Wildlife

 One of our nightly visitors.  Can you see in the center background the mini-giraffe munching on the Hickory tree leaves?  That's fine.  You eat the native plants.  Those are for you.

Vegetable Garden Progress

 The vegetable garden continues to thrive despite the extreme swings in the weather conditions.  Our rain total the other day was four inches but that's the beauty of raised beds.  They drain.  I am beginning to harvest peas and everything else is on schedule.

Gotta Have It Sweet Corn planted May 15th

Penelope Peas planted April 15th

Napoli and Hannah Cantaloupes

Bristol Cucumbers

Cole Crops

Broccoli

Bishop Cauliflower

I was unable to find any yellow cauliflower at the nurseries.  That is our favorite for taste.  I did find some Bishop which is one I have grown myself in the past.  The only downside to white cauliflower is that you have to "blanch" it to keep the head from discoloring and turning an unappetizing beige.  I do this by gathering leaves over it and clipping them.  You have to keep up with it because the head tends to outgrow the arrangement.

Green Cabbages

Red Cabbages

Pole Beans

Monte Gusto yellow pole beans

Carbon Tomato

Carbon Tomato

Barlow Jap Tomato

Pike County Yellow Tomato

Wherokowhai Dwarf Tomato

Mystery Cross Tomato

Havasu Peppers

Clarimore Summer Squash

I plan to try growing this squash in a tower so I've laid the tower rings around the base of the plant.  Last year this variety grew enormous so I am not sure it can be contained.

Parsley

Basil

Sunflowers
Mahon Yam Sweet Potato in container

I had originally planned to grow carrots in this container, but they didn't germinate during that hot, dry spell.  So I moved on to plan B.  Then they started to come up.  I am weeding out the late comers because they will be too small for cole slaw season at this point.  But I did leave a few of the earlier ones for now. I imagine the vine will crowd them out but we'll see.

Nantes Half Long Carrots
The earlier batch of carrots germinated in April and have been thinned twice.  I manly want these to go with the cabbages for cole slaw.

Zinnias and some Snapdragons

Thyme, Peas and Strawberries

Dahlias

Dahlias and Marigolds

Apples

I have bagged 130 apples on this tree without even bringing out a ladder.  Looks like it will be a good year for apples.

Thyme beneath the Apple Tree

Smoke and Rain

 The Canadian Wildfire smoke is back, laying heavy in the valleys of Western NY, burning your throat and eyes.  Even on our high hill I could smell it last evening. This morning the air quality is very bad, also damp and cool.  The air starts to burn your throat within minutes. Both my husband and I decided not to do our morning walks and I haven't tried putting my contact lenses in yet either.  I closed up the windows, turned up the air filter and put some beef tips in the crock pot.  Another day for laying low. The sun has just begun to try breaking through the fog and I hope it will stay and dry the leaves in the vegetable garden that are susceptible to mildew and rot.

We have had rain seven days straight.  That's not to say we have had no sunny days, but this unsettled low pressure spin keeps bringing either storms or driz from the north.  Personally, I love a good summer storm with thunderheads building through out the hot afternoon then passing, leaving a sunny evening with fresh breezes.  So, Mother Nature, if you are listening, I am placing my order for the upcoming weekend.  Rain should be followed by sunshine.

Daylilies beginning to bloom

The deer spray is doing its thing although it does seem a little futile to spray each evening when you know rain is on its way.  I also went around and gave all of the perennials a dose of Milorganite fertilizer and the combined malodorous funk has now permeated every corner of the landscape.

There are also a whole lot of mushrooms in the lawn.

Echinacea ("Sunset"?)

Echinacea Prima Ginger
The mature height of these is 12-16" and they were just planted from mail-order this spring

Happy Returns reblooming daylily

"Hello little firefly"

I've been out for a daily survey, and sprinkled slug bait around all of the Hostas.  It may be time to consider dosing the cucurbits with mildew treatment, although I hate to start that until I see some actual mildew somewhere.

Record Rain

 In my ten years of keeping summer rain records, I have never had a day like this.  I've had 2.75" twice.  But never 3.5" and rising.  When the lightening subsided we went out for a look around.  Things are beginning to drain.  It was coming down in sheets but now just a steady rain.

Dry Creek Bed #2 (above) is overwhelmed

All of our gravel drives are flooded to some extent

My Marigolds have hiked up their petticoats

And more to come

We needed this rain, but not all at once.

