By Jill Williams
“I came to love my rows, my beans, though many more than I wanted. They attached me to the earth, and so I got strength like Antaeus.”
-Henry David Thoreau
At the end of June I planted bush beans to replace the sadly bolted spinach. A very cold spring it was when spinach stayed small, produced little and then finally bolted once the warm weather came. Now that we have had a little rain, I’m looking forward to the bush beans popping up soon. The garden glass, needless to say, should always be half full.
I had to look up Antaeus, not being as versed in classical mythology as Thoreau. He turned out to be the son of Poseidon and Ge (Earth) and “whenever he was thrown, he arose stronger than before from contact with his Mother Earth. Hercules, perceiving this, lifted him in the air and crushed him to death.” Thank you Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Poor Antaeus. One wonders what he did amongst the ancient gods to deserve such a fate.
I would agree with Thoreau that bush beans are very satisfying to grow. They’ve very productive while not being quite as overwhelming as the iconic zucchini.
The beans that I’m most attached to, however, are not bush beans but climbing pole beans. I planted three different types this year: Scarlet runner, purple Carminat and a mystery bean I was given last fall. Pole beans provide some height and variety in the garden as well as being beautiful. A few morning glories mixed in with the pole beans makes an even better show.
Given that so far we haven’t had a lot of rain this season, I’m glad that I only have a few tomatoes. I have had to water them often along with a few cucumbers and zucchini. They all liked the hot weather even if I didn’t.
Fireflies appeared at the same time as the very hot weather. It was very pleasant to sit out on the porch at night and watch them. They always seem quite magical to me no matter how many times I see them.
There are too many flowers, both annual and perennial, to count at this time of year. I’m spoiled for choice for cut flowers. Sweet William, Foxgloves and Lilies are just a few of my options to bring colour into the house.
I was lucky that a beautiful old variety of Sweet William was already here when I moved here a couple of decades ago. I was happy to see it move from the field near the house into various gardens that I made. It thrives in sun or part shade, self seeds prolifically and is one of my favourite cottage garden flowers.
Another old fashioned flower that is doing well here this season is annual Sweet peas. I have had my struggles with growing these in the past and I think I might finally have figured it out. I planted these very early while it was still cold in early spring. The first flowers came in late June and they should bloom all summer. I only plant the ones that smell nice and it’s a joy to cut them and bring them in the house.
It should be noted that perennial Sweet pea has no fragrance and is a bit of a monster plant. It’s very hard to get rid of once it has established itself. I would only put it where nothing else wants to grow.
The porch phoebes are very vocal every morning and evening. Their first family flew away successfully during the second week in June. They usually have two families so I’m sure I will see them back in residence soon.
The hummingbirds must have nested here since I saw a young one hovering around the honeysuckle vine by the door. I tried unsuccessfully to see where the hummingbirds flew to when they were done feeding on the flowers. Their nest location remains a mystery.
Finally, I’m trying once again to get another favourite cottage garden flower, night scented stock, to grow close to the house. These have a wonderful and subtle fragrance at night. I last attempted to grow them years ago and was unsuccessful. But with my Sweet pea success I’m thinking that the garden gods might be helping me out just a little. I live in hope and we will see what happens.