The Invasion Of The Killer Tomatoes

You know I have a small raised bed vegetable garden that this year has become a layered garden.  The lettuce is long gone, green onion sets all eaten, seed onions still growing, carrots are very tasty and have enhanced two meals so far and still going, bumper pepper crop and cucumbers doing well on the 45 degree angled trellis.  I usually do not like cucumbers but the home grown ones taste so much better than those waxed ones in the store.

Mariachi Peppers

But, my five tomato plants are going crazy - completely tangled together because the Beefsteak in the Dura Cage fell over when one of the legs broke.  So, I have to guess which tomato I am eating although some are such a distinguished shape that it is easy.

Brandy boy is not a true red, almost pink, and large like a Beefsteak - not thrilled with the taste.  I have two Celebrity tomatoes which are determinate and reliable each year producing plenty of tomatoes - not the taste of a Beefsteak but much better than store bought.  I am also growing a Pineapple Heirloom Tomato, but I have not tasted this one yet.  I think I have picked a few but not totally ripe yet.

Bush Cucumber

Dahlia in Veggie Garden

The Basil has been great this year already producing a delicious pesto and plenty more to cut.  I have already given tomatoes to my family but I am wondering how much sauce can I make?

Lessons Learned

As much as we have complained about the rain and the heat this year, it has certainly been a learning experience.  I have a new appreciation for plants that do not need to be pampered and they are not always the ones that I thought would be in that non-pampered category.

Blue Paradise Phlox reblooming after deadheading

Perilla

Sandra Elizabeth is worth having in the garden this time of year.

It was certainly worth replanting the hayracks.  They are filling in quickly in this hot weather.

All of my waterwise plants have done great, but I am happily surprised about the sturdiness of the impatiens and coleus.  Believe it or not, the dahlias that were shriveling up in my hayracks and containers are coming back to life in the veggie garden.  They obviously were not getting enough moisture in containers.  Most of the petunias have done well except for Pretty Much Picasso (this petunia has been a loser for me), geraniums suffer in this intense heat and too much rain. 

This is one of the dahlias that I transferred from the containers to the veggie garden.

The only blooms I have had on nasturtiums this year

As I have said before, the containers that I put together with potting soil and Soil Moist are doing much better than the pre-planted containers from Costco or Home Depot.  It is not possible to add soil most to these store bought containers and because of this they are the ones that suffer in the heat. 

I love this verbena that came in a hanging basket.  I don't remember seeing this for sale by itself.

Mossing the containers on the top and the hayracks all around has definitely helped these containers survive.

I am ready to give up and let nature take over, but at the time of year when I would be ordering bulbs for the fall planting, I am like the mad waterer trying to keep everything alive.  This is a summer I will not regret giving up, but I may change my mind in January!

Mum's The Word

There are many alternatives to the yearly display of mums in our containers and in the landscape.  My husband feels they are a waste of money because they bloom for such a short time and rarely come back (in our zone) the following year.  If you do put them into the landscape and they do return they must be pinched in a semi-circle shape several times up until July to get that mounding shape you see in the nursery.

Each year I say I am not going to buy many mums, and each year I see a variety that I cannot pass up.  I never realized until a couple of years ago when I began to research certain varieties that there are certain bloom times.  There are early season varieties, middle and late, so if you are going to spend the money it is worthwhile to span the fall season.  I see many people walking out with plants in total bloom and know that they will not be pretty for very long.  Select your mums when the buds are still tight with just a few opening up so you can see the color.

Helga is an early mum in a creamy white.  The insects seem to leave this one alone and it blooms for a long period of time.  I also have had luck with Helga returning for a couple of years.

The pale colors and dark tones look lovely up close, but if you want your mums to pop out of the landscape from any distance, choose the bright yellows and oranges.  I love white mums or creamy colors, but some of the pure whites attract slugs at night.

