Good morning!
I know, it's unusual for me to post about the garden when it's not Friday but our friend Sue is still recovering from her broken femur and I thought this post might cheer her up. We love you Sue!
If you love gardening, see if you can find any shows featuring Monty Don who's quote is used on the beginning of the post. He's my favorite British gardener and I think you will really enjoy and learn from him!
Gardening is like life. There's always ups and downs and this year's garden is no different. Some of the cons of this year:
We haven't had rain since the last week of April. It's taking it's toll on the garden and on our water bill.
The hostas are burning up:
This photo was taken a week ago and things look worse. It's not unusual for my hostas to look peaked by the end of the summer but the kids are just out of school; this is just way too early.
The wildlife is suffering. I have some ground bees out front and I noticed that they are walking around the soil in a confused manner. A crawling bee is an unhealthy bee. Could it be parasites? Possibly. But more likely they are reacting to the drought and lack of water as well.
Up at Linda's house in the country, she's started to put pans of water out for the deer. The deer have been pawing the mulched garden looking for any moisture. It's pathetic.
But there are always pros in life and gardening.
Pro 1: We are supposed to get measurable rain Monday or Tuesday. Let's hope we do. Even with watering, the soil reverts to dry and cracked partially from the sun, partially from the consistent breezes.
Pro 2: All the flowers are standing upright instead of smashed over by rain. Small victory but still...
Pro 3: Some things just want to live.
The drought tolerant lamb's ears (above) are about to bloom and are a great favorite of the bees. And below, the oak leaf hydrangea is beginning to bloom!
I have a cottage garden which goes with the stone clad little cape we live in. Cottage gardens always are filled with surprises. One of the plants that I have had for many years is called Lunaria and it self sows all over the place.
These tiny upright flowers are more pink than the photo illustrates. The plant is a great favorite in British gardens and I've read that most English cottage gardens usually always include foxgloves and lunaria. I can't remember where we got the seeds for this plant but it certainly is easy to cultivate!
Coral bells also self sow all over the place. But this year, some have germinated in one of our garden walls and it astounds me that they have survived in this weather!
Fever few and rudbeckia are two other drought tolerant plants and they are beginning to make a wonderful show in the garden!
And one cone flower has bloomed and more are on the way!
Every year, I found at least one (if not more) magical thing in the garden that delights me. Tomorrow I'll post that plant!
Have a safe and happy Sunday
It worked, Michele! Cheers! Enjoyed reading your post today. Don't know why I checked but I did. I haven't been able to ho out to see what's going on in my garden. Physical therapist was going to take me outside Wednesday but then the Canadian smoke came through. Right now I'm going with "there's always next year". Thanks for thinking of me and thanks to all who shared their lovely garden photos.
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