I picked the first peas this morning, and made some strawberry jam yesterday.  If I get a chance to pick berries again today I will make a second batch.

Making Me Wait

 FIVE WEEKS! Because of a late hard freeze in our area, my dahlia tubers went in the ground a week later than usual. Five weeks later I still have a few new ones that have not popped through.

Two did just over the past couple of days and then this morning I saw a miniscule soil disturbance, and I have one more breaking through today. I have back ups in pots to replace them but keep telling myself "wait just one more day".

Hooray!

Sometimes a teeny tiny soil disturbance really makes your day.

Deer and Supermarket Psychology

 If you went to the trouble of driving all the way to the supermarket (across the lawn to the far side of the house).  And your favorite Brand A (fresh Daylily buds) was not available (due to being stinkified with repellent).  Would you sample Brand B (Hydrangea leaves) while you were there?  Even though you didn't really like Hydrangea leaves?

If you were a deer, then yes, you probably would.

The Hydrangea bush got a more thorough spraying today.  I had been giving the top a light spritz to prevent browsing, but apparently I had not properly soaked the sides.

The Happy Returns Daylilies are at their most delectable stage.
They even look yummy to me.

The Battle for the Buds Begins

 This is the time of year when my main gardening preoccupation is deterring the deer from eating the daylily buds before they begin to flower.  The front battleline is our split rail fence along the road where we have conveniently designed an all you can eat buffet where the deer have only to stroll along in the dark and sample the many delights.  This is something to keep in mind when designing gardens.  There are some things that should never be planted in an accessible row.  My battle begins in March when I spread Milorganite fertilizer on all of my perennials.  Milorganite is a product of the Milwaukee waste water treatment plant and the smell will keep deer and rabbits at bay while giving your lawn and perrenials a wonderful, organic boost.

But when you get loads of buds up on stems at shoulder height, the only solution is to spray them well.  I use Repels-All every day or two depending on the weather.  If it is hot and dry, every three days is fine.  Heavy dew or rain showers will wash them clean.  I buy it by the gallon in concentrate and mix it in a large, pressure sprayer. There are some areas I spray every night regardless.  Mostly the ends and corners which intersect the deer's main route, and also things that are on my main route every day.  Nothing grates on my nerves more than walking past an empty stem ten times a day when I should be enjoying flowers instead.  If you spray well, they will sample then move on.

Second to Daylilies are Hosta, but they are easier to manage as I can cover them with a square of bird netting or a grow through grid.  But tall, prickly, stemmy things like Echinacea are impossible to cover.

As are Rudbeckia.  My Echinacea and Rudbeckias are looking amazing this year.  I am loathe to lose even one flower to a snacking deer.

Geraniums are another favorite.  This Rozanne Geranium is in an out of the way spot surrounded by trip hazards, and since it is a little less appealing, a quick spritz every few days is enough to save it.

At least the vegetable garden is well protected with a high fence and electric wire.

Our game cameras prove that our resident doe comes to the fence once or twice a week to calculate her odds of having peas for breakfast.

Snoppy McSnoopington
We see you too...

Yesterday afternoon we got a surprise, bonus, downpour of .4" of rain.  Thankfully I had put off spraying until evening.  Sometimes it does not pay to get your chores done early.  Although nearly half an inch of rain, which topped off my rain tank very nicely, would have been worth the trade off of having to go around and spray again.

It gave the garden a wonderful boost and this morning the pole beans had begun to climb.

The Penelope Peas are absolutely LOADED.  There will be more than enough harvest from just two rows and enough to save some seed for next year.

The Sweet Corn is doing well.  Today I drove in the T-Posts so I can run twine around the outside and prevent the stalks from being blown down in a rain and making a total mess.  

Tomatoes are setting fruit

Annuals are growing and still more are popping up

The Sunflowers have been in the game from the start and are looking quite nice.

A year ago in the spring I transplanted this blue clematis from another bed where it had been overtaken by myrtle and it seems happy in its spot.  It isn't as noticeable as the dark red Rebecca clematis vine, but it is subtly beautiful.

It is loaded with buds and should put on a show for many weeks to come.

And yes, the deer like to eat Clematis too.  In fact, they will at least sample anything from herbs to shrubs.  And apparently, a bud just about to open is the most delicious of all.  I often wonder why I chose a hobby which requires such a dedicated battle every year.