a day with fluffy clouds

It is one of those weekends where the clouds are fluffy and big and floating across the sky. It was in the 60s here yesterday which is kind of unheard of for this point in June, and because it’s nice and cool I was able to plant the pine trees in the woods I bought last weekend. But a day like this at this point in June? It’s definitely climate change. It was also very breezy. (And breezy today.)

I can now safely get into the woods for a while because Umar Mycka and his crew removed the invasive’s including the poisonous varieties. I am very allergic to poison ivy and her relatives. so I planted my pine trees and then moved on to the other side of the property to bring the giant Chinese pussy willows to heel because they are just too tall. I love them but oh my goodness they grow fast in this one spot! They were hard to do, so I only got half of them done before dark.

I wear leggings or long pants and boots if I am going into the woods and spray myself with bug spray. I did put lots of tick tubes into the woods this year but there are still a lot of them.

I’ve now reached a lot of the maintenance part of the growing season. Lots of deadheading. Basically with the rosebushes I pick a different rosebush every day to deadhead. I also am doing things like growing potatoes in pots for the first time so I have to keep an eye on their soil level.

I have potted on all of the chili peppers and tomatoes that I am going to grow and have some plants left for adoption. However, I find it very amusing that when I say I have free plants they all come running, yet when I charge two dollars a chili pepper or tomato plant or three for five dollars no one’s interested. Sadly, what that means is I will give away fewer plants. Gardeners are by nature generous, but my generosity comes with reality: I can’t give everything away, and once in a while for all that I do give away I will sell some plants.

The chili peppers and other pepper plants were slow this year because I think it was just cooler for such a long time without tons of sun. And yes I use grow lights on my seedlings. I just noticed a difference this year.

All of the lilies I bought from my friend Rose in Minnesota (Hartle-Gilman Gardens) are starting to bloom. These are not daylilies but glorious Asiatic, Oriental, Martagons, and Trumpets.) I have always had a Daylily obsession and honestly didn’t care about other lilies until I realized how amazingly beautiful they could be. I think it is because when I was younger you didn’t see the variety of color I have been able to find today. I also have another source for heirloom lily bulbs, and that is Old House Gardens, which I buy all sorts of heirloom bulbs from.

My big Mama Oak who is coming down at the end of the summer is struggling now. That makes me sad. I love that tree. I keep wondering how the light will change on part of the garden after she comes down.

Today was another pretty garden day. All I did was the “Chelsea chop” on the Nippon (Montauk) daisies and a couple of other things. I cut some of the summer phlox completely down because it looked horrible this year. I don’t get as emotional as I used to about plants that are not looking so hot. I cut them down or I yank them out.

I still have a lot of deadheading and pruning to do. The garden is an evolution. There are also plants that did fine for a couple of years and disappeared. I have had that issue with some of my echinacea. My original “Merlot” echinacea which is so tall and majestic, just vanished this year. So I replanted it in a different spot.