The Good, The Bad and The Hmmmmmm

The HOT weather is back! When it reaches 85 degrees by 10:30 in the morning, all I can think of is a cool drink and a glossy garden magazine.

But it actually is a good time to evaluate the ol' garden/landscape/homesite.

Before it gets too warm, you can walk around the yard with your morning coffee or tea and really look at every bed, corner, weedy patch.  My favorite type of tour is usually done with a glass of wine when dinner is simmering on the kitchen stove (or the lovely hubby has gone for take-out).

My recent weedy-patch tour told me this -
The Good: the 5 year old Clematis has finally bloomed! I'd almost given up hope but I've got one huge blossom on a tall vine.

It confirms that my choice of planting it on the back side of the greenhouse in the shade with only the early sun for warmth was a good idea.

The Bad: I can plainly see that I like daisy-like flowers too much.  A few Rudbeckias, some Echinacea, an Aster or two  and a few Shasta Daisies are beautiful,but...

when they take over the garden, you know you've obsessed over one type.  And the sunflowers, another composite-type flower, re-seeded quite generously this year!

Time to catalog shop for some wand-shaped,

Liatris

some trumpet-shaped

Crocosmia

 

and even some button-shaped flowers for next year.

Zinnia with a Swallowtail

The Good and the Bad: having a dense, cottage garden with blooming plants cheek-to-jowl helps keep the weeds down. BUT it also means that the weeds that do find their way to the ground under the plants are hidden until they're so huge you might mistake them for one of the planned ornamentals (not to mention how embarrassing it is when you realize you've given another Master Gardener a tour which  included your 3' tall Not-Foxglove-It's-Mullein flower bed!).

And the Hmmmmmm: sometimes July is a little early to know what may need fixing. The corn seems unusually short for the last day in July: is it the variety? is it the heat? did it need more fertilizer? will even a short corn plant produce ears? It's got its tassels, so it looks good if a bit small - I suppose time will tell (thank goodness I'm not a commercial farmer!).

Corn Tassels - Aren't they gorgeous?

So, get out there and give yourself, as an English friend said years ago, some bouquets and some brickbats - feel good about what's gone right and make notes about what you can improve, next year if not this autumn. But especially enjoy all your hard work - remember gardening is a moveable feast and a work in progress (as I tell anyone who visits and sees my less-than-perfect garden).

Have you seen this site yet? http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/wmiller/BGLPerennials/right_perennial.pdf It's got some great ideas for perennials from those fantastic folks at Cornell.