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The Potager

July 23rd, 2018

This time of year, the potager is stunning. It’s a drift garden of sorts, full of things that spread and seed down. There are all different heights, textures, and the color schemes is predominantly dark pink/purple, greenish yellow, and white, with a few pink flowers thrown in as well.


Some of the key plants in this garden are: marjoram, creeping thyme, bronze fennel, asparagus, monarda, hollyhocks, limelight hydrangeas, and dill. There are also hostas and some tiny roses planted here, which will eventually be moved to other spots around the garden. This garden looks best at about 6-7 in the evening, when the low sun casts golden shadows across it and backlights the flowers and textures. You will find me looking at it most evenings during this time.

What’s your favorite time of the day to be in the garden?

Another Treasure

July 19th, 2018

My mom always had tiny English daisies growing in her lawn. I’ve been wanting to get some for quite a while, not to grow in the lawn, but to grow in the flowerbed. Last week, while visiting a local greenhouse, I spotted this little pink beauty and picked it up.



I planted it under my tool rack in the main vegetable garden. It’s perfect for that location, adding interest without adding any height or getting in the way of the tools. Lately, I’ve been focusing on adding more layers to my garden, high things and low things. This is the perfect low area to add a bit of interest.

Do you grow any plants that you have fond memories parents or grandparents growing in their gardens?

Wisteria Frutescens in a Container

July 18th, 2018

The potager has taken a back seat as I get the main vegetable garden in final order. This garden pretty much takes care of itself. Besides a weeding once a year and a layer of compost, it growing along. The plants are spreaders, creepers, and self seeders. They ebb and flow, creating a drift garden of sorts. Even though this garden is an exuberant mess, it still was in need some some kind of focal point in the center. As I was cleaning up my potted Wisteria frutescens, I realized it would be PERFECT for adding both interest and a bit of height.

I must say, I’m super happy to have this beauty growing in a container. It’s easy enough to maintain (I overwinter it in my basement each winter). Wisteria frutescens is perfectly hardy in our climate, this plant was actually purchased with the intent of training up the lower side of the house. I haven’t quite had time to clear out the spot to plant in, so it grows and blooms happily in this container. It bloomed ealier this spring, but has a few more buds and will rebloom in a week or two.

I may actually leave this particular plant in this container and start more to grow on the house. What a perfect specimen to add interest and height to the potager! As I was looking at this the other night, I decided that growing things in containers and putting them in key spots in the garden would be great way to add focal points.

Do you grow any plants in containers?

ZZZZZZZZZ

July 17th, 2018

Bog D sure knows how to relax. Sometimes I think I need to take a cue from him and take a bit of a cat nap in the afternoons.


We put these chairs in a shady spot under the old apple tree and there’s pretty much been a cat or two in them since we put them out. Clearly, they think we put them out for them.

Hope you can take some time to catch a cat nap today!

A Winner

July 16th, 2018

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I planted a new variety of pea, ‘Sienna’ from Johnny’s Seeds. Around here, I’ve mostly grown heirloom peas, so this variety was a first for me. Overall, I’m really happy with it. All the pods came ripe at the same time, allowing me to harvest the entire row, pull the plants, and replace with something else. These peas are kind of like determinate tomatoes, very convenient if you want to process them all at once.


It was nice to harvest all of them and not have to be picking peas every couple days. Processing them all at once for the freezer was also very convenient, no small batches to process every week or so. If you’re growing peas for freezing, I highly recommend giving ‘Sienna’ a try. I also appreciate that they are ready to pull from the garden a month or so ahead of ‘Green Arrow’, which means by the time I’m pulling the other variety, I’m already going to be harvesting lettuce from the space where the ‘Sienna’ peas were growing. If you have a small garden, maximizing space is a great reason to consider this variety.

Are you growing any new varieties this year? Do you love them or prefer others?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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