What have you done today in the Garden?

Daniel, that bed of Mirabilis looks good. Is it near a sitting place for the evening fragrance? Are the lovely yellow flowers an echinacea mix? They are stunning for sure. Great-looking veg. Those toms are coming right along now.

My Bride thanks you for the well-wishes. She is a bit better now and comes to the lottie for periods now. Slowly, slowly.

 

Sjeord glad that your Bride is getting better slowly.

 

Thank you @melody.

The delicate looking flowers are Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis). The seem to bloom all day here. It's interesting, they are perennials but the seed grown ones have been blooming for a few weeks, while the established ones coming up from roots are not blooming yet.

The orange ones are all various Rudbeckias (Black Eyed Susans). I had old seed packets of three varieties, one of which was a mix. I started the seeds early, because didn't know if they would bloom the first year. They are blooming great, before most of the annual flowers.

I do have a coneflower, from last year. The new seedlings look healthy but I don't think they will bloom until next year.



I read that Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea will bloom the first year from seeds. Maybe that is on the flower bucket list for next year.

@Sjoerd, every day I log on hoping to see that Mrs is feeling better. I'm glad she was able to visit the lottie.

The Mirabilis is in a spot I pass every day. The fragrance is nice, and there are tiny pollinating insects among the flowers. It's interesting, the mix didn't contain any yellow ones. I did grow yellow ones from seeds I saved last year but they are at the ends of the row.

 

Did some watering and finished off potting up the wallflowers got 250 plants, i think that should be enough. Neighbour came round and picked some plums for herself to make jam.

 

Thanks Loggie.

Thank you and Daniel both. The Bride appreciates your kind words.

 

Bit of a pain today.
Dug out the grass in the rockery.
Had to drag away the rose pots to get at it, then it was a hands and knees job.
Had to try to dig out the grass and not the phlox at the same time.









Mowed the lawn, first time in a week. Some moss patches down the left hand border where the grass is shaded by the fence and planting.




Pruned off the new growth on the quince along the side fence where it is above the height of the top of it, as this adds to the shade on the grass.





Had to add another support wire to a lower branch on this sorbus, as the berries were dragging it down. It will also stop the fat wood pigeons from damaging it when they go for the berries when they ripen.


>


Two hours was enough for the day, as it started to rain.

Front garden to do tomorrow morning, clean the car and my golf gear. Then watch the football in the afternoon.

 

Those are beautiful.

 

I take it to a friend at the Band Office and they see that it goes to those Elders that can use it. Many do not drive, so going to town can be difficult.

 

Today was an early garden day again. I slept in until 6 am though. The sun no longer rises at 3:30 but closer to 5:15, which is good because no matter how hard I try I wake with it most days.

Both corn patches had a good watering. They will polinate any day now. I had to pick peas ( Hubby loves to Pod thank goodness - it takes him some time but he enjoys it - I brought in a 5 gallon pail). Three more cauliflower came up to the house. Some brocolli side shoots were harvested. The raspberries are juuuussst beginning to show some red. Enough for a sneaky taste in the mornings - it will be a good raspberry year

I share my raspberry patch. I pick what we need in the first two pickings and usually have more than enough for jam, jelly and the winter. My neighbour that cannot garden anymore and I share my garden with says that we need another picker. ;-) Her arthritic hands do not like the cool mornings that are needed to pick berries so that they are not mushy or full of bees. She has recruited another neighbour about 10 km away. I gave that neighbour about twenty canes to start her own patch last year, but she is eager to help pick and take home some more berries to make jelly for her grandson. It is nice that they don't go to waste and that I do not have to spend hours and hours and hours, that I do not seem to have this year, picking. It is a nice social time with a follow up of coffee and cookies up at the house or under the willow by the garden.

The wild raspberries are also ripening. The are smaller but so delicious. We only snack on those, and do not harvest them.

Beets were pickled this afternoon on the porch. As well as dill pickles.

I went out for an hour and snipped some blossoms off of the thistles in the field that are closest to the vetable garden. I let them flower for a while for the bees, but then try to catch them before they go to seed.

Strawberries were frozen whole for a winter treat today. Tomorrow morning will be picking enough raspberries to supplement the wee bag of BC Cherries I have, and making Hubby a pie. Then he can have pie for breakfast for the next few days. That will make him a happy bear.

 

I got out and pulled a bunch of weeds around my flower beds. Well, a hive of hornets did not like that I was so close to them, and their "little"ones. They started flying around me, quite upset. One of the boogers decided it was going to sting me. Yep, it hurt, stung and got swollen. But I got all the weeds pulled.
I also hung up some suet for the birds.

 

Oh Lillium! That's painful!

 

So sorry you were stung LL. :-(

 

So sorry that you were stung @Lillium_Lover

 

More harvesting and evening processing. Water was given to selected veggies and in the greenhouse. It was time to top the toms. We are continuing to feed and water them. The courgettes and gherkins also regular and serious watering. I lifted some spuds to make alu gobi with.

Mel, you have been working like a horse haven’t you. I saw you have frozen-in some strawbs for use later. It took me back to when we would make popsicles with extra fruits including strawbs. They were nice on a hot summers’ day.

i enjoyed reading about you sharing your patch and the characters with whom you share it. I had a bit of a chuckle reading that.

Your hubby is a lucky bloke isn’t he. You making him a special tart. Oo yes, very lucky indeed, in more ways than one.

it was good what you are doing with the thistles. The seeds are loved by certain birds, but you do not want hem all over your property. I have a special place in my heart for thistles because it is part of one side of my family’s heraldic symbols.

Do you have trouble with bears and your garden and wild raspberries? When I lived in Alaska, it was a problem in the wild, but also close to civilisation. My Bride went to pick in a wild patch, sat around and harvested. The very next day she went back and there was a bear in there, mauling the bushes.

What a shame that you got stung LL. What do you use to combat the reaction?

 

@Sjoerd - I did not have to bad of a reaction. I used some some water to help stop the sting, but that is all.