herbs

Here is the start of my herb bed! On the right are the two Thyme plants, on the left are the Rosemary (top) and Lavender (bottom). I've been wanting to have all the perennial herbs in one area, but also reading more about how herbs can repel pests from the garden, some of them would do better to be in different spots according to what's planted where. (For example, last year my thymes were planted near the cauliflowers. I had problems with white cabbage butterfly caterpillars, but not with flea beetles -which drove me crazy the year before- because apparently the thyme kept them away) So not sure about that, now.

Nearby are the Parsley plants. I think I might dig some up to bring indoors in pots for the winter.

reviving

My Rhubarb seems to have revivied with the cooler fall weather and abundant rain.

It just really doesn't like our summer heat. I still need to weed its patch, though. Hopefully I can eat more of it next spring! but I'm trying to think how to better treat it so it can get through the summers okay. More water, shade, mulch?

I've finally gotten around to cleaning out my Strawberry patch, which was full of weeds (mostly sorrel and bindweed). The plants have grown back a lot since I cut them short after fruiting, but they've also gotten chewed on by the slugs a lot. One of them looks almost dead.

This one on the end is doing best. I think it's the one I put coffee-grounds around, which repels the slugs...

trees!

I've planted a tree! Well, actually it was growing in my walled bed for a year, but now it's in the permanent spot. I took advantage of a warm but windy day (which keeps the mosquitoes off my baby) and put Sonja on a blanket nearby where she could look up at the leaves moving.

Dug out the middle of a rotten stump and planted the tree there. It's a flowering crab apple. My older daughter is hoping it will be a good climbing tree for her someday, but I'm not sure how many years she'll have to wait for it to get big enough!

One of her Apples suffered a shock (I'm not sure from what) and all its leaves suddenly turned brown and curled. Not winter shedding, as the other apple is doing fine still.

I have hope though, because at the ends of the limbs new fresh leaves are opening, so its still alive.

yellow

I thought Crocus only grew in the springtime? This flower, which looks very much like a crocus to me, has just emerged from its summer estivation and is blooming again.

preparations

Today is overcast, so I stuck the baby snug in her stroller

and we went outside into the garden to dig up some plants and (hopefully) keep them alive partway or, in the case of the peppers, all through the winter.

As I understand, peppers can be perennial plants, they just don't like the cold. Nights are getting a bit chill now. So I've dug up my best Bell Pepper, the little Jalapeno (which still has tons of little fat peppers hanging on it) and the one that makes peppers with a pointy end (I'm still not sure what they're called) to bring indoors. I tried this last year, but my plant got an aphid infestation and I didn't know how to treat it and it died. Sad. This time I've made sure to prune off extra-heavy foliage, withered and bug-bitten leaves, and those with insect eggs on them. Also careful to knock most of the soil off the roots and pot them in potting soil with perlite mixed in. Treated the three Basil I potted up the same way.

You can see them all here. The Bell is the biggest pepper, the other two are smaller. Basils in the front

or in this photo, off to the side. I'm trying to make a good spot for them all near the kitchen window where they'll get good light in the winter but not be cold (mudroom has the best light but no heat).

Now I have a priority system for eating Basil. First we'll eat leaves off the few plants left outside, until they die. Then we'll eat off the potted plants I'm bringing indoors, until they fail. Last of all we'll use the dried leaves from the ones I've cut and hung from the beams (one of which got put into a jar already, but more on that later).

tough

Remember I tried to grow Echinacea this year? Unfortunately, some helping hands in the garden didn't recognize them among the weeds and most of the young plants got pulled up. I had two left, which were completely neglected among the rest of the garden.

A few days ago yanking out crabgrass near my driveway suddenly realized with dismay I'd pull out one of the remaining Echinacea. I hastily shoved its roots back in the ground, but didn't hope for much. But it's still alive! Even starting to lift its leaves again.

I looked for the other plant, which is growing against the house near one of my downspouts. It looks quite large and I'm hoping for some purple flowers next summer!

herbs

I'm trying my hand at drying more herbs.

I cut from the garden and hung up in small bundles some Thyme, a few leaves of Sage, Parsley, wild Fennel (not sure if that's going to be any good) and Basil.

Incidentally, I already had some Thyme dried but when I removed the leaves for storage the other day noticed they were all dirty. From soil that splashed up under the foliage in rain and didn't come off when I rinsed. So this time I made sure the Thyme plants had thick grass-clipping mulch under them, and waited for a sunny day after heavy rain. I've got way too much of it cut, but will inspect all the stems after they're dry and only keep the cleanest ones.

I cut quite a bit off my bonsai-tree Thyme that lives indoors, too. It's really pathetic looking now. I think it would fare better outside in more sun; the outdoor thymes are so much more lush and thick with growth.

Oh, and I've got one Garlic head.

The three volunteer plants from the garden? They actually all gave very nice cloves; the two smaller ones are already peeled and separated in the fridge for cooking use. This one head hangs lonely next to the herbs. I'll have to start garlics all over again, after three years of not having to buy any! Granted, they're cheap but the homegrown ones are so much more pungent and strong.

dumb cane

I don't know why I have such bad results with Dieffenbachia, or dumb cane. Too much, too little water? Too little light, as it always grows leggy on me. It just doesn't like me? Well, my largest one fared awful while I was gone. It actually collapsed from lack of water, and then when I started watering it again the stems turned and grew upward, but lost a lot of leaves so it turned into this monstrosity.

