July 2009

He Won't Brag, So I Will My husband would tell you that he had nothing to do with it. Someone else sowed the seeds; he just stuck the seedlings in the ground. God provided the rain. Yeah, but who was up there weeding? All that cool and rainy weather has been good for something: great [...]

I just spent an hour snipping bindweed vines off the chicken yard fence. I think my sweet peas will be getting more sun now.

Checking back on last year's bloom day post, I see that pretty much the same flowers are blooming, despite our thus far cool and rainy summer. Hollyhocks and bee balm being two notable exceptions: both have buds, but aren't blooming yet. Other laggards: I have larkspur coming on, but I'm not sure it even has [...]

Almost exactly a year ago, my 'Endless Summer' hydrangea was blooming. This year, as you can see above, it doesn't even have buds. What Went Wrong? Okay, I forgot to feed it. Does it completely fail to make buds without fertilizer? I think not. It may not flower as profusely, and the blooms may not [...]

Digging colchicums. They are entering their dormant period, best time to move, make bigger patch, etc.

Low of 44F this morning. Yes, this is July. No, not Siberia, or Alaska. Tomatoes prefer 55F-75F at night. Peppers will not set fruit if temperatures drop into the low 40sF. And eggplants? Pollen production is curtailed when temps fall below 55F. But we can eat peas in July!

Peas in July! Yes, we are harvesting the last of our peas this week. When you garden in a cold climate, you may grow the same vegetables as those in warmer areas, but you don't follow the same schedule. I thought I'd run through our pea time line to give you an idea of how [...]

Lee Ginenthal loves roses. And it's a good thing for me, and for all you cold climate gardeners out there, that Lee decided to focus on hardy roses which thrive in USDA hardiness zones 5, 4, and even 3. Lee operates Der Rosenmeister nursery from his home outside of Ithaca, NY. I visited there in [...]

Alina is the winner of the garden gloves. Her comment number was picked by the random number generator. Thank you to all commenters for participating. I hope you'll come back again!