So while the 2010 season started off great and better than most in many respects, I’m finding there are battles unique to the hot dry summer we find ourselves in (in New England). Some things, like Rudbeckia (or Black-Eyed Susan) are just blooming, which is a bit on the early side (it’s mid July, and usually my Rudbeckia don’t bloom until August!). The Shasta Daisies in my pool garden failed to bloom at all (lots of buds, which failed to open and don’t look so hot); not sure what happened there as I can see no pest or fungus. I’m guessing that the 100 degree heat a few weeks back (plus the continued heat wave), is a big factor. Watering is indeed an issue since most cities and towns are in drought. Even with these problems, my flower gardens are doing well and looking pretty good (pests and fungus not-withstanding!). In general, my pool garden isn’t as lovely at this point as years preceding; I’m guessing that the heat combined with a drought is part of the issue. The Stargazer lilies are starting to bloom, but they aren’t as strong as in years past. There was some presence of the lily leaf beetle, but I controlled it with weekly neem as I did last year (in fact, there was less of an infestation this year). Still they aren’t as large or strong. Hopefully next year will be better!
In the vegetable garden, things are growing wonderfully. The tomatoes look great and I had over 3lbs of snow/snap peas harvested. The green beans (bush) are flowering and I’m just starting to harvest some of these. And the lettuce? Well lets just say that between the use of the shade cloth, & my persistent reseeding, I haven’t purchased any in weeks! Fresh lettuce from the garden is the best! So what’s going on and what are the daily/weekly chores? Well here’s what’s happening in my gardens and what I’m doing:
What’s in bloom or about to bloom?
The garden by the pool is getting near it’s peak in terms of beauty (its best time is August I think). The common orange lilies came and went (they were lovely). The pink/white Gaura and the Coneflowers are in full bloom as are the purple balloon flowers.
Early/Mid Summer Pool Garden Shot
The purple & pink-eyes phlox just started blooming. And the Rudbeckia blooming has begun. Last fall I cut back the largest clump of Rudbeckia in the pool garden back by half, so it won’t be as vigorous or big this year. Next year it should be showier. I find that the Rudbekia needs to be cut back regularly to keep it under control (or it will take over). If I had an area where I could allow it to freely take over, I would love that, but my yard is only so big!
In the side garden the Astilbes were beautiful & I’m leaving the dried blooms for interest, even though they are brown. The endless summer hydrangea is blooming. It suffered from the frost in late spring, but bounced back.
While the Shasta daisies didn’t bloom in the pool garden, the Old Court Shasta I moved to my front garden did wonderful. The Fleabane there was gorgeous and is now past, as is the speedwell. The roses were flush with blooms in June, and after a period of rest, they are just starting another flush of blooms.
In all my garden beds I have Stella Doro Daylily (a repeat bloomer) and they were beautiful in their first flush of blooms in June; they haven’t started a period of re-bloom yet (even though I deadheaded).
Watering
Given the drought, there are water bans in most areas. I water the urns and bots each morning by hand (we’re still allowed to do that even with a ban). I use a soaker hose in the vegetable beds (they are raised beds and in between each is a short regular hose to make one long one). I water these every other day for about 2 hours during my allotted time (we’re allowed to water every other day from 6-9pm). Night isn’t ideal, but the soaker hose minimizes overhead water so it should be ok. So far the vegetable gardens are getting what seems to be the right amount of water.
In the flower gardens I have soaker hoses around the house, but my pool & island gardens are watered with an overhead sprinkler. Not ideal for night watering but it can’t be helped. I try an water these gardens about once a week long enough for 1/2 to 1 inch of water to accumulate in the rain gages (that translates to about 1.5 hours for the pool garden, 1/2 hour for each of the island gardens; the soaker hosed gardens around the house take longer – about 2 hours). I try and do this all simultaneously. It is a challenge!
Hopefully we’ll get more rain in August and wont have to have further water restrictions.
Deadheading
I deadhead on a weekly basis. Deadheading is the act of removing spent blooms. The reason for deadheading, other than keeping the garden neat and looking good, is that many specimens will continue to bloom for longer periods with deadheading. The science behind this is that plants want to produce offspring and the flowers are the mechanism to do that. When the flowers pass, seed (pods) develop. Once the plant has produced enough seeds, it will stop producing flowers (its job is done!). So, if you prevent the plant from producing seeds, it will continue to push flowers to that end. Some plants only bloom once, so deadheading keeps the plant neat, and may encourage the plant to bloom more profusely during its bloom period. Other plants dont seem to need deadheading, like Gaura. In addition to deadheading on a weekly basis, I also tend to pick spent blooms in my travels through the garden daily. For example, the balloon flower has spent blooms every day, so I try and remove them daily (this enourages a much longer bloom time; last year I got a repeat bloom period too). So if you love being in your garden, weekly deadheading can be pleasurable in that you can spend time in your garden! I find the best time to do the job is evening or early morning, because it’s cooler then.
Staking
This is also about the time that I stake the Phlox and Stargazer Lily in the pool garden, the Rudbeckia & Coneflower in the front garden, and the False Indigo on the side of the house. I like to use linked stakes. I have a variety of sizes and have collected enough for the gardens that I have. In the vegetable garden, I staked the eggplant and continue to tie up the tomatoes. I use simple bamboo stakes for the eggplant (and peppers if they get big enough). For the tomatoes I’ve tried a variety of staking techniques (including tomato ladders). This year I’m using heavy duty stakes (1 for every 2 plants) and it seems to be working well.
