How many feet of garden hose is enough? This pile is just for the backyard. I bought a new hose for the front yard, one that can reach around both sides of the house. Buried in that pile above is a wand for sprinkling, also a new purchase this year. I liked it so much, I bought a second one for the front yard. Too lazy to make both sides of the house share one wand.
Ordinarily, I don't water the meadow, but there are pumpkins and squash planted there this year. I have been hand-delivering water to them, but with the bee balm and milkweed in bloom, venturing in there takes an intrepid soul.
"They" say that using sprinklers is the least efficient way to water, but my observation is that watering the soil at the base of the plant works but the plants really appreciate a good shower from above. It cleans off the dust and clears the pores. I know just how they feel.
Yesterday it finally rained, one-half inch. That is the first measurable rain my yard has received since June 20. Needless to say, no mowing has been going on. And it has been HOT. Saturday my SO and I spread two pickup truckloads of mulch around the shrubs. That just about KILLED us. The next two days are supposed to be reasonable - high 70's and low 80's - then it is back around 90-ish for the weekend. Ugh.
I don't know much about insects but I'll go out on a limb and say this is a small white butterfly. These are also known as cabbage butterflies, as their larvae are responsible for the ruination of many a cabbage patch.
The following two pics are of a hummingbird moth. At least, that is my story and I'm sticking to it. I did not expect the photos to turn out at all because this little bugger (ha) would not sit still. It flitted around each blossom, checking for nectar.
And if a blossom was particularly deficient in nectar, it flitted even faster. The page I linked to says it feeds on the foliage of the honeysuckle family, but it doesn't say if that is honeysuckle bush (a non-native invasive that I HATE) or the honeysuckle vine. I haven't noticed any damage on either in my yard.
When I wasn't chasing bugs with my camera today, I was digging holes. I purchased two more crocosmia because the one I have is not visible enough from the West Wing. I love the red blossoms, so much so I did not realize I planted one of them in front of the Rose of Sharon, which is just starting to put out its pink blossoms. I also decided to move the 'Blue' hosta across the yard, to a shadier spot. When I dug it up, it looked very divisible, so now their are FIVE hostas under the viburnums.
The Early Girl tomatoes STILL are not ripe, which is just about killing me. And I learned today that "everbearing" strawberries are not really EVER bearing; instead, they produce two bursts of fruit, one in the spring and one in the fall. I also learned today that those Meyer lemons will take 3-4 months to ripen. I think I will have to maul the potato plants soon, in search of new potatoes. So much garden and nothing edible right now. Besides scallions and ready-to-bolt lettuce. Which I better go water before I forget.
1 comment:
I know! This is the most impatient gardening time of the year. Where is my food?????? We're getting snow peas and a few strawberries still, and I just picked a kohlrabi. I'm tempted to plant more radishes just so I can pick SOMETHING. My garlic isn't even ready.
And, since Blogger won't let me reply to you via my blog, can you believe it? I've tried both seeds AND plants in the squash saga, though I think the plants all died, so the true problem is the commercial seed packets being completely mixed up. It's just crazy. I'm going to just save my own darn seeds and see if I do any better. Worse doesn't seem likely. :)
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