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Aug. 24th, 2013 05:34 pm
State of growth
Been forever since the last garden post, hasn't it? I guess there hasn't been much to report, just the slow filling in of herbs and such over the long days of summer. A lot of things are in bloom now: catnip, nasturtiums, thyme, garlic chives, dill, fennel, basil. The last may have played a role in camouflaging these plants from the Old Man. When I asked him why he hadn't used any of our own basil last night (he stole a handful from the neighbours), he said, "I didn't see any." Which cracked me up since the only things in garden shorter than the clemates and the lovage are the two lemon basil plants right smack in the middle of it all. This morning I led him out on an instructional tour. "Protip," I told him, "the ones that taste like basil are basil."
I've ended up ripping out two of the nasturtium plants because they've done so well, they're shading out our rosemary and our lemon thyme. If Scooter hadn't encircled the plots with chicken wire to dissuade his curious hounds, it would be a different story: then the plants could spill out over the tops of the retaining timbers. Instead, they've been turned back into the plots. I also trimmed back the lemon balm, which is doing better than anything else--a real shame, since we don't have much use at all for lemon balm. And I ripped out all but one rapini plant, since it's going to seed and might give us one more usable crop before winter.
Sadly, the basil never sprouted in the annex. The dill plant I transplanted there didn't do diddly, and the cocozelle and purslane were ravaged by worms. The latter might recover, but the former is a total loss. Thankfully, we have a mature plant in one of the pots, but it's showing signs of powdery mildew right on the verge of flowering. In any case, I churned up the earth one more time and seeded it with mesclun and mâche. I'm counting on it being late enough in the year that this coming week's high temps will boost their germination and then fade before causing them to bolt.
On the flower front, a few surprises: I'm getting a third blooming from the purple clematis (deadheading FTW!) and the autumn-blooming actually began blossoming a few days ago, we just missed it because the flowers were in a somewhat inconspicuous spot. But that's not as impressive as the Jesus rose. I was sure I killed it in replanting, but there are new leaves on it now, so perhaps it regrew from the stalk. And, to the astonishment of us both, the azaleas are in bud. Who knew they could do that?
I've ended up ripping out two of the nasturtium plants because they've done so well, they're shading out our rosemary and our lemon thyme. If Scooter hadn't encircled the plots with chicken wire to dissuade his curious hounds, it would be a different story: then the plants could spill out over the tops of the retaining timbers. Instead, they've been turned back into the plots. I also trimmed back the lemon balm, which is doing better than anything else--a real shame, since we don't have much use at all for lemon balm. And I ripped out all but one rapini plant, since it's going to seed and might give us one more usable crop before winter.
Sadly, the basil never sprouted in the annex. The dill plant I transplanted there didn't do diddly, and the cocozelle and purslane were ravaged by worms. The latter might recover, but the former is a total loss. Thankfully, we have a mature plant in one of the pots, but it's showing signs of powdery mildew right on the verge of flowering. In any case, I churned up the earth one more time and seeded it with mesclun and mâche. I'm counting on it being late enough in the year that this coming week's high temps will boost their germination and then fade before causing them to bolt.
On the flower front, a few surprises: I'm getting a third blooming from the purple clematis (deadheading FTW!) and the autumn-blooming actually began blossoming a few days ago, we just missed it because the flowers were in a somewhat inconspicuous spot. But that's not as impressive as the Jesus rose. I was sure I killed it in replanting, but there are new leaves on it now, so perhaps it regrew from the stalk. And, to the astonishment of us both, the azaleas are in bud. Who knew they could do that?