Garden Journal

6/25/09

Posted by Bethany at 9:48 PM

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Spring Blossoms

May,2013

Neighbors Garden

May, 2013

First Snow

December 2010 (backyard garden)

Beautiful Purple Morning Glorys

August 2010

Canna Plant added this year

Lilies in Bloom(6-30-10)

along with "Foot"

New York state is Zone 4 -30 degrees to -20 degrees..which means my gardening begins in April and ends sometime in October when it is time to plant bulbs. This journal will be photos of my backyard garden and flowers in general..I'm always out and about with my digital camera which takes great flower closeups..This is only my 3rd year of gardening so I am learning by trial and error..I will include comments about my failures and try to make it seem laughable, such as planting over plants because I didn't wait for them to come up!!. You get the picture.. so have fun with my blog and enjoy the photos... "There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments." - Janet Kilburn Phillips

Rose colored Peony

Only 3 peony buds blossomed this year

Lots of blossoms in 2010 season

May

Friends backyard

great closeup shot

Recent Garden Photos

Adding some recent photos of flowers and gardens in bloom so far this season(2010)May.. Everything bloomed early this year(April) which is a nice "Surprise"..Perennials have appeared in the backyard raised bed that weren't there last year?? The hydrangia bush hasn't blossomed yet but looks healthy otherwise...Feels good to be gardening again....

MAY - Fertilize emerging perennials lightly. Continue Spring cleanup, mulch newly planted beds...NORTHEAST Late frost is possible. May 2nd, frost at night as predicted. Planted Morning Glory plants started at "The Greenery". Planted them in three different areas hoping to have success in at least one area. Also planted another Rhody in front of the house. All perennials are breaking through in spite of 50 degree weather..Hydrangea plant looking good as well as the two peony bushes..Every year I plant Impatiens over "Weasie" my 20 year old cat.She was a princess and is missed.

Flowers For Weasie

"Weasie"

"All my hurts my garden spade can heal." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Morning Glorys

Starting to climb

First Flower(and Friend !)

July 29th

Double Peony

Syringas in full bloom

"Watering is like telling our spouse "I Love You," the more you do it, the better the result."

When To Water Your Garden

Notes on WATERING: There are 2 rules for watering the garden correctly. Water at the proper time and water deeply. Make sure your plants need water. The best indication is when you spot wilted plants in the morning. A little drooping of plant leaves is natural on a hot afternoon. Plants should perk up later. Water until the soil is moist to a depth of 4 to 5 inches. Plants like a deep soaking so their roots can stretch way down into the soil to get water. The deeper the root, the easier it will be for them to get through a dry spell. MULCHING: Mulch is important in raised bed gardens, but is not needed early in the season. In the summer when the weather gets hot and parched, pack a thick layer of mulch to hold in moisture.

May 21st - Added red Petunias to backyard raised bed for more color. Warm day in the 80's, nice..Also planted Larkspur and Snapdragons..No sign of all the Bee Balm I had in raised bed last year so bought more.. big mystery ?? Odd day, rain, sun,cold, then hot.. knitting and eating..

Snapdragons

" WHEN THE WORLD WEARIES AND SOCIETY FAILS TO SATISFY, THERE IS ALWAYS THE GARDEN."

Lilac Tree

bare root - hope it makes it.

Lots of rain so far this month. Shower every day but warmer in the 70's. No need to water the garden. Tomato plants are in and doing well. Buy them every year from Bob Anderson at local farmers market. Also have a potted cherry tomato plant from Bob that always does well. Loads of nice salad tomatoes to pick. Backyard raised bed flowers are finally starting to blossom. Still no daylilies flowering yet. Everything is going to be late because of the weather. Just have to be a "patient gardener."

Jet Stars

6 tomato plants

Staking Tomatoes

ADVANTAGES: Staking saves space. You can grow more tomato plants in a row, staking them as close as 18 inches from each other. Keeps vines and tomatoes off the ground so the harvest is cleaner and there's less rotting. No slugs either, and that's a big plus for many gardeners. Earlier harvest. The pruning that staked tomatoes need forces more of the plants energy into ripening fruit. Tomatoes tend to be larger when a plant is staked. Again, this is the result of pruning: more energy goes into fewer tomatoes. Easier to pick tomatoes and to work around the plants. DISADVANTAGES: It takes time and effort to set the stakes, train the plants up the stakes, and prune them. Tomatoes are more prone to cracking, blossom end rot, and other problems because they are standing up and are more exposed. Decreases yield. Plants usually need plenty of mulching. Staked plants need more water than unstaked ones.

" Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow."

" I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." - Claude Monet

Garden Maintenance

JUNE - fourth week: Stake floppy plants. Weed. Add to compost pile. Keep beds well mulched. Train plants growing on poles and trellises.

JULY is an unpredictable month in the garden. About all you can count on is humidity. Gardeners just have to play it by ear. You know there will be flowers to deadhead and a new crop of weeds. Most importantly keep a close eye on pests and disease, then sit back and enjoy your garden..

Pest

Lily

Perennial/zones 4-10

Asiatic Lily

Attracts Hummingbirds

I added these two flowers to the backyard raised bed to fill in some large empty spaces..It's July 5th and last years flowers are slow to bloom because of the constant cool and rainy weather..Always want instant gratification!! I cultivated the soil and added mulch to the new plants..Turning out to be the "Summer That Wasn't"..Still 40's at night and 60 during the day..

"Butterfly" - Annual

July 4th, 2009

Rainbow on the 4th

over my house

"I live in the garden, I just sleep in the house."

It has not been a good summer for flowers or our tomatoes..It has been cold most nights and only a few very warm days. Tomato plant leaves are yellow with brown spots and very few tomatoes(photos)..Also the lilac tree has a blight of some kind on leaves..All symptoms could be weather related, lots of rain..Neighbors in town are having same problems with their gardens etc. Not much to do now until September and October..May decide to plant more bulbs again this year.late blooming Iris??

Lilac Tree

Neighbors Hibiscus

full bloom in late August

September

WOW.. it is September in the garden already. September gardening can and does in zone 4, mean cool, crisp nights and Indian Summer days. No time to rest. Short season gardens need to be put to bed. Now it is Bulb buying season. Gardeners in coldest zones(1-4) should plant bulbs in late August and September. OLD ADAGE: "As long as you can get your shovel in the ground, you can plant your Bulbs."

Perennial Plants To Prune in the Fall

bearded iris
beebalm
blackberry lily
blanket flower
bronze fennel
catmint
columbine
corydalis
crocosmia
daylily
false sunflower
golden marguerite
golden star
ground clematis
hardy bergonia
helianthus
hollyhock mallow
japanese anemone
ligularia
lilyleaf ladybell
masterwort
meadow rue
mountain bluet
painted daisy
penstemon
peony*
phlox
plume poppy
salvia
siberian bugloss
sneezeweed
solomans seal
veronica
wild indigo
yarrow

* Peony

Peonies need a period of cold to set buds for the following season. Healthy foliage will turn golden in Fall and can be removed once it has turned to mush, after the first frost..

Preparing for Winter

Perennial Garden beds should be cleaned up and mulched as part of your work in Fall gardens..Mulch,remove all stalks and leaves, but if not able to do this then do not clean away old stalks and leaves-they will serve as a makeshift mulch to protect roots of perennials, the cleaning and mulching go together; either do both or neither one. Doing both will keep garden disease-free and well insulated. Time now to start thinking about "Apple Picking" and Fall road trips to take in the beautiful trees of New England..See you back in the Garden in April 2010..

"AUTUMN is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower."

Bennington Monument

Vermont - Fall 2008

10 Best Places to See Fall Color

Green Mountains-Vermont
Pacific Northwest(Gifford Pinchot)
Lost Maples-Texas
Independence Pass-Leadville,Colorado
Mark Twain Trees-Missouri
Ottawa & Hiawatha National Forest-Upper Michigan
Lauention Mts.-Quebec, Canada
Chautauqua & Allegheny Country- Pa.& N.Y.
Blue Ridge Parkway-North Carolina
Kancamagus Scenic Byway-New Hampshire

"Benedict Hollow" Arlington, Vermont

October 2009

Gourd Craft Project

dried and decorated

"SPRING passes and one remembers one's innocence. SUMMER passes and one remembers one's exuberance. AUTUMN passes and one remembers one's reverence. WINTER passes and one remembers one's PERSERVERENCE !" - Yoko Ono

I WILL BE BACK IN THE SPRING WHEN GARDEN CLEAN-UP STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN!!

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