to the flower bed. Thankfully they are thriving and have new growth to prove it. But realistically, British weather is not Tennessee weather and I keep having to remind myself of that fact.
When I planted the trees I discovered corms of Calla Lily, on the left here. I transplanted them and they are huge, but alas, no flowers yet! I promised myself not to crowd the plants this time, ha!, and was semi-obedient until I accidentally found a new garden shop with oodles of irresistible plants at great prices.

The Salvia family is a favorite and now Cherry Pink and Desperado Sages have been added.
Desperado Sage is from Texas and has lovely lavender flowers which come and go and come again, while the Cherry Pink is a constant bloomer. These are both new plants to me, and thus have enlarged my collection which include Blue Bedder, Black and Blue and of course the herb varieties of purple, variegated and regular green sage.

We found some reduced for dead Knockout Roses at Lowe's and of course they revived with water and care and have been blooming continually since May. Our neighborhood has oodles of these roses and we are guaranteed that they will be happy in our crap soil, and will get huge with little or no attention from us. I plan on getting more, in an effort to hide the raised beds (bunkers) and assuage my neighbor's complaints. "Why must I have so much trouble with the people who buy your house, making a mess of the yard? And why can't you  have grass like everyone else! It looks like a cemetery!" This from a woman who has only once spoken to Dave, in three years, as he was out there spreading wood chips on the bare clay. Also pictured here are the four fig trees, two of which are loaded with figs and nothing at all on the others. Go figure. 
Last year I planted loads of veggies in the raised beds, which grew only modestly and so this year, flowers were planted and they are thrilling. Zinnias, one of the easiest flowers ever, are jam packed in the end of the bed, next to a disappointingly pitiful few lupins, and then a huge glob of cleome, always guaranteed to make an impact.

 

And in the last bed, a mess of asparagus amid the anthills. I haven't done a thing to this bed since planting and getting stung by those dirty buggers. But apparently asparagus doesn't need my TLC. It will be a couple of years before we actually start harvesting spears, but I am patient. Dave only began eating asparagus within the last five or so years, so hurray for us that we will have an ample supply, eventually.

Pretty excited about the fig crop. This is a different variety and I am not sure when they will ripen.  It doesn't matter. My sister and I will be there, drooling, with goat cheese and crusty bread.

 Some surprises this year were the brown gallardia that was supposed to be dark red and the unplanned crop of purple basil. Never bought the seeds, they just appeared when I sowed the Mammoth basil. I have more seeds awaiting a second planting, along with a packet of purple string beans, which we had and finished a few weeks ago. 

Tomorrow I will focus on the current veggies. See you then.

Ooooo...PS. I gave away my quilt fabric but I kept all my fused hand dyed fabrics, so I can still make small art quilts. Yay!