“The rain that makes things new…”.
John Masefield
We have been blessed with a lot of rain so far this summer. It seems that every time I empty the rain gauge in the garden there is at least an inch of rain in it. The last heavy rain that fell here was more like two inches.
The clouds of mosquitoes of early summer have finally eased off. The dragonflies that arrived in early July were most welcome and I hope they enjoyed their bug feast. It certainly made me feel better to look out from the front porch and see them flying over the lawn.
The phlox in the wild garden will appreciate all the heavy rain. They start to flower around the end of July and only do well in years with lots of rain. They are very hardy plants so they survive dry years but the leaves turn brown and they look very unhappy. I was fortunate to be given an old variety of purple phlox. It never goes moldy even in very wet years. And it will bloom again if it’s deadheaded at the right time. What more could you ask for in a cottage garden plant?
Also in the wild garden is the bright yellow perennial sunflower which I wouldn’t be without. It’s one of the glories of midsummer. It has spread beyond the garden and I don’t mind at all. It’s a nice contrast with the bright pink of perennial sweet pea. The flowers of this are also glorious but it can be a bit of a space invader. Fortunately the vines are easy to yank out where I don’t want them.
The small dahlias I have been growing in pots started to bloom on the Canada Day weekend. So I think now that the answer to dahlia disappointment is to only buy small ones and to put them in pots. I’m done with the big ones that only seem to come into their own when it’s about to get cold again.
The hummingbirds do their daily rounds of the honeysuckle vine and various potted flowers on the porch. They seem to especially like the strange pink and orange flowers of the succulent echeveria. I bought this because I like the blue green leaves and it’s an attractive plant. I had no idea that the hummingbirds would visit it every day while it’s flowering. They also seem to like the green species nicotine which has graceful bell shaped flowers. If I sit perfectly still, I can watch them visit each flower in turn.
Still in the world of birds, the phoebe show is finally done for this year. On the first of June, four phoebes flew away from my side porch and these resisted my efforts to photograph them. The second family was five and they flew away on the fourteenth of July. I managed to get pictures the second time around. I put the stepladder up and they didn’t seem to mind at all. Their parents were used to me going in and out of the door and they didn’t seem too bothered either. I can still hear them in the trees around the house. I wonder how many of them stick around and how many go elsewhere….
In the vegetable garden I was surprised to see the beautiful peach coloured flowers of the Sunset pole beans. They have long stems and could easily be used for cut flowers. This is my first year growing them and I have no idea what the beans are like. I would grow them again for the peach coloured flowers never mind the beans they produce. I have grown the purple pole bean, Carminat, for years now. It has very attractive purple flowers, leaves and stems. And the beans are good fresh or dried. Very useful to be able to leave the beans in the pods to dry when you can’t face another fresh bean.
The heavy rain has been good for the tomatoes and cucumbers and, of course, zucchini. Opinion seems to be divided on the latter but I like them if they’re cut when they’re nice and small. I try to not turn my back on them or else zucchini baseball bats are the result. And those aren’t good for anything really.
I’m enjoying our brief northern summer. Let’s not think about fall yet. It will come soon enough.
By Jill Williams
