Greetings gardeners! It’s been a minute. Sorry I have had a summer with another Mohs surgery and the heat and the deer have got me down.

There are so many deer now that I am trying just about anything to keep them out. Our property is wooded in a lot of places, so it’s not the conventional place where you can just put up a fence.

The deer have been eating things they’ve never touched. And I’m spraying but losing a good month because of the Mohs surgery meant they came in. So now I have been doing things like solar charged little flood lights that are motion detected and then I have these giant plastic German Shepherd’s that are blowup dogs. And Irish Spring soap in these cute little shower bags I found. That way I have the entire bar in each bag and they last longer.

It’s kind of haphazard, but it’s working a little bit. but once you get past the deer who destroyed daylilies from two daylily farms, that I loved so much, and are no longer in business (Seaside Daylily Farm and Slightly Different Nursery), there are the weeds and ticks and heat of this summer.

This summer is one of those seasons, where if people don’t believe in climate change, they need their heads examined. The heat has been unrelenting, and the rain has been sporadic than fierce so it’s not really getting into the ground. I have lost some beautiful, deciduous azalea’s one that was pale pink and reminded you of Pinkster but I don’t think that’s what it was. oh, and did I mention the deer tried to eat a Gordlinia tree ? I am hoping this tree will survive. It didn’t get completely eaten.

Plants are weeks ahead of themselves. Oriental and Asiatic lilies that weren’t starting until now are finished. The deer tried to eat some of them as well.

Here are a couple of photos of things that are blooming or have bloomed:

I love my garden, but the weather and everything and life this year has made everything a little disheartening. And with my own limitations this year I’ve discovered again how hard it is to get anyone to help you when you need it. And I don’t ask for help very often in the garden.

I have been really happy with my greenhouse. I will say that growing seeds this year was an odd experience. Everything seem to take longer to get going, and now stuff seems to be taking off. I grow a couple of herbs from seed and they are primarily Italian flat leaf parsley and basil, because I use them so much. The basil I grew from seed has been fabulous. The seeds came from Seed Savers. However, the parsley I grew from seed was a bust.

Now, for the tale of gardening doesn’t come with hazard pay. I stumbled into a hornets nest while pruning. They attacked me. I did get stung several times in my face, as well as my arms and upper body. Thankfully, the stings did not hit the Mohs surgery site but for a few days it was pretty bad. I have to be honest. I am allergic to lots of stinging things, and I am just grateful that my allergic reaction this time wasn’t as much, but I’m going to have to look into an EpiPen again.

So after that for a few days, I got very little gardening done because I was inside taking Benadryl and drinking lots of water to flush the poison out. Meanwhile Ike from Green Pest arrived like the Calvary to dispatch the bald face hornets. And then the Calvary came back to get rid of a nest of yellow jackets.

This has been a very difficult gardening year for me so far. And it’s totally depressing to have to battle the deer daily. This morning I came out to find that they actually ate one of the bars of Irish Spring soap I hung.

There are some bright spots. My Franklinia tree is blooming except it is weeks ahead of schedule. And my one fig tree that had never born. Any fruit is loaded with figs this year.

inside the greenhouse looks pretty good as well. The peppers are finally growing and the basil I grew from seed is amazing.

It’s also been difficult gardening because of the combination of heat and humidity and lack of rain, followed by crazy rain storms that beat everything down. Except with these rain storms they’re not really getting to the core of soaking the soil.

Another fun gardening news that actually is fun, I found some more of those little cast iron Japanese lanterns. I love at the Smithfield Barn. and these are unusual for me to find because they are actually smaller than a lot of the other ones I have so they fit nicely on a table.

I planted a couple of more trees. I am still in my redbud phase.

I also had an appointment with people from a company called Deer Solutions today . They apply and all natural spray, and I know some gardeners that have used these people with some success so my husband and I are talking about it for our garden. I felt very badly for the man who came today to give me an estimate because my garden completely overwhelmed him and I get it. I don’t have your average suburban plot with four trees, six bushes and lawn and some flower pots. It’s a layered garden. he compared it to a little arboretum, and I keep getting that from people. Which is kind of funny because I’m just a home gardener but I’m really kind of humbled by the compliments.

Oh, and in the Deer department I am also trying a product called Deer No No. my friend Meredith recommended that product.

I have been writing this post forever because there’s just so much to do and the way the weather has been and all the other things with the garden it’s completely overwhelmed me at times. And the ticks can I just say the ticks are so bad this year? I just bought another round of tick tubes to toss in the flowerbeds and woods.

A week or so ago I ran into my friend, David Culp in a restaurant. It was so good to see him because even a few minutes with David makes you believe again, and it kind of lifted my spirits after a difficult gardening summer so far.

But I have been looking at some of the other beds that I’ve planted, and I always say the garden is an evolution, and this summer is no different. I have been looking at plants that do better in drought conditions, and looking for more things that hopefully the deer won’t eat.

I am still continually thrilled at this time of year. By all the hydrangeas, I’ve planted and the hardy hibiscus. I’ve gone for the boulder, colored hardy hibiscus, the big dinner plate, flowers of deep reds and pinks.

I harvested my first little potato crop today and planted two more pots that will hopefully take us into the fall if they grow properly. This year I had a little fingerling and other potatoes and I’m really digging their little size.

And the tomatoes, knock on wood, look terrific right now. I have really been making an effort to keep them properly fed. And I must note again, that my weird discovery of my basil grows best in my greenhouse in the summer has resulted in a wonderful unending crop of really good looking basil.

I’m also very happy that I have kept the pots that I’ve done relatively simple this year and stayed focused with adding herbs and things I can use.

We finally had rain today, along with some pretty heavy duty thunderstorms. But that’s been the way this summer has gone. We have periods of drought, followed by fairly violent thunderstorms right now we’re all experiencing what will be the remnants of hurricane Debby.

As life goes on, I continue to look at ways to make my life easier in the garden. I still am the one who does the lions share of the work. But when I look out at all the flowers, it’s worth it every single time.

I hope you all are enjoying your gardens as best you can and I will write again soon.