Random Thoughts

 Yesterday I was chopping down the spent flowers of the six foot high Valerian before it seriously went to seed... The Sunflowers are (so far) keeping pace with the Dill.  Their faces follow the sun each day.  Next year I am going to combine the two herb beds into one.  This much Dill is an incredible waste of space.  The Valerian is a monster and had a lot of aphids on it.  It would be excellent on the back side of a natural border.  The Feverfew is nice, but not a huge attractor of pollinators.  I am removing the Valerian and Feverfew and replacing with Dill and Mustard greens next year.  That way all of my shaggy herbs will be in one bed.

The Mustard I planted solely to occupy the flea beetles.  They actually prefer the Potatoes.  I will have to sow an early row of Mustard along the Potatoes next year.  I will still plant a square of Mustard because they seem to like that better than Eggplants which is a win.

Mustard at the end of the Dill

The Pole Beans are finally starting to fill in.  I will sow the last of the Seychelles, probably today, in the space under the wire cage.  The direct sown Marigolds along the edge are spotty despite being sown twice.  Heavy rain drove some of them in too deeply I think.

The potted Bell Peppers are catching up.

A view from the shade of the Maple tree up the River Bed garden.

The Viburnum thicket between the neighbors and my garden is always flanked by Golden Rod, Ferns and Asters.  I am trying to get the Milkweed to take over instead.  I was thinking I should weed whack the Golden Rod down by at least half to keep it from laying over in the driveway later in the season, but I see now that the Milkweed is spreading and coming up in half a dozen places, making it more difficult to avoid.... I may give it a try anyway before it becomes too sneezy of a job. 

I need to find a spot for these Hosta.  Last summer, the neighbor dug them out because she tired of defending them from the deer.  They were a bedraggled, munched on mess, but I threw them into some random containers of compost and stuck them here out of the way of the deer and ignored them.  They came back beautifully this spring.  I did find a spot for two of the thickest ones back when we were mulching and cleaning beds, and this is what is left.  I have a good spot for the white centered one. 

I awoke early this morning to gentle rain.  We got about a quarter of an inch which is perfect for the grass seed we sowed yesterday over the new soil on the septic field.  Now the sun is trying to break through and it should get into the low eighties today.  A perfect June day for tying up loose ends in the garden.