Mid-Summer Milestones

July is all summer-time here. Bees, blueberries and lilies. Not to mention sweet peas.

As 2020 moves forward (thank goodness), amid all of the turmoil, angst, politics, protests, droughts, infestations and oh yeah – Covid 19,  the garden reassures us that things can move along (even without rain).

There is good news to report across my garden – the tomatoes have never been better, both those in containers and even though that I planted in the ground out back. Little if any sign of Late Blight (Phytophora infestans) and even though the plants demand daily watering, we are currently experiencing a deluge of tomatoes. I’m OK with that.

I like to take cutting from our many coleus, they root in just a week and a half and I can spread them throughout the garden and in containers.

Covid has allowed us to take a breather as far as garden chores are concerned. I chatted with New York Times writer Margaret Roach yesterday for about an hour and we both concurred that not hosting any garden tours this year as allowed us to focus on some larger projects like tree removal and garden reconstruction. We both admitted to having large mulch piles still sitting in our driveways and having large equipment beeping in the background.

Sweet Pea season is so short, only a month if not a few weeks, but we are thrilled with this years’ results.

Sweet peas are often calling it a day here around late July, but here is it nearing August 15 and they are still going strong. This confounds me as I’ve never had sweet peas this late, and this summer began with hot weather that hasn’t let up.

I’ve talked to other sweet pea growers and they are experiencing the same thing. Shorter vines, yes, but an extended bloom season. I’m chalking it up to the drought, as what often does sweet peas in is powdery mildew. Maybe their deep roots are allowing them to get enough moisture to continue as well? Again, I am not complaining.

My seed raised Rhodochiton atrosanguineum is looking fine. I was able to winter it over as a seedling in the greenhouse, but now that it is warm outside, it’s beginning to show its color.

Mid August is when we typically get our first hint of fall weather as well. The morning chorus has ended weeks ago as the migrating songbirds have completed raising their young, and some birds are beginning to gather in flocks as the do in the fall. Blue jays are harrassing the hawks with their noisy cawing that I enjoy so much as it reminds me of autumn, and the goldfinches – still in their summer yellow coats, have returned to the thistle feeders.

Three pairs of cardinals have raised at least two clutches, the last one just a few weeks ago. We watched them come close to the house looking for insect larvae to feed their young – something I have never seen before. Mrs. cardinal visited each tomato plant probably hoping to find a nice, juicy Tomato Hornworm, and both pairs examined every leaf on the geraniums and Torenia in the windowboxes, often repeatedly. It caused me to run out and buy a bag of dried meal worms, which they all devoured in a few days.

The last of the cut flower sweet peas are filling the vases of the house.

Nighttime insects are beginning to call louder and louder. Crickets, katydids and whatever calls in the night all come together in a symphony that begins at dusk and buzzes through the steamy night. I can see the signs that summer is maturing, high-summer my dad used to call it – when the tomatoes overtake us all, and the winter squashes begin to mature.

I’m growing around 30 varieties of chili peppers this year, and many are in pots which they perform perfectly well in if I use fresh professional potting mix (never last years’).

For two guys who really like mild to moderately hot peppers, I am raising numerous pots and plants of some of the hottest chili peppers this year.  Inspired by Dr. Amy Goldman’s collections that we marveled at late last summer while visiting her amazing farm in upstate New York we decided that we needed to amp up our chili knowledge. The plants are beautiful as it is, and we know that pepper appreciation takes some time (and some burned lips) to improve our Scoville Unit tolerance.

Last year we started expanding the borders into what was once my parents putting green. I think that it is safe to say that now we have no more grass to cut, which is great given than we have about an acre and a half of garden (and no gardener).

The new garden is of a simple design, just an ‘x’ walk with an intersection, and while at first I wanted an object as a focal point in the center, the urn felt too obvious, and I could not afford a nice sculptural piece. I did find a photo of a central object that was just a round planting which I found curiously interesting, so I decided to experiment with something very simple – just a round pond with lilies. So far I like it, but typically I change things every year, so who knows. I am experimenting with adding containers like this to break up the symmetry.

At night, its fragrant with lilies and Zaluziaskya (night phlox) and noisy with insects like crickets. I thing the central axis design is simple but still useful, and appropriate given that our home was built in the 1910’s and it reflects many of the formal back yard designs the Fletcher Steele proposed. I need to plant more fall blooming plants as it is still heavy with spring and early summer flowers, but revising and planning new gardens is what we all live for, right?