Expectations

 This is about the time of year when you find out whether or not your garden will meet expectations.  Mine is doing better than average I would say.  Some things are missing the mark by a little bit, but most are meeting or exceeding my expectations.  Below is my favorite view of my garden.  I sit in a chair beside the Apple tree, under a striped umbrella if the sun has come 'round the tree and consider what needs to be done.  Everything here is neat and tidy with no incomplete jobs.  And just look at that Sweet Corn!

The Corn on the left is Gotta Have It.  I have grown it quite a few times and it has never gotten this tall.  It is only a couple of inches short of nine feet. Over the years I have decreased the number of rows I plant in a raised bed.  I know that "they" warn you that you cannot grow just a little bit of Corn in beds and to get proper pollination you are better off growing it in blocks than one long row.  Well... I've kept decreasing the number of rows in each bed.  I started with five, and the past few years I have decreased until now I am down to two.  Obviously the Corn is doing that much better with less competition for resources.  The Corn on the right is Solstice and is about seven feet tall.  According to the catalog, Solstice should be about six to six and a half feet tall and Gotta Have It only seven feet tall.

Over in the flower beds, the Dahlias are starting to shape up to my vision.  The bed below is a color scheme of dark red, white, deep pink, and some light creamy pink.  Almost every variety is blooming and they look great together.

The Marigolds and Celosia on the edge are not doing what I want.  The Marigold variety turned out too tall so I've pruned it back hard to keep it from overtaking the Dahlias and the Celosia was proving difficult to get through the spring (not unusual) so I replaced it with a different store bought variety.  It's in there... but you can only see one in the picture.

I Photoshopped the photo to show what my vision was.  I'll get it right next year.

Across the walkway is the Orange/Peach/Copper selection.  Less than half of the varieties are blooming but they are looking great together.  It is fun looking forward to each new color.

Bloomquist Pleasing

Bloomquist Pumpkin

Summer's End

Ice Tea