I have begun to use some perennials in my containers in the fall.  Sedums, like Vera Jameson look wonderful hanging over the edges of a containers, ajugas, cabbages, sedge grasses, some bright orange pansies all look great and all can be transplanted to the garden late in the season.  I have my Vera Jameson from last year hanging over my vegetable garden.

Upright White Peacock Cabbage

Yellow Stemmed Swiss Chard

In the landscape, cabbages will hold up until December and some of the pansies are guaranteed to come back in the spring.  http://www.plugconnection.com/downloads/mums-f2008.pdf  This is a link that will give you an extensive list of mums, their chacteristics and bloom times.

If you must have mums, and I will probably give in and buy a few, bring your list with you of the bloom times so you can have them throughout the fall season.

Looking Forward

I really am looking forward to fall and redoing some areas of the garden.  My daylilies came today from R.Seawright in Massachusetts, Sandra Elizabeth a late daylily and Eileen Clymer an early daylily.  They even threw in a free Don Stevens a middle season daylily.  I have ordered from this company many times and their daylilies are top notch, like they had been in your garden for years and just divided.

Eileen Clymer

Don Stevens

Sandra Elizabeth

Tomorrow I will unband them and soak them in a bucket of water for most of the day.  All of the foliage is cut when daylilies are shipped but they soon sprout new leaves and look very healthy even the first season.

I am in the process of moving the iris, Caesar's Brother and other varieties that have not done well either because of too much shade or being crowded out by Becky.  Geranium Magnificum also has to be moved since it has not bloomed in the seven years we have been here. 

 Caesar's Brother got very big but very few flowers this year

These are a beautiful yellow and white iris that did not bloom this year because they were covered by the huge Becky Shasta Daisies.

Chicago Weathermaster will also be moved as they became quickly overshadowed by Heliopsis Lemon Queen.  They need to have a little more time to show off those wonderful blooms.  Now, I just have to find a place for them. 

I have cut back Henryi Clematis this summer because it was so woody and overgrown.  It is coming back slowly and very tender - so, I hope it grows enough this summer to bloom next spring.  It is a type 2 which normally does not get cut back but just trimmed, however, there was so much dead that I felt this was the only way to go. 

Betty Corning Clematis will also be moved because I just don't feel it gets enough sun under my neighbor's lilac bush on the south side of my garden.  Again, I am not sure where I am going to fit it in!

I totally dislike moving plants, it is like uprooting someone and expecting them to adapt to a whole new environment and be beautiful.  Sometimes it works out the plant is happy and I am happy.

And The Heat Goes On

I didn't have to water yesterday because we had another round of heavy storms that did a job on my large dahlias and my miscanthus on the south side of my home.  Weeping, weeping, weeping - need to get more of my ties out and stakes.  It is going to be very stormy, warm and humid again today in the 90's.  I feel like I am preaching to the choir because many of you are experiencing the same or worse!

I had better research more tropical plants, and I do like tropicals, but I never thought I would be thinking of them as a major part of my gardening.  Take a look at the dahlias that I planted in the veggie garden - lush and large because they have a deep reservoir of water to draw on.  The ones in the baskets and hayracks look pitiful.

Both of these dahlias are in the veggie garden.  The rest that I pulled out of the hayracks still look pretty bad!

Daylilies have weathered it all, rain, heat, humidity.  I have ordered some early and late ones to plant for next year.  I am also going to order more oriental lilies as they bloomed beautifully not even noticing the extreme weather.  I will not do hibiscus (annual) next year, very expensive, but did not perform bloom wise in this heat. Next year may be different but I am going to be more global in my plantings so that I don't have a garden of drooping plants.

This is Sandra Elizabeth a late daylily about 30" tall with a 6" flower.  I have ordered more of these to plant for next year.

Caladiums on North Side

Lemon Twist Coleus

My double and single Knockouts have not appreciated this weather, but the Rainbow Knockout is going strong, another reason to plant this wonderful rose. 

Rainbow Knockout

I need to get back to my garden clubs, we need to discuss this summer and our successes and failures.