This has been a glorious year for foliage in the garden, and that is the silver lining behind all of the clouds that hung on and on and on………..seemingly forever at the time……..this past spring. We are now reaping the benefits with a much extended bloom season and plenty of lush growth everywhere. My clematis and daylilies are usually finished blooming by now and I’ve begun to cut them back, but I am still enjoying blooms on both. It could be September before I do any major pruning.
My goal for clearing the daylilies from the back lot to make room for Trillium is quickly becoming a reality. Thank you to everyone who gave the daylilies new homes. I saved a few of my favorites and will leave them scattered about to bask in the sunshine so that I can continue to enjoy them. They would never be so happy in the garden where all of the sunny spots have already been claimed by others. Having that space in back to spread out and experiment with abandon is such a pleasure.
I’m thoroughly enjoying what has been a very pleasant summer with the cooler temperatures. It is warm enough for tomatoes and chile peppers to set and cool enough to dig and transplant and just be in the garden. If the temperature never reaches ninety degrees this year, I’ll be ecstatic.
This past two months have flown by and my intentions of getting this blog totally updated by the end of July were not fulfilled. My new goal is the end of August. I guess I should be realistic when the garden calls me out and won’t let me come back inside. :-)
MEETING NOTES AND FIELD TRIPS
I'll be brief with recaps of our June and July meetings and then briefly recap our field trips to Kinsey Faire and Laurel Hedge in June and Reser's Labyrinth on August 9th.
OUR JUNE MEETING
It was a beautiful day to meet outside and enjoy gathering on Jane Coomb’s patio surrounded by her beautiful garden. Renee provided a table full of refreshments for us to enjoy. Thank you, Renee.
Jane’s artistic talent is evident everywhere as she “paints” her garden masterpiece with plants of varying colors, textures and sizes. Her pruning methods are simple and straightforward and it is obvious that she has an eye for what needs to stay and what needs to go, creating a perfectly balanced plant that appears to have just grown that way. Jane gave us a demonstration and shared her pruning methods with us.
Next, we toured the garden and enjoyed seeing the troughs that Jane made last year - now beautifully planted and looking like they had always been that way.
We shared memories and a moment of silence in honor of Jo Manske as we retired her name tag and held her memory close to our hearts.
OUR JULY MEETING
It was an unsettled day, so we met inside my home where the weather would have no affect. Marsha brought an array of refreshments for us to enjoy. Thank you, Marsha. We talked about valuable tips and information learned at our meetings. Several members mentioned the support from the group at this time in our lives as being most helpful. This is such a fabulous group and we continue to learn and grow both our gardens and our spirits as we share our thoughts and experiences. We are so thankful to have our fellow Golden Aged Gardeners to share this time in our gardening lives.
After the meeting, the weather was perfect for touring the garden. I was happy to see that the daylilies on the back lot were cooperating so that members could make selections while they were blooming.
Several of us also checked out the “Tomcat” mole trap with a demo on how to set it perpendicular to an active run. Hopefully, there are fewer moles around these days. Click on this link for more information:
BLOG CHANGE NOTES: You will note that the link to Barbara's column will now connect you to her blog where she continues to actively write about gardening. Be sure to visit and enjoy.
WATCH YOUR EMAIL FOR OUR AUGUST MEETING NOTICE. WE'LL BE AT DRU'S ON AUGUST 16TH