Meanwhile, the piece that got broken by the cat so many weeks ago has grown more

and from the cuttings off that, one piece survived.

So I put them all together. Cut all the tops off the huge sprawling plant, dug up the thriving cutting, shoved them all into the one pot. Half of it will probably die, but it looks better for now! and now I only have one pot to fuss over, instead of four.

mini geraniums

I'm always somewhat leery of trimming my little Geranium bonsai, in case I cut off too much and ruin its look or shape. This time I cut the plant way back, then after a few more days of staring at it, took out a few of the inner stems. And all of a sudden it's starting to look the way I want, like an actual little tree. It's just over a year old, now.

I'm not sure what to do with the few pieces I still have that were rooted cuttings from when this mother plant got trimmed in the past. Not really thrilled with any of them. This one is still just keeping its own shape

and this one which I left to do its own thing and put outside, grew smaller, dark leaves but nice thick stems. It makes me think perhaps I'll put the bonsai one outside next summer, to get more nice thick trunk.

jades

A few weeks ago I cut my tall Jade in half. It had split into two growing arms at the top and just seemed top-heavy. So I thought, I'll cut the top off, root it, and have two plants. Thus it is. Here's the piece I cut off

and the original stem, with the leaves removed in process stuck around edge of the pot in case they root.

If you look close, can see the top of the original stem is growing new leaves already.

One of the discarded leaves is starting a new plantlet.

And this amazing one in another pot. I had stuck five or six other leaves in here and then it didn't get watered for a while, most of them died. But this one leaf kept going, and is producing not only one, but four little plants! (One is just unfolding still). I've never seen a leaf make more than one.

Just for the record, here are the two older plants I started each from a discarded leaf.

Nothing really to crow about, Crassula propagates so easily this way it really isn't any skill of mine to get so many new jade plants. But it pleases me anyhow, to see them growing.

garden visitors

Found a nice big Mantis hanging out on my window today. I felt lucky to sneak close enough to get a few shots of him.

I just wish there were more. I've also noticed in that brief stroll through the garden that my dying, bolted Broccoli is crawling with harlequin beetles and some kind of teensy white fly that rises up in swarms, and my dead Tomatoes are crawling with stink bugs, and although I see a few ladybugs out there too I wish there were more mantis. Maybe they don't eat those pests? I feel dismayed that I haven't been able to take care of the garden this year, now after the heavy rains it's turning into a real ugly mess.

But then there was a moment of joy. Coming back around the house from photographing the Mantis I saw not one but two brilliant Hummingbirds hovering around the Tithonias. It looked like they were darting at each other, vying for space or rights to my flowers! And of course my camera batteries died just then, so I couldn't even try to get a shot. O well. I can tell you- they were marvelous to watch.

survivors

A bit ago I was gone visiting relatives with the kids for about a week, and of course even though I reminded him, hubby didn't water the plants. And it was hot. And dry. When I came home, most of the potted stuff outside looked dead. But I cut them all back and watered, and some have revived.

I lost two of my oregano pots. One of the little ones is still hanging on, and another has a few small leaves sprouting anew in the center. But I'm not really happy with this Oregano, anyways. It has paler, more oblong leaves and I prefer the kind I had last year, which had rounder, darker leaves. Not sure the variety but I think I'd recognize it if I found a plant at the nursery.

The Mints all got cut down severely to remove dead material, but sprang  back with vigor

this one is the Chocolate.

Lemon Balm came back okay, too. I even used some when cooked fish the other day- trout- but I don't think I put in enough because the flavor was too mild.

Surprised and pleased that my Sage is still alive, too. I cut a few leaves to dry and save for my thanksgiving turkey; the rest I'm hoping to overwinter and make this a perennial in my garden, alongside the mints.

cuttings

Those evergreen cuttings I tried to root all died.

But happily, the cuttings I got from neighbor are all thriving. The Lavender and Rosemary have grown quite a bit and I've planted them directly into the garden hoping they'll get well-established before winter and come back in spring.

pictured here is the Lavender

and the Rosemary.

beets, ugh

So I pulled a few Beets from the neglected patch the other day. They did not look good at all.

And guess what, they didn't taste good either. I don't know if it was the heat, the bugs, the weeds crowding them out, or all three. Probably they just got too old, too. Ended up on the compost pile. I guess the rest will follow them. This just isn't my year for gardening. Blah.

tithonia

well everything is ragged and unkempt in the garden but Tithonia still blooms and the butterflies wander by to visit the red-orange flowers. I've even seen the hummingbird a few times.

sunflowers

Most of my Sunflowers are in full bloom now, and the bees are busy at work on them!

still red

I still have tons of Tomatoes, and a few nice Bell Peppers, too. The cherry plants are pretty much dead, attacked by some insect I think so I was careful to throw the pulled vines in the trash, not compost.

Some of my little hot peppers have turned red! A. says they're Jalapenos. He had one sliced and sauteed into a dish, and wowee was it hot. I didn't quite scour the pan enough afterwards, and it was a cast-iron one, and some of the pepper essence must've gotten into the pores of the iron, because the eggs I cooked in that pan the next day were burning my tongue. It made me cry.

family portrait

 which I'm putting up here just because it's in front of the garden! Broccoli and sunflowers to the left, carrots and dying tomatoes to the right. And of course my wonderful husband and beautiful daughters.