“Wildness is more a quality than a place, and though humans can't manufacture it, they can nourish and husband it...
The gardener cultivates wildness, but he does so carefully and respectfully, in full recognition of its mystery.”
– Michael Pollan
8/28/17:
On Saturday I picked the first tomato of the year. It was the Cherokee Purple variety, which are deep pink/dark green when ripe, and fairly sweet. This one was nice and meaty with few seeds. I'll have a couple more from the same plant soon. The beefsteak tomatoes are still green, but they're producing more fruit per plant, so I should have enough tomatoes of both varieties combined to make a big bowl of salsa before too long.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a larger version.
Cherokee Purple tomato “heart”.
A thriving bacopa.
So bright and fragrant.
On yet another gorgeous weekend out in the yard, my patience finally paid off: I got a good photo of a moth when it landed briefly on the escallonia flowers. Observing which plants are the favorites of pollinators like these, I've given them frequent doses of bloom-boosting organic fertilizer. Oddly, however, while most of my flowers are thriving right now, the butterfly bush has only bloomed once, and three petunias are dying out. I wonder if I'm over-fertilizing, or if the August heat is too much for some young plants.
Stepping out the front door on Sunday, I was captivated by a large bloom on the golden yellow rosebush. These are the most labor-intensive plants I have, but all the fertilizing, pruning, deadheading, disease prevention, insect control, and thorn-avoidance is worth the effort.
I am relieved to see that the seedlings I transplanted are doing well in their bigger pots. So many things are growing so quickly, I'm running out of room! Maybe I should give away some of the little columbines and zinnias to friends.
One of the benefits of writing this blog is the opportunity to go back and read about what the garden was like throughout the seasons in the past. And I have a photographic record as well; maybe only a third of all the shots I take around the yard are featured in the blog, but I save most of them. So, I'm glad that my area of California is not experiencing the drought I wrote about in 2015. I'm wondering why some of the lily bulbs I mentioned planting in 2016 haven't sprouted and bloomed this summer. And I'm awed by the growth of plants purchased or started from seed since last winter (the avocado tree, delphiniums and peppers are awesome!).
I'm so grateful for the knowledge I've gained by my gardening efforts and through all that I've read of others' experiences. In this journey of caretaking, creating and observing, I'm treading the same path around the yard, back and forth, year after year, but always progressing.
Stepping out the front door on Sunday, I was captivated by a large bloom on the golden yellow rosebush. These are the most labor-intensive plants I have, but all the fertilizing, pruning, deadheading, disease prevention, insect control, and thorn-avoidance is worth the effort.
I am relieved to see that the seedlings I transplanted are doing well in their bigger pots. So many things are growing so quickly, I'm running out of room! Maybe I should give away some of the little columbines and zinnias to friends.
One of the benefits of writing this blog is the opportunity to go back and read about what the garden was like throughout the seasons in the past. And I have a photographic record as well; maybe only a third of all the shots I take around the yard are featured in the blog, but I save most of them. So, I'm glad that my area of California is not experiencing the drought I wrote about in 2015. I'm wondering why some of the lily bulbs I mentioned planting in 2016 haven't sprouted and bloomed this summer. And I'm awed by the growth of plants purchased or started from seed since last winter (the avocado tree, delphiniums and peppers are awesome!).
I'm so grateful for the knowledge I've gained by my gardening efforts and through all that I've read of others' experiences. In this journey of caretaking, creating and observing, I'm treading the same path around the yard, back and forth, year after year, but always progressing.