Just like every year summer seems to take forever to arrive and then makes up for it with a breathless frenzy. Since the beginning of June statuesque foxgloves have opened, bottom to toppling with the weight of blossoms, and tightly wound peonies have burst and exploded into a confetti of messy pink petals. Seedlings like celery, pale and fragile under their February grow light, have finally shot up into respectable stalks and the harvest, though reasonable now, will soon become a great responsibility as neighbors run out of ways to use summer squash.
Notable goals this year were to start as many vegetables, herbs, and flowers from seed, build four new raised beds for vegetables, and establish five new roses. I was able to start many plants from seed with a few exceptions (I have yet to successfully germinate milkweed,) but I continue to learn that sometimes it is better to wait longer as plants grown out-of-doors or sown in place have a robustness and resiliency that indoor seedlings lack. With help from my dad and Tyler the beds were built, oiled, and filled with a mixture of compost and topsoil by April.
I planted five new David Austin bare-root roses in late March. I dug large holes and amended the soil with composted manure, sprinkling mycorrhizal fungi over the roots and hole before I planted the roots with the graft union two inches below the soil. The shrub varieties I chose are Gentle Hermione, Lady Emma Hamilton, Roald Dahl, and Comte de Champagne, and I selected a rambling rose Lady of the Lake to trellis up an iron rose arch. With the exception of Comte de Champagne which was nibbled by deer, they are all healthy and flowering freely which I did not expect until at least the Fall.
I was particularly excited to sow poppies this year and I direct seeded them outside in early March. The three varieties I planted are Icelandic poppies, Amazing Grey Shirley poppies, and Hungarian Blue Breadseed poppies which will be useful for pastries in addition to producing the decorative seedpods. Their papery petals flutter like moth wings in the wind.
Aside from the early rhubarb, so far the harvest has been primarily greens and we have been eating arugula, kale, and lettuce mixes with abandon. I am growing edible violas, corn flowers, calendula, and nasturtiums, and they have been decorating salads alongside the herbs. We have started to collect sizable harvests of peas, are enjoying grilled radishes greens and all, have used garlic scapes in pesto and as a pizza topping, and are beginning to pull the first of the turnips and beets. Cucumbers and summer squashes are nigh and the tomatoes are green and hard and promising.
And finally I’ll leave you with this summer transformation.
Take good care and reach out with any questions!
