July 4th, 2017

Two days ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see a new peony open! This is the first flower of the "Coral Charm" peony from Fedco that I planted in the Fall of 2013! It probably would have bloomed a lot sooner if I hadn't moved it once, intentionally, and another time by accident! But it has been well worth the wait. The color reminds me of watermelon candy and the fragrance is nice, but very different from my Sarah Bernhardt and Benjamin Franklin peonies and so far this flower hasn't been messed up by the rain, unlike the "bomb" types. 

Thanks to the thunderstorms and rain we've been getting almost daily, some parts of my gardens are looking decidedly messy. It may also be the scruffy look of the lupines and forget-me-nots that are now going to seed. It's tempting just to cut them down, but I want to save seeds from both. I am going to have to be a little more agressive with thinning out the forget-me-nots next year, though. They were nice at first, but then they choked out some of the seedlings I planted near them. Somebody remind me when the time comes, because I probably won't have the heart to do that next spring when they look so green and fresh! I guess I could always dig them up and move them to more desirable places. Hopefully the garden will look better in a couple weeks when more annuals come into the bloom. The first nicotiana flowers opened 2 days ago, as well.

I love the way gardens look when half-hidden from view. (It looks better when the garden is messy, too!)

And this is the view from my bedroom window...

I'm still debating whether or not to plant comfrey all along the back of this garden. It is such a tough plant, it would be perfect, but I'm noticing now that it does have a tendency to lean over onto the plants in front of it and hide them from view! 

This is one of the treasures I found buried under the comfrey...one of my heliotrope plants coming into bloom! 

Some more highlights in the garden right now...

More and more flowers are opening on the petunias in the barrel planters! Their fragrance is just heavenly at night! 

The pumpkins are growing amazingly fast. They are now starting to climb the A-frame support (with a little encouragement!). 

Peppers...

I covered my 3 Ajvarski pepper plants with cheesecloth to keep them from cross-pollinating with the others, as I really want to save seed from them. They are pretty rare and  a little expensive!  

And...work has begun on the new vegetable garden! The bean arbor will stay, although I don't have much hope for the hyacinth beans. They grew really well inside the greenhouse, but as soon as I put them outside they just about came to a halt. If they don't work out, I will plant runner beans there next year.
​I ordered 5 lbs. of Buckwheat seed from Wood Prairie Family Farm (www.woodprairie.organic) to plant for a cover crop. It is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, which means I really should go get back to work instead of sitting here typing this!