Fertilizing
As I’ve indicated my post about “Early spring gardening”, I fertilize with a mixture of compost and organic fertilizer (like Mother Nature’s Flower Cuisine). Starting in late May I start a schedule of foliar fertilization (using Neptunes Harvest. Every 1-2 week I fertilize the urns, pots and the vegetable garden with this (mixed with water per instructions, or in a hose end sprayer). Then every 3 weeks I fertilize all the garden beds with this mixture. An alternative to this is to apply another round of compost and organic fertilizer every 4 weeks or so to the garden beds, though I’ve never actually done this (but know other gardeners who prefer this method).
The rule of thumb is to fertilize like this until the end of July and then stop (except for annuals and vegetables). The reason being that in August and the fall, plants are pushing nutrients into the roots to prepare for winter. But there is new research indicating that fertilizing again in the fall benefits plants so that they have the nutrients available immediately as soon as spring begins. Ive never fertilized in the fall before & may try it this year, depending on how much time I have.
Status of annual flowers I tried this year
The Amaranthus has taken off. So far I like the specimen, but it isnt as showy as I thought it would be so I may pass on this one in the future.
I direct seeded Nigella and Larkspur in mid-May. The Nigella is now blooming & it’s my first time with this annual. It is smaller than I thought and has fairy like delicate flowers in a range of true blue hues. It’s really lovely and next year I think Ill put some in a showier location. They apparently self-sow, so I’m hoping for volunteers to appear next year. The Larkspur is just starting to bloom; it’s later than I’d like and the jury is still out on direct seeding. Next year Ill get fresh seeds and start some indoors because these annuals are really lovely in bloom.
The Morning Glory is taking a long time to get going. It’s just starting to really grow but not many blooms yet. I’m wondering if I’d be better off just buying it from a nursery. When I start the seeds at the end of March, I get lots of green and blooms really late in the season (end of August). If I start the seeds earlier, like I did this year, I get blooms on the plants early, but when replanted in the ground, they seem to take a long time to get going.
Usually Nasturtiums are prolific and easy. This year they are on the small side and not the bounty of the past. I have no idea why! The orange Cosmos barely blooming yet! Usually it’s a reliable bloomer all summer. Go figure. I do think it’s the weather this season, which started off great, then stalled, then got really hot.
Herbs, yum!
By now the herbs are growing like crazy. Ive made basil pesto several times now and therell be more to harvest soon. But whats eating the basil??? Its those pesky brown beetles (they are mottled looking – yuk!). Neem doesn’t deter these guys, so recently I tried spraying copper oxide (dust) with rotenone, and guess what? The basil is doing better and is recovering. Since I have many more planted with the peppers, eggplant and tomatoes, even with the beetles eating it, I’ve had plenty.
If you read my other posts, you’ll remember that I started a variety of cilantro called Calypso (cut and come again). Well I was able to get more from that variety than the standard so I’ll certainly grow that again!
Weekly fungicide & insecticide treatments
Another thing I do weekly is to apply Neem to all plants that exhibit fungus or attack by insects. Over the years Ive learned which specimens are most susceptible and spray these each week starting early on. My pool garden has an abundance of slugs even in the dry weather. I find that spraying the hosta from the outset keeps them from eating it. I’ve tried using iron phosphate (like Sluggo), and it works fairly well. But in that garden there are so many that I have to make regular repeated applications and that gets expensive. On my list is to try shallow containers (like those you get when you buy soft butter), filled with beer at the level of the ground; the slugs get attracted to it and drown. The slugs are eating the specimens they normally wouldn’t because everything else has Neem applied. I also apply Neem to the vegetable garden (peppers, eggplant, squash, green beans, cucumbers, and lettuce). It helps keep the insects from feasting on the bounty. I follow that up with garlic spray to the cucumbers and squash, it seems to have kept squash vine bora at bay and I havent seen any cucumber beetles either.
Every 10 (ish) days or so, I also apply copper oxide (with rotenone) to the roses in the front garden, the basil in the herb barrel, and the Clematis in the pool garden. These treatments helps keep fungus under control and as I already mentioned, it also keeps those beetles off the basil.
So that’s what’s happening in the heat of this summer in my garden. What’s happening in yours?
Happy gardening!
Susan
The tomatoes that this woman grows are the tastiest around! They beat most farmer’s markets’ tomatoes that I’ve had over the years. Susan, you should start selling your produce at the market (if only…)!
Thanks Mandee! I think it’s the variety I chose to grow this year. They are very tasty for sure and meaty. I grew Juliet hybrid for the plum like cherry tomatoes, Costoluto Genovese (http://www.thompson-morgan.com), Nonna’s prize (the best IMO! see http://gurneys.com/nonnas-prize-vff-hybrid-tomato/p/80655/), and regular plums. I’ll definitely do all of these again. Nonna’s prize is my favoriate so far, but the genovese are really delicious too. No blight this year, so the harvest is pretty good. I should get a batch or 2 of sauce plus eating tomatoes. The plum cherries are delicous and easy to grow.
Can you grow these varieties easily indoors?
Actually tomatoes are a warm weather crop which means they like night temps above 50 degrees and full days (like the long days of summer). You can grow tomatoes in a greenhouse and I’ve seen it done, though I don’t know if the tomatoes would be as big or prolific. Also tomatoes are deep rooted, so while they do grow fairly well in pots, they do better in the ground. Having said all that, it wouldn’t hurt to try! You’d need a warm environment with grow lights (full spectrum) on for, I’d say, 16-20 hours per day. I’d start with cherry tomatoes since they are smaller and more likely to succeed. But that’s just my opinion!
Good luck!
Susan
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