How the Garden Grows.....

"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves."
                                        ~Mahatma Gandhi

 Veggies: from left to right: Beets ( can't see them much , little red leaves  squeaking up thru  dirt), lettuce, radishes.More lettuce. A huge row of sunflowers, broccoli ( you can see them waving  feathery hats), row of knee hi sweet peas, Campanula down-right ( big ole clump that will bloom all summer), Centaurea close to fence, cabbages ( just out of range). VERBASCUM, down-left, poking its leaves thru the fence. Oh, and carrots ( really slow to get going, on other side of sunflowers) . And not just any carrots, heritage ones, purples, blues, oranges........

The garden grows. The bees buzz. 

 The sky swirls.

 And the cats roam. Spencer still likes his yellow cup.

 And the slugs....well...they slug it out.  Nothing but a can of beer won't cure.A can of beer for the slugs, that is......

 This year I'm trying real slug bait beer traps, not homemade versions.  These ones sink into the dirt. I'm also trying real beer, rather than non-alcoholic. I have yet to check the beer hot tub to see how it is working.

 I may find worms in the trap. Or beetles. They like beer too. Apparently.

 Grapes are graping. ( Not sure if that is a term, but then, explains it better).Smokey avails himself of the arbour. Daily. He has that bird's eye view....

 Sunflowers are like little umbrellas these days.

 The cat plant thrives. He still likes the pot. He doesn't seem to need re-potting....

 Sunflowers beg to be replanted. I just haul them up  out of the masses and put them somewhere else.  Douse them with a goodly dose of water to get them to reset their roots. And try to get their stems to stay upright. Like little toy soldiers on parade.

 "It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season." ~Kate Morton ( 1976-) " The Forgotten Garden"

 Centaurea is much slower this year . But up it comes. The new seed I planted is even slower than the surviving counterparts.  I'm thinking I will reseed  in about two weeks to keep a continuous supply blooming if I can. 

 Cranesbill , Many people do not realize that this perennial geranium  has potential healing powers in is roots; called a a powerful ingredient called tannin, an anti-inflammatory.

 Cranesbill will turn the yard into  a woodland paradise. The bees are drawn to it. And anything we can do to attract bees......This year, I've noticed  bees are humming more than ever ,as the cranesbill takes up more and more space. More bees. This is great. Which is fine by me. Good to preserve  a natural perennial. I think I started with ONE  small plant, and it has spread on the wings of bees. I couldn't be happier.

 SWEET PEAS  spreading  little wings. Faster than last year. Everyone's proabably tired of my sweet peas. But it's just not the same without them. This year, I spread them around. I want to see what corners of the garden will work. I have rows and rows of the Knee Hi version,like on the left, and troughs of the Climbers, like the ones on the right.  

 DAHLIAS, ROSES, SUNFLOWERS, Centaurea, all meshed together in the front bed where it is warm, and safe and protected.  I was  worried Dahlias would not grow very well ( that the soil was too soggy, or too sandy, or too something). But up they come.......time will tell......
 "My garden is my favourite teacher. "~Betsy Cañas Garmon, 

Photographs 2017